Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend DITR, glad you all enjoyed yourselves and glad you're finding being furloughed easier xx

FootyFanDan

Hi DITR

 

It sounds like the furlough is working well for you and your schedule.  I am glad you had a good weekend and that finances are holding up well.

 

Hope you are keeping safe x

DancingInTheRain

Thanks for popping in guys, always good to hear from you 🙂
Settling into some sort of new routine. The boys have taken to waking up at 545 😱 so we're having early starts to our days but on the plus side it means our evenings are very much child free as they're usually asleep by 7pm.
Keeping to our get up, showered and dressed routine then a bit of work set by DS1's nursery - phonics, numeracy followed by a walk. Get back, have lunch and put DS2 down for a nap. DS1 then usually plays with something that isn't allowed out while DS2 is on the loose - play doh, Lego, etc. Then once DS2 wakes up we go out in the garden for play time, juice and snack.
Seems to be working quite well and I'm keeping on top of chores in between so the house is in decent condition.
It's not without its stressful moments as both boys seems to have an inbuilt radar that knows I've either (a) just made a cup of coffee or (b)  just sat down for a minute, or (c) go to the loo that sets their
'Mum Mum Mum Mum' alarm off 🤣
Plus DS2 has unfortunately developed his terrible twos a few months early so we're having some epic tantrums from him (for this reason he is very much kept in his pram on our walks otherwise I'd never get anywhere!)
 but it's a million times easier than trying to fit work in too so I've a lot to be grateful for.
DH continues to be busy at work so I've taken on the majority of cooking/household duties as it seems fair given I have no work commitments at the moment.
I do need to carve some time out to do the next assignment for my course, this is due next Friday, along with a couple of amendments to the last one I submitted. I'll make a start with the research and planning over the next few evenings and then hopefully grab some child free time at the weekend to get the main bulk of it written 🤞
Have managed to get a delivery slot from Mr A today so at least no need to venture to the shops this week.
Not a lot of debt busting activity happening, the usual middle of the month quiet period.
Prolific have had a few surveys recently so just waiting to hit the payout threshold there.
We've also finally managed to buy some masonry paint this week, it's been impossible to buy in recent weeks. DH is picking it up today on his way from work so hopefully our decorator friend can make a start on painting the exterior of our house in the coming weeks. It will make such a difference and as we're spending so much more time in our garden I think we'll really see the benefit of doing it. Our house is quite tall so I'm more than happy to pay for someone else to do the work, I'd feel faint at the thought of just being up a tall ladder, never mind actually painting too 🤣
Stay safe/sane all xx

savingholmes

Glad you are settling well into furlough and the kids have been easier to manage

DancingInTheRain

Thank you SH
We have a trampoline! Think I'm more excited than the kids (and they're mega excited 😄). 
Turned up earlier than expected on Wednesday and the boys have already had their money's worth out of it so definitely a good investment (DH & I may also had a little turn on it...)
I've also spent some time today doing Martin's Money Makeover, no real gains other than cancelling a decreasing term life insurance policy that is no longer relevant to our circumstances - £6.50 saving each month or £78 per year.
DH and I have enjoyed our Friday fakeaway - fish & chips tonight - & a bottle of wine and looking forward to a work free weekend for DH.
Hope everyone else is well, happy Friday x

DancingInTheRain

Hi all
I've been a bit self indulgent this evening and skim read my diary as it's almost a year old
. Main things to note - 
Life has changed so much - DS1 is now a proper little boy, DS2 is a full on toddler, job change, global pandemic...
Also noticed I waffle a fair bit   I change my mind about the best way to pay down debt a lot   One Poll and YouGov are a waste of my time - this time last year I had £2.50 in OnePoll, it's only at £22.85 so it's going to take more than a year to cash out at £25. YouGov was at 905 this time last year and is still only at 3915. I'm going to persevere with these until I reach the cash out totals then delete the apps. I'll then stick to Prolific and Vypr, along with the receipt scanning apps - Receipt Hog, Shoppix, ZipZero and SnapMyEats.
I was also a lot better at tracking where our money went and logging NSD's, I think I've got a little complacent here so am going to start tracking these again from June.
I also reflected on just how ill we all were from December to early March - persistent illness, coughs and colds, feeling exhausted and 'the worst cold DH and I had ever had'. Thinking back, I'm now wondering if we had a mild case of CoVid19 - would definitely be interested in getting the antibody test if possible when it becomes available. 
I must say that in the 8 weeks since lockdown, all 4 of us have very luckily been in the best health we've ever had as a family - limiting where we've been able to go and getting more fresh air has definitely had a positive effect on us all, hope this continues. 
As usual, a massive thanks to all who have commented and cheered me on, you've helped me more than you'll ever know. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! xx

savingholmes

Glad that re-reading helped you. Will be interesting for us all if and when antibody tests become more widespread - and when people are surer of what the mean.

FootyFanDan

Sometimes reading back and reflecting on the journey can make you see how far you have progressed.

I would also be very interested in the anti body as im also pretty certain I had the awful cough\chest infection around xmas time which felt like never before the missus also had it so like many others I suspect we have already had this virus

Keep safe xx

DancingInTheRain

Wind and rain here the last 2 days but have still got the boys out both days. Puddle Suits + Wellies + Puddles = Fun walks in the rain 🙂 (just much shorter walks than the ones we usually do).
Have done a toy rotation this week so 2 boxes we put away last month have been brought back downstairs and 2 taken back upstairs.

MOT on my car was due yesterday but my usual mechanic is still closed so will make use of the 6 month extension and wait for him to reopen.
Need to sort my car tax by the end of the month & our Buildings & Contents insurance is also due for renewal early June, will need to start to gather quotes this week and then that's the end of our annual bills for now, we have lots of annual bills go out at this time of year and I'm thankful once again for us continuing to maintain the savings pots for these even if they are going to look extremely depleted by the end of the month 😳

DH and I have been reviewing our finances again over the last week.

Not sure if I've already mentioned on here that the regular saver we started in November as a debt offset pot is going to be used for our longer term savings (£1750 in there at the moment).

We started another one in DH's name this month, also at £250 per month. Ideally, these will be used for things like replacing cars or future travel once restrictions are lifted.

From June our debts remaining will be the credit card and the mortgage.
We have DD's set up for the minimum payments for both but will continue to send ad-hoc overpayments to both of these while building the regular savers as long as our jobs remain secure. We can then either pay a lump sum off the CC in November when the first regular saver matures or continue to save and clear the CC when the 0% ends in April as the 2nd regular saver will mature 1st May. This means, all being well, in we'll be debt free by April at the latest.
Then the plan will be to hammer down the mortgage.

Should either of us lose our jobs, we currently have an emergency fund of £3,000 in an instant access account that would cover 1 months joint wages (so I reckon we could eke out 2 months of cut back living expenses out of this) and we can reduce the amount going in to our regular savers to as little as £25 per month as well as cutting back on overpaying the CC and Mortgage and, worst case scenario, use the cash in the regular savers to further cover living expenses. 

That's the plan for now anyway, feels like we're in control and have a plan of attack but it could, and probably will, change again knowing us 🤣

Stay safe all xx

savingholmes

Great to have a plan and feel more in control. We are on a similar debt repayment timeline. I've extended ours slightly due to C19 - and desire for an EF and a nicer garden!