No longer in use

MeandO

£66 spent on a new tyre today, but at least I had the money in the car and house account. That’s drastically depleted after the expenses these past few months and I so I need to build it back up to pay for the house insurance in Feb.

DS fell and managed to rip the knees of a pair of school trousers today so I have had to throw those (he’s fine). I need to see if some of the bigger pairs I put away will fit him yet. He is also strangely low on white polo shirts despite us having loads at the beginning of term, I’m not sure where they’ve all gone, but I will need to buy some more soon.
He also came home with a letter requesting (yet) more money for events and also one for donations for a Christmas food bank type thing. We’ve sorted a Christmas pudding and several tinned items on their list as donations to take in tomorrow.

I also dropped off the Christmas gift for a local child in need last week.
I’m glad we participated this year, will probably do so again next year.

I haven’t been sleeping well at all, so I’m hoping tonight brings better rest. I’m so tired of being tired. The gale force winds hammering in the house didn’t help last night or the night before. I was lying here praying the builders had actually build something right and the house wouldn’t blow down...

MeandO

This wild weather still continues and the house is still taking a battering. It’s no surprise to me that my hallway seems to have sprung a leak due to poor build quality and the rain is ending up as a puddle on my floor yet again. They’re coming out in two days to [STRIKE]bodge it [/STRIKE] fix the issue :mad:

DS has a hospital appointment today. He’ll need an investigatory procedure involving a general anaesthetic in a few months time to try and get to the bottom of the medical issue he has had since he was a baby and to check there’s nothing nasty. I’m terrified and have already cried at the thought of it today so goodness knows how I’ll be on the day, :(:( I’m obviously being nothing but positive about it in front of DS thought so he is not worried about it.

I’ve done (almost) the last of the Christmas shopping online today too. I will just need to spend a small amount on some chocolates and then that’s the Christmas shopping done.
I then need to do some serious saving for DS’s and OH’s birthdays which are early next year.

£2 paid for a school event today and £10 withdrawn for a friend of DS’s birthday. Funds are getting short now so I need to keep a close eye on any further outgoings. There seems to be something every day at the moment though!

MeandO

I've ordered some furniture online to be delivered this week - I was planning on waiting until next year to buy it, but we're not using a room because it's pretty useless as it currently is. I got fed up with it and with this house not feeling like our home, so have ordered it and put it on the credit card. There's a sofa (ebay), large storage shelving unit, smaller shelving unit, a wall shelf, storage boxes and cushions (all IKEA) for £360 with delivery. Yes, it's a lot of money, but I shopped around and am pleased with what I got for the money and, of course, the credit card is at 0%.

DS also needed jeans and hoodies as I had to throw some jeans away and he has grown out of a couple of pairs. I also bought myself a jumper and top from Asda and also a couple of last minute Christmas gifts added to the card too. All in all, there's around £500 to pay off the credit card. I'm owed a refund of £107 for something that hasn't turned up (and I have been chasing for 3 weeks) so that will go straight towards it. I'll pay the rest down before sending any further overpayments to the mortgage too.

DS is off school ill after his father sent him to school poorly yesterday and I had a phone call from the school ten minutes later asking me to collect him. (My smilies won't work but you can imagine a few I'd put here...). He is fine today, but can't return to school for a couple of days so as not to pass any germs on. I am lucky to be able to work from home for instances such as this, so I will still be paid. Good job, as there has been no offer of the father figure taking time off to look after him...
I also have a stinking cold, but we can't complain I guess. There's plenty worse off.

I've updated YNAB this morning and it will be tight until payday, but doable. We don't really need to buy much other than milk and bread.

Between Christmas and new year I have decided to work on my budget for the New Year. I need to adjust my savings a bit every month so that I have enough to cover Christmas and birthdays in that savings pot. Again, I underestimated and didn't have enough saved.
I would also like to set up a standing order to pay at least £50 to the emergency fund/savings. I have seen how this quickly builds when it's not dipped into up with the help to save account I have. I just need to work out what's affordable.

I can also cancel the £22 a month I pay sky if I could get an aerial put up in my house. I will get OH to help me look for the aerial point in the attic, hopefully it's up there, as I already have an aerial to use.

It will be good to feel like I have things in order a bit more.

MeandO

The £107 refund finally showed up, plus another £40 from top cashback, so they will both be paid to the credit card in the morning.

