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

Treadingonplaymobil

Armchairexpert I don't have a spreadsheet, but I do have a simple document set up with the numbers I need so I can calculate manually very quickly. I suppose a spreadsheet would be better. I basically have a column like this:

We need to have £5,000 for the extension
Current savings total £1,361
Savings for rest of year £2,023 (usual monthly savings)
Shortfall £1,616
Monthly extension shortfall £202

8 months of earning £808 (post tax) per month with the divisions below

10% debt overpayments
25% extension (this 25% needs to equate to the above monthly shortfall)
10% house stuff
5% biz account savings pots
10% food/household supplies (5% towards wedding cake until at £100)
5% annual insurances
25% future months in biz account
5% DC1 tutor
5% emergency fund

Total post tax income needed as at 11/5/18 = £6,464
234 days left
income per day = £7.62

And then I manually change the numbers each time I earn anything. I'm sure there's a much easier way of setting it in excel up so I'm not having to manually input everything and work out the final figure, but it takes all of about three minutes and I can't be bothered to create a spreadsheet.

PurpleFairy26

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

I use DH's phone in the bath - he has a fancy pants waterproof case (and a cheaper phone)!

*Purplefairy* I look at people who shop in 900 different shops to get the best price with enormous admiration, but I just can't see it happening. We already do Aldi (or Lidl, depending on which town we're in)/Sainsburys and then occasionally local grocer/zero waste shop. Adding another shop or two just feels totally beyond me, even if it's only once a month or so. I start to get into internal debates about my increased income if I work for the amount of time it would take me to go to the other shop etc etc... Will consider it though, depending on the figures at the end of this month when we really aren't being terribly careful.

Right, list...

To do today
1. Tidy up after clients.
2. Pop into town for missing bits from yesterday's food shop.
3. Take cash out for DC1's school residential (and enjoy the smugness of having budgeted for it and having the money ready to go).
4. Make granola.
5. Paint toenails and generally make feet more socially acceptable.
6. Order sleeping bag/mat for DC1.
7. Paint remaining tiles in bathroom.

Mini goals:
- £24.35/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,398.38/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.62 daily earning goal.

TOPM I definitely wasn't suggesting shopping at lots of different places, I definitely don't have time for that, 50hour week and best part of a 2 hour commute each way 3 days a week. I like things simple I meant the g00gle thing to get it online and have it delivered as they tell you how much delivery is. And I'm sure other shops do the frozen stuff, it's just where I happened to be shopping that week as they sent me a voucher

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 65: Day 7

Morning! Another day, another week almost over. Feel like this year is just flying by. Which is nice in that it means we are getting closer to (a) repaying more debt and (b) building the extension (and accruing even more debt, sigh), but bad in that I feel like it was January only about 8 seconds ago!

Spent some time yesterday re-focusing on my business goals, as I've definitely got a bit off track again, and am spending too much working time doing housework type jobs. I am really going to try to keep the focus on working during work time and then having the energy to do house things when I'm not working. We have a few quiet weekends coming up after next weekend, plus half term in which I can achieve the odd house job during the day as I won't be attempting to work, so I'm hoping that my full page of 'things that need doing at some point' list can be tackled at that stage. I need to accept that while I keep meeting these wonder women who are achieving everything, I personally need to keep my focus on making more money, and the way to do that is to lower my expectations of also being wonder-housewife. Someone remind me of that next week when I have a 47-item batch cooking list on a working day . The priority this year is to make money.

Purplefairy I will investigate buying online, good idea. Completely misunderstood you .

The budgets continue to tick along fairly boringly. We are probably going to be over-budget on food this month, but I still feel like I'm exploring the best way to food shop. I am loving the fortnightly menu plans and big food shops, as only having the hassle of doing the whole sainsburys/Aldi/grocecr/zero waste shop every fortnight is lovely. We are tending to be able to top up only from the grocer and/or the zero waste shop in the in between weeks, which is rather nice.

We also must be due a super-cheap week, as the cupboards are slowly filling up (this always happens as inevitably there are one or two menu planned meals a fortnight that don't get made and we have eggs or something instead, or a cake recipe I buy ingredients for and don't bake), so I'm hoping it might not be too painful for the month overall. We've spent the best part of £200 so far, but started the month with a low food budget as I had to do a shop at the very tail end of last month which got subtracted from May's food budget.

Very little money in or out means even the rounding down has been a bit slow for the past couple of days, although I have just paid a whopping £2.61 off the barclaycard. That takes the total debt repayments for the year over the £2,400 mark (only by 99p, but whatever, it's over), so I am within £100 of the halfway point. I would so love to hit the halfway point before the end of May, as I would be a month 'ahead' on my repayments goal for the year. I'm really looking forward to invoicing for my contract work at the end of the month, as there has been extra this month so I will be making £500+ profit rather than the usual £250-ish.

