Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Evening.

Hope the bank holiday weekend is treating everyone kindly, we've spent a lot of the weekend having catch ups on Zoom with family and friends alongside doing endless loads of laundry while the weather's been decent, also did a big sort out of the boys bedroom and got rid of the last bits of them being babies 

DS2 has now moved into the bottom bunk of the bunk bed that DS1 has been sleeping in for a while so we've dismantled his cot bed, deep cleaned the room and brought a few toys upstairs now that there is more space there.

I then sorted their drawers and wardrobe. Moved DS1's outgrown clothes into a vac-bag ready for DS2 in the future and then took DS2's outgrown clothes to the charity shop.

Made a list of items needed and headed to Primark, popped in Debenhams on the off-chance and managed to get lots of items that I wouldn't normally buy from there in both boys sizes. It was all 70% off and buy one get one free, including some school shirts in bigger sizes. Spent £40 and got 25 items, would've been over £200 at full price. Spent a further £10 in Primark on a hoody each for the boys so got a decent haul for £50 in total. Poor Debenhams staff though, felt really sorry for them.

We took the boys to the playground this afternoon and treated them to an ice cream, deliberately trying to wear them out as they've had a couple of later nights. Seems to have worked as they're both asleep  

About to enjoy a glass or 2 of wine with DH. Weather forecast atrocious tomorrow so I predict a lazy PJ and film day.

In money news I'm impatiently waiting for the start of the month bills to leave my account so that I can legitimately update my spreadsheet. Mortgage interest had been applied though (funny how they don't leave that for a day or 2...) so have rounded down the account, balance now at £51,750.

I have Tilly tidied the odds and sods from both current accounts to the savings account. PA and Shoppix both close to payout thresholds but other than that not much happening on the free money front.

Take care all xx

savingholmes

Amazing bargains. Go you!!

DancingInTheRain

Thanks SH, the boys are happy with their new things too so a win all round 🙂.

Just after I posted last night my nieces knocked on the door, I'd left an open invitation to them to call round over the back holiday. They were both hungover so I raided the freezer to make us all a piggy tea to go with the wine I'd just poured (the girls stuck to lemonade 🤣). We took advantage of the last of the dry weather and sat in the garden with the firepit on.

It was good to see them and have a catch up, they're doing remarkably well since losing their Mum, I'm so proud of them both.

It ended up being a late night and the weather is awful here so the lazy day of PJ's and films plus some tablet time for the boys has been in full swing. Thankfully we tidied the patio furniture away last night. Today I've literally showered, changed into new PJ's and done 2 loads of washing. Other than that I've been sprawled on the sofa, meals have been simple- sandwiches, fruit and salad. But we're all fed and relaxed so it's done us good ahead of us all returning to school and work tomorrow.

savingholmes

Good that you were able to see your nieces. Tough time for all I'm sure. 

DancingInTheRain

Good evening.

A couple of weeks since my last post as work is frantic, trying to clear the backlog that had built up in the 4 months I was furloughed 😫. I've already built up a stack of TOIL, need to keep my head down and crack on until the end of the month as I'm then using annual leave for half term. Hopefully June will see the start of a bit of structure to my working week as I should be fully caught up by then 🤞

Hasn't helped that DS2 has had a virus for the last week so have been juggling him with work as, despite having my Mum available for help, DS2 has just wanted to cling to me like a limpet. He's on the mend now though thank goodness.

Still no progress on the work in the front room, have been in touch with all the relevant trades and they're just all ran off their feet with work. They're all people I've used before so I trust that they will come, just a bit fed up with having the room out of action now. The good news with the delay is that we have fully saved up for the work so trying to think positively on that front and can now start saving for new furniture and accessories 😊 

Have also got a good deal on our building and contents renewal - got the cover we need for £96 with £32 cashback 🤞

My car tax is due at the end of the month and that's the last of the annual bills for a while.

