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

Treadingonplaymobil

Some little wins and some little not-wins so far today...

Little wins:
- £2.80 towards the debt overpayment pot; I'm going to try to add something every day this week, even if it’s only 10p, by rounding down other pots or jiggling things a little. I will save it all and make an overpayment at the end of the week.
- Just checked my YNAB 'envelopes' and realised that thanks to monthly savings and my division of any additional income, we already have £127.88 of the £425 we need for the holiday we’re committed to with family this summer, which feels like a good chunk towards it. I’d like to have it all paid for by the end of June, which we’re on track for, and then have July/August’s holiday money to spend on a weekend or two camping.
- All other savings pots (car, Christmas, kids clubs etc) are on track, so we have £370 in the account we keep for those little pots of money, which feels reassuring, even though every penny of that £370 is already allocated.
- My business account continues to look relatively healthy - I have all of April’s minimum salary there, plus about 1/3 of May’s. I’d love to have the whole of May’s BEFORE I submit my end of month invoices for this month, so they can go towards June’s money, and i can start to inch my way towards having three month’s salary in the bank.
- Our emergency fund is growing. It's at a WHOPPING £12.51. Slow and steady.

Little not-wins:
- I really can't see how we are going to manage two birthdays for the amount we have set aside for them. Have had to dip into the birthdays pot for two other family birthdays already this month, which means we have about £125 left for our two for presents and party (although hopefully party food will come out of the excess food shopping budget for this month, so it will only be decorations/activities/party bags). I reckon I was probably spending a good £150 on party/cake/party bags etc for each child prior to this, plus another £100 each on presents, so this is a MAJOR cut.
- Beyond the end of this month I currently have no extra work booked (on top of my regular work that provides the £120 per month minimum income level I need to make for our budget to balance). After a couple of really busy months where we have been able to debt-bust like crazy and build up an extra month's salary that feels quite unrelaxing. I'm trying to see it as a good opportunity to spend some time and energy on my smaller business and get it ticking over again.
- Our food shopping for next week is currently showing as coming in around the £60 mark on MySupermarket. I would like it closer to £55 to give me more wiggle room for party food at the end of the month, as it's going to be so tight. Will have a play around with planned meals and see what I can do.

Treadingonplaymobil

Just waiting for DH and the children to arrive back, then will have a manic hour putting them (the children, not DH) to bed, so thought I'd update on today while I have a quiet moment.

As I said in my previous post, some financial wins and losses today, but nothing unsurprising really. I just wish I could guarantee an ongoing high income so I can keep overpaying the debt, but I need to remember that even if things are as low as they go, we will still be repaying at a sensible rate and will be debt free one day. Better than the alternative.

I managed another day of 10k steps and getting five a day. Can't believe how much of a conscious effort I have to make to ensure these two things happen, considering I thought of myself as fairly healthy before!

To do today:
1. Feed sourdough starter. Done!
2. Tidy up before DH and the children come home this evening. Done!
3. Post on social media for work (especially the business I didn't do a post for yesterday). Done!
4. knit socks (I managed about five minutes before dozing off last night!). Have done a few more rows, nothing exciting.
5. Clear ironing. Done! And before it even reached sofa-eating proportions. Proper domestic goddess, me.
6. Put next week's menu plan into MySupermarket and see if I can wiggle the price down a little. Done! Have knocked a couple of quid off, I think I'll have to be happy with that.
7. Plan working time for this week. Done!
8. Check Valued Opinions for surveys. Forgot! Have added it to my list for tomorrow.
9. Start my little challenge of putting a little bit into my 'overpayment envelope ' in YNAB every day by rounding down or moving things around. Minimum 10p! Done! £2.80 today.
10. Change sheets on our bed (will do the children's beds when I've got ours washed and dried - no tumble dryer so I try not to change them all on one day!). Not done, ran out of energy after 10k step walk. Have added to tomorrow's list.

