Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

apple_muncher

So pleased to hear about dh's suggestions for September.

Hope you manage to find challenges that suit you both.

lindez

good news on you DH bonus and new job. Hope you manage to get the mortgage sorted out x

XSpender

My 2 day meeting has been changed to 1 day so no over nights for me this week or next week. Maybe even the week after!:D

DH and I went for a long walk last night (8 miles) as DS was at DPIL as I was supposed to be leaving early this morning for my meeting. We discussed our No Spend September Challenge and will agree the rules and budgets once I get paid on Friday. I am in the limbo between DH payday and my payday.

I am also in limbo until the mortgage goes through. I will have to post DH POI which will cause a couple of days delay and the broker needs to speak to us both tonight but I am at the gym (can't change it, part of the programme) and DH will probably be in later than planned so we may not get the call done until next week! The broker said this mortgage company are quick and we are not tied in now so can change at anytime. It would be great if we could have it all tied up in September so that the debts are settled before the October DDs come out.

We want to make some progress with the decoration of the plastered bedroom this weekend so that it is done by the time the house is valued for the mortgage. It will be great to get the bedrooms put back and be able to use my office rather than the dining room to work in. It will also mean I finally have 4 proper bedrooms. I have budgeted for a tin of paint for the walls, a roller blind and a new door handle. We have an old IK3a wardrobe of DS in there which has bright blue doors which I am going to replace with white doors (£15). We will need a light fighting at some point and a couple of bedside tables and lamps but I can wait for those.

I have just remembered that we made over the conservatory and furniture since the last valuation was done so that room looks like it has a proper purpose now which may help the value too.

We received some vouchers from Mr T last night, 3x£8 off a £40 shop. It just shows how long it is since I have shopped there as I don't usually get such good offers. They will help one of our no spend challenge goals which is to have a very low spend month on groceries.

Plans for today:

Get some work done
Book plane seats - done
Gym
Walk the dog
Turn defrosted chicken into sweet and sour and curry for DH
Post DH POI to broker
Hoover landing
Wash towels
Get ready for super early start tomorrow
Put boxing gloves in car so don't forget them again

Best go and have some breakfast since I have been up since 6.30am!

XSpender

Pay day for me today My fuel expenses were lower than I remembered so paid more than I was expecting which is always good and YNAB has been updated.

I've paid the small balance on our walking trip which I hadn't budgeted for as a friend has been sorting it out so there goes half the extra I got paid. :cool:

The grocery spend has come in at £478 which is way more than I thought we were going to end up at and needs to be reduced. DH fuel has also come in higher than expected but that is more we underestimated his fuel costs for a full month in the new job. DH is making an effort to fill up at Mr S on his way to work to keep the cost down but needs to use the N3ctar card.

The mortgage application has been submitted so should hear back from the underwriters next week if they need further information or if the valuation can be arranged. I have my fingers crossed that the new mortgage completes by the end of September so that we can go into October with the credit paid off.

I am chomping at the bit to open a regular saver for the big emergency fund but will hold off until I know the mortgage/consol is definitely happening. The small EF will be saved in my current account, tracked on YNAB, to earn interest. I read on a thread somewhere this week an article where the small EF was named 'Life Happens' which I thought was a good way of looking at it's purpose so have decided to name the big emergency/job loss fund 'S**t Happens':rotfl:

DH and I have agreed to go through the budget together on Saturday night. This will be the first time we have really sat down and done it together. DH said he is all about saving now as losing his job gave him such a fright and he worried we would lose the house.

Best go make a start on the massive piece of work I got yesterday to be completed by the end of today :eek:

XSpender

Well, we didn't go through the budget because we have had such a full weekend but may get chance tonight or early next week.

Saturday DH and I walked the steepest part of our big walk for practice. It was very hot and I had my thickest walking trousers on! Unfortunately just after we left the carpark for the 2 hour return journey we spotted the air ambulance landing and came upon a bad accident We had to take a 1 hour detour to get home. Quiet night last night and an early night after reading my book and researching walking coats.

