£29,303...Enough is enough!

DMP_Tiger

Hi WK85. I've just been having a read of your diary.

My daughter does dance/performing arts and I used to stress every time we had a bill. Now I have worked out how much it costs per year (around £1k :eek:) I put £90 per month into a savings account so whether it's fees, show tickets, costumes or whatever - the money is always there.

She has food allergies too, do you know yet what your DC's allergies are? My daughter's are dairy and wheat.

Regarding your car. I used to have a company car which was renewed every 3 years (changed job now and no car ). Even though I was constantly on a downer about having no money, I used to feel great driving around in a nice car - especially socially. Debt is not good for our mental health so if your car makes you feel good and it's in your budget then I say keep it!!

Hope you're managing the summer hols ok. It's always a drain on the finances!

WelshKitty85

DMP_Tiger wrote: »

Hi WK85. I've just been having a read of your diary.

My daughter does dance/performing arts and I used to stress every time we had a bill. Now I have worked out how much it costs per year (around £1k :eek:) I put £90 per month into a savings account so whether it's fees, show tickets, costumes or whatever - the money is always there.

She has food allergies too, do you know yet what your DC's allergies are? My daughter's are dairy and wheat.

Regarding your car. I used to have a company car which was renewed every 3 years (changed job now and no car ). Even though I was constantly on a downer about having no money, I used to feel great driving around in a nice car - especially socially. Debt is not good for our mental health so if your car makes you feel good and it's in your budget then I say keep it!!

Hope you're managing the summer hols ok. It's always a drain on the finances!

Thanks for popping in

DDs performing arts "only" costs £145.80 for the year (plus tickets to watch the shows, costume fees etc). We could pay per half term but we get a 10 % discount if we pay for the year which is why I've been trying to scrape it together. I also like the peace of mind knowing its paid for another year. I do need to start putting money aside for shows though.

So far we think DC3 is allergic to egg and peanuts but he's only 8 months old so still yet to try lots of foods.

Thank you for understanding about the car

I love the school holidays. DC1 & DC2 are at the in laws for a few days (they refuse to have DC3 :mad:) but I'm really missing them. I've been tempted a few time to go and pick them up but it's a half hour drive away and I keep telling myself to save the fuel for a day out with them.

DMP_Tiger

Enjoy your time with DC3 and do stuff that maybe only DC3 enjoys that you can't normally do when you have them all....

My daughter is at a summer school this week with a show at the end of the week. £130 plus £23 for a costume plus however much they are going to charge for tickets. All taken out of "dance savings" pot, which is now almost empty....

WelshKitty85

So I've been trying to plan ahead and set myself some more savings targets. So far on my list we have:
DHs car insurance - due November - approx £400
Home insurance - due November - ?
DH car tax - due January - £315
My car insurance - due February - £250

We'll also obviously have expenses such as birthdays and Christmas. I've estimated that we need to start putting aside around £200 per month to be able to pay such things up front, but it's difficult to plan for this when we don't know how much is coming in each month. I need to make a conscious effort to finish decluttering and listing items for sale in the next couple of weeks before I go back to work and make a head start on putting money aside.

Sorry if I'm not making much sense to anyone else. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down in writing and start formulating a plan that makes sense to me.

WelshKitty85

This month wages are pending in my bank account and it's showing £149.48 more than I had budgeted :j :j My maternity leave officially ends this week, so this months wages are a combination of mat pay and salary, so I think I probably just calculated it wrong. I should have my pay slip by the end of the day so will check it first, but my plan is to spend £39 booking a safari park trip for the family then transfer £100 to start off my savings pot.

DMP_Tiger

Always good when you have more money than you thought! I love it when that happens :beer:

[Deleted User]

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

Sorry if I'm not making much sense to anyone else. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down in writing and start formulating a plan that makes sense to me.

I find that putting it down in my diary helps to organise my thoughts

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

This month wages are pending in my bank account and it's showing £149.48 more than I had budgeted :j :j

Yay to extra money, always a good thing xx

WelshKitty85

I've had my payslip. Seeing my mat pay come to an end makes me feel sad that my maternity leave is over. But, my pay seems correct :T so with the extra £149 I have paid £39 for safari park tickets and transferred £110 to savings. I've also transferred £162 from PayPal (leaving enough in there to cover fees), paid off DDs performing arts fee for the year, and transferred the remaining £17 to savings. So, my savings pot currently stands at £127. I'm considering looking for a savings account that lets me input savings 'pots', but I might just make do with my spreadsheets instead.

I still have £30 in my purse from items I sold, but might keep hold of this to pay for the hairdresser. Although, I have no idea how much it will cost for me and DD - I'm not sure what the going rate is now.

Im not sure if I'm making much sense right now as DC3 is in bed crying so I can't hear myself think We're persevering with controlled crying, but he now starts to cry as soon as I put my foot on the first step to take him upstairs to bed!! He is getting better though and settles after 5-10 minutes, then sleeps through until about 6 (I hope by posting this I haven't just cursed myself with a sleepless night :eek: ).

Oh and I've just remembered, DD and I are going to see Shrek the musical next week. We booked it months ago though her musical theatre class for about half the normal price. Will stock up on drinks and snacks from the supermarket to keep costs down too.

WelshKitty85

It was lovely to have all my babies home under one roof last night.

DD and I have started working through her craft sets (birthday & Xmas presents that never get used) that are sat on top of her wardrobe gathering dust. Yesterday we taught ourselves how to 'knit' and we made a bobble hat. I am very impressed with our efforts and we have enough wool left to make another.

Wages have been paid and my bank account is looking rather healthy this morning. But that's because the big bills like the mortgage don't go out until tomorrow :rotfl: .

We are going to view a nursery for DC3 today, although I'm doing a phased return to work so won't need childcare until at least October. Thankfully my mum is an absolute star and will have DC3 2 days a week. I'm hoping to find somewhere that will offer a flexible contract so we can change the days according to DHs work, but the ones that do this seem to be much more expensive. I have been paying into childcare vouchers for the last year so have a little saved up to cover at least the first month of childcare, but think we would be better of switching to tax credits after that.

WelshKitty85

So...it's DHs birthday at the end of this month. He keeps telling me not to buy anything and I keep kidding myself that I'll listen, but in reality I'm not going to buy nothing for him. I've got £127 in savings but I'd really like to get through his birthday without depleting my savings so soon. I've managed to get a babysitter for the weekend following his birthday so am thinking of a meal for just the 2 of us. As it's bank holiday weekend I'm unlikely to find any groupons so that will be around £40. He also needs his car roof waterproofing, which I know he will end up getting done before the winter anyway, so I though I would pay for that and a mini valet for him. I've just had an alert pop up as I type and that's going to be £35, so I'm on a mission to find £75 in 2 weeks.

I messaged my usual hairdresser but she's on holiday. Looking online I've found somebody mobile who I think will do mine and DDs hair for under the £30 I've got in my purse. I'm waiting for a reply, but anything I can save on that will be a start towards the birthday fund.