To do this week:
1. List old unloved handbag on eb@y.
2. Order birthday presents for child 2 and child 3.
3. Order any party supplies needed.
4. Make more candles when oils arrive.
5. Finish current socks and start knitting a new pair for my dad's birthday.
6. Pay preschool bill (there should only be one more, smallish, bill after this one, then free hours kick in. Hurrah!).

angelpye

ToP you are doing really well and I think its worth remembering that not only have you paid so much off but you have also cut your budget massively in order to not be increasing the debt like you were.
I understand how hard it is to try bring a party in on budget but remember kids eat a lot less than you plan for so try to keep that in mind. Maybe homemade pizzas or something cheap like that would help? One year my eldest just wanted hot dogs (veggie), a big trifle and a birthday cake (always homemade and now she is an adult she would be disappointed if I didn't home bake one). Would it be worth thinking about what your children's favourite food is and go from there?

angelpye

Ps. Mini everything always goes down well although is more work...mini pizzas, mini battenburg cakes, mini cinnamon swirls...you get the picture

Bobarella

Hi TOP

On the birthdays thing, ironically considering my main job, we've only once paid to hire an out of home party venue. Which cost £50 back in 2011. We've used our own venue twice, and have twice held home based parties. The budget has been tiny. We have always picked a theme and then run them between us. One year was a pirate party. We repurposed a box to make a treasure chest and we wrote a treasure hunt, with clues and maps etc. The kids all came dressed up. We then walked them back to our home and had a party tea.

This year's was a much smaller affair but that seems the norm as kids get older. 8 friends, a theme of a certain trading card game, and we decorated the house with drawings Oh had done of the characters. We turned a game we already owned into that theme and the kids loved it. We did pin the tail on one of the character drawings hung on the back of a door. I made party bags from gift wrap and put all the odds and ends you end up with from other kids parties back into the bags, they all had a home made cupcake and some multi bag Chocs. They did a bit of dancing to some online music played through the laptop then played in the garden.

The main gift was something that DS wanted and his grandparents both side chipped in so again not much from us.

I am just thinking of all the ways you could definitely have a great party for £55 per child and I'm sure we didn't spend that much in total on either of the above.

Hope that helps.

Bob

P.S just seen I've cross posted with Angel on the same topic

Treadingonplaymobil

The crazy thing is, I have generally spent that hosting a party for a small number of children at home, not a fancy venue party! I always make their cakes and have always gone for elaborate themes, so £20+ on each cake, then another £30 on themed decorations, £20 on party food, another £30-40 on 'nice' party bag bits, maybe £20 on prizes for pass the parcel/treasure hunt/pin the tail etc, £30 on craft activities. So much money, but it never felt insanely extravagant, just lots of nice touches. They have always loved their parties. I am really worried about the elder of the two who has a birthday this month feeling short changed as he will remember his brother's birthday late last year being much 'better' in terms of decorations, cake, presents etc.

JoJoC

Do you think you'd be able to prepare your eldest for the party so nothing comes as a surprise? I'm thinking you tell him that you're having an X themed party with Y type of cake, friends over, these games etc. I'd hype it all up to get the excitement going about the party and perhaps he won't even think about what his brother had. I think kids can be resilient - it'll all be about him, all attention on him, presents from you, friends and family and excitement about turning a year older. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't even think twice about it.

Alternatively, what age is he? Is he old enough that you can have a 'grown up' conversation with him about the fact that mum and dad are saving money right now so this year, all the sibling's birthdays will be like this... it might not be appropriate, but only you know what your son will respond to.

In terms of party bags, this year I got packs of 10 books for £10 from The Works (then had a 20% discount code on top of that, so £8 for 10 books) and each child at my son's party had a book and some sweets. You could make cookies/ cupcakes so they could have a book and a cupcake as a takeaway instead of party bags which can cost an arm and a leg and sometimes be full of tat!

I know why you're feeling a bit anxious about all this, i know i would too, but I'm pretty sure it'll all run smoothly. You're starting off a new 'normal' so it needs to happen sometime so that you can meet your goals

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 5: Day 2

Monday! I do like Mondays. Fresh start, clean sheet etc etc.

