And so it begins: The Pig Vs The Mortgage

pinkypig

Not much to report today. Grim weather (constant rain) and no money news so a typical late January Tuesday:p

Work was really good today, the kids were on form and we got through a lot of SATs prep relatively painlessly. I do feel for them, there's too much testing and they seem so little to be burdened with it. We approach them as a chance to show off what we can do and we don't worry about what we can't. If we breeze through them with self esteem in tact then we've succeeded as far as I'm concerned so stick that up your designer jumper Mrs May

Today has been a nsd which is just as well as there isn't much left to spend! I need petrol tomorrow and some coffee, milk and fruit at the weekend but that will be it for January. I'm not as excited about the month end as usual as I've had a chunk of annual expenses so its not going to be as good as previous months but I've got to be realistic about this and as long as I hit my targets all is good.

Other successes have included :

Spin class done and enough water drunk

Cheap healthy eats and sensible quantities of snacks (porridge, lo risotto and salad and pesto chicken and roast veggies for dinner. Snacks were limited to an orange at break and a small bowl of overnight oats before spin - need the energy :eek:).

Daily sweep and wipe done

Found a nice, cheap cheer up pressie in my stash for my niece whose had a seriously rubbish day.

Daily marking up to date (don't ask about writing assessments:o).

Lo veg curry rooted out of the freezer for lunches for tomorrow

I was literally half dead when the alarm went off this morning so its an hour of TV and then a seriously early night for me. Looking forward to tomorrow and being over the hump:)

Happy, rainy Tuesday to you (Karmacat, I bet you don't regret buying that wizzy new coat:)).

PP xx

wishingthemortgaheaway

Writing assessments urghhh. Only one thing for it. Put them on the dining room table. Get child to hide treats in the pile. Work through pile until you hit a treat. Enjoy treat. Mark the rest later.

Karmacat

pinkypig wrote: »

If we breeze through them with self esteem in tact then we've succeeded as far as I'm concerned so stick that up your designer jumper Mrs May

Sounds good to me

Found a nice, cheap cheer up pressie in my stash for my niece whose had a seriously rubbish day.

Awwww! Thats really nice.

Happy, rainy Tuesday to you (Karmacat, I bet you don't regret buying that wizzy new coat:)).

I really don't Makes a big difference.

Hope you get some good sleep tonight, PP.

pinkypig

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

Writing assessments urghhh. Only one thing for it. Put them on the dining room table. Get child to hide treats in the pile. Work through pile until you hit a treat. Enjoy treat. Mark the rest later.

What a good idea !

pinkypig

Karmacat wrote: »

Sounds good to me


Awwww! Thats really nice.


I really don't Makes a big difference.

Hope you get some good sleep tonight, PP.

:wave: Hiya Karma. I slept like a log which is most unusual for me. Not sure I've been any livelier today though:rotfl:
Hope you're keep well - how far through GOT are you? Xx

pinkypig

And breathe:). The last two days have been crazy busy. Why do home and work always seem to ramp up simultaneously?:eek: Anyhoo, on top of things now and its almost the weekend:)

I've still no money news although thank goodness its pay day tomorrow:j. It felt like it would never arrive! Its also rent day tomorrow but that's earmarked for cc payment as all of January's annual spends are on my cb cc which needs to be cleared in full at the end of the month. I use my cc for everything to get the cb but I always pay the balance in full each month so that the first of the month is a nice, fresh start:)

Today was a spend day as I did this week's food shop when I was passing Aldi which saves a trip and also means I don't need to bother at the weekend. It was £12.35 which I was pleased with as it included coffee, dishwasher tablets and a jar of day cream (switched to the Aldi soya one for mature (:eek:) skin and its lovely, not to mention an absolute bargain at £1.69 ).

