Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

[Deleted User]

Well done on hitting the payout threshold! I'm just £2 away on Populus Live and watching my emails like a hawk

DancingInTheRain

How hot is it???

33 degrees here today, unheard of! I love it, the boys not so much. So we're inside this afternoon, will head out to play in the garden when it cools later.
NSD's Tues & today (15/30 for the month which I'm pleased with). DH went for 
some salad, fruit & BBQ style foods on his way from work yesterday as we're going to have a BBQ tonight to kick-start our weekend (DH is off tomorrow 👏).

Had a leisurely couple of days not doing too much, making the most of being able to relax a little while I have the chance as I think I'll be back to work at the start of July.

£45.23 cashed out from TCB yesterday has cleared and been sent to savings.

Payday tomorrow so budget will reset, switched our gas & electric to a different tariff with our existing provider to save £13 per month. 

[Deleted User]

All sounding good DITR, enjoy the garden later on xx

DancingInTheRain

The garden was very much enjoyed, we had a BBQ. The boys stayed up a bit later and enjoyed running around in their underwear as it was still so hot Once they were tucked up in bed DH and I opened a bottle of wine and stayed out until it got dark around 10.30
We'd just got everything tidied away when the most almighty lightning and thunder started, enjoyed watching that for a while before falling asleep. The thunder and lightning continued off and on all night so a very disturbed sleep.

Today I've taken Mum to the supermarket for the first time since early March. We went quite early this morning so it was quite quiet and she's pleased she's had a good first experience as was feeling a little nervous. Once home the sun came out so 
DH and I took the boys to a local seaside town. Bought a football for the boys to play with on the beach (which was surprisingly quiet) before sharing ice creams. 

DH has been pestering me to cut his hair for a while, I've given in and done this for him tonight. I must say I'm fairly pleased with the results, may continue this going forward which could reduce our hairdressing costs. There's not a chance I'm giving my hair appointments up though
- these come out of my personal spends and are worth every penny for a bit of 'me' time plus I've known my hairdresser for years and we have such a laugh. The cost isn't too bad either - £50 for cut, colour & the best head massage ever. I've got an appointment booked on the 11th and I just can't wait!

In money news, I received a letter from HMRC today saying they owe me £115 - result! . The online refund system is down at the moment but should be back on track in a few days so that I can get this sorted.


My furlough has been extended until July10th so 2 more weeks at home, I've been speaking to my colleague and work is definitely picking up so there's a slight chance I might need to go back before then so I will see how this plays out, will make the most of these last few days/weeks with the little ones before the stress of work rears it's head again.

savingholmes

Glad that your Dh's test result came back negative. Good that work is looking likely to pick up again - even if it will make juggling the kids more difficult. 

DancingInTheRain

HMRC refund requested this morning, should take a maximum of 5 working days to receive.
I was paid on Friday, DH gets paid tomorrow so will need to look at the budget for July. Should be a relatively quiet month although both DH and I are likely to spend a little more on fuel next month with work commitments picking up.
Also need to look at a new credit card for our grocery/fuel spends. We currently use the A$da cash back card and put the reward vouchers towards debt or gifts, this card is coming to an end in 2 weeks so need to see if there are any suitable alternatives or if we're just going to go back to using our debit cards.
Had a lovely weekend mainly spent relaxing and watching films in between doing a few basic chores. I was unusually tired yesterday, had a 90 minute nap in the afternoon and still felt tired. In the end I gave up and went to bed at 8.30 and slept through until 6am, feeling fine today so must just have needed to recharge.

savingholmes

I needed a nap today too. Perhaps there's something in the air. Well done on the HMRC reclaim - I still need to do mine.

sashybo

Good news on the HRMC refund. 😊 

Well done on cutting your DH's hair, I am so wonky my DH didn't even think of asking me to do his. 😂 He just bought some clippers and taught himself via y0utube, he actually didn't do too bad a job and then did DS's too!

DS does have a bit of a bowl cut look to the front where we had to use scissors to get some odd long bits but it's pretty good apart from that. 👀 DS's hair is always a mop because he hates going to the barbers and just screams the place down. 😳 I'm kind of resigned to him having bad hair until he's 5. 😂 

beanielou

My DS used to scream the blooming place down.
Think its a boy thing!

DancingInTheRain

Well following the success of DH's haircut, we also cut DS1's mop - oh my goodness, we've taken it too far and he virtually has a skin head! He loves it though but I'm thankful we have 2 months for it to grow back before he starts school!!!
DS2's hair is being left well alone for a while until I get over the shock

In money saving news, the HMRC refund arrived this morning and I've cashed out £5.40 from Prolific. Have sent the bulk of the refund to the CC and added the loose change to the savings pots. The regular savers have been topped up today too. 

As we are focused on building savings at the moment, DH applied for the Santander 0% balance transfer card which brings the monthly commitment for the credit card down to 1% of the balance as opposed to 2.25% We also now have until December 2020 to clear the balance as opposed to April 2020. This will also help keep our monthly outgoings to a minimum should I lose my job, I might be a little irrational about this at the moment but I'm more comfortable preparing for the worst and hoping for the best and I'm getting a buzz seeing the saving pots build on our Starling account, taking the approach of filling 1 pot at a time as I'm enjoying hitting a target! Currently have 12 pots set up for the year ahead, 2 are fully funded (Christmas and School Uniform),1 is partially funded (MOT's, which we are moving forward to September to take advantage of the 6 month extension due to CoVid as usually these are due the same time as road tax, 2 x insurance and B&C Insurance).

We now have more savings than debt so are officially debt neutral, will continue with this plan of attack for now but, as usual with me, this is all subject to change once I feel more certain and secure about my job. 

CC Debt = £4490
Savings = £6937
EF is £3000
My Regular Saver is £2250
DH Regular Saver £750
Savings Pots £937 (earmarked for annual bills, etc)