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

Treadingonplaymobil

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I'd put sorting the insurance at the top of the list if I were you. Not making Chutney, isn't going to land you in Legal hot water if you don't do it....Insurance on the other hand...….

(I know you KNOW this....but just sayin')

Don't panic, it doesn't expire until early November!

ellen_vannin

But I have found when shopping around for insurance that the price on the comparison sites tends to go up in the last few days before renewal date.
Cheapest date can sometimes be 3 weeks before renewal.

Always worth shopping around and don't forget cashback sites, I am assuming you use Quidco or Topcashback. If not why not.?
Same price but cashback on most items.

Honeysucklelou2

Impressed by the rosehip syrup. It's supposed to be good in Vitamin C if I remember correctly. River Cottage recipes recommend double straining it to get rid of the fine hairs within the rosehip. Do let us know how you get on. One of those things I have thought of but never got to!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 88: Day 3

Off to work elsewhere for a couple of days, so thought I'd pop in before I go. Have left DH with the task of sorting the car insurance while I'm away as he has two days off. Hoping to come home to a pristine house and all life admin sorted! Slightly optimistic possibly. :rotfl:

Have had a few spends - had to order new new PJs for DC1, started some Christmas shopping, forked out £750 for new architect (who is so efficient. Makes me even more horrified at what a disaster area the last one was) and various other things, which have made our budget look a whole lot less pretty. Also, to be honest, some totally indulgent house spends after months and months of abstinence - we 'need' (I know it's not a need) new bowls for Christmas as we are hosting here and only have five (for soup, cereal etc). Haven't raided savings pots for other things though, so I'm still Winning At Budgets for the moment. Only another fortnight to survive before the end of the month!

Speaking of budgets, I think I'm going to need to redo our budget based on a lower income from me, as I have really struggled to earn the higher amount I set myself back in July and have been balancing the books only due to DH's massive amounts of overtime, which won't continue much longer, although he should get a decent chunk in this month's salary and a small amount in next month's. It's annoying, but there's no point having a budget that doesn't actually reflect the reality of our income. Also I know that my income is only going to drop when I'm managing the extension/labouring in the garden next year, so need to reflect that reality too. I'll take a look at it next week probably. I feel like I've sent my 'I don't want clients' message out into the universe and it is doing as it's told, as I have been soooooo slow this autumn on that front. Have also felt very needed by the DCs this term, which has taken a huge huge amount of emotional energy - DC1 is struggling enormously with anxiety, DC3 is generally exhausted and on the edge although loving school, and DC2 is just generally a hugely emotional child! I am an extreme introvert, so being 'needed' by them all evening after school is incredibly draining, and definitely impacts on my efficiency once they've gone, as I need some proper zoning out time.

I paid £120 off the barclaycard yesterday, which is always nice, but I did have a momentary 'ugh, what's the point in paying more than the minimum' as I considered the enormous amount we are going to add to our debt next year. I know every pound we pay off now makes it easier once we start back on the debt paying road after the extension is done, but it's still really rather depressing. Of course, I might need to scale back to minimum payments once the budget is redone anyway, so this might be a moot point. Going to get DH to try to move the rest of the balance on this card (about £3k) onto the Virgin, because it's no longer all at 0% and I doubly resent £120 when £35 is going on interest.

Right best get on, haven't packed or anything and I need to leave in a couple of hours!

To do this week
1. Make chutney with the last of the tomatoes, mostly green.
2. Sort car insurance. PROMISE I'll do it this week . <waves pompoms in DH's direction>
3. Let friend know how much money she owes me (I bought some candle supplies that we split between us).
4. Contract work for next week.
5. Menu plan for next fortnight (I have completed one up until next Monday already).
6. Amend food shopping delivery to reflect menu plan.
7. Order Christmas PJs for the DC, and an extra pair for DC1, who has suddenly grown out of all of his.
8. Check calendar for appointments this week and update bullet journal daily lists.
9. Achieve the targets I have set for stock and content creation for my website.
10. Make a second batch of sloe gin (made some yesterday but has to freeze some more sloes).
11. Make rosehip syrup with foraged rosehips.
12. Process any last apples I can lay my hands on. Have obtained apples, will try to stew them before I leave.

