£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil

Child 3 will be thrilled with anything she is given, as long as it is sparkly and preferably involves disney princesses (WHERE does this come from? Two older brothers, endless rounds of Octonauts and kids science programs on TV, and she is princess obsessed).

Child 2 wants more lego, but I'm trying to think of something different, as actually you don't get an amazing lego set for £30 these days - they have been spoilt by too many £75+ lego sets! I need to have a browse though, as I have no ideas at all.

mumto2girlsandaboy

Have not bought lego recently but wilkos do the blox sets for much cheaper prices.

JoJoC

Does Child 2 have a lego book? there's quite a few books out there that give you inspiration for what you can build and how to do it and they're often on sale on Amazon/ The Book People for under £10. Then you'd still have 2/3+ of your budget left?

angelpye

Hi, I don't know if your little one is into Star Wars and Batman sets but the lego online shop has a Star Wars set half price - think down to £30 and if your order is over £25 you get a free lego super heroes bat mobile (little car). Happened to be on there earlier as my DD is also lego mad, as is all her friends and a birthday party is coming up so looking for cheap gifts.

angelpye

Found the page...https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/retiring-soon

Macey1510

Well done for all you have achieved in February!

dawnybabes

You're doing fantastic

We are a Heinz ketchup snob here but actually found out that the Aldi version tastes exactly the same :-)

Bobarella

Your progress is brilliant! Love reading the updates.

I don't know if you have a decent local forum? But in our area there is a great one that has a wanted section and people can post what they want funny enough you could try posting for Lego sets at cut prices there.

Treadingonplaymobil

Thanks for all the birthday present ideas! Will investigate.

Realised I forgot to round up yesterday:

The Tesco loan repayment came out, which makes the overall debt significantly closer to £66,000 - I’m really looking forward to getting it under that figure as soon as the Barclaycard and MBNA statements are generated (3rd and 16th, respectively) and I can make payments on those cards.

To do today:
1. Keep an eye on the accounts and YNAB to ensure the DDs that come out today (the vast majority of them) are as expected and that there are no unexpected price hikes to account for. Done!
2. social media while working. Done!
3. book keeping for last month (less of an intimidating task now that there’s actually some money in the business account!). Done! That doesn’t really deserve an exclamation mark, it was very dull.
4. Batch cook homemade baked beans. Done!
5. Slice and freeze the bread I made yesterday. Done!
6. Not on the list, but I also finished knitting the hat that was on my list about four days last week without being done. Yay me.

To do this week:
1. During our family meeting, focus on ways to save electricity, after the success of last week’s ‘how to save water’ chat. Done!
2. Also during family meeting, try to work out who’s going to need a haircut next month, so we can make sure there is sufficient in the budget. Done!
3. Plan out March working time. Done!
4. Update YNAB for March once we get to the 1st. Done!
5. Sit down with DH once we get into March and chat through current budget situation, so he can see how much positive effect there is from the budget changes we have made. Not done yet - we were both feeling all coldy and stuffed up yesterday, so didn't bother. Will do tonight if we have the energy.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 3: Day 5

Ah, the anti-climax of watching all the money coming out of the bank account and then thinking, ‘right, now what?’ The answer, of course, is to keep on trucking, sticking to the budget and waiting for time to pass.

However, I found it incredibly motivating moving money round repeatedly last month even just towards tiny overpayments, so I’m very much inclined to try to make an extra few quid here and there this month, whether that’s through eb@y, surveys or whatever, to keep me interested until the next payday. I don't want to get into the PAD thing, I have decided, as our budget as it stands is just too tight, but finding little extra unexpetected pockets of money throughout the month is going to be my goal. One little pocket is going to come next time I go to nearest big city, as I am moderately sure that the HSBC there has a coin drop machine, so I can pay in all my tiny loose change - only about a fiver, but exactly the kind of little input of cash that will keep me motivated.

To do today:
1. Start knitting new socks
2. Social media while working
3. Make quinoa burgers for dinner
4. Clear the ironing mountain.
5. Check valued opinions site for surveys.
6. Spend a little time on my smaller business, as it has been a bit slow lately, with all the work streaming into the main business. I have hopes that the smaller one will grow to create a steady passive income, long term, so I want to make sure it doesn't get neglected.

To do this week:
1. During our family meeting, focus on ways to save electricity, after the success of last week’s ‘how to save water’ chat. Done!
2. Also during family meeting, try to work out who’s going to need a haircut next month, so we can make sure there is sufficient in the budget. Done!
3. Plan out March working time. Done!
4. Update YNAB for March once we get to the 1st. Done!
5. Sit down with DH once we get into March and chat through current budget situation, so he can see how much positive effect there is from the budget changes we have made. Not done yet - we were both feeling all coldy and stuffed up yesterday, so didn't bother. Will do tonight if we have the energy.