I have so much work and life admin to catch up on this week, so I doubt there'll be much in the way of debt busting going on. Food shopping this evening, and hoping it will come in under budget so I have a little extra spare for party food.

My 5 a day/10,000 steps a day mission continued yesterday. The walking is going to be trickier now the children are around again, but I'm going to prioritise it for a few days and see how I go.

To do today:
1. Bake bread.
2. Knit socks.
3. Change bed sheets and wash (the forecast is good, so if I wash them as soon as DH is up then they'll dry on the line).
4. Food shopping.
5. Try to catch up on my work/life admin lists, including, among other things, ordering party decorations, writing and posting birthday cards to family, providing my parents with present ideas for the children.
6. Check valued opinions for surveys
7. put a little money into my overpayment pot on YNAB.
8. Do some batch cooking in case I am busy later on in the week.

To do this week:
1. List old unloved handbag on eb@y.
2. Order birthday presents for child 2 and child 3.
3. Order any party supplies needed.
4. Make more candles when oils arrive.
5. Finish current socks and start knitting a new pair for my dad's birthday.
6. Pay preschool bill (there should only be one more, smallish, bill after this one, then free hours kick in. Hurrah!).

Treadingonplaymobil

Phew, have been nonstop today, but have begun to catch up with myself a bit in admin terms.

I had good and bad financial news today.
The good: the food shopping came in miles under budget. It would have been £59.64 (still pleasingly under budget) but I had £12.50 in nectar points so the food shop total for this week was only £47.14! That's some kind of record. To be honest, I'm surprised at how 'easily' (relatively speaking) we are staying within our £75 per week budget. This month is a 5 week month for us in food shopping terms, and it is still on track to come in at £350 (excluding party food).
The bad: I inadvertently made a huge (£95) overpayment to the MBNA card. This was because with my barclaycard, if I pay more than the minimum payment before the DD date, it doesn't take the DD, and I assumed MBNA was the same, but apparently not! So the minimum payment came out today despite several payments already this month. SO, some manic juggling of figures (mainly dumping all the excess food budget into the credit card pot) and I have reduced that sudden £95 shortfall down to £50. I'm going to cover it by moving some money over from our savings (£30 from Christmas and £20 from the holiday pot). I hate doing it, as i'm worried I'll fail to top those pots up again, but I just don't have any other pots to borrow from. At least I have 8 months or so to top up the Christmas one, and I'll make topping up the holiday one a priority before making any more debt overpayments, as we have this holiday we're committed to. Bit of a nightmare, but it has knocked the DFD forward one more month! Silver linings.

Anyway, today's lists...

To do today:
1. Bake bread. Done
2. Knit socks. Not done, boo.
3. Change bed sheets and wash (the forecast is good, so if I wash them as soon as DH is up then they'll dry on the line). Done! All lovely and fresh smelling from the line.
4. Food shopping. Done! See above.
5. Try to catch up on my work/life admin lists, including, among other things, ordering party decorations, writing and posting birthday cards to family, providing my parents with present ideas for the children. Have done everything I scheduled myself for today, a few more manic days before I'm fully up to speed again.
6. Check valued opinions for surveys. Done, up to £5.50 now.
7. put a little money into my overpayment pot on YNAB. Well, that rather got abandoned after making an inadvertent £95 overpayment. I think I'll call this job done for the week!
8. Do some batch cooking in case I am busy later on in the week. Some done, but not as much as I was hoping. Will try to double cook tomorrow so there's another meal in the freezer.

To do this week:
1. List old unloved handbag on eb@y.
2. Order birthday presents for child 2 and child 3.
3. Order any party supplies needed.
4. Make more candles when oils arrive.
5. Finish current socks and start knitting a new pair for my dad's birthday.
6. Pay preschool bill (there should only be one more, smallish, bill after this one, then free hours kick in. Hurrah!).

Bobarella

That's a pain about your MBNA card working that way. It's good you had the money to balance the overpayment though.