I can't finalise my mortgage totals until the 1st of the month but January's (5 weeks) expenditure has been;

Grocery £174.41/£160. My 2018 weekly target of £32 is ambitious but it is clearly doable. I know I'm over by £14.41 but that includes £50 of ys meat from the post Xmas sales which would have cost 3 times that and a restock of my herb and spice cupboard as I don't get access to a good Asian supermarket very often. I think the meat will last us 3 months so on the whole I'm pleased with this although the perfectionist in me hates going over budget no matter how well justified:o

Personal £9.58/£55:j. This included calcium tablets, wax strips, lip balm, soft drinks for ds at family party and two bargain necklaces from China. I clearly need to get out more :rotfl:although ironically I've had a lovely sociable month its just been walking that cost nothing but a bit of fuel in the car a picnic, running which is free, meals with family and friends Chez Piggy and a great family get together for a significant event. January has left me feeling happy, content and in control. On reflection I'm one lucky Piggy despite the lack of purchases. Wish I'd joined these particular dots years ago but better late than never

Fuel £60.59/ £150. Reduced travel due to holidays and lift sharing has worked well. I've also tried to plan to avoid unnecessary trips and walk when I can.

There have also been a number of annual costs which I knew were coming and they were budgeted but it still felt a bit painful:(;

New lead flashings on leaking conservatory £140
Buildings insurance and indemnity insurance on rental £169 ( there should be £94 cash back which has tracked but is yet to be confirmed).
Car service £80
Household £42.40 which included a replacement DVD player, a new double duvet set for both kids (had no spare set so bed change day will be easier:)), lightbulbs, 4 lots of kindling, a cs haul of a cushion, two amethyst coloured glasses and a leaf shaped serving plate. So some essentials and some wants. All were in the sale or cs finds and Aldi don't have kindling often so it made sense to stock up.


Christmas and birthday gifts,wrapping paper, ribbon, cards £87.30.

(This looks a lot but apart from the kid's main pressies that is pretty much it for 2018. I haven't worked out the retail cost but everything was at least 50% off and a lot was 75%:money: . This is definitely something I will do every January as it saves a fortune and loads of hassle. I've sailed through my busy birthday month of January with no last minute panic and very little spends. The gifts have also been really nice ).

Other successes have included;

Ds's homework done
Spin class done
Laundry folded and away and small pile of essential ironing done
Ds's school trousers repaired - again :mad:
Cheap, healthy eats (porridge, lo lasagne and salad for lunch, carbonara using lo gammon for dinner with enough left over for lunch tomorrow). There is a chunk of gammon left which is going in the freezer to make either chicken and ham pie or to use in quiches later in the month. The £4.56 ys joint has gone a loooooong way:)

Daily sweep and wipe done.

Sorry about the boring level of detail but the accountability keeps me focussed. I'm off to bed as I can actually feel my eyes closing.

Happy nearly Friday to you

PP xx

wishingthemortgaheaway

Wow go you PP, what a successful January, but yes, very long month.

Here's to a nice, short February.

CathT

Your food spends are brilliant. I’ve tracked January spends and might track all year. I did this a few years ago and got close to £200 each month. We
Budget £500 a month for food and fuel so the rest can go towards holidays!

What weight classes do you do? My exercise routine is non-existent at the moment but I do have dumb bells at home and really want to get back into it.
My issue is not being able to get out of bed in the morning to do it!

Karmacat

I agree with wishing, the budget report is brilliant! I've made a note of Aldi soya cream for mature skin ... I have a huge stock of facial cream, I confess, but when I next need it, I'll remember that

pinkypig

You are all so kind, thank you . It actually felt like a bad month as I seemed to be constantly spending big chunks of money but on reflection, these were 'musts' and my variable spends were pretty good. My other thought was if grocery and personal had been allowed to run wild it could have been awfuk:eek:

The day cream is great Karma, give it a go:D

Hope your friend's doing OK Wish xx

Cath I do two, kettlebells and power pump. I don't use huge weights for either. PP looks a bit scary as you use a bar but its not, it really good. I found both quite tough at first and ached a lot but by the third session I was fine. The results are noticeable. My legs were always OK for tone as I run and cycle but my arms and core much less so. I've got better tone now than I had 25 years ago
Its hard finding time with little ones though. I've never tried them but my niece swears by Joe Wicks' HIT work outs on YouTube which are 20-30 min blasts which might be easier to slot into your schedule.

Off for a walk in the rain :eek:

PP xx