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

doingitanyway

Great windfall from the butcher. If the fat is higher content just cook slower and drain off fat?

I hope you get the childcare juggle in place for the summer hols.

Hope you have a lovely Sunday

kindofagilr

Have you seen the holiday club sainsburys do? thre isnt any near me but it looks fab I think its £7.50 a day! xx

kindofagilr

This is it https://activekids.sainsburys.co.uk/

And it includes lunch! xx

teafor2

Morning HG Hope work has quietened down for you and you're managing to grab some time for yourself.

Blimey that's a lot of money for holiday club isn't it. I really don't know how parents do it these days. Is your family holiday during the school holidays, if so that's one/two weeks you can knock off. I vaguely remember with DD me and hubby took separate holidays during the year and came together for our annual family holiday. We were also very lucky with his Mum and Dad who would have her the odd day or two, but they were retired, a lot of grandparents are still working themselves these days.

Knowing you, I'm sure by the time you post again you'll have a plan of action and it will all worked out xx

Homegrown0

teafor2 wrote: »

Morning HG Hope work has quietened down for you and you're managing to grab some time for yourself.

Blimey that's a lot of money for holiday club isn't it. I really don't know how parents do it these days. Is your family holiday during the school holidays, if so that's one/two weeks you can knock off. I vaguely remember with DD me and hubby took separate holidays during the year and came together for our annual family holiday. We were also very lucky with his Mum and Dad who would have her the odd day or two, but they were retired, a lot of grandparents are still working themselves these days.

Knowing you, I'm sure by the time you post again you'll have a plan of action and it will all worked out xx

It is a lot, Tea, but he adores going. They do lots of fun trips and he's made some great friends there. I suppose we'll just need to be as organised as possible financially for it and split between the expensive one, the sports camp that's half the price and the odd day here and there that I can keep him at home with me with some crafts while i work etc.

kindofagilr wrote: »

This is it https://activekids.sainsburys.co.uk/

And it includes lunch! xx

I didn't know they did a kids' club! Just took a look and it's England and Wales only, so nothing for me unfortunately.

doingitanyway wrote: »

Great windfall from the butcher. If the fat is higher content just cook slower and drain off fat?

I hope you get the childcare juggle in place for the summer hols.

Hope you have a lovely Sunday

It's likely higher fat content, but i have no way of knowing really. But yes, we'll drain the fat off as much as possible. Also, we tend to have burgers with a massive salad so as long as it's a plate that's 50/50 burger and salad, i'm not too worried. They'll last us for a while anyway! That's for sure!

teafor2

It is a lot, Tea, but he adores going. They do lots of fun trips and he's made some great friends there. I suppose we'll just need to be as organised as possible financially for it and split between the expensive one, the sports camp that's half the price and the odd day here and there that I can keep him at home with me with some crafts while i work etc.

It sounds great fun and if they do all those things also pretty good value for money, especially as they're looking after one of the most important people in your life And if he enjoys going that's a massive bonus. At least you're not worried that you're sending him somewhere he doesn't like, which must make it a lot easier for you and DH. xx

Homegrown0

Well, life and work are busier than ever right now! I'm barely scraping by the basics just now so yet again it's been over a week since I've been on here. It's also been a super expensive month and that's not looking like it will ease up any time soon.

Everyone, yes EVERYONE in my house needs new trainers (we buy the kids two pairs each normally so they have a nice pair to go out and a pair for everything else) so that's an expensive bill that'll need paid this week from savings. It's my youngest's birthday in a few weeks and just booked his party. Also need to buy him some presents so i need to get a handle on those spends, although they'll come from next month's budget thankfully, not this months.

Trying to keep to a budget, but struggling this month...

Another £526 paid to debt but very little on the overpayment front this month. Going to do a monthly roundup next to try to get me back in the game.

Days until pay day: 6
Loan payments left: 8
Nursery payments left: 14

Homegrown0

Balances and paid amounts
Loan: £4,211.28 / £15,792.30 (£11,581.02 paid off - 73% paid)
CC1: £3,625.61 / £4,804.97 (£1,179.36 or 25% paid off)
CC2: £3,824.58 / £5,031.14 (£1,292.38 paid off - 26% paid)

Total: £11,661.47 / £25,619.44 (£14,052.76 paid off, 55% paid)

Good things:

• Total debt paid off is now over £14k (just) :T
• Total debt left is into the £11ks
• Loan is so close to being 3/4s paid!!
• Have paid off a quarter of CC1 bill.
• Total debt paid off is 55% now :T

Not so good things

• Didn't manage to overpay anywhere near what I'd planned due to many, many, many unexpected spends. Still in good shape, but could be better.

Pay off your debt by Xmas 2019

• January - £854.92 (£218.51 overpaid) - 8.6% of challenge total
• February- £1,012.27 (£375.86 overpaid) - 10.1% of challenge total
• March - £919.99 (£283.58 overpaid) - 9.2% of challenge total
• April - £1,113.78 (£477.37 overpaid) - 11.1% of challenge total
• May- £686.41 (£50 overpaid) - 6.9% of challenge total
  
  Total so far: £4,587.37 / £10,000 (46% of challenge total):j

Savings

• £1900.00 in general savings account (this has taken a hit this month and will be taking another hit then will be wiped in late June for our holidays...
• £0 in clothing/ gifts account...and this will immediately be used to cover our shoes bill...
• £350 in Christmas saver (will be £600 by November)
• £451 in CU saver (£50 added every month)
• 240 EUR in cash (from husband's failed trip away due to illness) - for summer holiday
• £??? in my sealed pot!

Days until pay day: 6
Loan payments left: 8
Childcare payments left: 14

abba1772

I feel your pain homegrown I'm sick of spending money need to reign it back in as we are mega tight til next Friday xx

Homegrown0

I've done some projections for the next 12 months or so and even though a lot can change (this diary is a prime example of that!), by next summer, we'll be able to save around £1k per month even factoring in the 'new borrowing' for house renovations.

This had made my Friday exceptionally happy! Even if it doesn't happen because something else comes up, it's still a positive outlook considering where we've been in the past 5 years.

2020 will be our year - nursery costs done; loan finished and hopefully credit cards paid off.

Budget fluctuations

• Our music subscription went up by £5 per month
• Our gas and electricity went up by £40 per month :O
• Husband's wages went down by £5 per week, but it's because his government pension contribution changed slightly...
• Had to increase husband's data allowance for his phone contract, another £5
• Nursery fees increase came into effect this month, so i think we're paying £60 per month more until September when we get a little extra funding.

I'm really hoping I get a reasonable pay rise when pay reviews are undertaken in my work next month...