Adventures of the Boy & Me: Part 3..

Chandelier.

So I've had a quick move around of funds here and there to balance things out a little.

• £75.00 put into savings. (This has been added to our travel funds).
• £15.00 paid off the debt. (The balance now sits at £500.00, a direct debit is due out by the end of the week).

All other accounts remain intact.

I've had a review of what money is left in certain budgets for the rest of the month and the main ones are as follows.

• Entertainment Budget: £97.46. (I'm going to try and space things out more and use it for days out only. I want to keep food spends to a minimum).
• Food Budget: £39.00. (This is mainly for mid week top ups).
• Petrol Budget: £30.00. (I've a third of a tank left at the moment so may not use all of this).
• Surplus funds: £80.00. (This is the account for everything else that is not nidheyed for. I'll keep a close eye on this and be more mindful of spends).

So I have an idea of what money I have left for the next eleven days. I'll review final figures at the end of the month.

Chandelier.

Afternoon,

Yet again several days have passed since I last updated here and I've just been getting on with things as best as I can. It's been quite busy to be honest.

Last week passed in a blur to be honest. I was attending a course related to my mental health and all the days seem to have rolled into one. The good news is that I stuck at it and have learnt some new skills which should be valuable. As I was attending this each day, there was barely any time free for me to spend money which was good for my bank account. Also instead of paying for parking, I parked a bit further away and walked to the venue which saved me money.

The boy is doing well and we had a really good report for parents evening last week. I treated him to a day out at a waterpark for all the hard work and effort he puts into everything, which he really enjoyed.

On Sunday, we celebrated Mothers Day. I stuck to our original plan and made afternoon tea for both my mum and the boys Nanny which was much appreciated. We baked our own scones with ingredients we already had then bought whatever extra was needed, total cost came to £9.76 which fed four of us. The average cost around here for the same thing is around £12.50pp so we definately made a saving. There was enough plenty of food leftover at the end of it. We all enjoyed it and got to spend some quality time together.

I used up leftover food towards a mini afternoon tea with my friend today which we both enjoyed and had time to catch up so there was no waste.

Aside from that I've been keeping a close eye on my accounts/budgets and ended up with a surplus of around £160 at the end of March which I was happy with. I've put this straight into one of my savings account that I'll let build up.

My CC debt now stands at £445.00, now the direct debit has come out and because of another overpayment. It is coming down nicely.

As it's a new month, I have started with a fresh budget. All my funds have been moved around and allocated to where they need to be.

There are quite a few upcoming expenses this month so I'm trying to be more mindful of my spends and I'll try to spread them out a bit more, instead of doing too much at once. I have just as much fun staying in as well as going out so I think I'll have a bit of entertainment fund detox. I set aside £200pm for my entertainment spends but I don't always use it all. It would be nice to make some savings there.

There have been some talks with manfriend about a possible small adventure in the upcoming future, most likely in May. I'm still wanting to go Amsterdam with my friend which hopefully should be planned for June. And then I need to make a decision about the travelling plans for me and the boy, for the summer. So it seems I have a lot of planning and organising to do over the next few weeks. I shall research things carefully and look for the best deals possible. I'll formalise an itinerary and price it all up including travel, accommodation and activities that we plan to do.

There are exciting times ahead.

I'm still off work and I'm unsure when I'll go back just yet. I need to get myself right first before I jump into anything and there are some things which need to change, hopefully for the good.

But until then, I'll carry on as I am and keep doing what I'm doing. The days are getting easier and I'm grateful for what and who I have around me.

Chandelier.

Morning,

Just a quick update for now. It's been a while since my last post but life has been hectic and I've been keeping myself busy.

My debt now stands at £420.00, which is a reduction of £25 compared to my last post which I'm happy with. I'm waiting for the direct debit to come out to bring it down even more.

Money wise, I'm doing okay. There have been quite a few spends here and there but nothing too drastic. My saving pots are all intact and and I have some funds left over in the monthly budget ones. Whatever is left at the end of the month, I'll transfer over into another account.

I have been saving money in other ways possible. My car service/mot is due today and after searching through a few price comparison websites I've found a good offer. Where other places are charging around £180-£200, this garage has quoted me £140 which is a huge saving. I've checked out the reviews and all seems good. I shall be taking that later.

Me and my manfriend have booked a break away together. We are off to Ibiza for 4 nights/5 days and the total cost including flights, accommodation and car hire is around £150 each which I'm happy with. I have some leftover euros (€98) from one of my previous holidays which I'll use up and whatever else is needed, I'll use my monzo card or one of my travel credit cards.

The travel plans for the boy and me for the summer are still ongoing. I've done some light research but really need to knuckle down on this and start planning/budgeting and piecing it all together. I'm sure it will be a memorable holiday for us both so I want to get it right. We shall be using interail I think which will save me a lot of money. The full cost of flights to each destination was £500 each.. the interail pass works out at around £240 for the both of us which works out at a saving of over £700. Plus the boy would rather travel by train. I'll most likely put the expenses onto my 0% CCs and spread it out a little. I do have the funds available to pay it off but I'd also like the protection should something go wrong.

All is well with the boy. He is doing really well and is still amazing me with what he can achieve. He did an ice skating competition and came 1st which was definitely a proud mama moment. I've been keeping him busy over the Easter holidays and active as much as possible. We have both agreed that we want to get out more for walks around places now that the nights are lighter for longer. This will increase our fitness hopefully.

