Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

savingholmes

Happy New Year. Glad the kids enjoyed the sleep over. 

Good you got a good night's sleep - that goes along way. Hope DH gets better quickly.

DancingInTheRain

The rain was relentless yesterday so we stayed in our PJ's and had a very lazy day, also bagged our first NSD of the year 👏 also managed 4800 steps pottering around the house.

Today has been more productive - Xmas decorations have now been put back on the loft. Sorted the boys joggers and jeans as both have gone up a dress size on the bottom, had a big trying on session. DS1 has some new to him joggers I'd bought on faceb00k last year and his outgrown items are now in DS2's wardrobe. Any that don't fit well or outgrown have been bagged up and dropped off at our local clothing bank.

On the spends front we have bought DS2 some new polo shirts for school as his others were a bit short following a recent growth spurt, £5.99 for 6 shirts. We also picked up a new slow cooker as ours broke the week before Christmas and I'm really missing it, £27 spent on this.

Have also succumbed to the air fryer trend and ordered 1 today for £99. BIL & SIL have the same one so have gone on their recommendation. Our gas & electric bill was an eye watering £386 last month 🤯 so this needs to come down, we definitely used the heating a lot more during the cold snap in December so we're hoping that along with reduced usage of the heating, going back to regular slow cooking and using the air fryer will help reduce costs as our cooker and hob are both gas.

To counteract the spending, we've also done something to try to make us a little money, DH and I have both applied for the 7% 1st D!rect regular saver accounts. We're both eligible as we each have a sole account for our personal spends with this bank. Have set up a standing order from the bills account to find these from Feb and then transferred this month's deposit from existing savings so everything is good to go 👍

It's been a glorious day here so I went for a walk and have got in 12,500 steps so far today 👏

Popped in our little T£sco on the way home and picked up some reduced Christmas goods - cheese, salmon, pigs in blankets for the freezer - £4.59 for £12 of goods.

Back to work for me tomorrow, DH and the boys return to school/work on Wednesday, their Squirrels/Beavers/Swimming all start back this weekend too so I'm sure by Saturday we'll be well and truly back in the normal routine and feeling like we've never been off 😂

DancingInTheRain

1st day back done ✅ busier than I expected and I didn't sleep well last night so an early night on the cards.

I had online meetings for most of the morning so DH took the boys to soft play for a couple of hours, apparently it was really busy as the weather is awful again today - poor DH 😂 

With being in front of a screen most of the day I didn't get many steps in, we also ran out of milk this afternoon, this never happens as I can't be without my coffee which I always put a ton of milk in, so after work I braved the rain and walked down to the little T£sco to pick some up and got my step count up to 5000.

The 1st direct regular savers are now set up and the first deposits are in, impressed by how quickly these were set up. The vast majority of direct debits have left the bills account today so I've had a nice few minutes updating our budget spreadsheet 😊

Both boys were exhausted after soft play so were both in bed at 7 and asleep not long after so hopefully they'll get a decent night's sleep ahead of returning to school tomorrow. Their bags and uniforms are all ready to save a bit of time in the morning.

DH and I are both WFH tomorrow so hoping for the 2nd NSD of the month.

DancingInTheRain

First work week of the year completed thank goodness as it's been a busy one!

I've really been tied to my desk analysing data and compiling reports today so although I hit 5800 steps yesterday I only managed 2500 today 😳 I aim to make the most of my day off tomorrow and try to hit 10,000 steps.

With being so busy, DH the same and the kids being back in school, we've racked up another 2 NSD's taking us to 3 this month.

We've made some positive steps on the first bit of work on the house we plan to do this year, we've been in touch with our plasterer, decorator and carpet fitter (thankfully all friends of ours or of wider family members and are reliable) as we need to redo the kids bedroom to address some ongoing issues.

We were surprised to discover it looks like everyone is available late Feb/early March so we just need to ensure we have the room prepped and £s available to pay for the work 🙂

The new air fryer is here and we're getting to grips with it, really impressed with it so far. Definitely had the heating on a lot less so here's hoping for a loser energy bill at the end of the month 🤞

Not much else going on so I'll leave it there, bedtime soon!

Hope everyone else is doing well x

savingholmes

Good luck with the energy prices. 

I think the first week back after Xmas is always a shock to the system. I'm exhausted too!

