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

earthgirl

Same problem with couple time here. we have wierd dates - lunch dates when the kids are at school, walk and a bacon sarnie when the kids are at a play date/ party/Sunday school/ library activity. I have to be quite creative with dates.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 58: Day 7

My poor client had to postpone due to illness yesterday. Luckily one of those rare times when I wasn't going to be paid until the day, as there isn't another date I can offer her until mid-April, and stupidly I always feel like I'm working for free when I do the work weeks and weeks after being paid!

Three things to do yesterday
1. Prep house for client this morning. She cancelled just after I'd done this!
2. Get the unpackaged bits of food from town that I couldn't get in Aldi, plus foil-only wrapped eggs for easter. Done. Have kept to one egg plus a few mini foil wrapped things - normally I (shocker) go a bit overboard for easter, as I do for ALL CELEBRATIONS . It helps that DC3's party is on Easter Sunday so the focus will be on that celebration.
3. Clear emails, which will involve confirming some contract work for next month which I need to sort childcare for. Done.

Plenty of work to get on with today, DH and the DC not back until this evening. Speaking of DH, I actually sat down and worked out how our working hours plus chores compared (i.e. I work fewer hours but do more chores) and actually I was surprised how comparable they are these days, now that DH has upped his game a bit. Yes I do more, but not wildly so. Which shows me that the answer is not to get DH to do even more, but to find one or two things that we can ditch, or at least make optional, so I can do them in my quieter weeks and not so much when hectic.

We're supposed to be getting some preliminary drawings from the architect in the next few days, which I am enormously excited about, can't wait to progress on that front, as we really need some initial designs to start getting some initial quotes, which will really help us figure out a rough budget and plan of action - the architect keeps recommending an enormously optimistic rate of £1,000 per sq m (excluding kitchen, as we can bodge a temporary one together for a year or so), whereas everything I see online suggests more like £2,000 per sq m, although that tends to include a basic kitchen. I suppose when we're working out a very rough budget plan for it if we go somewhere in the middle (£1,500) plus a 20% contingency, we'll be looking at £1,800 per sq m anyway, which is at the upper end and will hopefully be reasonable, especially since the kitchen can wait.

I did see a good sized house for sale (about the size this would be once extended, although it still needs a new kitchen, carpets etc urgently) for £80k more than our house's current value yesterday, so I suppose that would be £100k after moving costs, and another £20k of work that needs doing. A good reminder that even though those houses are rare, if we start getting up to £100k+ numbers, we need to think more seriously about saving the money to move instead of extending without keeping half an eye on reality. Not that I'm intending our dormer/extension to cost anything like £120k! More like half that.

Many things to do today
1. A nice slow yoga practise, actually enjoying not having to get it done in a strict time frame.
2. Contract work for next week - it's finally started up again, after a few weeks off, which it going to be reflected in March's pay.
3. A piece of client work that needs to be finished today.
4, Finish knitted baby gift for imminent baby (not mine).
5. Ice biscuits for DC3's birthday (what was that about giving myself less to do? :rotfl: ). Although I spent a happy 10 minutes browsing 'unicorn iced biscuits' yesterday after seeing a cookie cutter in town, I did then realise that actually life is too short, and she is just getting pretty stripy iced biscuits, which I can do moderately speedily.
6. Wrap DC3's present.
7. Plan next week.
8. Possibly bake cake today, although I may do it tomorrow while DC3 is at preschool. Undecided. Depends whether I do a standard sponge or a fancy pants one, as the standard sponge really is so much better on the day of baking, but the fancy pants one will last a little longer.
9. Write a note for DC3's preschool to chase party RSVP's.
10. Prep a couple of social media posts for this week.
11. Make quiche for packed lunches this week. School actually breaks up on Weds, but I'm thinking that some spare lunches in the freezer might not be a terrible thing over the easter hols.

Debt repayment:
- £22.77/31 March rounding down pot.
- £1,608.78/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 59: Day 1

Morning! A new week, and the first of the DCs' birthdays today. Really pleased that I have everything ready, although need to ice the cake while she's at preschool. Presents etc all wrapped, biscuits baked and iced (so we can have special biscuits with DH in the evening, as she will want cake after school before he comes home), and a sensible level of restraint stuck to with present buying. As it stands I still have £64 left in the 'birthday' pot even after paying for the day out on Thursday. I'm leaving it in there in case there is some crucial last minute party thing I have forgotten, but I'm keeping fingers crossed I don't need to spend any of it.

