Twinklie returns to the property ladder

twinklie

My brilliant start to the year with surveys and such has slowed down. With the wee one being ill last weekend, DH having a rubbish week at work an not being in a good place and me having a permanent stress headache for the last two days things have slowed down.

I'm taking DS2 to a birthday party tomorrow - regifting a decent present so no costs there. Then he has swimming straight after. I suspect tomorrow afternoon will be spent doing homework with DS1 and housework.

The good news is my composter is now situated and I'm already seeing a reduction in waste which is exciting. Friday is payday which is also exciting. Although I've had to up the childcare vouchers because I had a healthy build up of reserves once upon a time, however it's down to £39 now. Just hope I've upped it enough to tide us over.

In other news DS2's diagnosis letter came and he also had his report through from nursery. He's doing better than I expected. Although I'm not sure if the teacher bumped a few bits to make it look a little better than it is.

twinklie

Managed to switch to a cheaper energy tariff with my current provider despite having a debt of £126. They’ve upped my DD by £1 per month to clear the debt mind.

I should thank MSE, it was Martins energy club that alerted me too it. It’s the cheapest tariff that came up for me.

twinklie

1. Read 20 books. (2/20)

2. Save 20 of each coin type. (have some in a bag, but not counted what I have).

3. Save 20 notes of any denomination. (0 x £5, 1 x £10, 2 x £20)

4. Put an extra £20 into savings every month. (Set up a £25 DD to savings account)

5. Take lunch to work at least 20 times (I only work part time and sometimes work from home which doesn’t count). I genuinely haven't kept track of this in January!

6. 20 NSDs. (5/20) I don't know the answer for Jan. :eek:

7. Leave the kitchen tidy at bedtime at least 20 times per month. (15/20)

8. Complete 20 surveys per month - only qualifying ones count. (20+/20) Smashed this one!

9. Make £20 by selling something/things (try for £240 over the year). £0

10. Declutter 20 things per month (20 minute sort through papers for recycling counts). (20/20)

11. 20 lie ins. (1/20) **Good job it's a yearly target**

12. Grow my own veg to provide food for 20 meals.

13. 20 family days.

14. 20 walks of 20 minutes or more (not just the nursery run). 2/20)

15. 20 random acts of kindness. (2/20)

16. 20 donations to a food bank.

17. Volunteer 20 times. (1/20)

18. 20 early nights (bed for 10.30pm). (2/20)

19. Sit out in the garden with a drink/food and relax 20 times for at least 20 minutes. (1/20)

20. Play in the garden with the kids 20 times for at least 20 minutes (this includes just watching if they don’t want me to play). (1/20)


So we've been the house of the sick a lot this month, if it's not been one of us it's been another. So I've decided to go easy on myself for the lack of progress this month.


I've also discovered I might be better having a paper tally rather than trying to update on here because I kept forgetting to record things and then update what I have/haven't done.

twinklie

DEBT
DH's CC - Was £326.33 - Now £321.86.
My CC - Was £1,338.94 - Now £1,305.47.
Car Loan - Was £8,602 - Now £8,459.
My Loan - Was £125 - Now £0. :j
DH's Phone - Was £194 - Now £180.
My Phone - Was £27 - Now £24.45.

Total debt at the start of 2020 = £10,613.27 - Now = £10,290.78
Total reduction this month = £322.49
Total % of 4K reduction = 8.06%


MORTGAGE
Current daily interest is £15.60.
We now own 15.2% of the house.
2 rooms owned.
Paid off 5.2% of the mortgage.
Current MF date - Oct 2037.


