Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Thanks guys. DS2 felt better so went out for a little walk to get some fresh air but while we were out DS1 was sick out of the blue  so we ended up coming back home. Both have been fine since but it does mean they won't be allowed back in school when it reopens tomorrow so I'll get to 'enjoy' their non-stop bickering for another day!

DS2's reception place at his current school has been formally offered today which is good news. 

DH in the office all week so we are without a car but won't need to go far today and tomorrow. Praying for dry weather for the school run Thu/Fri as will be a good 6 miles of walking for me by the time I drop them off, come home and then pick them both up at seperate times!

DancingInTheRain

The boys are both fine so dragged them out for a little walk after lunch and stopped off at a playground as it was empty so no chance of them spreading any lingering germs.

It wore them out so they've had a chill watching Flushed Away for the millionth time while I've done some food prep (sausage casserole & home made pizza for the freezer, boiled some eggs for sandwiches then made 
tuna pasta bake for this evening).

Small money making wins today:
£2.25 from V!nted on its way for a new t-shirt I sold.
£1.50 cashed out from TCB for uploading Easter egg receipt
£11.56 from Pro!ific

Free money now stands at £217.67 for April

Need an A$da delivery later in the week with having less car access, spotted a deal on TCB where you got £3 cashback on a £48 spend so I stuck to my list before adding a couple of smart price items taking me up to £48.18 🤣 - it's tracked in my account already so not a bad saving.

DancingInTheRain

"It's Oh So Quiet, shhh, shhh"   Finally after the longest Easter holidays ever, the boys are back at school today!!! DH is office based so I have the house to myself for a few hours and I'm enjoying the silence and a catch up here after giving upstairs a tidy/polish/hoover, I have all of the windows open too so it's feeling very summery

So following my last post, the weather got better and DS2 was feeling good so we decided to head out for a walk where DS2 then decided to projectile vomit out of nowhere both of them were absolutely fine by bedtime but due to the 48hr rule for absence after being sick, both boys missed their return to school yesterday. Having the extra day yesterday wasn't too bad, we got out for a walk to the playground then visited Mum before spending time in the garden.

It's so warm here that the walking to and from school today has been/will be a pleasure (as long as the children aren't too grumpy), will be picking DS2 up at 12 and then back at 3 for DS1, will take DS2's pushchair & snacks as a backup to try to negate any tantrums as a result of tiredness.

Also spent some time with my brother, we went for a walk and talk. Managed to set the world to rights and clock up 14,000 steps, was good to have a bit of a heart to heart with him.

In money news have cashed out £11.56 from Pro!ific, £2.25 from V!nted and £4.42 cashback from our bills account. Free money/extra earnings total for April now at £220.59 which isn't bad at all.

Need to submit our meter readings today, will be interested to see if my obsession with switching everything off has had an impact!

savingholmes

Well done on the steps and talk with your brother.

Glad the kids got back to school in the end.

Well done on the free £

DancingInTheRain

All the extra walking the last few days has demonstrated just how unfit I've become, definitely feeling it in my legs! I have lost 2lbs though! Going to try walk to and from school more often, partially forced as DH will be using the car more but also to improve fitness. DS1 is very confident on his scooter and enjoys the ride, DS2 is more of a challenge but if I continue to take his push chair at least that's a back up for when he gets tired, especially on the days he does a full day in nursery.

The wind has been so strong here since Thursday afternoon which has made walking around with the children a bit more challenging but on the plus side it's also been sunny so washing is getting dried on the line in no time 

The weekend has seen us catching up with 2 different sets of friend who also have young children so the boys have enjoyed running around with their little friends while the adults had a good catch up. Also got to meet my neighbour's newborn baby girl who is absolutely gorgeous, I forgot how small my 2 used to be 

Money news- we haven't got any  we have managed to stick to budget apart from a couple of extra school costs I'd forgotten about (half termly payments towards snacks) so I've put that on the credit card today as it's overdue and will pay from the Child Benefit when it comes in tomorrow. Will also need diesel and a few bits of fresh food this week ahead of DH being paid on Friday so we should be okay. Remortgage appointment is on Friday and will need to sort the new car insurance policy on Tuesday.

