Queen Bee fighting for her Hive!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Thanks Beanilou, yes I don't expect any big changes. The payout from the divorce though I'm going to use to fund an investment property and driving lessons so it's this I'm actually excited about. I'm gutted to lose my lovely house (haven't lived in it since 2018) but it's just the way it is. Sadly I couldn't afford to keep it and my ex could. For the kids they still live there half of the week so not all bad. I'm now working and saving hard to buy my own little pad in the future 🙂. I'm hoping investment property will help to bump up the deposit & keep me on the property ladder while renting main home. 

Timpanum

Hi Clarissa62
I've read your diary and wanted to say a massive well done for your determination!! You're a tough cookie!!! 
Following your journey with interest and wishing you good luck!! 
Timps

Queen_of_the_Hive

Thanks Timpanum and thanks for reading my diary 

Today was one of those 'gift' days at work. This morning was visiting a client and this afternoon was a half day so a nice day. The kids dressed up for World Book day and it was also my partners birthday too so we had a very naughty treat of birthday cake at breakfast time! Yay

For my half day I really needed to get passport photos done so headed to my local photo shop. I could have done it a bit cheaper by taking my own photos but as I am going away in May (fingers crossed!) so not have the greatest amount of time. Anyway this was my major spend of the day and we went to the pub for snack and a cheeky beer while the kids at school. We also made a bit of progress on my partners debt too. He's not really a 'money watcher' anyway I have helped him get a balance transfer credit card and set up his own Monzo account so this is a step forward for him. 

Tonight we were meant to be going out for birthday celebrations but ended up staying at home due to the never ending rain... 

Timpanum

We are being quite lucky and missing the rain. In fact it's sunny enough to sit out in the yard with a brew for some free vitamin D!! 
Timps

Queen_of_the_Hive

Yay the weekend is here and its not raining ! Woo hoo!  

I'm having one of those big bottom lip, big girl pants days. Basically I had a meeting at work yesterday which went awful and its knocked my confidence big style. Normally I am pretty level headed when it comes to situations but where the work environment is concerned I can go from normally happy confident to an internal wreck quickly depending whats said. In the past I've had some serious knocks, suffered from stress and yesterday completely left field i was metaphorically slapped in the face and I am trying to pick myself up this weekend. I wont go into detail but my new job means a hell of a lot to me and I have taken it seriously & I just don't know now whether I will pass the probation period. All I know I was caught out on the hoof and started giving details away I didn't want to and now feel ashamed of myself. I know my ramblings aren't any mse related but if I lose my job I'll be unemployed and it wont do me any good. I'm currently siting at 6% reduced debt and I just can't go back to racking up debt just to live. So lots of self love today   

Right so onwards and upwards. Today was a nice morning as I had my kids for a couple of hours and we went to a birthday party for my eldest son which including a trip to McDonalds. I'm not a fan of McD's but the kids loved it and the birthday boys had an awesome time. The boys were then handed over to dad and I had the rest of the day to myself. Normally I am on my own at the weekend but my partner is having two nights off work so he was able to join me and we did our weekly food shop in town - inevitably in this situation we spend more than we would normally as my partner sticks in a lot of crap into the basket. The shelves were very low but ah hum managed to get enough for a normal week. I also bought a raspberry root bulb to plant in the vegetable patch it was £1.99 (bargain) On that note I really need to get my herb seeds started. I really love rosemary and want to get my own grown. Yes i could easily buy in a pot but that's not as exciting as growing from seed.

Talking of shopping, my well used shopping trolley is broken so I am looking to replace it. The one I want is expensive so I'll have to look into how I can fund this, so for now I'll just have to carry on using my sons pushchair to carry the shopping. Its actually working quite well doing it this way for small shops. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello sunday, oh how I appreciate lovely sunday morning's with the sun shining and happy International Women's day to ladies everywhere. 

So today I am feeling a bit brighter, I cleaned my house last night and ate my body in leftover Christmas Quality streets... how do I still have them I hear you ask... tbh i had no idea my sugar fiend of a partner found them! Taking last nights treat into consideration after  I have finished my diary i'm off for a run. 

Last night I was figuring out the first of the receipt app's I have downloaded from recommendations on some of the DFD's and I'm cutting my teeth on Receipt Hog so far so good with 5 receipts scanned  

Planting the raspberry bush was a complete waste of time yesterday and a waste of £1.99. It turned out to be a twig, no roots in some soil grrrr. So I think I'll go to a proper garden centre and treat myself to proper berry root bushes. So not to waste the opportunity for some time on the vegetable patch I'm going to try getting the rosemary seeds going in the propagator bought last week.

Partner is back to work tonight so when I finally get the kids settled tonight I plan to read a few more diaries for more money spinning tips.  

Queen_of_the_Hive

Well I am now kids partied out, three in a weekend is definitely a record in the hive! Its been fun and food for thought. Getting between parties I had to use a taxi which cost £10. I walked home as I couldn't justify the return ride and another £10 to taxi. Walk home was nice although was worried little one would be too tired but he made it. He will sleep well tonight. I know I certainly will. 

The other mission of the day was to plant the herb seeds which me and my little friend did when we got home. So hopefully in a few weeks we will have some seedlings coming through. I am away next weekend but for mothers day weekend I won't have the kids sadly but instead am planning a good session on the garden. I'd like to buy some bedding plants and planters as a treat to myself and brighten up the back garden. I love having a garden but get a bit irritated that the grass is basically made up of crap grass and lots of moss. I might invest some money next year and get someone in to replace the turf if its not going to cost the earth (no pun intended lol). 

So continuing  on my spread sheeting for saving for a property; this week I had a go at adding formulas for stamp duty. This wasn't particularly accurate though and I really need to research how to formulate a more accurate calculation. I basically want to get to the point where I enter a price into a spreadsheet and it auto populates this information.     

Sarahwithlove

I've found zipzero to be the best receipt scanning app you seem to get more for your money. 1% of all receipts scanned, down side is they are very strict on the type of receipts they allow. Some of mine are for petrol and it doesn't seem to like these receipts. Shoppix is good for earning extra in surveys about your shopping experience, receipt hog is the one which seems to be slowest but is best for getting good pictures and more accepting of types of receipts. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Its Tuesday evening and I am getting stuck into using the receipting apps for mine and my partners spends. My partner thinks i'm a bit mad but that's fella's for you! 

Tomorrow is a WFH day as nursery is closed, this is a nice treat as working full time now I just don't get to see the kids as much as I'd like. My eldest is really good about it and he understands why mummy is working full time. He wants us to own a property too. 

I've got three days until my credit card is on a new month and friday is also payday! I have asked for them to take out workplace pension contributions but not heard anything so we will have to see. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

I'm up early again (yuk!) 
Paid today although won't be spending the cash till around the 26th of the month as most bills are paid then. With it being the 13th I do my monthly totals and have now paid off a total of 5.65% of my debts. I'm down to having my debt under 10k which is an exciting milestone & a fun way to mark my progress I'm colouring in a picture. So here goes so far.