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

mummytogirls

Hope you guys are feeling a bit brighter now Emmie

I did have to laugh at you trying to squeeze a week away in Wales before you 2 weeks away... If you come up with some solution re buying things to make yourself happy then please do share! xx

Chandelier.

Hope both you and your OH are feeling a bit better now.

As previous poster said, at least you have used money in pots rather then using cards or other options. And it's nice to see your debt go down whilst still continuing to do this

emmie26

Thanks HI - I'm thinking of trying the weekly budgets in a few areas, for example my spending money for the month, I seem to just fritter it on bits of crap I may give myself a smaller budget but divide it weekly to see if I can make it last, it will be a good challenge!

M2G - I am a nightmare - I think I am having some sort of internal battle at the moment, I've been online clothes shopping, motor home shopping and of course holiday shopping. I never get to the actual purchase point but what a bloody waste of time :rotfl:

Chandelier - you are right thanks, the pots are for budgeted items but because I put it in the savings account I'm psychologically thinking I'm spending my savings rather than using my budget. I'll have to get my head around that a bit more.

emmie26

Well pretty productive afternoon today. I have finally got round to making a list of everything I need for our holiday. My DD could get away with having absolutely nothing as I think I may have been a bit crazy in the past and she has loads of clothes. She has asked for a new costume because she has used it all year round so I think this is all I'm going to get for her. She also only needs skirts and blouses for school in September.
My DS needs a load of shorts for holiday. I just brought him a couple of pairs but he left them at the school residential grrrr! I have been onto sports direct and think I can get him knitted out for £20. For school he needs trousers (specific/expensive pair) only. I am only going to replace the other bits as and when he needs it through the year.
They both need new school shoes.
I'm going to get lilo/rubber rings and take them with us as this will be cheaper, also a beach towel, we have 3 but have lost the 4th.
I'm pleasantly surprised because I thought that we would need more (and would normally have just done a big next order without thinking) I think I should be able to get all the clothes and school stuff with the £70 left in the clothes budget. Maybe shoes will have to come out of next months clothes budget.
By Christmas the clothes budget should have built up to £200 if I don't need to buy anything else which means I could use it to add to their pressies, my DD loves clothes and my DS loves trainers
As for myself I haven't got round to that yet, I should have £70 in my budget by the end of the month, I hate clothes shopping though so will only go if I must. That is one area I definitely do not overspend!

emmie26

Well another productive if not a little costly afternoon.


I have booked and paid for the taxis to and from the airport which was £86, online order from sports direct for £35 although will get a £5 voucher to spend in store. Also brought lilos and rubber rings for holiday from ebay, they are always loads cheaper here than when we are on holiday.


I still need to get the school uniforms sorted and order the Euros that we need although we are going all inclusive so it shouldn't cost us too much although the 2nd week we are there we are meeting up with relatives who have a villa out there and we do want to show the children some of the culture of the island so will spend a little although hoping for around £250 maximum.


Enjoyed another really sunny day here its been fab, I finished work early and decided to do a bit at home instead, as it is so much nicer to sit in the sun writing reports than to sit in my dull and gloomy air conditioned office. However tomorrow I do need to spend most of the day in the office boo!!


Tomorrow we are trialing giving the children soup and bread for dinner, I'm hoping it goes down well as this is our way of trying to not only cut our meat intake but also to cut our spending, one night a week we intend on making different soup batches that will do for dinner for us all and then lunch the following day for me and DH. Tomorrow is Leek and Potato. The only issue is that my mum is over for tea tomorrow so I'm going to have to ask her to bring her own bread over as she is coeliac. We do end up feeding lots of people at our house, tonight it was step mum over for tea, tomorrow will be mum and then no doubt there will be other peoples children later in the week.


On an unrelated note I have been invited out twice this weekend, Friday the girls form work are going for a curry, it is really close to home and its somewhere you can take your own drink so hopefully won't cost me too much, on Saturday some old school friends have invited me out for cocktails and dinner, I am going to try and keep cost down by saying I am driving because I don't want to not go, as I haven't seen them in ages, but I also don't want to go over budget as this is the last weekend before pay day so I was hoping to make an overpayment on one of the debts to make sure I get a good debt reduction again.


Right off to prep the soup and then another early night I hope. I had some crazy dreams last night and didn't sleep great.

emmie26

Happy Friday!!!

Other than holiday expenses we are having a relatively cheap week. The cupboards are bare as it is nearly payday. The soup was a hit with one child but not with the other, next week I'm going to try tomato soup, maybe leek and potato was a step too far. Last night we had frittata for one child and pasta for the other and both went down well. I just need to incorporate a couple of cheap days a week and then hopefully the shopping budget will last us.

The car insurance renewal has come through for one of the cars and I am really loving the budget because I already have it in the savings account :T I have come to terms with spending it now. I think realistically the individual pots aren't filling up to reach the right amount, but if I just think we are saving £610 a month for these sorts of things and as long as we keep to the budgets we should be fine. My DH is very impressed that I aren't asking him for extra money when bills come through because it's already saved and he is really on board with the money saving now (I think it's because he has no money in his account).
I am looking forward to doing my sums in the next few days to see how much I have brought the debt down and how much money we have for next month to get what we need/want.
Main thing over the next two days is that I try not to overspend on my 2 meals out.

Hiddenidenity

Make sure you look around for quotes for insurance and check cashback sites

Glad to hear everythings going well, have a lovely day x

clearmydebts

All sounds very positive and organised! My cupboards are bare too! Payday for DH next Tuesday I literally can't wait!

emmie26

Cash back is a great idea HI, do I just find the cheapest quote I can and then try and go through a cash back site? Or do you search on the cash back sites? I've always been keen to try but just end up using compare the market or moneysupermarket.

I really wish I was organised CMD today has been a bit of an embarrassment really. Last night I borrowed DH's car and when I was driving home a parent from cubs phoned with a problem, so I was a little distracted. This morning at 5.30am he woke me with a start saying he couldn't find the keys. We were turning the house upside down before he gave up and grabbed the spare set. When he went outside I had left them in the ignition all night he was not best pleased!

Then to top it all I grounded my son this morning because he lost his bank card and then at lunchtime found it in my purse :rotfl: I was tempted to just go and hide it in his room and then miraculously find it, but I felt too bad, so I had to grovel on my knees to him. Luckily he is a lovely boy and said I owed him one, even though he had missed a cinema trip with all his friends

So I am definitely more Bridget Jones than Anthea Turner, I do strive to be a good housewife/mum but it turns out I am just not good at juggling :rotfl:

Just done some final sums and I have £50 For my 2 nights out, I'm thinking I may have to drive tonight or tomorrow night because £50 is not going to get me very far if I am drinking.

Robf

My wife has adopted the habit of buying and reselling clothing on eBay.

Dresses, she buys beautiful dresses that she will wear two or three times before re-listing on eBay. Trousers, shirts, belts etc, she finds great deals on. These items are not re-sold but worn until thrown.

We are saving a lot of money using her system and she always has the most beautiful dresses.

Something to consider so you and your hubby dont have to go without.

Best of luck on your journey.