NST June 2017: Jiggle Free June

thriftylass

Hello,

got paid today and paid my bills and send the cheque for the cottage in July. Also paid off the CC (holiday club for two of the 7 weeks £300 as I didn't have that in cash last month). Holiday time is so expensive. And there are 6 weeks of it plus another one as DS will go into a new school that was just built and hence opens later. Still waiting for the after school/holiday club bill for June before I pay that too.

I printed out an exercise plan that I'll follow as my next triathlon is only 10 weeks away. So that will be 5 sessions from 20-45 min a week.

Will also need to meal plan stricter again this month as the food budget is tight. However I allow myself two catch ups with my girl friends as DH has used up plenty of brownie points recently and I desperately need to get a break and get out into civilisation too. Might even venture once into a place called pub.

Earned a few vouchers recently that helped massively towards the kids birthdays etc. So any I get from now will be saved for christmas.

Might have a vet bill (not sure of excess, 50 or 250, think Tesco insurance only give the lower one if you use their vetted vets, of which the nearest is in Edinburgh an hour away) as our cat has an abscess I think. Will find out tonight.

indigowarrior

So I am nipping up to the shop in a mo and going to stock up on supplies. Going to be eating a lot of curry and rice over the next five days (I have five tins for some bizarre reason). However, I am aiming not to spend a penny until Monday starting tomorrow. I will also be doing my mile walk daily.

Toni'sfriend

Got paid today. Well partly. One pension is paid on the last day of the month and the other is paid every 28 days - very confusing when trying to budget. Anyway, all the bills are paid by direct debit and the money is set aside for June.
I don't normally do NSDs but I'm going to try for 12 this month and see how it works out. Got the food budget and everything else sorted out - lots of food in the freezer and cupboards. My son bought me a rice/slow cooker last month so I'm going to try and be creative with what we have.
Only one meal out which I have to pay for. Cousin's daughter is having a "not a baby shower" on Sunday and we're going to have afternoon tea at a vegan restaurant. It's a "not a baby" shower because she doesn't want any presents just to see some relatives before the baby arrives. I've bought her some vegan chocolates anyway - Mum's are always forgotten when the wee one arrives and I reckon she'll be glad of them at 3 o'clock some morning.
Exercise - oh dear! The only exercise I do is walking (have a respiratory problem which makes everything else near impossible) but I shall aim to do this more often, longer and faster. Is that allowed?
So I'm off to meal plan for next week. Good luck with the challenge everyone.

greent

OK - we've been paid now Money from jobs 2 & 3 (invigilating at 2 different schools) transferred to savings account (towards new kitchen), along with £200 from a fleabay sale :T Any smaller fleabay amounts in June will be towards OH's car finance (unless they are from sale of the kids' toys - they will get that money) Debt payments (car & tax cr overpayment) taken by DD, so they're covered. Tax cr overpayment repaid in Sept - the monthly money from that will then be snowballed to OH's car

NSDs - not massively concerned with these as long as budgets aren't blown overall - but will monitor and see if I get to 14 . May be easier in June as I think I'm working every weekday (once back) except 1 - which tends to keep me out of the shops. I will add my own 'extra' for me to the NSD exemptions of medical/ YS etc - if I only buy milk I will still claim a NSD, as I physically can't fit enough milk in my fridge for more than about 3-4 days at a time (get through 5-6pts/ day) so can't make do with a once-a-week shop on that basis.

Budgets:
Food - £400 - DD back from uni on Sat 10th, so that will add to my bill. However, I shall try not to increase the budget this month but just make sure we use other stuff up instead to compensate. (am also aware that I need to run down stocks ahead of new kitchen - but that's not until Sept/ Oct, so I have *some* time) Garden is producing lots of strawberries - already too many to keep up with on a daily basis, so some of these will be frozen (I still have over a dozen jars of jam to use up from last year's crop (and that's after giving loads away!) so don't want to make any more yet! )
Cleaning and toiletries - £25. I need s'poo & cond (currently using up hotel freebies) but am trying to hold out until on offer.
Fuel/ travel - OH's is covered by expenses - usually - but June has 5 uni open day visits in with DS1, and a return trip to DD's uni to collect her & her belongings, so I don't think it will cover all the personal usage as well this time! Will budget £100 + £50 for it and see (that's £60 in my car and £40 to hopefully cover the shortfall between what OH spends on fuel and what he claims in business mileage + £50 for other travel expenses (DS1 needs a train ticket then there's parking and tube tickets for one uni trip - and 2 lots of Severn Bridge tolls!)
School & activities - £50 - have a Y6 leavers 'do' to pay for + tshirt - that already accounts for £42 of that!
School uniform - £150 - that's some of the uniform (mainly the sports kit excluding boots and trainers) needed by DS2 for new secondary school
Gifts - Father's Day in June - OH has small 'needed' things as presents (eg: new socks, a towel for his golf bag etc) but will likely top up with a voucher for Afternoon Tea if I can find a Groooopon deal. It's also DS3's best friend's birthday and my sister & OH are moving house. Total £40
Entertainment - covers cinema, days out, etc for all of us £100 but am hoping to come in less than this. Will include the (now traditional) post exams meal with teen(s) at N@ndos (should just be 2 of us and I may be able to use my card to claim a freebie)
Things like utilities (gas & elec switched last month) and insurances/ car bills etc are covered by either monthly DD (utilities) or monthly STOs to an account to cover annual payments
Personal Care - £50. I have a hair appointment booked (last cut in November!) and an eyebrow shape and tint (last done around 18 months ago) for June. Have kept it cheaper by going for a dry cut (my usual stylist is on maternity leave anyway, so am just going for a dry trim to tick it over until she's back). Also guessing OH may want his cut at the barbers too