In regards to me losing weight, this has been put on the back burner for a while and I've put all the weight I lost back on. I haven't been to the gym in ages or watching what I eat. I'm now the heaviest I've ever been which has upset me a bit. I'm going to make the conscious effort to make a few changes to my diet and see how I get on. I'd rather lose it slowly but surely and I'll aim to get back to the gym now the boy is back at school. I'm going to find my activity tracker and start using that again.

I'm still saving a set amount of money each month and I've decided I'm going to really scale back on what I'm spending in certain areas such as entertainment. I'm eating out far too much so I'm going to swap this for other ideas or things that are free to do.

So that's pretty much it really. I'll try to make the effort to post more regularly and where possible.

Chandelier.

Morning,

Another month has passed before my eyes- it seems that this year really is flying! I haven't updated in quite while due to being so busy and having lots on.

Overall May ended on a positive note. The highlights were going on holiday to Ibiza with my manfriend and then getting to spend half term with the boy. Also I had a meeting at work which we have agreed for me to return at the end of June/beginning of July. I'm pretty happy and content right now, everything is falling into place.

I have been watching my finances carefully as I've now gone onto half pay. I have rejigged my budget to reflect my income which is realistic and should be easy enough to stick to.

I've made some payments to my CC, bringing the total down to £340.00, which I'm happy with. The direct debit is due to go out these next few days which will bring it down further. I'm averaging around total payments of £50pm and if I carry on and make other payments, I'll soon have it paid off before the promotional period ends- so it's manageable.

I've yet to plan the travels for the boy and I this summer. I plan on doing this over the next week or two. I'll add the payments to another 0% CC I have and pay it off gradually over that promotional rate. I'll pay the minimums and put savings into a high interest account to maximise the benefits.

I'm still using my AMEX CC each month for day to day spends and paying off in full. I'm showing that I am able to manage my money and it helps towards my future credit history.

In regards to savings, I'm doing well and on track for the rest of the year. I've also set up a standing order of £25pm to go into the boys savings. I know it's not much but every little helps. As time goes on I shall either make additional payments or up the amount of the standing order. I'll see how it goes.

I've had a few big expenditures last month and I'm just balancing out the accounts and rounding them up. I still have different accounts for different things and this system is working well for me. I'm sticking within my target budgets and what is leftover rolls into savings/for the budget next month.

I've also looked at ways to cut back expenditure wise. I've cancelled Spotify and Netflix, saving £15.98 a month and my manfriend is kindly letting me use his accounts .

June shall be yet another busy month as I get back into some sort of routine, plus it's my birthday. I've decided I want to celebrate it this year so we have a couple of things in the pipeline. I'm also going to treat myself to a haircut/colour as I haven't had it done for over four months.

Alas, I'm hoping to get back into the gym and start watching what I eat. Since I've stopped smoking I've put on about a stone in weight which I'm not happy about. At least it's better being smoke free! I've not smoked for three months now and I'm really chuffed with myself that I've kept it up.

I've been making small and subtle changes over the past few months which are benefitting me. It's amazing what difference the small things make.

I'm in a pretty happy place right now and long may it continue. The difference in me now compared to earlier on in the year is amazing. I've grown as a person and my life has changed quite a bit. I've had the time to recharge my batteries and welcome new people into my life.

I hope the rest of the year continues like this. There are lots of things I want to do/places I want to visit. I have a lot of things written down and loosely planned.

Watch this space

Chandelier.

Morning,

I thought I'd post a weekly update and summarise how I'm getting on.

I've had a pretty quiet week and stayed indoors alot. I felt like I just needed a break from people and some time to myself. I'm now past that and saved some money a long the way.

My credit card balance now stands at £310 since the direct debit came out. I'll try make a further overpayment at some point.

My other card is just used for day to day things and the funds are kept in a separate account, ready to pay it off when it's due.

I think I will save a bit of money in some areas this month due to a few minor changes. I've cancelled one of the boys after school sessions as his Nanny can now have him which has saved me £6.25 per week.

The only other thing left for me to pay is the boys residential trip with school in the autumn. I need to find £115 to pay that over these next few months.

Aside from that, I have a few exciting things coming up over this month. I have my birthday celebrations which there have been a couple of outings arranged. There will be a couple of meals out here and there.

Also, I'm going away with Manfriend to York for my actual birthday for one night. We will have two days to explore what is around us which should be good.

We have also planned our trip to Scorland where we shall be doing the Coastal 300 route. We are spreading it out over three nights/four days and have found lots of places to explore. I searched around for the best accommodation deals and have managed to book a country house for one night, then a b&b for the second and then a farmhouse for the third.. so we have a bit of a variation. The total cost came to around £175 which was good value for the type of accomodation I've chosen. I'm excited.

I've also planned a rough idea of the trip to Italy for the boy and me. I've priced up flights, travel and accomodation and it came to around £1000 for 12 nights for everything which I thought was a bargain. I just need to actually book it now. That's my plan for this upcoming week.

All these travel expenses are going onto a 0% CC which I'll set up a direct debit for once I know/have final figures. I already have a dedicated travel fund but I'm going to place what I have into an interest earning account whilst paying the minimum off each month. When it comes to the end of the term, I'll pay off what is left.

I'm trying to make my money work for me now and invest where possible. I allocate money to several different funds whilst saving a good chunk and earn interest where I can.

I manage to keep on top of everything by taking around five minutes each day to check my balances and move funds around where appropriate. My system is pretty complicated but it works for me.

That's pretty much it really now. I know it may seem crazy to put things onto a credit card but I'm being sensible with it. I'm not spending more then I have available and there is a limit to what I will spend.

I'm just excited for this years adventures. Although I've had a rocky start to 2019, everything else is looking up. I'm blessed to have what I have and I'm grateful for it all.

Bye for now!