Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Just lost a long post

With tech, I definitely loosened up during the first lockdown as a lot of DS1's homeschooling was via learning apps so we ended up getting him his own tablet a little sooner than we'd planned but tend to trade tablet time for simple chores so it's working so far. DS2 has little interest in using a tablet, anticipating that may change when he starts reception in September.

Weekend fun - Saturday afternoon stayed dry so we tidied the garden and Sunday we went to a local farm park, the weather was lovely and we all had lots of fun. Low spends as we took snacks and drinks and DH kindly used his gig money from Saturday to cover our entrance fees. Also loved the return of Peaky Blinders last night, can't wait for the next episode next Sunday although I missed the wonderful Helen McCrory's presence.

Money - DH pay and CB in today so our March budget has begun. Used points on my advantage card to buy the kids vitamins in 8oots this morning and then used an Ama$on voucher to order a bottle of wine for my Aunt's birthday, transferred the equivalent cash to the free money pot along with £5 I've redeemed from HUYU.
Prolific has just over £20 pending review so that will be a decent chunk to add to the pot once approved.

New water bill received, will see our payments reducing by 96p per month. Better in my pocket eh? Once the gas/electric DD goes out tomorrow the account will be £57 in credit so I'm pleased the worst of winter is behind us as although March can still be cold we should be able reduce our usage this month to help try to keep costs down.

Mortgage and CC payments both gone out today so that's another chunk of 'What We Owe The World' gone

DancingInTheRain

Morning

Just completed a lovely 1st of the month update of my spreadsheet highlighting the DD's that have left our account today
Cashed out £9.21 from Prolif!c, still have £18.30 pending following a flurry of survey activity.
Free money pot now at £36.45

Used the last of the 10% allowance to send a £13.04 overpayment to the mortgage. Still waiting on a letter from the mortgage company confirming our new monthly payment following the last interest rate rise, I bet I'm annoying them with all the recent overpayments as they'll be having to recalculate the monthly payment accordingly

Our mortgage product ends 31 May, we have been reviewing rates but our current provider is quite competitive so we'll probably stick with them as it'll be more straightforward than a new application, especially with me not working at the moment.

We cheated with Shrove Tuesday and had shop bought pancakes for breakfast this morning as we were a bit tight on time as DH is office based today, I may attempt to make some savoury pancakes when the boys are home from school.

Thankfully we have a cold but sunny day today so the boys and I enjoyed the walk to school. Will be walking home later too which means I'll have walked 4 miles and the kids 2 miles today.

I'm on a mission with the washing today as have stripped all our beds. 1 load washed and pegged out and a 2nd load doing it's thing just now. I'm planning on giving upstairs a quick tidy, shouldn't take long as I gave it all a deep clean last week. Currently have all the upstairs windows open letting lots of lovely fresh air in. Not looking forward to remaking the beds though as ours is a super king and the boys is an awkward shaped bunk bed so it's a bit of a workout!

NSD yesterday and no spending planned today so a good start to the new month for us, have been compiling a shopping list of things we're running low on so will just need to meal plan to add any fresh bits needed.

savingholmes

Good luck with sorting the remortgage

DancingInTheRain

Another day, another Prolif!c payout! £6.57 today, taking the pot up to £43.02.

Received a letter today confirming the new mortgage payment will be £2.20 more each month. The letter was dated a few days before I made the £700 overpayment so if rates rise again our monthly DD shouldn't increase too much.

Found out yesterday that one of our lovely neighbours who has been in hospital for a while has been brought home as he is nearing the end of his life. Both he and his wife have been so lovely to us since we've lived here so I've just popped to a local bakery/general store and got some supplies (bread, meat, milk, tea/coffee, biscuits) to leave on their doorstep so that she and their children who are visiting have something easy to grab should they feel they could eat or drink a little something. It such a sad situation, just wanted to let them know they're in our thoughts.

Quiet day today, picking DS2 up from nursey at lunchtime and then meeting Mum for a cuppa and catch up which will be good. 

savingholmes

Nice of you to do that for the neighbours. I am sure they will value it when they look up enough from their grief.

Hope you had a good time with your Mum.

DancingInTheRain

1st anniversary of lovely sister-in-law's passing today, I still can't quite believe what happened to her and it feels quite unbelievable that a year has passed already 💔

My brother and nieces have gone away for a few days so will catch up with them at the weekend. 

I've been kept occupied today by getting into the spirit of World Book Day with the boys, they've both been excited to get dressed up and to take their favourite books into school and then I went for a walk with my other sister in law this morning, was good to just walk and talk. DS2 in school all day today and I've been glad to have a bit of time to myself this afternoon.

The boys school has also become a collection point for items for the Ukrainian refugees so I took both of them to L!dl after school yesterday to buy some baby supplies and toiletries to donate, they also helped me sort out some of their outgrown jumpers, coats and hats from the pile set aside for V!nted as they'll be put to better use there. It's lovely to see how kind hearted and generous the boys are at their young ages, we haven't said anything about war just that some people have had to leave their homes without any belongings so we need to help them and they were both onboard straight away.
 
Yesterday ended up a bit spendy. As I was in L!dl anyway yesterday I stocked up on a few groceries for us £25.85 spent; ordered my friends little girl a birthday gift from Ama$on (used a voucher and transferred the equivalent spend to the free money pot, still have £20 in vouchers to use too ) and spent £2 on DS1's football subs when he went to training last night.

No plans to spend today so that will be NSD 3 of the month so we're not doing too bad so far (still need to get organised for DS1s birthday though )

Hope everyone is doing okay x

savingholmes

That year has flown. Gentle hugs.

Hope you do something nice for you.

DancingInTheRain

Thanks SH x

Not been on for a few days, headlines are:
Hurt my back again so have been unable to do much until today 🙁
Typically this came as DH had his first night away with some friends since pre Covid, just about managed to keep myself and the boys clean, fed & watered! The new freezer we bought last month has been a god send as there was a few batch cooked meals and easy 'throw in the oven' items that made life much easier and saved me from calling for a takeaway or 3! 🙈

We finally decided on some gifts for DS1 that we think he'll love, they were delivered yesterday so we'll just need to get those wrapped before the weekend. Also popped to Te$co today  to stock up on Easter eggs which we're going to give to the guests at DS1's birthday party, better than a party bag full of plastic tat.

Cashed out on prolific so the money pot for March is at £61.02.

Spent time with brother and nieces although they had to come to me as I couldn't drive, they're doing well & continue to amaze me with their strength.

savingholmes

Ouch to the back issue. Do you need to see a chiropractor - my sister swears by them.

sashybo

Hope your back is feeling better now, what bad timing! Well done on managing to still look after the boys, you must have been exhausted.

savingholmes idea of seeing a chiropractor might be a good idea. Both myself & my DH go regularly, my first chiropractor saved me after having DS as I was in terrible pain, my pelvis was completely out of position. The only downside is they’re not cheap. My sister prefers an osteopath to chiropractor though.

Easter eggs instead of party bags is a good idea. 😊