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Glad you're all feeling better and had a good new year.
Well done on the NSDs
We're tempted with an air fryer too, am researching, but there are so many different one

DancingInTheRain

Thanks OhSh, good luck with the air fryer shopping, I think it would be a good addition to your household.
I've definitely failed on the NSD's since my last post though, ah well! Spends were on food shopping Fri, top up shop today for the bits I couldn't get on Fri and had to pick DS1 some new school shoes up as he'd managed to kick a hole in to his other ones playing football at school on Thursday. DH and I also had a few drinks in our local with his brother and sister in law last night, not too spendy and a good time had by all.

Family wise - the boys enjoyed being back at squirrels/beavers and swimming Fri/Sat and we've had a chilled day today picking up the shopping, going for a walk (we did a winter themed scavenger hunt to keep them entertained as it was really cold) and watching a film this afternoon.

On the steps front, I've just checked the stats and I hit 45,207 1st - 7 Jan, average of 6458 per day. Not the greatest amount but it's a start and I'll aim to do more steps this week.

In money news, we've stuck to budget this week and I've continued with receipt scanning apps and 1poll but not much activity elsewhere. Shouldn't be too bad next week either as I'm WFH and DH is office based so not much opportunity to spend as long as DH takes lunch with him. He'll be leaving at 7 each day so I'll need to do all the school drop offs and pick ups. The boys will be in breakfast club before I start work and then I'll need to manipulate my lunch break to do the school pick ups and then drop the boys off at either Mums or MIL's as they are going to have the boys for me until I finish work at 530, roll on Friday! 

For my own records, scores on the doors for the 1st week in Jan:

NSD's - 3
Steps - 45,207, daily average 6458

DancingInTheRain

Busy long week with work for both DH and I coupled with DS2 having sleep issues again, or more accurately, staying awake issues. I've caught him twice this week sitting downstairs watching TV in the middle of the night! Have had to ensure all remote controls, tablets, etc are well out of reach (on top of the fridge/freezer) as well as dealing with his meltdowns when I'm putting him back to bed in the small hours. I really struggle to get back to sleep once I've been woken up so have been exhausted. Then obviously DS2 is equally exhausted so has been in a foul mood each day after school, honestly daren't look at him at times in case he erupts  DS1 has, thankfully, been largely unaffected and just seems to walk to the beat of his own drum amongst all the chaos and tiredness in our house   

Hoping the weekend gives us all time to reset and recharge.

Will count up steps and NSD's at the weekend but not had much opportunity to spend this week. Made up for it today with being off - DS2's turn for new footwear as he needed trainers, I've been for my hair cut and dyed which also double up as some much needed relaxing 'me time' & also did a grocery shop today. My phone has also been slowly dying over the last few weeks and is showing signs of being at the very end of it's life so I've had to buy a new one which was delivered today. Got a newer version of my existing phone as I really like it, cost £129 which isn't too bad, have had the previous phone for a few years and will continue with my SIM only plan as it's £5 per month.

Ta-ta for now x

savingholmes

Well done on the phone. 

Glad you got to have your hair done. 

I got up super late today after reading until 1 AM and am struggling to get going.

DancingInTheRain

Thanks SH hope you felt better for your lie in x

As planned we've had a quieter weekend. Been busy remembering trying to log in to the apps transferred from the old phone to the new 1, had to call 2 banks as I just couldn't remember all the details but I think everything is up and running now. Haven't had much more sleep at night but managed to have a few daytime naps so feel much better. Also done lots of laundry - school uniforms, beds and towels all washed, dried and put away ready for a new week.

DS2 did actually sleep all night last night but both he and I were woken up by noise outside just before 6am today which I couldn't quite identify. Curiosity got the better of me so I went outside to have a look and discovered it was our local council/highways team dealing with a large tree that had fall down further down the street blocking the pavement and road! The winds were dreadful here last night so it's no surprise something like this has happened but as we live on a fairly busy road leading in and out of our town it's lucky a passing vehicle or pedestrian hasn't been hit. 

Money news for the week - £5 redeemed from M1crosoft rewards, £10 from SnapMy3ats, £5 on it's way from Shopp!x. These are all being paid as Ama3on vouchers which I'm saving for DS1's birthday in March.  Checked TCB and saw £125 is confirmed but not yet payable, a big surprise as I didn't know it was due as I'd completely forgotten I'd used it to buy a new life insurance policy I took out last summer so once that's payable that will in effect cover the cost of the new phone which is amazing!

NSD's - 3. Same as last week (6 in total for Jan)
Steps - 47,505, daily average 6786. A small improvement from last week, only exceeded 10,000 steps on 1 day. I need to keep remembering to stand up and move more during work hours. (92,712 total for Jan, daily average 6,622).

DH and I both working from home this week meaning less fuel spends and sharing school pick ups and drop offs which will mean less interruption to my working days compared to last week, small wins