Yesterday's list, since I wrote so much on it...
1. A nice slow yoga practise, actually enjoying not having to get it done in a strict time frame.
2. Contract work for next week - it's finally started up again, after a few weeks off, which it going to be reflected in March's pay.
3. A piece of client work that needs to be finished today.
4, Finish knitted baby gift for imminent baby (not mine). That's on today's list then.
5. Ice biscuits for DC3's birthday (what was that about giving myself less to do? :rotfl: ). Although I spent a happy 10 minutes browsing 'unicorn iced biscuits' yesterday after seeing a cookie cutter in town, I did then realise that actually life is too short, and she is just getting pretty stripy iced biscuits, which I can do moderately speedily.
6. Wrap DC3's present.
7. Plan next week.
8. Possibly bake cake today, although I may do it tomorrow while DC3 is at preschool. Undecided. Depends whether I do a standard sponge or a fancy pants one, as the standard sponge really is so much better on the day of baking, but the fancy pants one will last a little longer.
9. Write a note for DC3's preschool to chase party RSVP's. On my list to do before school.
10. Prep a couple of social media posts for this week.
11. Make quiche for packed lunches this week. School actually breaks up on Weds, but I'm thinking that some spare lunches in the freezer might not be a terrible thing over the easter hols.

I feel so refreshed after a weekend of peace and quiet. Really reminded me how much I needed it. I'm such an introvert, and I really need time in complete peace every now and again to feel on top of things - having family stay for so many days over the past week and being busy with clients so frequently for the past month or so has absolutely drained my reserves. I feel like a new woman! DH used to take the DCs away to relatives 3-4 times a year, but hasn't done so for perhaps a year or more, and it's something I'd like to find a way of doing maybe twice a year. It's never cheap, but can be budgeted for and doesn't need to be wildly expensive if we plan - MIL is always happy to have visitors!

Three thing to do today
1. Finish baby knitting.
2. Ice cake.
3. Pack and post orders for smaller business.

Debt repayment:
- £22.77/31 March rounding down pot.
- £1,608.78/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.[/QUOTE]

warby68

Morning ToPM

Was a bit :eek: at your ballpark £60k for the extension. I thought it was £15k/£20k on room dividing and dormer and must have wilfully ignored the more ambitious 2 story including kitchen bit.

What is the rough plan for funding this? I must have really missed a trick as I can't see where it can come from but appreciate you probably don't disclose all here.

I can see why it motivates you - that's effectively a new house but being an old worrywort, am panicking rather on your behalf, not least with the prospect of a 'having to move out for a while' type of extension with 3 little ones and a very busy life. Costs, especially the indirect ones tend to run away with themselves when you get into this territory.

Treadingonplaymobil

warby68 wrote: »

Morning ToPM

Was a bit :eek: at your ballpark £60k for the extension. I thought it was £15k/£20k on room dividing and dormer and must have wilfully ignored the more ambitious 2 story including kitchen bit.

What is the rough plan for funding this? I must have really missed a trick as I can't see where it can come from but appreciate you probably don't disclose all here.

I can see why it motivates you - that's effectively a new house but being an old worrywort, am panicking rather on your behalf, not least with the prospect of a 'having to move out for a while' type of extension with 3 little ones and a very busy life. Costs, especially the indirect ones tend to run away with themselves when you get into this territory.

There isn't any proper plan at the moment. A relative has talked about giving us some, I know we can draw more down on the mortgage, and I know we could borrow some on a personal loan, but I have no idea (a) how much we might borrow/get given and (b) what repayments would be - we are currently saving £300pm towards the extension, so could afford repayments up to that level, but no more. At the moment we are carrying on with plans because this stage of things (architect drawings) is relatively affordable, and once we have initial sketches we can get a rough quote from a builder friend, which will help us decide whether we can afford to proceed.

The overall cost has always been huge, it's more a decision about whether that cost is split into a dormer and a single storey (so could be built a year or two apart) or a two storey (the actual two storey bit would only be very small, most of it would be single storey, it would effectively be a slightly overhanging dormer, but would make all the difference in available space). The cost of the two storey option dictates whether we can do it, as it needs to be built in one go. It's all totally up in the air at the moment, and at this stage the numbers are such an unknown quantity that I just don't know what's going to happen, so it's all academic really. When we get some numbers it will be possible to figure things out a little more.

I am optimistically hoping to avoid moving out at all when we do build, as we are used to camping and our sitting room, front bathroom and one bedroom will be unaffected by the initial build, although they'll need re-plastering etc at some stage.

Treadingonplaymobil

Have had a lovely birthday for DC3 today. Really feel like she has been the centre of attention and been celebrated today. Not that we didn't do that before, but I think the volume of stuff we were buying before (presents, fancy meals etc on the day) for all the DCs actually began to detract from the point of the day, which is the birthday child in question, rather than adding to it. A nice reminder that sometimes it's not just OK to spend less, it's actually better. Obviously it wasn't exactly totally frugal - I think we spent £50 on presents, and probably another tenner on cake decorations, and there's decorating and another cake for the party on the weekend to get through (although everything is already purchased, so no panic spending required).

