Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Thanks DR, it really was a lovely day.

Sadly the line dried bedding didn't have the desired effect as I had an awful night last night, barely slept for no obvious reason and nothing I tried got me to drop off until about 4am. DH had to leave for work at 6am this morning so I came downstairs at 1am to avoid disturbing him. Thankfully a day off today so have been able to take it easy and squeeze in a nap, still ready for my bed though, will be an early one tonight.

Still managed to be fairly productive. Got a few more items listed on V!nted, sold another item so got that packed up & dropped off, picked up DH's prescription & took Mum for her shopping in between school drop offs and pick ups for the boys. Cooked a lovely curry for tea.

Back to work tomorrow and it's also my pay day tomorrow - which will be mainly used for general spends for the rest of this month as well as topping up savings.

Finally some money has cleared from V too, so £7 added to the daily £2 PAD.

Today's PAD £9

Debt Total £3375 (BCard £675)

DancingInTheRain

What a busy few days, feels like they've merged into 1 between work being busy and then running around after the kids and trying to keep up with basic chores.

DH has been travelling a lot for work including staying overnight Tuesday so have barely had chance to catch up with him. We're out at a comedy night tonight (mum looking after the boys) and then both of us are off work tomorrow meaning a good opportunity to spend quality time together while we can.

The kids are enjoying cubs and swimming and are getting back in to the swing of school routines again. To add a bit more chaos to the mix they've both chosen to do a (free) after school club on a Thursday too meaning the middle of the week will be jam packed for the foreseeable. Weekends aren't much better up to new year as DH's gig diary is getting filled up and a few other commitments in there too. The last quarter of the year is going to be busy!

In among everything else a few more items have sold on V!nted and I've completed a few low paying surveys on Pro!ific and cashed out a few £s here too. Also redeemed a £5 Ama3on voucher from M!crosoft rewards, taking my 'free' Ama3on vouchers from various apps total up to £125 for the year to date. £2 Daily PADs have also continued.

Debt Total £3350 (BCard £650)

Can't wait for the Debt Total to be in the £2k's, I'm fighting the urge to remove £350 from savings…

DancingInTheRain

Last night was really good fun, well worth going despite how tired we both felt.

DH treated us to breakfast out this morning and we bumped into a couple of friends who'd had the same idea so we sat with them and had an enjoyable couple of hours catching up.

We couldn't do our 4 day grocery top up yesterday as we had very little spare time so we popped to A$da while we were out and stuck to the list, total spend today £45.

Also picked up our prescriptions while we were out. We're now going to have a lazy few hours to ourselves before picking the boys up from school.

In money news, today sees a milestone hit as by adding £3 to today's PAD our debt total is now £3345 meaning £2,000 paid off since returning to this diary in May 🥳

Today's PAD £5

Debt Total £3345 (BCard £645)

ohdearhowdidthathappen

That is a good milestone, £2k in 3-4 months is great! I can understand wanting the debt to start with a 2, if you have savings beyond your EF, I’d be tempted to dip into it too 😁

DancingInTheRain

I'm very tempted @ohdearhowdidthathappen but I'm going to see how I get on between now and the end of the month from paying it down via the extra bits and bobs I earn.

It's very doubtful I'll pay off £345 by then but it gives me a deadline/target to work towards then, at least if I give in to temptation on the 1st of October it will be less taken out of savings - there's a DITR logic there somewhere 😆

To kick start this I've just ordered some PJ's for a Xmas gift for DS1 from Arg0s that are in a style he loves. They were on sale, I then used N£ctar points to buy them and went through TCB so will have 5p cashback in the future.

Sent the equivalent £11 to the BCard so

Debt Total now £3334 (BCard £634)

DancingInTheRain

A chilled Saturday here, we've all pottered around largely doing our own thing and then got together for meals.

Listed and immediately sold a few outgrown Xmas jumpers so got those packed and DS2 and I had a walk out to drop them off. We also had a look in the charity shop and DS2 got a great haul - 6 books and a nerf gun for £1.50! I did ask the assistant if that was price was correct but was assured it was, DS2 was overjoyed at still having pocket money left 😆

DH has a gig tonight so I've been enjoying the Strictly launch, the boys watched a bit too in between playing and arguing, both tucked up in bed now and don't think I'll be too far behind them!

Checked TCB earlier and the £45 pending for DH's car insurance is now showing as confirmed, really hoping that moves to payable soon 🤞

£2 paid out from V!nted and added to today's PAD.

