Easter 2025 I’m coming to get you!

Hettyhound

I’m afraid not much saving has been going on, rather spending instead.  He’s definitely worth it though ❤️ Winston arrived with me on Monday 

beanielou

Hello lovely Winston.
Looks like he is making himself at home 

greent

Aww - that's great news! Welcome, Winston! 

South_coast

Oh, look at him! He is adorable 🩷!

savingholmes

Winston looks gorgeous and right at home.

Jessy103

Oh he's absolutely gorgeous!! The fawn coloured longnoses really are very pretty 😀

Hettyhound

Hello everyone.  Winston has now truly settled in.  He’s sleeping the night on his own downstairs and we have got into a routine now.  It’s my son’s 11th birthday on Sunday so money has been going out for presents and I’ve also promised to take him out for a pizza on Saturday teatime, dependent on good behaviour!  I’ve set him up a Rooster account with a massive chores list attached 🤣 for regular pocket money.  He needs to learn about the value of things and it seemed a good option.  Not much mortgage overpaying going on but the credit card has been paid off in full and the emergency fund should hit the £800 mark by the end of the month.  I have my sons secondary place confirmed so I can start buying the overpriced uniform; the branded pe kit will cost more than the actual uniform 🤬. The trousers and shirts I will buy from Mr marks when he has a school uniform deal on 🤞I need to sort out pet insurance as Winston’s one month free runs out at the weekend.  I think I know which one/quote but just want to check for any top cash back deals that may be had.

savingholmes

Glad your hound is settling in well and things are steadying.

Hettyhound

Well hello people 👋. So as normal money seems to be going out at a rate of knots so savings and overpayments are taking a hit.  I’ve had to have new glasses (wasn’t due an eye test until the summer) as my prescription has changed and I basically couldn’t see 🤦‍♀️. My son needs new glasses but luckily due to his age they are free, we collect those next weekend.  I’ve broken a tooth so I need to get that fixed and I’ve made a start on buying school uniform.  Very generously a family member has said they will help out and I’ve located a few bargains as well.  I’ve bought him a new coat in a sale (which he needs now) and new socks.  Bought black so he can wear them at secondary as well as now at primary.  I did a rough estimate of the cost of all the stuff he needs for school in September and it came to an eye watering £400!  My mission (which I have accepted) is to reduce that amount!  The branded stuff may be an issue but our local church holds a uniform bank sale in July and one of the other year 6 mums has said she will let us know the date once it’s fixed.  Apparently they get quite a bit of the secondary school stuff including blazers.  It’s the branded PE kit that gets me, that comes to £45 plus trainers, football boots and socks, shin pads and mouth guard.  The mortgage seems to have been stuck in the £25s for ages and I keep hoping for an interest rate drop but not sure we will get one soon.  As I’m on a tracker my payment would get recalculated and fall a small amount but then my overpayment would have more effect.  My deal ends on 31/12 and then I have to go on SVR for the rest of the life of the mortgage.  I was hoping that the SVR would be similar to the original tracker rate by then but they don’t seem to be shifting that interest rate.  I must admit although they say inflation is falling I’m not feeling it.  Oh well, I keep thinking I’m in a far better place than if I didn’t overpay and in a far better place than many others so trying to keep that positive vibe going.

savingholmes

School uniform costs are painful. Sounds great if you can buy second hand for some of it. I always thought they took the michael on PE kits too. Sorry you've had a run of unexpected bills. You'll get back to OPs at some point - and meanwhile your mortgage is relatively low.