Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain · 31 October 2020 at 8:14PM

Thanks @beanielou

DancingInTheRain · 1 November 2020 at 8:34AM

Bit of early morning money shuffling/rejigging.
Increased the EF target from £5,000 to £6,000 as this is 3 x our basic monthly expenditure.
Yet another complaint to our broadband provider has resulted in us having a £40 credit to our account (we have also negotiated leaving the contract early penalty free so looking to switch providers), also no Pre-Payment prescription charge this month, another £10 freed up so have just transferred these £50 savings to Premium bonds.
Interest has been added to the mortgage so a small overpayment made to round that account down too.
Sticking to tracking monthly spends this month, although I'm guessing this is largely going to be groceries with lockdown 🤷‍♀️ We had made a few plans to catch up with family and friends this month but obviously that won't be happening now, will see what work is going to look like tomorrow.
Take care all x

vixx_123 · 1 November 2020 at 11:48AM

I love how you round your accounts down

DancingInTheRain · 1 November 2020 at 4:16PM

@vixx_123 it's a compulsion 😂 I try not to look to closely at my current account balance as it's always untidy, drives me mad! 🤣

savingholmes · 3 November 2020 at 12:53AM

You are doing really well. Great to be building up your EF at this time.

Bubblesmum · 4 November 2020 at 5:32PM

Just caught up, so impressed with your savings and how lovely your mini break sounded

DancingInTheRain · 4 November 2020 at 10:50PM

Thanks @savingholmes & @Bubblesmum ☺️
For some reason it feels harder trying to save money than when we were paying down debt but it's important we keep persevering.

Work is just crazy for both of us at the moment, constant changes & pressure to do a million things at once. We're both trying our best not to get too bogged down by it all but it's difficult, definitely feeling stressed & I'm in danger of developing a hole in my tongue as I spend so much time biting it trying not to react to some situations I find myself in! 😳

I keep telling myself it'll calm down but not sure I believe myself, at least it's my last working day of the week tomorrow, I'mm in the office despite lockdown (annoyed at this as I could easily do my scheduled tasks at home), roll on the weekend even if we can't go anywhere!

DancingInTheRain · 6 November 2020 at 8:41PM

Had a bit of a meltdown at work yesterday, rarely cry but just couldn't stop - feeling very overwhelmed right now, feels a bit selfish and indulgent but I'm struggling with all the changes we're having to make to be Covid safe, it's affecting every aspect of how I do my job and I don't feel some of it is necessary or appropriate for our customer base but management think otherwise so it's hard to find a middle ground. Plus there's a lot of pressure to get my coursework completed which is a lot of extra studying when my motivation is zero.

A lot of my counterparts are feeling the same but coupled with a few weeks dreadful sleep I think I've just hit my tipping point yesterday.

Had a chat with my manager so he knows how I'm feeling, not sure if it will make much difference though, will see how things look on Monday.

I ended up having a further meltdown at home when DS2 decided to throw a toy car at the new TV 🤬 he's thrown it with such force that half the screen is totally damaged, can't claim on the insurance as the excess is quite high so we're using a very old TV that is much smaller (32" as opposed to 55") while we weigh up options/wait to see if there are any black Friday deals - tempted to take money out of DS2's savings to pay for it! His terrible two's are really testing our parenting skills at the moment 😳

Spent the day with Mum today who just let me vent and kept me topped up with coffee and cake ☺️ which has helped a bit but still feeling super stressed, going to try to get out for a couple of long walks over the weekend to blow away a few cobwebs and try to calm down and regroup.

Nothing to report on the savings front, need to look at the budget over the weekend and see if there's anything I can slim across to the EF/PB's.

Hope everyone else is well x

sashybo · 6 November 2020 at 8:57PM

Sorry to hear you're so stressed with work Dancing, I hope you can relax a bit over the weekend. 😱 The tv being damaged sounds like it was the last thing you needed! 😱 Fingers crossed you can find a good deal on a new one. It's so hard when the wee ones are acting up, it just raises the blood pressure like nothing else!