SURVEY sites
YouGov - Jan £1.05 - Feb £2.75 - increase £1.70
OnePoll - Jan £18.90 - Feb £19.45 - increase £0.55
OnePulse - Jan $4.91 - Feb £3.31 - increase £8.40 (cashed out £5 x2)
Swagbucks - Jan 477 SB - Feb 690 SB - cashed out £5 voucher
AirTimeRewards - Jan £2.00 - Feb £0.67 - cashed out £5
SweatCoin - Jan SC 311.81 - Feb SC 472.46 - increase SC 160.65
Shoppix - Jan 5910 - Feb 6655 - increase 745
ZIPZERO - Jan £0 - Feb £1.05 - increase £3.56 (cashed out £2.51).
Total cashed out in January - £22.51

I will update any outstanding figures as soon as I have them.

twinklie

Spent a significant amount of money forking out for the annual Thomas Land trip (it’s the spiritual home for my boys). But, it’s the one place (when school holidays allow) that we can go and truly have a fab relaxed time.

DS2 is fixated on Thomas and trains so it’s amazing to see his little face light up. And DS1 just likes going on 3 - 4 rides primarily, which does get tedious, BUT his anxiety melts away (as long as it’s not busy). We also get the access passes if needed just so that the staff can tell we have additional needs in our party - even if we don’t need to use the alternative entrances. It just helps not to be rushed and not to be too “jokey” with them. The staff there have always been amazing.

twinklie

Eek. Not sure what I think about the new forum. It might take me a while to get my head round everything. I don’t like change. Ha ha ha. 

Spent the morning at a SEND group near us that the boys love. £2 for all of us, so fairly MSE. Now watching the rugby so no money to be spent there either. 

My head is starting to turn towards half term. I need to be fairly well prepared with these things so I can prepare the kids. It’s all so weather dependent though. 

Saturday - Play at home/walk. NSD
Sunday - Play at home/walk. NSD
Monday - cinema (Super Monday discounts) and trampolining in the garden. 14.22 + 5.98 = £20.20 - £14.22 was paid with survey money though so I never felt that. 

Tuesday - Treasure hunt in the park and Swimming lesson for DS1. NSD
Wednesday - Play center £11.90

Thursday - Physio for me (am), shoe shopping for boys (shop was shut due to a leak), lunch in town for boys to kill time, hairdressers for boys (pm). £6.05 + £14 = £20.05
Friday - appointment for DH (pm), swimming lesson DS2. NSD
Saturday - Soft Playdate with friends £11.00
Sunday - Play at home/walk NSD

Half term total = £63.15

Hopefully there’s enough balance between being at home and out of the house to keep the boys happy. 

twinklie

Argh this new forum is not working for me. Nothing is displaying properly. Is it just me?

twinklie

So we had a lovely valentines take out last night for all of us for less than £6! We got food for me and DH from a local Caribbean Café via the TooGoodToGo app for £3.59 and then picked up some jacket potatoes and chicken yellow sticker pre-cooked from Booths for the boys.

I'm getting a magic box from Morrison's via the app later as well, so will be interesting to see what I leave with. I hope its food we'd buy anyway with some extra treats (fingers crossed).

Half term started early for us due to DS2 having a D&V bug. Fortunately, he seemed to get it all out at nursery, because nothing has come out of him since. He's not ill anymore but definitely still in recovery mode.

twinklie

Just updating re: the magic bag from Morrison's. It was all stuff we would normally buy, so we are made up. Saved approx 12 quid off our standard shopping bill. 

twinklie

Having a lazy day at home today. We did the cinema trip yesterday. It was a lovely time until the end of the film, the lights came on and DS2 legged it. He just goes and doesn't respond to anything, but he's no danger awareness and would just go off with anyone so it's terrifying. I caught him before he got out the building anyway (thank God). 

Then we came home and played in the garden for a bit. Well, they did and I cleaned the playroom (vacuumed and shampooed the carpet and everything). Then I cleaned the carpet cleaner - living life on the edge. I also managed to get outside and do some gardening. My compost bin is 50% full already, beginning to think I might need two of them. 

Oh and we got another magic box from Morrison's. This one was worth approx £31 and saved us probably about £20 off our normal food bill. So our food shop this week has cost us £10 roughly (although we are at home this week and I'm better at stretching food and being creative when I'm not at work.