Drawing a line under the debt. Take two.

shoppingobsessed2020

sounds like you have a solid plan in place.  beach for the birthday sounds good.  we sometimes take a disposable bbq with us and bbq on the beach in the summer, makes a nice change from a picnic.  

savingholmes

Sounds like things are coming together well.

Drawingaline

Wow been a while!

Braved the beach on the small ones bd, but it was very very windy. Stayed a couple of hours, and all the boys paddled!

Am waiting for the tax credit renewal pack, but after doing some rough figures for my tax return I think I will end up owing money. We are down to the bare minimum a month from them, so assume our claim will close after this year. Will feel odd after 17yrs of having them. Hope any owing will come off this year's award and we don't actually owe enough to have to pay money back. Will see I suppose. At the moment it is only counting my 15 yr old until the end of August (he is 16 in the summer so yr11) and won't include him in the award for the full year until September once confirmed he is staying in education. So that's a bit annoying. Also still furloughed from one job, so may drop income in october. It all adds up to making financial planning awkward!

Took a trip to the Swedish superstore last week. Was lovely to get out. Went with my sister and was nice to see her too. Decided on some bedroom furniture, so need to do a big order (money is set aside) decorate and remove the big wardrobes.

Otherwise ticking along nicely.

savingholmes

Swedish store drools. My nemesis.

Paddling at beach sounds fun

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hi @Drawingaline, I'm going against @savingholmes (sorry!) to say I love that shop and so does my OH. Need to replace wardrobes. We have the very cheap and nasty canvas ones which I have to say have served us really well for the past 3 years. Bedroom is a bit small though so need ones with sliding doors and the big yellow has some! Its a bit dangerous when we go as we end up spending a small fortune all all the stuff we thought we needed so avoiding it atm! Need to have a pot in advance

Beach sounds lots of fun. We'll be there next weekend! 

Drawingaline

Qoth, definitely need a budget before you go! I did alright this time though.

Am wobbling on the bedroom furniture decision again! Honestly it's like I got to my 40's and any ability I had to be decisive disappeared 🤷🤦 I really want rid of the wardrobes that were left but can't seem to decide on what to get.

I was the same with the toilet and sink for the downstairs shower room. Plumber is booked for the 7th, left ordering as I couldn't decide and the site could deliver quickly, well finally went to do it and the sink unit was out of stock. Only available in grey which would have looked odd. So have ended up spending an extra £30 on a slightly nicer one. But it's the cloakroom that my daughter uses and we are only replacing the sink and toilet and putting a mirror up. So cheap was fine. My indecision has cost me!

On Sat I took the boy into London. First time since December. We were meeting up with a girl (and her family) that he met online (she is a year younger than him) and has become good friends with. Her family were down for the weekend so we met up. Did some sights, then went along the south bank and grabbed some food. Was a lovely few hours was so nice to see him getting along with her as I know he was nervous! Feels odd that our kids are meeting people like this, but she was a lovely girl and I hope they stay friends. 

Had a very relaxing Sunday and today though. Even managed an hour's snooze in the garden! Handyman came and took all the shrubs out and fitted a washing line, so did about six loads yesterday 😂 the garden is a bit of a state, but will offer the boy cash to paint the fence and now the lawn, tidy up a bit. He finished school on Friday so now the long wait for results in August. We are confident he has passed everything except maths, he is borderline for that, his assessment results were a pass, but two of his three previous ones weren't so will see which way it falls I suppose. His year has had a really tough time tbh, and for a child who is naturally very very lazy, and not as strong academically as his sister it has been a tough time. He did pull his finger out and do the work in the end, but it may have been too little too late.

And in financial news, hubby has had another pay rise! This will obviously impact on the tax credits, so we will definitely owe, and also impacts on the child benefit. He is giving it a couple of pay cycles then will review what he is paying into his pension (he currently pays 4%, but I believe the company will match up to 8) as our pension forecasts are dismal. 

savingholmes

Great news on payrise and London trip

Drawingaline

So half term is over. I took two days off, spent time with my parents and did a few things with the younger two. Took a trip to a country park so the boys could go on the big nets, and then walked around the lake we always go the other way through the woods so was nice to see the other side of the park. On the way home we took a small detour to see the Rufus Stone. It marks the spot where William II was killed in the New forest back in 1100! The smallest is history obsessed so he was very pleased. Then drove through the area a bit, we really should utilise it a bit more, we are maybe half hour from the outskirts. Planning to book a campsite for a couple of nights in the summer holidays.