Today's PAD £4

Debt Total now £3330 (BCard £630)

DancingInTheRain

DH's gig went well last night and we all enjoyed a lie in until between 830 & 9 today before enjoying breakfast baps.

We then had a drive out to the next city, picked up 2 x t shirts and 4 x sweatshirts from Pr!mark and TKMx for the kids for a total of £25.

We also picked up a few items to top up our medicine supplies ahead of winter coughs, colds etc as our stock was looking light so another £12 spent there replacing a few bits.

Also had a mooch around the charity shops but nothing caught our eye. The kids spent a couple of £s on some sweets using their pocket money and then we headed down to the big playground there where they played for an hour while DH and I enjoyed a cuppa.

Got 3 loads of laundry washed and dried yesterday, have got most of it put away, just a few shirts need ironed and then we're ready for a new work/school week.

The £45 on TCB is now payable, claimed and hopefully will be in our account tomorrow.

Spent £17 of the Ama3on Xmas voucher stash on 2 small lego sets for my friends children, transferred the equivalent cash from the Xmas pot and added to today's PAD along with another £2 cashed out from V!nted.

Today's PAD £21

Debt Total now £3309 (BCard £609)

DancingInTheRain

The longest Monday ever thanks to an horrendous heavy TOTM. Really struggled to feel comfortable last night so barely slept and work has just dragged all day.

I must have looked bad as DH is not normally sympathetic but he took one look at my face when I got home from work and told me to run a bath while he sorts tea 🤣

Had a lovely 30 minutes soak with a face mask on and then I've put on my comfy PJ's so my mood has lifted a bit even if the pain is still a bit relentless. Never used to get like this, definitely peri-meno related ☹️

We'll be eating shortly, also need to iron a few items that have been left over the weekend and then the plan is to snuggle up with DH and the kids and watch a film.

The £45 from TCB has arrived 🙌 and been sent to the BCard alongside the regular PAD.

Today's PAD £47

Debt Total £3262 (BCard £562)

beanielou

Great going. Be proud.

DancingInTheRain

October has crept up on me 😯

What a week! Last Monday where I felt awful was the tip of the iceberg as all 4 of us came down with a stomach bug. It started with DS1 in the early hours of Tuesday then got me, then DH and finally DS2. It's completely knocked us off our feet and we have only got back to all 4 of us feeling fully human yesterday but it's been a pretty miserable and exhausting few days. Poor DH has spent much of it sleeping on the sofa as when it hit the boys they just wanted to be snuggled up in bed with me.

Our washer and dryer have been working overtime between bedding, towels and PJ's being washed non-stop. Hand sanitisers, anti-bac spraying contact surfaces and excessive hand washing have been the the top chores for us, along with lots of naps!

Thankfully DH and I were able to use some TOIL for our poorly days so no loss of earnings while we recovered. The boys have both had 2 days off each but have kept them away from Cubs and swimming to allow for extra rest. I even set V!nted to holiday settings as I just couldn't be bothered. Have taken this setting off this morning and found another 5 things to list.

The Nat!onwide switch has hit a bump in the road. Despite having the same address for years and checking with $antander that our address is accurate (it is), apparantly CASS are saying there is a discrepency in the addresses. I have tried to get this resolved again today after spending a decent bit of time on it yesterday but I'm utterly baffled by this one. It's really frustrating but if we do lose out on the switch money I'll keep the account open to get the other perks for 12 months then close it or switch it elsewhere. I was already nervous of switching the bills account and with being exhausted after being unwell it just feels more overwhelming and frustrating than usual so if I don't get a satisfactory response today then I'm drawing a line under this one. I've done loads of switches for myself and DH over the years and never had an issue so perhaps this is the universe's way of saying give it a rest for now? 😆

The one positive of us being unwell is spends have been minimal this last week. This has enabled me to sweep some grocery money across to the CC. DH has sold an amp to one of his bandmates which he paid off the CC. We've also had a couple of decent payouts from V!nted and Pro!ific and maintained the daily PADs.

We didn't managed to get out of the £3k's by the end of September but with today's standard monthly payments we have broken into the £2k's 🙌 without dipping into savings.

Debt Total £2994 (BCard £344) (Tesco CC £2650)

Progress to Date:

Debt Total - £5345 1 May. Debt Total Today - £2994

All 0% and made up of:

Barclaycard: £1075 1 May - Now £344 (0% ends Oct 27)

Tesco CC: £2950 1 May - Now £2650 (0% ends Jun 27)

PayPal: £20 1 May - Now £0

M&S: £600 1 May - Now £0 

V12 Finance £700 1 May - Now £0