Exercise - min 3 x 20min (minimum) 'good' sessions (ie: not going for a stroll) - Zumba, c25k, cardio machines (cross trainer or rower) or HIITs. Will report in. Will look to add in extra where I can (strolls to feed the ducks will be included here! )

Plan - have thought of fathers day, a birthday and a house move - and the post exams meal. Uni visits travel budgeted for. Oooh - I do need to get my boss a birthday card, too (she's lovely) will include that in the gifts budget.

Consumerism - we generally don't buy many 'things' now (unless to replace a worn out/ broken item) The children keep growing, so we have to buy them clothing (although we do hand-me-down from DS1-DS2-DS3 and make use of NNS for some items) I will use posting in here to keep me accountable.
x

thriftylass

First result on the way to my christmas voucher savings. Just cashed out £9 from a postal survey site and £30 from Valued Opini@n.

abundant1972

Sign me up please

FurryBeastOz

Ok. Budget done. I might get paid - boss phoned me about hours, but got a bit aggressive when I refused to contract back.

I'm reducing food budget to £200 this month. It will mean cutting back on the fresh berries I've been having for breakfast but I'll have more time for other food prep so should be able to use up some of the contents of the cupboards.

Exercise wise, I'm going to use my extra free time to focus on the weight loss and fit in more cardio. I've been doing well on the Strength training but skimping on the HIIT.

I am allowing myself £25 for 'treats' This may include coffees out with friends I haven't seen for a long time, but I'll try and arrange to meet up places we can take our own.

I need to start work on my CV tomorrow. And list some things on Gumtree if I can find them to photograph. There are quite a few bits I could make a bit on, and now is the time to do it.

crazy_cat_lady

Me please apple - a late entry this month. May has been somewhat of a disaster, but turtles don't quit do we? I'm literally just home from a couple of days away but after I've had a good night of sleep then I'll sort myself out and report in properly tomorrow.

Chandelier.

Hi, please can I join in for this month?

NSDs: I will aim for 14 NSDS. June is not an overly busy month aside from my birthday mid month. I have a few expected outgoings for other separate things, but all budgeted for. The past couple months have been rather spendy, I need to rein it in and get back on the NSD saddle. I used to enjoy setting myself these challenges and beat them.

Debt: I've already paid June's debt repayments (I did this yesterday on payday). I've paid £325 in total and I am hoping to make further overpayment of at least £100. I don't have an exact debt free date but I plug away each month at my debt, some more then others. My debt free diary explains further, but my circumstances may potentially change.

Budget: My budget is all set for the month and posted in my diary and separated carefully into sections. From my income I have a good amount left over and hope to save other income into a separate account. I also am aware I may have one/two more extra outgoings this month which I've money set aside for. I'll be looking for ways to boost my income and make some extra money over the next few months. My account has money left in to pay all direct debits, cash has been withdrawn to pay for entertainment/petrol budget and the left over has been transferred to a separate account that's easily accessible.

Exercise: I am a member of the gym and intend to get back into a gym routine. Aside from that I usually have a ten minute walk to work from where I park my car and a ten minute walk back. Also I am on my feet all day at work pacing round so my heart is often up .

Plan: There is a lot coming my way this month so it will be a tough one so I want to keep on track. I'm expecting a fine through for taking the boy away on holiday and have upcoming expenses for a show the boy is going to be in. Aside from that the focus is on it being a positive month and getting my confidence back in many areas of my life. I am also planning ahead for July/August expenses which are car tax and car insurance.

Happy Thursday everyone

apple_muncher

And we're off!

Budgets set, nsds targets decided upon, fitness and exercise goals written down, health needs/issues to be dealt with and not postponed.

Go for it turtles!