We also went to a local mini golf place, was fun and I even managed a hole in one!!! (Pity the other 17 holes took an average of 5hits) but overall I can last. The small two enjoyed it, it's definitely getting much easier to take the smallest to these kinds of places.

The smallest went canoeing with the cubs too. I stayed close with a coffee, but he had a brilliant time. Really hoping that cubs will be of benefit to him. As a leader with Girl Guiding I see first hand how these organisations can help all sorts of children in a huge variety of ways. It's always wonderful to see them grow.

Bathroom has been done, have the tip booked to take the old stuff and the plumber charged £20 less than the quote!

Tax return for 20/21 has been completed as has the tax credits for last year. We definitely owe money so will see how that pans out. I also need to set aside the child benefit as I think we will owe a chunk of that next year. Still think it is worth claiming though.

It looks like my furloughed job may be available to me again soon. A slight role change, but they seem keen to get me back, will take a bit of negotiation I think. However my other job has the capacity for extra work in a different role too. But that one is flexible so could pick up some stuff in the evenings. Very aware I need to start bringing in more income right now. 

Anyway off to look at bedroom furniture AGAIN! 🙄🤦😂

savingholmes

All the best with the job situation. Your explorations sound fun

Drawingaline

My decision to post more has slipped again!

Had an inset day with the smallest and my niece on Monday. Promised the beach a few weeks back, had to change that over the weekend after the forecast settled on heavy rain 🙄😡 so we went to our closest city and did the little museum and famous cathedral. The smallest loved learning about all the Anglo Saxon kings whose remains are in special box's (all jumbled up due to Oliver Cromwell!) The idea that king !!!!!! and his wife were there and others dating back to 800ad is quite incredible. 

They were both very well behaved and it was a lovely little trip out, and not too pricey.

Which is good as it has been a spendy month. I am saving the tax credits atm as we may owe some, although they have been adjusted after my renewal and haven't said we owe. Will wait for the award notice. I don't want to add hubby's payrise until September after I can declare the boy as still in education so will save them until then I think. I have also saved the child benefit as we will owe some back, but going through the calculations it may be less than I thought so we may be able to keep about £150 a month from it. 

Glazers came to fit the window. Was a disaster, it wasn't a stud wall as they thought and it needs to be checked it isn't load bearing and the phone cable comes down it. 🤦 So I will need to get a surveyor out to check it over, and possibly get open reach out to move the phone cable over. Fil can fit the actual window as long as it isn't a load bearing wall, so I may just get the glazing company to sell me the window and frame and wait for a bit. But we have a huge hole in the plasterboard 🙄 this was partly my fault as with a bit of thought it should have been obvious it was a block wall. But the way the plasterboard was stuck to it meant that when you knocked it, it sounded like a stud wall. I am determined to have this bloody window though! So surveyor needs to be booked in.

Electrician coming back, hopefully next week to fit some light fittings and a plug socket. Have the money set aside for this, bit then that's it, all my reserves are gone. And I still haven't bought the bedroom furniture. I want to get the wardrobes out and replace the carpet. But money.......and it makes sense to tie it all in, wardrobes out, carpet laid, furniture delivered, all in a few days. 

Finally started painting the boys room, put up a new blind in there and in the smalls room. Will try and finish it this weekend. I need some new shelves, but ones for £10 types.

Cats booked in for booster jabs. They have been having dodgy tums this past few weeks, one had a vets visit, but was ok. Luckily they haven't been on any of the dodgy food that has been recalled, but the transition from kitten kibble to adult stuff seems to have upset them a bit. Was given a paste by the vet that worked, so have ordered some more to have in the drawer. 

This is why I need to post more, I ramble on too much! Anyway Friday tomorrow, good job I am shattered!