Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

WannabeFree

Looking good Xspender. I would be asking for a refund from the CV place. That's shocking!

Hope DH is better soon good news on the payrise

Have a lovely day

x

XSpender

WannabeFree wrote: »

Looking good Xspender. I would be asking for a refund from the CV place. That's shocking!

Hope DH is better soon good news on the payrise

Have a lovely day

x

I think I do need to speak to someone about the CV because I am not happy with it. I pointed out the spelling errors the first time and it came back with more! It would be easy to change it myself but that's not what I paid for.

XSpender

U]This Week's List[/U]

[STRIKE]Go for a lunchtime swim or other exercise (dog walking excluded)[/STRIKE] DONE a 30 minute walk/run with DS
[STRIKE]Walk the dog everyday I am at home - [/STRIKE][STRIKE]Wed[/STRIKE], [STRIKE]Thurs[/STRIKE], [STRIKE]Fri[/STRIKE], Sat, [STRIKE]Sun[/STRIKE] - DONE did Friday instead of Saturday
[STRIKE]Complete a couple of frogs off my list that didn't get done last year[/STRIKE]DONE
[STRIKE]Post a birthday card (have card, not sure about a stamp)[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]List the freezer contents and eat them up [/STRIKE]- Done and eaten quite a bit from it this week
Re-organise the contents of the dresser cupboards
[STRIKE]All washing and ironing [/STRIKE]- DONE and done handwashing too
[STRIKE]Change our bedding[/STRIKE]DONE
[STRIKE]Complete amendments to my new CV[/STRIKE] Done but not impressed that the 2nd version has more spelling errors in it:mad:
[STRIKE]Eat lots of fruit and vegetables[/STRIKE] - DONE
Drink less tea and more water even if the tea is caffeine free/rooibos - drank more water at the weekend
Christmas decs in loft Not in loft but toded away upstairs
Finish 2 presentations for work - 1 done, 2nd just needs a few notes and remembered a 3rd I need to do!
[STRIKE]Clean main bathroom[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Dust and vac upstairs and stairs[/STRIKE]DONE
[STRIKE]Chase quote for roofing work and agree date for urgent bit to be done - [/STRIKE]DONE and really happy with quote so getting all of it done, awaiting dates for when this can be done
[STRIKE]Apply for BT CC[/STRIKE] DONE and accepted

We left DH at home this morning and went off to DS training as he is still under the weather. He did a lovely job of polishing DS school shoes ready for Tuesday and restoring my long boots though.

I hope I have burned some of the Christmas chocs I have scoffed today humping the Christmas decorations upstairs, cleaning the dining room, taking DS on a run with me and then taking the dog for a longer walk this evening.

DMIL has offered to lend us the money for the roof work if the builder can do it before we have all the funds together. I don't think the builder will be able to fit us in for a while so we should be OK but it was nice of her to offer.

I've checked TCB and I have £11 odd to pay out which I will request and pay to the carpet OP fund. I haven't been TT any pennies this month as yet as I am trying to cover the £250 I paid to the regular saver as I forgot to reduce the SO.

I haven't done a big to do list for next week as I am away with work a lot. Only 2 nights in a hotel but lots of early flights and long days. I do want to get my CV re-write completed though as it is hanging around and I want it out there.

I also start the C25K with the running club this week :eek:

XSpender

DH is off work poorly sick after finally succumbing to a chest infection Before the boss sent him home he went through DH new pay plan which consisted of 20% pay rise :eek: and a generous but achievable bonus scheme. DH is ecstatic and I am really pleased for him after the carp he has been through with work over the last 2 years.

The increase in basic pay will mean we can achieve our savings goals this year, pay for our holiday and save for Christmas. We did have enough money to live on and save into some of the monthly pots without it but not for the big things and to fill our big emergency fund. DH wants to save all of it in one pot or another

I haven't posted my 2018 goals yet so will do that today if I get chance. I had written them but some seemed unachievable as we didn't have a huge surplus but will be possible now.

I still have £150 to find to cover the amount paid to the regular saver. £11 odd is to be redeemed from TCB and there should be some left in DH fuel budget and hopefully the food budget. I'm not sure how I will do it but I don't want to take the money out of the pots I have set up for home maintenance/clothes/DS activities/birthdays as we will need this at some point down the line.

The food budget is going really well, although it's early days . We have stuck to the meal plan and have been using up what we have in. I have listed the freezer contents and will attempt to keep the list up to date. I am away until Thursday night, DS is at DPIL and there is plenty of easy food in the fridge/freezer for DH.

apple_muncher

So pleased to hear about dh's new pay plan! Exciting times! Hooe he gets better soon x

[Deleted User]

Hi Xspender,

Fantastic news about DH's pay plan.