DH gave me the shock of my life when we had a mini review of our finances this week and suggested moving some of our EF to the mortgage as 'it would be nice to be just under £50,000 rather than just over it'. As we're in a good position for the renovation work I didn't take much persuading. Long story short, our mortgage balance is now £49,999 which has made me feel ridiculously happy amongst all the stress and chaos of the last 2 weeks 😃

Hope everyone else is doing well and here's hoping tomorrow's easing of lockdown proves to be another step in the right direction to getting back to life as we used to know it xx

DancingInTheRain

Hi another busy week has passed by, time really is flying at the moment. Been quite a productive week though as have had more time to focus now DS2 is back to normal after his virus. With the weather being so temperamental it's been a good week to get on top of things.

Will be just about caught up with work this week which is good as I have annual leave scheduled the week after for half term

On the money front we've taken out a 0% purchase card with H$BC, had an offer of £25 cashback if you spend £100 or more in one transaction so have paid for my road tax with this and will pay off once we have the online banking info set up. This brings the road tax down from £170 to £145. Longer term the purchase card may come in handy if any unexpected costs arise taking us over the amount we have saved.

DH and I have both switched our sole accounts to F!rst D!rect today to take advantage of the £100 bonus each. Also switched tariffs for our gas/electric saving around £7 per month.

We've also finally got our wills updated after having this on the backburner for quite some time, feels good to have this sorted now.

We also have a provisional start date of 14 June for the joiner replacing the living room floor, skirting boards, etc, thank goodness! The other trades are all lined up for when he finishes so hopefully we'll be sorted early July. I've refused to think about colour schemes or furniture so far as it's taken so long to get the work started so I might allow myself to start thinking of the nice finishing touches now that it looks like things are moving

We also had a cheeky night out with our group of friends last night which was just wonderful, felt so good to see everyone under one roof and the food was fabulous. We all really enjoyed it, felt a bit alien to be spending so much on 1 night but was totally worth it. The boys had a sleepover at their aunt and uncle's and had an amazing time with their cousins so we're all in a good mood, if a little tired today.

We're going to look at the budget for June tonight as we have CB payment coming in tomorrow, my pay on Wednesday and DH pay on Friday so a good week on the income front. 

Hope everyone reading is safe and well, here's hoping the weather improves soon! xx

beanielou

Glad that you have had a nice weekend 

DancingInTheRain

Thanks @beanielou

Forgot to add earlier that I've also been looking at DH's student loan. He's always been adamant he'll never pay it back as he genuinely thought it would hang around until he was 65 and then get written off. I didn't go to uni so the subject of student loans hasn't really crossed my mind.

Anyway I logged into his account and it turns out he currently owes just under £6,000 (Plan 1). He has roughly £90 per month deducted from his salary and the interest rate is currently 1.1% so by my estimate it will be paid off in around 5 years if left as is. We're confident his job is secure so are contemplating overpaying the loan to try to pay it off as soon as possible.

We have really felt the benefit of him WFH creating more disposable income by saving so much on diesel costs commuting so it feels like a good move to attack the loan to create a bit more disposable income. Will also give me a new debt free target to work towards Definitely one to think about... 

Sarahwithlove

Sounds like it will be paid off before it gets written off so I would be tempted to start overpaying it. 

DancingInTheRain

Thanks @Sarahwithlove that's the conclusion we're coming to. Have watched Martin's video on this site for reassurance. We've set the loan up as a payee on both current accounts and sent a test payment of £1from each. Once we're happy they've been set up correctly we'll wait until the living room renovations are complete and then commit to a regular amount to pay. May send a few TT's in that direction in the meantime though
Payday eve today, very much looking forward to my first full pay of the year tomorrow. We've been given a 1% pay rise this month too so a little extra coming as a result of that too.
Just about up to date with work now, a few tasks are still outstanding as I'm waiting on someone else doing their bit before I can clear them off my to-do lists but looking like I'm in a good position ahead of my week off next week.