Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Half way through May already, how did that happen?

Life continues to be busy but we're getting through it, downside is we're going for more quick fixes for food etc as we're so time poor which means we are definitely over budget on groceries this month. Also over on fuel as both DH and I have been out for work more often than WFH. DH car tax also needed renewing this month and we've paid for the joiner as well as buying paint ready to decorate the kids bedroom. Definitely more out than in this month but can't be helped, some from savings pots too, but feels a bit out of control.

2 weeks until we get paid so need to try to be a bit more proactive in meal prep or planning where we can and some of my travel expenses can be claimed back at the end of the month, also due a small refund from DH's student loan as we forgot to account for this month's payment coming out of his salary when we cleared the balance. Hoping the student loans company are on the ball and update DH's payroll so that he can see the benefit in his wages at the end of the month 🤞 Also been advised our company may be giving us a pay rise this month, so that will be much appreciated if it happens.

Free money this month is replenishing the EF and currently stands at £70.20

Looking forward to the end of the month when I'm off for the week with the kids for half term, will most definitely be a recharge and low spends week!

Thankfully Mum is also feeling much better after a month of feeling like rubbish, good to see her on the mend 😊

Hope everyone else is okay x

savingholmes

Always nice when there's a payrise in the offing. 

Glad your Mum is feeling better - for your and her sake and for childcare.

DancingInTheRain

End of month update:

"What We Owe The World"
Mortgage balance £66,400
Credit Card balance £5,600
Student Loan balance £0
Total: £72,000

Savings
EF: £253.40
Additional Borrowing for Renovations: £18,460
Total: £18,713.40

June plans/focus:
Enjoy a week off with the kids for half term, including an overnight trip to a seaside town for a mini break (not sure if its more for the kids or for DH & I to relive childhood memories  )
Celebrate our wedding anniversary - low key, home cooked meal and a glass or 2 of wine is planned
Renew buildings & contents insurance
Renew DH's driving licence
Decorate & carpet the kids bedroom and move all their furniture/toys back in, which will mean reclaiming space in all the other rooms, hurrah!
More cooking from scratch - have got some discount codes from Gou$to & H£llo Fresh so have some heavily discounted orders being delivered through the month to support with this and hopefully keep grocery spends down.
Move more - take advantage of the warm weather and get out more
Builder due to come to build a new wall in our front garden and create a terraced area to maximise use of the space (currently quite a steep slope so we don't tend to use it, plus our back garden is more private).
Night out to celebrate friend's milestone birthday
Continue to build EF savings - my pay rise was confirmed at 3%, backdated to start of April and, all being well, DH should see his take home pay increase from Wednesday now that there won't be any student loan payments being deducted so as a minimum we should save these extras. We did get the refund from the student loan which has also been saved.
Work, work, work!

savingholmes

All sounding positive. More usable front garden space sounds promising too. Great news on your pay rise. It all helps.

DancingInTheRain

End of month update:

"What We Owe The World"
Mortgage balance £66,100
Credit Card balance £5,400
Student Loan balance £0
Total: £71,500

Savings
EF: £151.20
Additional Borrowing for Renovations: £17,177
Total: £17,328.20

June Round Up
So we spent more than expected on a short break and the car developed a fault which led to a repair and meant not much added to savings, lovely break though!
Wedding anniversary was lovely, we went to a local seaside town with a picnic and enjoyed some sunshine on the beach.
Insurance and DH's driving licence both renewed.
Kids bedroom - no progress, with the weather being good our decorator friend asked if we minded pushing the date back so he could do some external jobs, he's doing mates rates for us so couldn't really argue, so this job moves to July.
Ditto on the builder, this has also been deferred to July although he has sent a sub contractor to take away the damaged wall so we've paid for that and for some of the materials for the rebuild.
Cooking from scratch - managed this thanks to the discount codes we got, still really time poor but are trying to eat from stores and the freezer instead of going for quick/lazy convenient options.
Move more - definitely achieved, we've barely been indoors with the lovely weather.
Friends birthday celebration was good although ended early when I got a call to say DS2 had been sick and wanted Mummy, on the positive side this meant we didn't spend as much as we might have but still had a lovely meal.
Work has been full on, difficult and challenging for both of us. Hoping it eases of a little in the coming weeks or we're in danger of burn out.

July plans/focus:
Get the kids to the end of term (they break up for 7 weeks on the 19th)
Sort out childcare with our Mums on the days we can't juggle work/annual leave
Plan activities for holidays 
Stock up on snacks for the holidays
Kids bedroom decorated and carpeted
Front garden sorted
Watch DH play with his band in a local festival 
Attend a few local free family fun days, keep spends down!
DH and I have a date night to see a band at a local venue
Save some money instead of spending it all!!!

savingholmes

Date night sounds positive.

Busy in your world but all sounds good 

FootyFanDan

Looks like a busy but positive update

DancingInTheRain

Really struggling to juggle everything at the moment, it's impacting on my sleep and mental health. The busy-ness of the last few weeks is taking its toll as I'm not sure I can manage this pace all the time.

Don't want to make any rash decisions but I think I'm coming to the realisation that my job is taking more out of me than the gains me and my family are getting out of me being in this role. I've got a real sense of imposter syndrome and feel like I'm decidedly average or worse in all areas of my life when I'm usually someone who takes everything in my stride and is quite optimistic and positive so it's taking some processing.

Trying to evaluate the pros and cons while keeping an eye on the local job market as not working at all isn't an option.

We're not adding to debt but definitely spending more money trying to inject moments of fun/joy or to treat ourselves 'just because' which isn't great either.

I'm sure it'll all work out, just struggling to see how at the moment 😞

Try to end on a positive - energy prices dropping mean out monthly payment is dropping nicely and we've secured a 12 month fix, used the MSE guide and it seems to be a good option for us, if nothing else it gives us a bit of certainty on energy costs for the next year. Also used some money from TopCa$hback to send £100 to the mortgage account so that's at a nice round £66,000!

savingholmes

Nice to have a fix.

Sorry that work is difficult. Would paying for help like a cleaner make things easier to balance? I find it helps a lot.

beanielou

Agree with @savingholmes. What can you do to make your life easier?