October money goals:
- £58.90/31 October rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £95/775 income for November. This number isn't getting any more impressive!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 88: Day 6

Wow, days without being here! Finally back home after a few days away, I do love coming back - such a homebody.

I ended up doing a bit of extra work while away which will increase my income at the end of the month slightly - only an extra £50, but it all helps.

We have a lovely weekend ahead - friends coming for lunch with their children today (I have a massive piece of pork slow cooking for pulled pork later, need to make coleslaw, apple sauce, potatoes etc), then going over to another family tomorrow for homemade pizza. Yum. Hoping that apart from the massive spend on the huge pork joint it will be a reasonably cheap weekend, as we're not going anywhere.

The DC are on half term now, and I'm pleased that (a) I have saved a tenner a month since the summer so have an extra £20 to spend this week, (b) I used some of DH's overtime towards the family entertainment kitty, so our kitty for this week is £50 without even adding in that extra £20 and (c) we have zoo membership so hopefully a couple of readymade days out with minimal spending - I'd love to not break into that extra £20 and let it accumulate, but no idea if that's realistic. We have a couple of playdates planned but otherwise a very quiet week, the DC are all exhausted from the first half term and I really want to let them recuperate a bit.

In other news, it's all go on the extension front - our building regs application will go in next week or the week after at the latest, and we can start getting a more in depth quote from our builder. DH and I are going to try to sit down and really look at where the money is coming from at some stage soon so we can work out a budget for things like doors, kitchen, bathroom etc.

Right, best get on, loads to catch up on after being away.

To do this week
1. Make chutney with the last of the tomatoes, mostly green.
2. Sort car insurance. PROMISE I'll do it this week . <waves pompoms in DH's direction>
3. Let friend know how much money she owes me (I bought some candle supplies that we split between us).
4. Contract work for next week.
5. Menu plan for next fortnight (I have completed one up until next Monday already).
6. Amend food shopping delivery to reflect menu plan.
7. Order Christmas PJs for the DC, and an extra pair for DC1, who has suddenly grown out of all of his.
8. Check calendar for appointments this week and update bullet journal daily lists.
9. Achieve the targets I have set for stock and content creation for my website.
10. Make a second batch of sloe gin (made some yesterday but has to freeze some more sloes).
11. Make rosehip syrup with foraged rosehips.
12. Process any last apples I can lay my hands on. apple sauce and crumble for today planned!

October money goals:
- £58.90/31 October rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £95/775 income for November.

Suffolk_lass

I love waving pompoms in D's direction!

Well done on your financial preparation for half-term.

I used to have a pound pot by the stove and if I had more than £2 in my purse I would put £2 in the pot. Did it all over the summer hols and Sept and Oct but suddenly realised the week before half term that many had gone. I asked DS where and he had given them to his school friends as they could not buy lunch (it was because they spent their lunch money on sweets or neglected to tell him they got free school meals). I remember sitting him down and explaining what the consequences of his act of generosity were... He missed out on a trip with said friends when they went to the local fair with wristbands for the rides and he could not go. Lessons in life eh!?

Moneyfordreams

I know probably not suitable for you but kind of relevant, I used to bank with a building society that closed it's local branch so I moved my salary to the local hfx as a partner Bs. My child benefit stayed with the original bs as it was too much hassle to change. Therefore I had a ready made CB holidays savings account only accessed by telephone banking. In the summer it would be holiday spending and at Christmas it was my Christmas fund. It happened by chance really, but I suppose I was "lucky" to be working full time and not depending on it for food As it went into a separate account from source I didn't have it in the budget (overdraft).