No additional debt payments to be made this month so I have updated my signature. We have reduced our 'What We Owe The World' by £3575 since the start of the year. DH's student loan balance is now below £5k, the credit card balance will be below £7k when the payment reaches it next week so a nice couple of milestones there too. 

Have a lovely Sunday x

DancingInTheRain

Wednesday afternoon already!

Yet more walking done for the school runs as DH needed the car. I've had the car today so have topped up diesel and groceries while I had the opportunity. £10 L!dl voucher redeemed from the app so transferred £10 to the free money pot along with £5 redeemed from Shopp!x. The pot is now at £235.59 for April.

Car insurance sorted for £169. This was £40 cheaper than our renewal quote and will earn £33 as went via TCB.

Had an email from our energy company advising that when we come to the end of our fix our payments will be £197 as opposed to the £117 we have been paying (although I recently increased the DD to £130). Still waiting on this months statement but I'm fairly confident we should still be in credit so will see what impact that has. The geek in me was happy to see the costings I worked out on my spreadsheet for the increases were unfortunately correct   

Remortgage appointment on Friday, aiming for a fee free 5 year fix at 2.27% which will see a reduction in our monthly DD as we're currently on 2.64% with a 0.25% increase pending. 

DH is paid on Friday, after what has felt like a very long month for some reason. It will be good to start afresh, especially with the confirmation of what our bills will look like. We have a couple of child free nights next month (hurrah!) for a gig and a wedding, nice to have that to look forward to Will also need to sort Building & Contents insurance, boiler service and half term activities/snacks so a few things on the radar there. Our LA is supposed to be paying the £150 rebate at some point next week too so need to keep an eye on that.

savingholmes

Great progress. Well done on the exercise and weight loss. Hope mortgage appointment goes smoothly

DancingInTheRain

Thanks, as always, SH for your support x

Mortgage appointment was fine apart from the fact I hadn't checked their rates in the last week or 2 and the 2.27% rate is now 2.52%  It is however a lower rate that we are on now and still fee free. Will be fixed until August 2027 and still allows for 10% overpayments each year so we're more than happy with that. With the mortgage balance being relatively low it really isn't worth us paying a large fee for a lower % rate.

DH payday today so a new budget month begins for us today and the associated money shuffle has been done.

Hoping for a quiet bank holiday weekend. DH has a gig tomorrow and the boys have a birthday party but other than that no plans. I think the boys will be glad there's no long walks or scooter rides on the agenda after all the non-car journeys to school this week!

savingholmes

Sorry the rate worsened but glad you are still making a saving compared to now. Great that there's no fee. I love your idea of a quiet weekend. Two things on would feel busy to me!

DancingInTheRain

I know what you mean SH but really it's only taking the boys to the party that affects me. DH having a gig just means once the boys go to bed I get an evening to myself which is the perfect opportunity to catch up on the programmes I love and DH hates! 

Forgot to mention that when I spoke to the mortgage advisor yesterday her mind was blown by the fact that our balance was very neat and ended in a zero, apparently she'd never seen that before! She giggled when I said if she went back on my account she'd see the same thing ever month as there'll be many random amounts overpaid each month to achieve the zero. Funny how none of us bat an eyelid on here when we talk about it 

Received our monthly energy statement today, once the DD goes out on Tuesday the account will be in credit by £119. It looks like the efforts made to cut down our energy consumption have worked too as it stated our gas usage averaged 24kWh/day compared to 63kWh this time last year and electric averaged 8kWh/day compared to 11Kwh/day.

Cashed out £9.95 from Pro!ific last night so free money pot for April closed at £230.54. total for the year to date is £1532.30

End of month 'What We Owe The World' figures

Current scores on the doors are:

- Mortgage 31.12.21 was £46,415 now £44,400
- Credit Card 31.12.21 was £8,175 now £7,190
- DH Student Loan 31.12.21 was £5,285 now £4,935

WWOTW total 31.12.21 £59,875 now £56,530