Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

TCB are doing their spend £5 get £2 cashback promotion today so have logged on to mine and DH's accounts and bought 2 x £5 A$da gift cards. While on my account I noticed the £38 cashback for the new car insurance was showing as payable so have requested that too. Really pleased with this as I thought I hadn't gone through the cash back site correctly as the insurance ended up being bought in a bit of a rush so wasn't expecting to get anything at all, nice little bonus.

DancingInTheRain

£5 cashed out from V!nted yesterday and a few more sales so there's around £20 pending there for later in the month. 96p cashback from Cha$e also moved to savings. School/work for us all today then the boys are going to Mums for a sleepover as DH and I are going to see a band with friends tonight. I'm on driving duties as also working tomorrow so should be a low cost fun night.

savingholmes

Lots of free money wins - and a cheap night out too. You are sounding very on plan.

DancingInTheRain

Busy couple of weeks since my last post. The night out with DH and friends was good and survived my first solo weekend at work. Then launched into the ad-hoc job, which has involved a few more hours than it normally would as I need to complete a number of mandatory induction training modules. So between the jobs, school meetings, school runs, kids parties and DH being mainly office based it's been hectic! We've made it through though and are all looking forward to a quiet weekend.

Have continued to sweep free £'s to savings as they have come in, significantly boosted by £72 from TCB from when we changed our broadband supplier earlier this year. V!nted sales have stalled, need to look at changing some of the prices I think. Also need to get back on Pro!ific, just not had a lot of spare time recently.

Have ordered a few Xmas gifts as and when I've spotted good deals and now have a list of who/what we need to buy so just need to work through that. Both DS1&2 haven't asked for a lot so far, we're writing their letters to Santa at the weekend so have been gently reminding them that they won't be able to add anything after they're written 

savingholmes

LOL at the cut off deadline. Good call. Should have thought of that when my kids were younger but they were too clued into the santa reality even as young as age 3 to pull that one off.

Will be a nice income this month then from the sound of things.

DancingInTheRain

I'm not entirely convinced they won't still ask for something else later on but really hope the deadline works!

Unexpectedly received a payslip from job 2 today as my first day hit the cut off for this month's pay cycle. I've had a tax refund applied which also wasn't expected. We'll keep the wage element to use towards Xmas bits but put the tax refund into savings when it hits our account tomorrow. DS1 came home from school with a letter about a residential trip next summer which is £195  so some of this money may go towards this. DH and I are still discussing the pro's and cons of allowing DS1 to go and how to add it to the budget.

My tax code seems to change every month lately as my previous job had a BIK element and then with changing jobs, then throwing in a 2nd job I'm struggling to keep up, just hope HMRC are on the ball and I don't end up having to pay anything back. At least DH's wages are straightforward each month 

savingholmes

Nice to have unexpected money in 

DancingInTheRain

Happy freezing cold December!

End of November WWOTW figure is £69,290: Mortgage is £64,500, Credit Card is £4790

Monthly figures fairly consistent as savings are being boosted, really pleased we're still managing to save a little despite the drop in wages. Been fortunate with free £'s the last few weeks which have really helped.

The children's letters to Santa have been written and DH and I have managed to buy and hide everything they've asked for (which really wasn't much), 1 item was out of stock but due to be delivered mid month.

Calendars are fully up to date with the numerous festive activities at school, work commitments and social events. We have 2 birthdays this month, including a milestone birthday for my Mum, plans for a surprise family gathering are well underway for this. Me and the boys finish school/work on the 19th, DH on the 22nd and we're planning on have a relaxed end to they year as we're going to be busy up to that point. Hoping we all stay lurgy free and well rested so we can enjoy the madness that will be the next few weeks, the boys are 7 and 5 so it's full on excitement and magic in our house, we're very lucky.

beanielou

A lovely age for children to enjoy Christmas 🎄 

savingholmes

The kids' excitement sound magical.

Well done on the savings and general juggling. It is a difficult age.