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

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 91: Day 5

Lordy, I am still ill. Has been rumbling on for a couple of weeks now. I'm feeling stressed about DH going away next week as I can't see how I'll manage if I'm in this state - I'm sleeping really badly due to coughing, and have such a sore throat and chest. I could go to the doctor, but it doesn't feel like it's getting worse or even staying the same, it gets worse for a bit, then improves virtually the point of disappearing, then starts again, and really I know it's because I'm run down and busy. I don't think there's a medicine for that! Fingers crossed a quiet weekend sorts me out. I'm working, but only at home, admin stuff and things for the website.

Pleased to report that the budgets continue to function, more or less, a whole week and a bit into the month. Food spends are fairly low. I need to buy more fruit (as always), but I think that should be it for a few days.

To do this week
1. Contract work for next week.
2. Make something to build up the packed lunch supplies in the freezer.
3. Order the children some clothes (my amazing mum has said she will buy a new winter coat for the two who need them, and warm trousers for all three).
4. Finish first products for website. Going well.
5. Bake another batch of sourdough - the weekend cleared us out!
6. Make a couple of batches of flapjacks.
7. NO FOOD SHOPPING apart from fruit or things to complete a meal using the contents of the cupboards until the cupboards are significantly emptier. This is going well.
8. Redo SOA.

November money goals:
- £2.30/31 November rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £0/775 income for December (still working towards my minimum monthly costs of £138. Almost there now).

enthusiasticsaver

Sympathies on the cough. My DH has had the same for weeks and weeks now and just cannot seem to throw it off. Not sleeping at night is a killer when you have three kids to look after. Quiet weekend sounds good.

Suffolk_lass

I use the Boots own brand pholcodeine cough linctus. Boots BP. It contains a bit of codeine that ensures you get a better sleep because it is an opiate. I have asthma and chest infections usually end up much worse if not looked after. This is one of my first phase self-medicating remedies and it has often stopped it getting worse. I have bought it from another pharmacy chain and then found it was completely different, with artificial sweeteners and all sorts of muck in it. Hence the Brand shout out

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 92: Day 2

Just popping my head round the door. Still here, still ill, although on the mend. This chest infection has really knocked me for six. Definitely improving now, but it's taken soooooo long.

Off to do a bit of Christmas shopping today - we are attempting to have an Amazon-free Christmas and support the high street, so I'm off to a nearby independent toy shop and a couple of other places to see if they have anything that might be good for the DCs.

Not a lot else to report. Still acres of food in the house, although DH went and bought a whole load of easy freezer food for me to cook while he's away this week, so all the store cupboard stuff is going to need to wait a few days to get used. I'm so pleased he did, even though it feels like £30 down the pan - it's made dinner times so much easier while I'm ill and he's away to just bung something in the oven for half an hour and serve it with some peas.

Have had a few client enquiries this week. Hate saying yes as I so want to stop being client facing, but on the bright side if they come off it will alleviate the financial pressure a little.

Normal service to resume when I can breathe uninterrupted by hacking.

November money goals:
- £5.14/31 November rounding down pot.
- £4,157.49/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £0/775 income for December (still working towards my minimum monthly costs of £138. Almost there now).

Verbatim

You poor thing. Awful to be ill AND responsible for three children with no support. Well done your oh buying the easy freezer food. Get well soon.
x

Starmummy

I'm sorry to hear that you are still poorly. Unfortunetly that's bound to happen when you just don't have time to recover.
It is nice to see you being kind to yourself with freezer meals etc. It's better to be rested than the 'perfect ' mum whatever that means.

I hope you feel much brighter soon.

take care

SM

Doodles152

Hope your feeling better soon, try and rest up as much as you can.


I'm still so intrigued by what you do and would love a peek at your website

System

Still unwell TOPM , hope you are on the right side now . Look forward to you coming back soon .

Suffolk_lass

I imagine your energy levels have been impacted by your chest infection and your DH away again and therefore RL is taking precedence over your diary. We hope to see you back soon. As you can see, we are all waiting hopefully...

Do take care of yourself - you need to be fit and well for your family, first and foremost

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 93: Day 1

Morning! Still feeling somewhat under the weather, which is RIDICULOUS. Definitely still improving, but cannot believe how stupidly ill I was. My comeuppance for burning the candle at both ends for so long. Trying to be much more gentle with myself.

Of course, trying to be gentle means largely burying my head about the current spending, which is just horrible, Christmas shopping has begun and with me being properly ill for the best part of a month the whole shebang has fallen apart really, food shopping is all over the place in an effort to buy easy meals, there's been cafe trips for lunches, fish and chip dinners, and the Christmas shopping has firmly begun. I daren't even add it all up. Feeling thoroughly meh about it all and know that I need to rein it all back in as soon as possible, but just can't muster the energy just yet.

In less tragic news, I do have my monthly expenses for December covered and have started to accumulate income - up to £110. The flipside of that is that DH and I reckon that the build is going to impact my income to the tune of £250pm next year, (my client facing income, basically) which is going to have to come out of the build pot. Small fry in the scheme of things, and will allow me to project manage the build, but frustrating nonetheless. I feel like we are in such a holding pattern waiting for this massive spend, and it's really challenging me to keep on top of the small numbers when I know we're going to be adding tens and tens of thousands next year.

DH should get a little overtime at the end of this month, which will go to covering any shortfall in my December salary (shouldn't be much, by the time I've invoiced for my contract work this month, maybe a couple of hundred quid tops). Any extra he gets will go towards Christmas I think, with a view to minimising the credit card impact of it.

I'm being all bleak about the spending - the fact is that we rely on Christmas spending to top up a lot of things for the children that I guess other people might buy throughout the year - new art and craft supplies, new clothes for all of us - which is one of the reasons the spend is big. We could cut that spending obviously, but things like clothes would just have to be bought at a separate time anyway.

As I said, I can't muster the energy to get too worked up about it just now, I'm just trying to keep a bit of a lid on the wilder excesses of Christmas and we'll worry about the rest after that.

November money goals:
- £7.89/31 November rounding down pot.
- £4,277.70/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £110/775 income for December