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

Homegrown0

Glad my countdowns make you laugh! Need to have something to look forward to

Choccygirl123

I only bother using Quidco now as found others to unreliable. I had a cheeky little £2.80 pay out the other day, small but always welcome!

I knew you'd have the childcare cash accounted for he minute it becomes available HG, you're doing so well. I love seeing loan repayments down to single fingered!

kindofagilr

I love your countdowns too xx

Homegrown0

Morning all! Another day, another to-do list! I'm really looking forward to having some time off - I need to step away from work and refresh. I'm sure my work will be better for it after some time away!

Not a lot going on here - super skint so trying to plough along and not spend money. I've had a few feelings of 'sod it, we're already over budget' but suppressing them well so far. Less than two weeks until pay day, i can do it with minimal damage I'm sure!

Been invited to parents for dinner tonight so that's one less meal to make this week.

Husband is still working hard - he's done a fair bit extra this week so hoping to put a bit extra to debt/ savings with this week's pay, although I've already had to siphon some off to cover our overspend this month so will try to be careful!

Gas and electricity bill has gone up by £16 per month from the end of this month... another rise! I'd better get a good pay rise this summer to cover all these rises!

Days until payday: 13
Days until holiday: 73

teafor2

Morning HG Will you have a long weekend this week with it being Easter?

Well done on keeping that 'sod it' monkey at bay. In 2 weeks when you've been paid, you'll be on here feeling really happy that you didn't give in and aren't playing catch up.

All these little price hikes mount up don't they. Hubby is brilliant at ringing round and bartering with those he can, but it takes him ages, not something that can be done when you just have a spare 5 minutes.

Enjoy your meal and seeing your Mum and Dad. xx

Homegrown0

Yes, you're right about the bartering. Two of our increases are for council services (council tax and swimming lessons) so no bartering to be had there. Childcare is another no-go for bartering too and in terms of our gas and electricity, i think our deal is ending at the end of this month so i really need to get onto a comparison site, rather than just letting us lapse onto a standard tariff. Although I really HATE changing suppliers...

Car insurance is up in September so i'll be reviewing that in the hopes of keeping it down.

The 'sod it' monkey remains caged for another day!

I need to get back to using my planner and writing a list - motivation is at a low and forgetfulness is high!

Homegrown0

I've been playing around with some numbers today regarding our renovations - as I mentioned before, we're planning on taking out a loan to fund the renovations. We have a clear budget and plan for this so I thought I'd play around with some numbers to make sure we can definitely afford it.

All is looking great - providing nothing major comes out of the blue, we'll be able to clear off a massive chunk of the debt by the beginning of next year (loan ends in January and we'll have one CC almost cleared off by then, leaving a minimal amount of debt.

I anticipate that we'll be able to secure a loan for the amount we need, pay it comfortably, while still overpaying on the last remaining CC and keeping the savings pot going. By the time the remaining CC is cleared, youngest will be starting school and we'll be making another good saving on childcare which will either go into savings or into overpayment of the renovation loan to bring the term forward. We'll see.

It always unnerves me that I'm planning so far ahead because I want everything to add up. Of course, things will change or catch us by surprise, but I think I've come up with a comprehensive enough plan to ensure we have plenty leeway and room for manouvre.

For now, we'll just keep plugging away at the overpayments and savings and hope we can get as comfortable as possible before the work starts

Hope you've all had a good Tuesday!

Homegrown0

Hi all! Happy Wednesday

Well, it seems my husband's boss has gone back to paying him on Thursdays since his wages didn't arrive yesterday and still aren't in so I guess it paid off me moving his expected pay day to Thursday. Less of a disappointment and more accurate figures/ budget.

I am feeling VERY impatient though, because as soon as he gets paid, i'll be able to pay a nice chunk off the credit card and and put some more in savings. It's that time of the month, after all where there's lots of action

Today i need to get some work out of the way and also get to grips with some things in the house - mainly some dishes, a couple of loads of washing and tidying up my youngest's room (sort out his toy cupboard). Planning on making a cottage pie for dinner so must prep for that too. And I want to squeeze in some lunchtime home yoga...i should really get moving!

Choccygirl123

Homegrown you've certainly got a full grip of your finances. We have done quite a few renovations this year and found we had to spend more to save more in long term even though it added to the debt. I've a list of decorating still to do, but having a break from house things for a while until I'm back to work.

Homegrown0

Yes, it's a tough balance Choccy. For us, we know it's very affordable (particularly because we're hammering the debt at the moment before we take out the renovation debt). And I often wonder whether we'd want to carry on for the next 5 years limping through with a falling apart house until we save up or would we rather bite the bullet and get it done, living in a lovely and functional house while we pay off an affordable amount over a reasonable period of time. It's a no brainer to me. Especially while the kids are young and we can all enjoy the living space as a family.

Surveys
After having ignored PA for a while, I've just completed three surveys! One for £9, one for £1.20 and one for 20p. Not too bad for an hour's 'work'. I'll cash out as soon as they clear.

Oh! Husband has been paid - Wednesday this time! I'm off to do the sums and sort out payments then will come back to update.