Hope that he feels better soon, there is definitely something in the air.

Suffolk_lass

Have you changed your mind about paying down that unsecured debt? When you consolidated in your new mortgage I thought you said you were going to clear that debt asap and then over-pay your mortgage. I might be wrong

XSpender

[QUOTE=XSpender;75020331
Goals

1) Save £1000 to cover minor emergencies, repairs, replacements

3) Save 3 mortgage payments/£5200 in a big emergency fund (the aim is to increase this to 6 payments/£10,500 over time)

4) Save to pay for our summer holiday and spending money

5) Save £2500 to sort out the garden and build decking

6) Clear the carpets credit by the end of the year by saving up TTs, cashback, dividends and bits and bobs
[/QUOTE]

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Have you changed your mind about paying down that unsecured debt? When you consolidated in your new mortgage I thought you said you were going to clear that debt asap and then over-pay your mortgage. I might be wrong

Hi Suffolk lass. Here's what I set our goals at when the re-mortgage went through. All the outstanding debts are at 0% so will be reduced by the end of the year and the smallest account will be settled in full by TT and overpaying.

We are having to use the EF and some other bits of savings to fund the urgent roof repairs and DPIL have lent us the rest until March when it will be repaid in full. The work begins in 2 weeks.

This means that my new priorities are:

1) Repay DPIL (Feb bonus and DH pay rise Feb/March)

2) Build EF back up to £1000

3) Save for holiday caravan and holiday spending money

4) Save £3000 in big EF. I think the £5200 is not realistic for us to achieve this year, the £3000 is partly dependant on DH quarterly bonuses being achieved

5) Pay off the carpets finance by the end of the year, sooner if I can

Now that we know what DH pay will be, and that he has been given a big pay rise, it has helped to understand what we can actually achieve this year.

The decking will probably have to wait until next year and we will landscape the garden ourselves as intended and hire a skip to make the garden into an area we would like to spend some time in.

XSpender

Not much to report The budgeting is going well and there is money still in plenty of the pots on YNAB which is a first.

We might even come in under £400 for 'groceries' which will be a real achievement for us. This includes food, laundry and cleaning, toiletries and hair products, dog food, booze etc. Neither DH or I have had a drink at home since 7th Jan which has helped and I have massively cut down on buying sweets and snacks. We have stuck to the meal plan and used stuff up too. The scales haven't shifted down though as I am eating up some chocs and mince pies left over from Christmas

Had my annual review this week which went well and have received confirmation that my annual bonus will be paid at the end of the month.:j I was also asked if I would consider more senior roles if they were available. Err...yes.:cool:

Looking at the budget we should be able to pay back DPIL the money they are lending us for the roof by the end of January so only need to borrow it for about a week We can then crack on with rebuilding the emergency fund. I can't wait to get the roof done; another small bit of it fell off at the weekend.:eek: I am hoping it will reduce the energy bills too as well as the wind that whistles through the house on a breezy day. The house is quite exposed.

The furniture company have been back in touch about the non existent agreement for the furniture we bought Jan 2018. I have referred them to my previous reply from 3 months ago! Dear me, it is now a year and they still haven't set up the agreement. My debt balance will be nearly £20k when it is set up and I add it back on I know others who have suggested that as there is no agreement I could have ignored the emails/denied all knowledge and told them to whistle for the money but that doesn't feel right to me.

C25K is going well with the running club although I couldn't face running in the ice and snow yesterday and have been out this lunch time instead. I have another run to do on Sunday to keep on track.

DH has set himself a challenge of raising £1000 from selling items this year and has made £50 already for himself so far. He is looking for a good site to sell DS branded clothes on and we still have CD/DVD and books to get rid of. The money for those things will go towards our savings.

I have arranged another meeting with the fella writing my CV so I can get that finalised and out and about with agencies by the end of the month.

We haven't got much planned for the weekend. I was taking DS and a friend to an outdoor activity but it is far too cold and the ground is too hard so have cancelled it. DS has training (indoors thank god) on Sunday and DH fancies a trip to the cinema as we have 2 free adult tickets and DS has plenty of sweets from Christmas to scoff. Apart from tickets to a local sporting event in March we haven't spent any of this month's increased-for-2019 family fun budget yet so there is more than enough to cover DS cinema ticket.

apple_muncher

You do sound very much in control and non-stressed nowadays. Long may it continue!