Starting over 2017

Dorastar

Car all sorted and home safe and sound, washing all done, dried and away too. Assessing the damage from the week tomorrow but came home to £43 from side hustle job which will help & hoping the tax money has gone in by now too. Hubby is on a new contract at work so no idea if he's working on bank holiday Monday or not yet but got lots of school stuff to get ready so should be a cheap week apart from school shoes (the boy) and a new bus pass for him. Back on mega healthy eating too as hubby's bloods have come back & he's got to cut down on red meat & have more calcium, last time he was told to cut down in calcium so we'll see.

beanielou

Good news on the car

Dorastar

New bank card sorted and £48 from completing bank loan has been paid into account too. Cross with hubby as he's wasted £30 on some online game, he's making up for it by doing a few hours overtime tomorrow. Have been really good on holiday spending apart from the windscreen repair costs.
Quick dash into shop this morning and got a pile of reduced mmeats to shove in freezer. Not worked out a menu plan yet but these were a steal so I couldn't leave them.

Editing to add he's working on bank holiday Monday so double wages for the day, I have already put in a request for a new iron & ironing board as I've killed ours!

Dorastar

Dreadful sleep last night in the heat so a much lazier day than planned today. Did a healthy food shop this morning and have ordered a few things the teen wants for her 18th at end of September as they need delivering, used cashback site so it doesn't feel quite as bad! Got her main pressies sorted now so just a few small bits and bobs to surprise her. Still got to get school shoes for the boy but hoping to drag him to the shop early on tomorrow.

Tried rounding up all the blanket squares I've knitted for the teen's blanket but either I've lost some or miscounted as now I've got less than I had, at this rate she'll just have one warm leg! So that's a major project for the winter months which is good as I can do it when I'm watching TV.

Payday for hubby on Thursday so going to see if we can stay clear of using savings & use his wages and tax refund to last us up till end of September, as much as possible anyway!

Dorastar

Finally paid all the spare change into the bank £75 and cashed out £5.60 from PA after waiting ages for a payout from one survey. Nice afternoon spent with friends at very little cost and plenty of house & school work to do over next few days to keep me busy

Dorastar

New school shoes for the boy and took his blazer to be properly cleaned and re-shapen back into a blazer shape instead of lump of cloth which it currently is! Apart from that a quiet one money wise. Doing more decluttering and sorting, clothes this time to try and work out what outfits I actually fit in for the term ahead.

Dorastar

Spendy day yesterday as hubby got a £300 bonus in his pay. Bought a new ironing board and microwave as the plate had come off ironing board leaving two sharp metal prongs sticking out and microwave produced smoke the other day so needed to go. Then a haircut so I don't look quite as old! Friend is bringing her boy for a playdate today so a virtual NSD hopefully

Dorastar

So back on it this morning. Had a very big spendy time the last few months with just about everything we own needing repairing or replacing plus an 18th and a 51st birthday so back to the saving up drawing board. Not sure of the exact figures but know we need to start stashing the cash again in order to save up in case I don't get a new contract next year. Been away most Saturdays uni visiting which has also meant less time to focus on the basics of meal planning and cleaning the house so far too many takeaways etc as we've lurched from one week to the next. Booked in a day in half term just to sit and go through papers and work out where we're up to and plan ahead better!
Today is a busy one with church, side hustle job work, picking up a book for work and meeting up with friends to plan our annual weekend away at the end of November.

Dorastar

Been so long since I posted on here it's ridiculous! Got a plan to sit down and sort out all our finances over the Christmas hols, but got four more days at school to go before I get chance. Debt has carried on going down but spending has gone up a fair bit especially as hubby has had some major health issues this autumn and is waiting for a fairly major operation in the New Year. Menu plan and weekly food shop done today and not a take away in sight for a change so hopefully we can keep the December spending down a bit. Pressies are all bought as the op was supposed to be any day soon but delay means we can have a relaxed Christmas together instead.

Dorastar

Started the big end of year sort out so got the figures together and changed them on here, nice to see the mortgage going down at long last. Just realised I have more money in my pay this month - think its back pay for a pay rise so going to stash it across in 6 month fund. Still got some side hustle work to finish tonight which should bring in a fair bit of money in January too, plus they've asked if I can do more next year. Savings have dwindled dramatically so really need to focus on re-building them this year so we have a back-up plan if my contract doesn't get renewed for September (highly unlikely it will do as I'm expensive).
Plans are as ever
1) to menu plan and avoid takeaways
2) to fill up the 6 month fund
3) to carry on debt and mortgage busting
4) to try to relax a bit more - get outdoors, read, craft, walk/run and all for as little as possible!
5) to get the blanket squares all knitted and stitched together