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

remote_control

We're with ecotricity which is also 100% renewable. I think you get a £50 John Lewis voucher with a referral from me (or someone else). Their customer service is great and they only have one tariff so it is simple!

I have been thinking the past couple of weeks about your clothes spend for the children as ours have similar items but we don't spend that much. The second child is almost entirely hand me downs from friends. I also ask for clothes for their birthdays and Christmas which helps. I think coats last two years, as do a few other things like waterproof trousers which I always buy miles too big poor things.

Birthday presents for other people are nearly always books. I buy from places like the book people and book depository who sell cheap bundles which I then split. Also get lego sets when they are on 3 for 2 offers for children we need to buy bigger presents for. I also re-gift.

Keep up the good work.

Homegrown0

remote_control wrote: »

We're with ecotricity which is also 100% renewable. I think you get a £50 John Lewis voucher with a referral from me (or someone else). Their customer service is great and they only have one tariff so it is simple!

I have been thinking the past couple of weeks about your clothes spend for the children as ours have similar items but we don't spend that much. The second child is almost entirely hand me downs from friends. I also ask for clothes for their birthdays and Christmas which helps. I think coats last two years, as do a few other things like waterproof trousers which I always buy miles too big poor things.

Birthday presents for other people are nearly always books. I buy from places like the book people and book depository who sell cheap bundles which I then split. Also get lego sets when they are on 3 for 2 offers for children we need to buy bigger presents for. I also re-gift.

Keep up the good work.

I also do almost all of these things! Sainsbury's have a good sale on at the moment - I just picked up a pair of trousers, a tshirt and two baseball caps for the kids for £18. I find Sainsbury's stuff wears and washes well too.

I'm another regifter, particularly with duplicates or something my son just doesn't seem interested in. It saves a lot - both money and space in the toy room!

Kitten868

Hello again,

Sorry to pop in like that but I thought I had more time than I did! Thank you for your diary, it's really great to have someone be honest. Don't get me wrong lots of the diaries are brilliant too but I always seem to read about that woman that has one bath a week and waters the plants with her wee or the person who stops drinking 3 cappuccinos a day and then decide to pay off debt with savings and clears £100k in 4 months.

I wasn't being judgemental about the stickers! Im always getting told off for my daughter's £4 comic and my irritating ability to only buy big toys.

I think you should keep posting here - you've got lots of support and advice from lots of people in a similar position (ie self employed or mums etc) and I find that invaluable to keeping you going. Reduce time on here yes but I think your morning post keeps your eye on the prize.

When it comes to kitchens I've fallen in love with ikea bodbyn kitchen in grey and buying handles elsewhere. Using just basic metro tiles on one wall and these brilliant grey moroccan ones from wickes. Laura Ashley do tiles that are gorgeous that you can find waay cheaper online. I appreciate that our tastes are probably different and yours are more high end than mine but find the expensive stuff you want and you can find it cheaper online.
Check your Sainsburys exit fee as the renewable energy companies are great. You've got recommender offers and there's a few more out there. And you can feel better without having to pay more

Oh and we've just paid £75 for a 2.25 metre RSJ. RSJs aren't too dear compared to what you think they will be. Is there any other jobs you and hubby could take on to save money? I've pushed my hubby to destroy a wall himself saved us thousands. Go through the list of jobs and see.

Keep going!

mfmaybe

I think cutting back the time on the diary just a fraction is a good thing - but agree it needs to remain a habit.

On the quote, does that include contingency budget? If not, add it. At least 10% - maybe even 20%. Whilst I am sure there are things you can cut off the estimate, don't assume it can all be done for less; though of course shop around to try!

Sobl00dyblonde

Hi TOPM

I've been reading for a little while (took a fair amount of time to catch up) but have finally plucked up the courage to join and wanted to say thank you for getting me thinking about the plastic waste stuff, it's something I've had half-hearted bouncing around my head for a while but you've motivated me to start making inroads into doing something about it.

Have you tried the corn tortillas yet? It takes a few goes before you can get the consistency of the mix right but keep trying, they're gorgeous when they're made well (ie not by me!). Also the flour is dried corn which is soaked in lime water before it's ground. There's a fancy word for it which I wont even try to spell.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 72: Day 4

Gifts for children - I did an amazon order last week and have stocked up on some generic gifts - mostly stickers and albums for younger children, and things like invisible ink spy pens and notepads for older ones. Not wildly exciting, but should get us through the next year of gifts, and only £7-8 per child instead of current £10-20.

Honestly, I don't know what we do wrong on children's clothes - they don't have many, and it's not like they are 100% Boden or anything, but I do find that cheap jeans/trousers/leggings wear through in about three seconds flat. It's one off expenses like coats that really push it up. It'll be interesting to take a 12 month average at the end of the year.