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 89: Day 1

Morning! First day of half term, and I'm enjoying not having to rush around getting everything ready. The DC and I all really need the break, and we've kept our plans really really quiet - we'll use our zoo membership and have a playdate or two, but no particular plans beyond that. I've really been struck in recent weeks by how much more my plans need to revolve around the DC these days - they are all working harder and harder at school and they really need their evenings and weekends as proper downtime, we can't just keep dragging them round to see our friends. Even though they have a good time and are totally uncomplaining, they are visibly more relaxed when our weekends are quieter and we are based around our own home. I'm being much more ruthless about only going away for special things, and offering to host people here (which hardly anyone takes up, as our house is so tiny :rotfl: ).

Had a lovely weekend seeing local friends, and the budgets continue to just about hang on. We've overspent on food because of all the entertaining at home, but then we've underspent so far on family entertainment, so it evens out in the end, it's just a question of which pot it comes from. Looking forward to finding out what DH's salary will be on Wednesday, and beginning to work out how next month's budget will look. Also need to prep my invoice for the contract work I did this month and figure out if it's enough for my salary.

I've noticed that since I started buying the odd bit of Christmas on the CC, I've felt much less keen on popping in here and updating, which is exactly the same as I felt last year. Once i know the debt is going up instead of down (or at least going down more slowly, I'm not sure if I'm spending more than I'm paying off!) I immediately lose motivation with it all. I'm determined to keep popping in here and updating even if I don't feel like it, as I need my diary ready and waiting when the Christmas spending is over.

To do this week
1. Clear all the ironing - have been catching up with laundry after being away at the end of last week, and the clean laundry mountain is ridiculous.
2. Finish contract work for this week.
3. Contract work for next week.
4. Figure out a web hosting issue I'm having.
5. Eat our way through the freezer and only buy fresh fruit and veg and milk.
6. Order stock.
7. Clear and tidy the house for clients on the weekend.

October money goals:
- £58.90/31 October rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £105/775 income for November.

Chrystal

Keep posting... do NOT lose motivation just because something that you knew was going happen happens. It's your Diary. You're way of doing things and at the end of the day you have achieved an enormous amount. Just look back to the beginning of your diary to see how far you've come and how much your thinking has changed. OK, you're way may not be the same as someone else - so what. Enjoy preparing for Christmas, without going TOO overboard enjoy the Christmas holidays and then reassess everything in the New Year.
Come on girl... you can do this. XX

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 89: Day 3

Ugh, scrabbling to stay ahead of cashflow today. I need to pay the architect £750, DH doesn't get paid until tomorrow and various clients have paid me in cash recently and I haven't been able to get to the bank, so I have £250 of this month's budget in cash instead of in the bank account, making bank account cashflow even trickier. Have temporarily drained my business account - DH's overtime will more than cover the sum to pay me back, but it's still alarming. Absolutely no idea where the money to pay building regs will come from - we'll need to raid a savings pot, which is tedious. Every time I think we're getting a a little further ahead we fall back again. Although once building regs and the structural engineer are paid, that should be it on extension outgoings for a few months <hollow laugh>, so we can repay other pots fairly quickly (we have £460pm for the extension in our budget, so can divert that for a month or two). I hate doing all this juggling, as if anything else goes wrong there's no flex in the budget. But it's still an awful lot better than a couple of years ago, when it would have been 100% borrowing. I really don't want to borrow any money for any of the pre-build costs, I want to keep the maximum available for when we actually come to build the thing.

In brighter news, and I've possibly already said this, the architect was able to make a significant change to the fire escape route which is still safe but opens up our ground floor an awful lot more, and looks much nicer, which I'm thrilled about.

Off to a National Trust place today to meet a friend for a brisk walk and a picnic with all our DC. Loving all the clear weather we've had this week, although it's still incredibly mild. Almost feels like proper autumn though.

To do this week
1. Clear all the ironing - have been catching up with laundry after being away at the end of last week, and the clean laundry mountain is ridiculous.
2. Finish contract work for this week.
3. Contract work for next week.
4. Figure out a web hosting issue I'm having.
5. Eat our way through the freezer and only buy fresh fruit and veg and milk. Going well so far.
6. Order stock.
7. Clear and tidy the house for clients on the weekend.

October money goals:
- £58.90/31 October rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £130/775 income for November.