Half of my new 2 seater sofa turned up today.
Yes, half.
The other half is arriving tomorrow.
Perhaps eBay was not the best bet...

MeandO

The credit card balance was £505.89. I've just paid £107 off, so it's now down to £398.89. Once the £41 from TCB hits my account that will be sent to it too.

MeandO

I now have two halves of a sofa. DS loves it, if I'd seen it first myself I wouldn't have bought it due to its construction, but DS is happy and it's a faff to return so it will be staying. It's for his playroom, so won't get major everyday use.
The other furniture I ordered arrives tomorrow so his play room will hopefully be ready for him by the weekend.

I've got quite a bit done this morning - I've hoovered through the house, washed and dried one load of washing, baked some lemon shortbread squares to use some ingredients up, sorted and tidied a cupboard and wrapped a gift that needed wrapping.

I'm now waiting for the postman to turn up with a parcel that is due to be here within the next 15 minutes (it has a time slot). However, they recently lost a high value parcel which was supposed to be delivered to me and that was the second in 6 months. I'll be really annoyed if this happens again, lots of things seem to go missing at this particular sorting office and it'll be the third official complaint to royal mail about a missing item in 9 months if it doesn't show.

DS is better and back to school. he's with his Dad for the next two nights and I'm missing him already.

MeandO

£41 paid off the credit card, so it now stands at £357.89.

The furniture arrived and was really easy to build, so we now have a lovely playroom with loads of storage and display shelves for DS’s Lego. It’s really cosy and has transformed the room. I can’t wait for some of the rooms to be painted in the new year, it’s just a case of finding the will and forcing myself to actually do it.

OH and I picked up some ys bargains last night. Mainly bread, rolls, muffins etc which have now been frozen. I also bought some of Tesco’s 19p ‘Christmas veg’ and have made some cauliflower cheese, cooked carrots, sprouts (with chestnuts), roasted some cubed potatoes to use from the fridge and we’ll have it with some nice herby ys sausages from the freezer. I’ve cooked too much purposely to make bubble and squeak cakes for tomorrow. Even DS has had some cauliflower, so I’m really pleased!
We don’t need to buy Christmas food as we are going to my parents for Christmas, but I really fancied some sprouts and it’s fed three of us for two days of main meals for around £2.60.
I wish I had a bigger freezer so that I could freeze more.

I’m due a refund of £44.50 for some clothes I bought from Asda which, when tried on, emphasised how much I need to lose weight so when that hits the account I’ll probably pay a bit more off the credit card.

MeandO

We’ve been paid slightly early so I’ve just shuffled money to various savings pots and allocated funds for all of the bills. Once other bits of money come in I’ll be able to add to the grocery and spend budget for the month and also hopefully pay off another chunk of CC.
As it is, I’ve just sent £60.89 to it, but spent £19.97 on it last night on a very reduced gift which was a great buy for DS’s birthday. The balance is now down to £316.97, so that’s £188.92 paid off in less than a week. :T

I’ve refunded a buyer after a fb sale item was lost in the post. She was patient and kind enough to wait for the courier company to refund me first, so I was not out of pocket.

We’re now with my family for Christmas after driving here today. My Mum’s condition is upsetting to see as ever, but my Dad has also been quite unwell lately and I can see a marked difference in him, it’s such a worry. My sister is now also undergoing tests on her heart for a problem they’ve detected as well. I feel at a bit of a loss with everything.
Anyway, the focus is just on keeping going and making the best of things, so I’ll be doing the bulk of the catering and caring to try and make sure everyone has as lovely a time as we possibly can.

I’ve been feeling really quite sad again lately but almost ‘resigned’ to what life has thrown at me and my family. I was upset and overly worried about DS when he wasn’t with me these past few days and everything seems to just be that bit harder to accept and live with presently. I don’t know if it’s because it’s Christmas or because I’m exhausted after a week of not sleeping due to this head cold or maybe a combination of both. I have even been a bit clingy to OH and I’m never like that usually, it’s as if I’m expecting something bad to happen. Classic anxiety, I guess. I’m sure the tiredness is not helping, so i should probably try and sleep...

Chrystal

I hope you all manage to have a Happy and Peaceful Christmas. (((hugs))) X

crazy_cat_lady

Oh MeandO - I wish I were a bit closer so I could hug you. Of course you're feeling down - you have got so much stuff going on, and so much worry in your life at the moment.
I hope that you can manage a peaceful Christmas with lots of rest and relaxation with your family. Lots of love