Getting it together...one £ at a time!

Homegrown0

Morning all!

I hope everyone is well? My day is ok - just plodding on with some work and I have about 5 washings to get through (this week has been a bit manic so far, so i've just not got round to tackling it). The weather is miserable here today and it's amazing how it affects my mood. Trying to keep up a good momentum!

I keep watching house programmes lately - we're hoping to start big renovations in our house next year so we'll need to get going with some drawings and planning pretty soon so trying to get some ideas/ inspiration. I do love a project!

Money-wise, all is ticking along nicely and everything is balancing. Next week, i'll have £100 to come out of the account (from husband's overtime) and will put this into savings. As i said - a balance between overpayments and savings! More will come later in the month for both savings and debt.

Days until pay day: 25
Childcare payments left: 15
Loan payments left: 10 (almost 9 :rotfl:)

Savings overview
£250 in Christmas saver
£350 in credit union saver
£88 in gifts/ clothes account (taken a massive hit this month and still another present to come)
£1,920 in savings account (mostly earmarked for holiday spending but is acting as emergency fund in the meantime)
£240 in Euros (for holiday)

Still to save:
£500 to book Disney tickets for during our holiday
£2,000 for architect, planning permission, structural engineer
£??? to keep building funds up (another £800 is earmarked for savings between now and July when we go on holiday, and that's not including any overtime from my husband). I think we're in a good place but want to keep momentum up and keep plans/ goals in place.

PositiveBalance

Homegrown0 wrote: »

Thanks, PB! you're right, it is a lovely feeling. Lulls are the most dangerous thing, for me it makes me feel that if no progress is being made, i want to do SOMETHING so i end up self-sabotaging. Ridiculous, i know, but it's easy done.

That's my main priority - overpaying as much as we can, while still living our life and still keeping some money aside for savings. It's important to me to be secure in knowing that we can cope with a moderate emergency. So far, so good!

This is pretty much how I feel. I'm clinging on not to do anything stupid at the moment and can't WAIT until I can slam down a large payment on my CC . But how much and when is currently out of my hands...


Having an emergency fund really is peace of mind, isn't it? :A

teafor2

Morning HG It feels like my whole month is a lull after the spends come in and I've distributed them. The most exciting part is topping the pots up every week :rotfl:

Everything is looking really good and those monthly numbers are coming down nicely. You do so well managing your money are you taking on the role of project manager for the home improvements? Will it be lots of internal re-jigging, building an extension or both? I do like a building project, although more so these days if it's somebody else's

Have a lovely weekend. xx

Homegrown0

I feel your pain tea - 80% of my month, if not more, is one big lull! It's amazing that we don't just say 'sod it' and blow the lot! Glad we have some self restraint

The house work is pretty much a blank canvas right now - i know that two rooms will be knocked together to make one large kitchen and we're also planning on replacing our leaky, cold conservatory with an extension but it's no clearer than that right now. I'm hoping the architect will be full of bright and clever ideas to fit our budget. My husband is a tradesman and has trusted friends in other professions (ones who he's seen first hand their workmanship) so we know who will be doing many parts of the work. I hope i'm not left project managing it as I don't know the first thing about it! The joiner that will be doing the work also works as a main contractor so i'm hoping he'll shoulder much of the day to day stuff with decisions coming from me and my husband. We'll see! A lot more research needs to be done for sure before we get started.

I'm looking forward to this weekend - we have a lovely lunch planned with extended family on Sunday in a beautiful part of the country so i hope it stays dry so we can do some exploring after.

monz

Hope you had a lovely weekend xx

teafor2

Evening HG Hope you had a lovely weekend and enjoyed your lunch with the family.

If you've got tried and trusted friends in the profession I'm sure you won't have to keep an eye on them which is a blessing. I think my project management would amount to booking people in the diary and making them a brew and a bacon butty if they turned up :rotfl: xx

kindofagilr

I hope you had a lovely weekend xx

Homegrown0

Hi all, thanks for stopping by I had a lovely weekend with the family thanks! Great lunch, some lovely weather and a nice time spent outside with some fresh air and laughs with the family.

I've not really been on this week - had a birthday and lots of work things going on, plus juggling childcare with the school holidays so it's been a bit manic. Hoping for a nice, pretty chilled, weekend ahead and hoping that the weather stays so lovely. It's been a gorgeous few days and I've managed to get so much washing done and dried outside.

I'm trying to be a bit better at getting bits and bobs done in the house in between working when I'm at home. Yesterday I spent 15 minutes in between calls dusting and hoovering my boy's room and stripping his bed and managed to get a couple of washings hung out in between projects. I didn't take much of a lunchbreak, but this way is much more productive for me.

We have spent like maniacs this last week due to having people round for birthday celebrations and a meal out for the same thing. I have pretty much emptied the clothes/ gifts account (all spent on relevant things) but the kids are still in need of summer jackets and my eldest needs new trainers so that can wait until the end of the month when the pot is replenished.

Days until pay day: 17
Childcare payments: 15
Loan payments: 9
Days until holiday: 77

teafor2

Sounds like you've been busy but with lots of nice things thrown in as well. It's surprising what you can get done in 15 minutes isn't it. I do my housework in short spurts these days and then reward myself with some time on the laptop.

I'm sure you'll have your gift and clothes account looking healthy again in no time at all. Have a lovely relaxing weekend. xx

doingitanyway

All sounding good Homegrown. Your countdowns always make me smile, especially 77 days to your holiday. Have a good weekend