Feeling very bloated and bleurgh after all the cake and biscuits today. Whoops. Have completely failed to get on top of my weight so far this year, but with another cake to be made for both Thursday and Sunday, this probably isn't the week to start thinking about it too much!

Three thing to do today
1. Finish baby knitting. Whoops. This baby is going to arrive before the cardigan is done at this rate.
2. Ice cake.
3. Pack and post orders for smaller business.

Debt repayment:
- £22.77/31 March rounding down pot.
- £1,608.78/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Chrystal

So glad the party went well and little one enjoyed it so much. Totally agree that it's making the child feel 'special' that is much more important than spending a load of money.... and it's being made feel 'special' that they will always remember. XX

warby68

So glad you had a lovely day with the little one

My big one turns 18 this week - another landmark but I did love their birthdays when they were small. Never mind, his favourite cake is still the 'caterpillar' cake that supermarkets do so not quite grown up yet.

PositiveBalance

warby68 wrote: »

So glad you had a lovely day with the little one

My big one turns 18 this week - another landmark but I did love their birthdays when they were small. Never mind, his favourite cake is still the 'caterpillar' cake that supermarkets do so not quite grown up yet.

Yes! It's the same for many of us! (Says the woman in her mid-thirties who is still partial to one, too!) :rotfl:

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 59: Day 2

Morning! Still on a happy families high after such a lovely day yesterday. Hope we can replicate the feeling for DC2 on Thursday. Although have slept in a funny position and my neck hurts and only turns one way. Hopefully yoga in a moment will loosen it up in a moment. Our pillows are so terrible it's unbelievable (super cheap ikea ones, a few years old now), but decent pillows are so blooming expensive, and I don't want to get feather ones which is what TKMaxx had to offer last time I looked in there for cheap ones.

Ooh, I had a teeny weeny MSE win yesterday - I wanted to buy some little wooden or felt easter eggs to decorate some twigs with for easter weekend table centrepiece, but the only ones I could find were really expensive. I was browsing Pinterest (all hail Pinterest) and came up with the idea of needle felting some - I have all the supplies, bought in a fit of 'this will be fun' a year or more ago and scarcely used, so made some little needle felted wool eggs in between icing the cake yesterday. Saved me splashing out £20 on overpriced wooden eggs from Not On The High Street . Now I need to find some twigs in a hedge to avoid buying expensive ones from the florist .

I am between birthday baking sessions today so hoping to get caught up on some bits of work, and having a coffee with a friend. Argh, and have stupid school easter service to attend. The Christmas service is quite nice, but at easter the vicar always takes centre stage and sings solo for a lot of it, and frankly I'm not remotely interested in hearing him sing, I just want to see my children doing their songs! Although it will be nice to have DC1 stop practising songs about death constantly once it's over (the DCs' school seems rather keen on the dying aspect, and brushes over the resurrection bit...).

Ooh, another nice thing that happened - my mum has paid for 3/4 of the cost of a year's family membership to the local zoos (you get three zoos in the membership, two very nearby to us) for DC2 and 3's birthday presents, which is awesome. I had already budgeted for the cost of half of it as she said she would 'contribute' but I didn't know how much until it landed in my account. It will give us a brilliant free activity to do over Easter and Summer. We had membership when we first moved here, but haven't since, and the children have asked a few times recently if we can get it as they can't really remember going. Hurrah!

I forgot to put up my menu plan this week. We seem to have a freezer full of leftovers and random frozen veg my mum had in the freezer (about which I am not complaining) - she grows loads but can't eat it all, I reckon we get £100+ of fruit and veg from her trees and veg patch over the course of the year.
Monday - boiled eggs and soldiers (DC3's request!)
Tuesday - leftover split pea curry, rice, green beans from the freezer
Wednesday - pot stickers (I have never made these! DC1 saw some in a magazine and wants to have a go at making them)
Thursday - party food for lunch (hm sausage rolls, cake, hm viennese whirls etc), then frozen fish fingers and hm potato wedges for dinner (DC2's birthday request)
Friday - Kitchari (lovely and gentle and easy to digest if you've had too much party food all week)
Saturday - leftover frozen soup
Lunches - quiche lorraine (must make that today), frozen savoury muffins, houmous and veg, leftovers
Snacks - leftover cake, fruit, flapjacks

Right, best get on. Need to drop the car in to get the handbrake and exciting boot opening issue sorted this morning, not looking forward to that bill.

Three thing to do today
1. FINISH THAT BABY KNITTING.
2. Packed lunch cooking - quiche lorraine, flapjacks (school breaks up on Wed, but I'm thinking it will be useful to have picnic stuff in the freezer).
3. Catch up on work bits in the two hours between coffee and Easter service.

Debt repayment:
- £22.77/31 March rounding down pot.
- £1,608.78/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.