To do yesterday
1. Tidy up after clients.
2. Pop into town for missing bits from yesterday's food shop.
3. Take cash out for DC1's school residential (and enjoy the smugness of having budgeted for it and having the money ready to go).
4. Make granola.
5. Paint toenails and generally make feet more socially acceptable.
6. Order sleeping bag/mat for DC1.
7. Paint remaining tiles in bathroom.

To do today
1. Spend another hour or so on business goals/planning.
2. Check through contract work for next week.
3. Complete contract work for the following week (I am trying to get more than a week ahead before half term, and ideally more like three weeks ahead, so I can be six weeks ahead by the time the summer holidays hit).
4. Spend an hour or so on my smaller business.
5. One social media post.
6. (After work) water the sad cacti in the sitting room.
7. (After work) make granola.
8. (After work) pedicure.
9. (After work) make gf biscuits for DC3's preschool snacks.

Mini goals:
- £24.96/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,400.99/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.74 daily earning goal.

pennyforthepot

Hi TOPM,

I've recently done a big price comparison on nuts and seeds including Amazon, Costco and Booker (not Morrisons) and actually Sainsburys have recently dropped their prices on nuts and come out cheaper for almonds, Brazil's, walnuts and cashews. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds I get from a local food market as they are so much cheaper than shop bought ones. There is a company called, I think,Infinity whole foods (based in Brighton) which deliver and have an on-line service. If memory serves me right you can buy wholesale if your order is a certain price. Not sure if this is still the case as I've only just remembered it.

If prices change and I find anywhere cheaper I'll let you know - that should save you 5 minutes

mfmaybe

My suggestion would be to use mysupermarket to compare; but only select the most expensive things you are buying that week. I use it particularly when buying washing powder, nappies, etc but if you know you have to stock up on something it's worth trying. You can still do it online, too.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 66: Day 1

Happy Monday everyone! Another new week. I'm in that middle-of-the-month debt drudgery, where nothing much is happening at all. Too much month to get through to consider any overpayments, no DDs coming out, all very dull.

I was once again amazed yesterday at how much I achieved when I didn't let myself do a single house job during the day. DH seriously stepped up and did a massive room tidy with the DC, sorting out loads of old books and toys and all the stored summer gear to see what we need - the good news is that it looks like we're are only short one wetsuit, a sunhat and a pair of shorts for DC1, the others are fine on hand me downs for the forseeable. Win! DH also made a quiche for packed lunches for this week, so I am feeling really quite impressed with him (he doesn't usually achieve much when he has the DCs, but has agreed to do more so I can focus on working when I'm meant to be working).

To do yesterday
1. Spend another hour or so on business goals/planning.
2. Check through contract work for next week.
3. Complete contract work for the following week (I am trying to get more than a week ahead before half term, and ideally more like three weeks ahead, so I can be six weeks ahead by the time the summer holidays hit).
4. Spend an hour or so on my smaller business.
5. One social media post.
6. (After work) water the sad cacti in the sitting room.
7. (After work) make granola.
8. (After work) pedicure.
9. (After work) make gf biscuits for DC3's preschool snacks.

To do today
1. Finish contract work for 28/5.
2. Take social media pictures for the week.
3. Post H&M return (clothes for DCs that were ill fitting/not needed).
4. Post birthday cards to god child and friend.
5. (after work) plant potatoes. So late!
6. Spend an hour on smaller business.
7. (after work) pedicure.

Mini goals:
- £24.96/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,403.99/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.76 daily earning goal.

Treadingonplaymobil

May list update

Home/Family
1. DH finish front fence
2. Re-paint bathroom tiles (hopefully only another year to limp through! They have already been painted once but are a bit gross again). This has actually made it only the To Do list for this week for DH.
3. Buy a trailer for camping - keep checking ebay. DH has found a possible on Gumtree near friends we are visiting on the weekend.
4. Book another of the summer camping trips. This might have to wait until next month if we buy the trailer to allow the pot to refill again.
5. Check through the camping gear (maybe during an overnight away at the end of the month, where it doesn't matter if something isn't quite perfect) to see whether we need any new gear this year.
6. Try to unsubscribe from some of our junk mail - it seems to be increasing and is such a waste of resources.
7. Get a bit more ahead with packed lunch cooking - feel like I've slightly lost impetus with this.

Me
1. Plan, and stick to, a slower morning routine. Hmmm.
2. Include a full daily yoga practice in that morning routine. This has finally been reintroduced, the challenge is to keep it up.
3. Try to do a decent bit of walking/outside time every day. Going quite well, but not as well as I'd like.
4. Lose another kg (currently 70kg on the nose). Sigh.
5. Keep up with a decent daily skincare routine - I am terrible for not cleansing my face properly in the evening and not actually using all the lovely lotions and potions loitering in my bathroom cabinet. This is going pretty well actually.
6. Buy some clothes once I hit 69kg.