Sobl00dyblonde I tried the corn tortillas a couple of times (enough to have used up the bag I bought). They were nice, but I'm not sure I'll bother again, for the price. I make fresh flour tortillas quite often, and for three of four times the price I didn't feel they were three or four times better, if that makes sense.

We have instructed the architect to apply for planning next week. God knows whether he actually will.

I have just paid my salary over for next month and am slightly horrified at the emptiness of my business account - I have virtually no buffer left after upping my salary, and will need to seriously pull my finger out in order to keep paying myself that salary during my quietest time of year. Nothing to do but knuckle down and get on with it.

I am feeling very awed by very positive about the enormous quantity of money we need to make this year, both to meet my new salary goals and to keep saving a sensible amount towards the extension/overpaying debt. I feel like my energy levels are really high, and now I need to translate that into some productive income. I'm looking forward to getting everything laid out in black and white when the new month starts.

To do this week
1. Order supplies needed for my sister's wedding cake. Partly done.
2. Get one full month ahead on contract work. almost there.....
3. Declutter and tidy utility room.
4. Practise batch of macarons.
5. Plan out something I want to make for DC1.
6. Investigate our internet speed/usage with a view to changing to a more useful deal at some stage.

Mini goals:
- £24.57/30 June rounding down pot.
- £2,837/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- I have deleted the extension shortfall from here for now as I have had to finally - sob - rob this pot to make the budgets balance after adding too much to it at the beginning of the month. I will reassess and update at the beginning of July.

ellen_vannin

Even if it is not possible to earn much cash in the summer hols , you can do the following without child care;

1. List things on Ebay
2. Check ebay for clothes etc
3. A day out looking in charity shops
4. Preparing gifts for Xmas
5. Enter competitions - lots listed on this site
6. complete surveys for cash
7. Review % rates for credit cards
8. Check comparison sites etc before renewing anything e.g. insurances

Ignore above if you are doing them all already !!

Gemsy81

You sound really positive TOPM, really looking forward to watching you hit those new goals!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 72: Day 5

Morning! The end of the week, and month, is finally nigh. Can't come quickly enough. We are gong to a family party this weekend on the other side of the country so lots of driving - need to be prepared with snacks etc. We are down to £8 for the entertainment kitty, £30 for diesel and £13 for food, which should get us through without too much drama. I do love seeing family and doing things on the weekend, but it does take its toll in term of our energy, the mess in the house (always a mountain of laundry and several days to tidy away all the packing and unpacking) and our budgets. I sometimes wonder whether we should be a bit 'quieter' on the weekends, but with both sets of parents divorced and remarried, and siblings, and no two relatives living in the same place (they are dotted from Wales to Cumbria to Sussex to London), even seeing them every few months means a fair bit of travelling - difficult to have them here because of lack of space - and that's before we've seen any friends etc. It's a perennial problem, and one i haven't really resolved. Maybe we can invite people to stay more often once we've done the extension?

Today is going to be about making some cheap food for dinner in the car - I'm going to make savoury muffins and some biscuits/brownies, and I'll spend a fiver of the remaining food budget on fruit. And I need to pack for everyone so we're ready to leave at 4. And I need to pack an order for my smaller business, and pop to the post office with it. So a relaxing day all round then! Oh, and I also need to prep my contract work invoice, which will slightly refill my business account and stop it looking so terrifyingly empty!

I keep forgetting about the £700 I have in premium bonds from my business account, and the £1,000 of our personal money, and panicking about how little money we have. It's actually been really good having it locked away there, especially towards the end of the month when money is tight, as when I've remembered and been tempted I've been able to tell myself that I might as well leave it in until after the next draw at the beginning of the month, which stops me dipping into what little buffer money there is (and at the start of the next month the budget pots are full so I'm not tempted). I know premium bonds aren't the best investment ever, and I've always been very sniffy about them, but the fun 'lottery' aspect is quite nice, and knowing they are instant access but not actually within my bank account has resulted in them being left untouched.

Ellen Vannin thanks for the list! The problem I usually find in the summer is that when I don't have childcare I need to use any second I can grab while they're occupied to keep on top of emails/prep for clients/pack orders for my smaller business, so I don't tend to have much time spare. We'll see how it goes though.

To do this week
1. Order supplies needed for my sister's wedding cake.
2. Get one full month ahead on contract work. almost there.....
3. Declutter and tidy utility room.
4. Practise batch of macarons.
5. Plan out something I want to make for DC1.
6. Investigate our internet speed/usage with a view to changing to a more useful deal at some stage.
7. Check ebay listing for bike trailer and make it live.

Mini goals:
- £24.57/30 June rounding down pot.
- £2,837/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- I have deleted the extension shortfall from here for now as I have had to finally - sob - rob this pot to make the budgets balance after adding too much to it at the beginning of the month. I will reassess and update at the beginning of July.

remote_control

I lost track with the extension plans, what did you manage to include off your wishlist in the end?