This morning DS was training and then, when he was washed and changed, we went to the big outdoorsy shop to look for my walking coat as I knew the brand I wanted but was uncertain of which of 2 styles would be the best. I am really happy with the one I got. It is my Christmas present with £10 added from my personal spends. DH got some walking trousers and socks with his personal spends. DH and I have done some laundry and cleaned the whole of the downstairs.

We were given a bucket full of apples off a neighbour and I made a gorgeous crumble for tea. The bucket still look as full as when I started peeling and chopping!

Next week is the last week on my fitness plan so I need to organise what I will do to keep up my fitness. I will have lost maybe half a stone but feel a lot thinner, fitter, have stopped eating so much and am making much better food choices. I will know the final scores on the doors on Saturday.

I am working locally every day next week :T:j which never happens. I am at the gym 3 nights and DH and I are going to do a long walk one night when DS is at his Grandma's.

ETA: Forgot an update on the remortgage. The broker believes it will go through mid October so we will still need to pay most of the debt payments next month.

XSpender

DS back to school today. I can’t say he was happy about it last night or first thing but went in no problem this morning.

Mortgage valuation has been booked for a week on Friday. The valuers rang yesterday so I am hoping that means that the application has got through the initial review. They haven’t requested any additional information like bank statements yet. This gives us time to decorate the plastered bedroom and put all the bedrooms back the way they should be. I will need to order a blind and paint but have budgeted for this.

I have calculated that we may have about £3000 left over after the debt balances have been paid off due to the mortgage balance and debt balances reducing by the time it goes through. I will add this to the s*** happens fund as the remaining debt is 0%. I could pay it back off the balance but the emergency fund is my first priority.

We still haven’t been through the monthly budget, DH and I both feel under the weather this week. I missed the gym last night and DH was fast asleep by half 8:eek:

I still have the apples to process and am planning an apple cake for the weekend . The majority of them I will stew and freeze into crumble and Eve’s pudding size portions. Any other apple recipes gratefully received. Nothing with pastry though, I can’t get to grips with gluten free pastry.

XSpender

Spoke too soon about not having a request for more information from the mortgage company......have a list as long as my arm.:eek:

XSpender

I'm flapping a bit because I cant find the completion certificate for the IVA with the rest of the IVA stuff. Its too old to be on the registry and our IP was bought out by another company 2 years ago. I tried ringing them last night but just went to ansaphone. I am hoping the broker still has a copy from our last mortgage application. I have everything else they need ready to go so will ring the broker and see what they can do today.

I have a bit of a bad tummy and feel very sick/hungry/tired this week, the first week in I don't know when that I have been working locally! I wonder if I am a bit stressed out with the re-mortgage, trying to get the bedrooms decorated and put right, chasing DH to get his passport sorted before our October holiday, training for the big walk and coming to the end of my 6 week training plan. I haven't made it to the gym twice this week which I am feeling guilty about My friend commented on how slim I looked the other day so something must be working

Budget is looking OK. I have set the food budget low this month which will be a challenge as DH no booze month hasn't happened.

I am going to have to buy DS some school trousers. His were OK 2 weeks ago but after 2 weeks at PIL been fed too much carp they are getting tight. I thought they might have last until half term but no such look. He is loving being back at school though which is great :A

Honeysucklelou2

Apple amber is a favourite recipe here. It's basically stewed apple with the addition of butter and egg yolks which gives the apple the amber colour, with a topping of meringue. Delicious and a favourite across the generations!!

XSpender

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Apple amber is a favourite recipe here. It's basically stewed apple with the addition of butter and egg yolks which gives the apple the amber colour, with a topping of meringue. Delicious and a favourite across the generations!!

Ooo I don't think I have had that before. We have plenty of eggs in so will give that a whirl at the weekend.