Work
1. 10% growth on my main social media platform (311). Up 2%, only another 8% to go!
2. A new blog post on my website
3. Get ahead with contract work - at least one week ahead by the end of the month. I'm now a week ahead, aiming to get further ahead this week.
4. Focus on my key aim - of developing some passive income that allows me to move away from my current (not hugely enjoyable) main income source. Have refocused on this, now need to produce the output.

MSE
1. £30 minimum overpayment from rounding down YNAB pots. Up to almost £25 already.
2. List wooden marble run on ebay/gumtree.
3. Keep up with the daily earning goal to try to make some headway in the extension savings. Headway is definitely being made, the daily earnings goal is lower than it was a week ago.
4. Get past the halfway mark (£2.5k) towards my debt repayment goal for the year.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 66: Day 2

Wow, what a gorgeous day it was yesterday. That perfect British day when one is genuinely warm enough in jeans and tshirt. I took the children out for a picnic dinner (just packed and wrapped the pasta dish I had cooked and took plates/napkins/cutlery/water bottles). It was so lovely to sit on the riverbank and relax in the sunshine for half an hour. Hard to be stressed about anything when life is like that.

Off 'shopping' today, to buy a really boring piece of equipment for work, which will take most of my working day as I can't get it online and the nearest appropriate shop is miles away, but need to be done. I am being naughty and meeting a friend for coffee near the shop, as I rarely see her due to location.

Paid another few quid off the barclaycard yesterday. I am surprised how pleasing I find the little daily rounding down/spare budget payments, although I have to resist the temptation to make massive overpayments and leave myself short. I've paid an extra £59.85 off the Barclaycard this month, between the rounding down pot and extra income in. I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to reach the halfway point of debt repayment before the end of the month, but fingers crossed something comes up. £91 to go! I did have a client enquiry yesterday, so maybe that will come to something.

Extension update: we are inching closer to a final design (I keep blithely knocking down walls and building new ones on the plans, but have been brought under control by DH and the architect), and have applied to build over the sewer, but are waiting for (a) the sewer people and (b) the architect to do their next bits of work now. I'm hoping that we might be in a position to apply for planning permission/get builders quotes within the next two months, but no idea whether I'm being totally pie in the sky there.

Toilet roll update (I know, you're all here because you want a peek at the glamorous reality of my life, aren't you?): you might remember we ordered toilet rolls from Who Gives A Crap a while back. Well we are finally reaching the end of the first box - we have 13 rolls left, so 35 rolls has lasted a shade under 12 weeks. I really don't know how that compares to previous toilet rolls we have used, but we are definitely changing the roll a lot less often than previously (they are 'double length' but the sheets are slightly smaller, so I wondered whether the DC would just use more, but apparently my fears were unfounded). I am definitely going to re-order, and now I know how quickly we use it I can set up a subscription, which will save a few quid. A friend also asked for a referral link and ordered, so I have a fiver off, which is rather exciting (this is the kind of thing I never remember to do). If anyone here wants a link, do let me know. For reference if anyone is thinking of setting up a subscription, we seem to be using about half what WGAC thinks a family our size should be - I think we will get 16 weeks out of our box full, which seems to be how long WGAC thinks a two person family should get out of a box, rather than a five person family. We are hygienic, I promise :rotfl: .

To do yesterday
1. Finish contract work for 28/5. Couldn't finish as was waiting for an answer from someone else, but did what I could.
2. Take social media pictures for the week.
3. Post H&M return (clothes for DCs that were ill fitting/not needed).
4. Post birthday cards to god child and friend.
5. (after work) plant potatoes. So late! Arghhhhhh somebody make me do this today.
6. Spend an hour on smaller business. Sorry smaller business, you fell by the wayside again.
7. (after work) pedicure. As did my pedicure, but I am having a day off yoga today and am going to do it shortly.

A short work to do list today as I'm not sure how much time I'll have after going to the shop, but a few non-work things to do this evening. Am still managing to avoid doing housework during work hours, but my goodness it's a struggle. Amazed at how habitual it had become (again - I seem to go through this every few months), and how much it had become a way to avoid the less exciting bits of work.

To do today
1. (Before work) pedicure.
2. (Before work) order natural rubber washing up gloves to try.
3. Shop for work equipment. Don't get distracted and buy unnecessary stuff!
4. Plan a blog post for my website.
5. Email back client enquiry.
6. (After work) plant potatoes.

Mini goals:
- £24.96/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,409.38/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £27.74 daily earning goal.

Starmummy

Hi TOPM

I have spent the past couple of weeks dipping in and out of your diary and I have finally read it from start to finish. And what a read it was.

It's just so real and that's what makes it so inspiring. You are on a journey with bumps in the road but the view is pretty good from here. I love the fact that you embrace problems as they come and adjust your sail. I love reading about your little adventures, holidays, DC antics, Washing up bowls.

You have come so far since the start you should be so proud of yourself.

Take care
SM

Suffolk_lass

Love the toilet-roll usage analysis. Only you TOPM! Now for those potatoes - you won't regret it when you have yummy home-grown ones in a few weeks' time.