Oops I did it again, I played with my cards!

emmie26

Speeding notification has arrived today, I was really hoping that I would get away with it but no such luck However I have fallen into band A which should mean that I am able to do the speed awareness course instead of a fine and this is currently £80 which is a big improvement on the £293 I had worked out from the online calculators. It is not a done deal yet because I’ve got to send back some information and then will find out if they are offering me the course, but in the information they sent it looks like this is an option

I’ve moved money into the savings account today for all big budgeted expenses. The savings account looks like this (I have added one category as I’d forgotten about my professional registration which is around £120 per year):


Christmas: £100
Holidays: £226.37
Birthdays: £50
Dentist: £6.66
Clothes Kids: £100
Instruments: £20
Clothes Me: £50
Pet Costs: £91
School Trips: £40
Car Maintenance: -£392.62
car tax: £5
Car Insurance: £100
Professional fees: £7.50
Big Days Out: £50

Total: £453.87

I had budgeted car maintenance at £500 per year, we have one car that is a year old and one that is 7 years old but in the last 2 months we have spent £474 so I’m thinking £500 is not going to be enough but I’ll just update at the end of the 12 months because I really can’t add any more to these budgets at the moment so any overspends are going to have to come from one of the other pots. I am putting £608 into the savings account every month, however, because of the massive car maintenance overspend the other pots have been borrowed from, so things like big days out will have to be sacrificed for now.

In better news today when my MIL found out about the car expense (fine and garage) she has said she wanted to give us some money to get a BBQ, as we have had the new patio and outside table so wanted us to enjoy it while the sun was shining, we did tell her no but she has transferred it into DH’s account. We talked about it and I have said I really don’t want to spend a fortune on a new BBQ when we could get a fire pit BBQ for about £30 and then pay the rest off one of the cards. DH was a bit reluctant but has agreed to it because he has not been happy about the date the Direct Debit has been coming out of his account so if he pays £150 and then changes the date of the direct debit then two amounts will come out within days of one another but will help him in the long term.

Had a bit of a spendy day today, have had to pay the window cleaner who we have missed paying for 3 months so owed £30. Went to the school summer fayre and spent around £10 although was a lovely afternoon so not complaining about that. DH has been to the butcher and spend £20 as well as me going to Aldi and spending £24 although I’m hoping this will have us sorted for the week.
The shopping budget has £18.80 left and I have got £158 of my personal spends left.
Right now both children are in bed, DH is snoozing on the sofa (he had a few beers today and it always causes narcolepsy) so I am going to pour myself a glass of vino and go and sit outside to enjoy the sunset. Happy weekend everyone!!!

emmie26

Bit of a weird day today, DH has not been feeling good and he literally took himself off this morning not telling us where he was going and was out until 2.30pm, he said he had been sitting in the park thinking, I am really worried about him! He phoned a couple of friends to say he wasn't feeling good and he thought something was wrong but them being men said he was fine and not to worry about it I've tried to talk him into going to the doctors but I don't think he will.

While he was out I packed my son up because he is going away with school for the week, I had to go and buy a couple of pairs of shorts so we went to sports direct but as I was picking some shorts the fire alarm went off so we had to leave. We then went to matalan which is next door and as luck would have it there was a half price sale so I brought him 2 pairs of shorts 4 t-shirts, I brought my DD a dress and me a top all for £40, it will come out of the clothes budget.

Right now I'm off to bed, just hoping and praying DH will go to the doctors

Hiddenidenity

Sorry to hear about DH hope he's okay.

Hope DS has a lovely week x

emmie26

Thanks hidden, I'm going to miss my boy x

Hiddenidenity

Hope DS had a lovely week and DH is feeling better
have a fab weekend x

emmie26

Thanks hidden, my boy is now home :T I've missed him loads.

I've had a funny week with DH and here is probably not the best place to go into it, but feeling a bit low really. July is not really my month I think!

I've been on some training today which has been real food for thought, the trainer talked about being conditioned to be unhappy so that we consume products to keep the economy going. This is definitely me, my main weaknesses are beauty products, holidays and house things. No matter what I buy I am always looking for the next thing. Prime example, we are going on holiday abroad for 2 weeks in August, yet tonight I have spent ages looking at different ways I can get another holiday in Wales before we go (I am nuts). Unfortunately on the training they didn't teach you about how you can break the cycle, so it looks like it's up to fellow dfw's to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Ive stayed on the debt free wagon (mostly). I did have one naughty day where I forgot to take my lunch to work and spent £1.90 on a sandwich and then that night fancied some salty sweet popcorn (my new favourite) and so nipped to the shop and ended up spending £30 on toiletries :eek: I don't really know what happened really but I got to browsing and before I know it my basket was full!! No more browsing for me.

I've got some cash in my purse which I think will cover what I intend spending this weekend at another summer fayre and then I'm on the home run to payday so hopefully can stay on the straight and narrow.

Looking forward to August and a fresh start!

emmie26

Well a day of 2 halves. Firstly the money saving half.
1. I forgot my purse when I went to the school summer fayre, so could not spend a penny. My children both took their pocket money so the school still did OK out of us.

2. Looked after a friends son while she did some revision and when I dropped him home she gave me some clothes she had brought for their daughter that were too small and they fit my DD perfectly.

3. Had several conversations about what we should do this afternoon, ?bowling, ?cinema, ?meet friends for a meal. In the end my DH dusted off the old wii which had not been used for about 5 years and we all played bowling, tennis etc, whilst eating sweets and drinking Aldi lager (adults only) very mse evening and lots of fun!

Second half not so mse

1. Arranged for the children to go away for a week during the summer hols with grandparents, I can't ask them to pay for it all as they have retired so paid half, £200 taken from the holiday fund, which now has £26 left in it.

2. Had to pay for a train ticket for a weekend we have planned in September £60 taken from the big days out fund, this has -£10 in it.

3. DH was in charge of sorting the cattery for our summer holiday, when I asked him if he had done it he had forgotten which means the only place we could get them in is the most expensive place.

At least all of the money has come out of savings but still a bit gutted that the savings pot is growing very slowly because I keep using it. I'm hoping that after school uniform expense is over we have a couple of cheap months before Christmas.

in_need_of_direction

Just think though, a year ago this would all have had to go on the cards. You're doing so well by comparison.

emmie26

Thanks INOD sometimes it's good to put things into perspective. The debt is going down and we are still doing things, that has got to the best way, just impatient and want it all.

Today I've been to Aldi and spent the last £35 we had left for the shopping, but it is the last full week before payday so I'm hoping we have enough to last. I am going to divide the shopping budget between the weeks next month so that I don't splurge at the beginning of the month and then have nothing for the end. I saw someone write on another diary, that it's best to have a couple of days scrimping than a couple of weeks. DH isn't keen on this idea but I'm going to try and use my powers of persuasion

Hiddenidenity

I find weekly so much easier, it doesn't feel so long until the budget is topped up again