Queen Bee fighting for her Hive!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Baileys_Babe said:

Queen_of_the_Hive said:

Last night I did my sums and I have a lean £216.64 to live on (after bills & expenses) till 13th June 

Queen_of_the_Hive said:

 I actually completely forgot I hadn't included child benefit in the sums so I have a little more in the budget

Will you get one or two child benefits payments before the 13th June?

What are the plans for half term? Are they already budgeted for?

Good luck, it is tight but doable.

Hmm thats a good question - I might get two. I've worked out I have £332.24 with one payment which is tight but doable. Half term is a mix of holiday club for two days and we are going to visit my parents on a mini break so will be a bit of a spendfest but going to be a tightwad until then and have little one's birthday too. One pressie already bought and going to get him a game for £10. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Was so happy it stopped raining this afternoon, so took the kids out on the train and into my old stomping ground. Enjoyed visiting the area and seeing how it had changed and visited new gardens. Kids had a lot of fun and only cost us the price of the underground ticket. Eldest kid wanted pizza for tea so bought a frozen pizza on the way home. Daily spend was around a £5. So all in all a cheap weekend as tomorrow just hanging out at home and driving lesson in the afternoon. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

My partner makes me laugh, he is very good at not quite buying the item you asked for. So this weekend I asked for strawberry ice cream sauce and he has come back with some kind of fruit sauce which I haven't head of before and the strawberry jam morphed into diabetic strawberry jam  I could name others but this was only this weekend!

Homework complete, kids are playing outside with the neighbours kids so lots of noisy happy chatter so perfect opportunity to clean the bathroom. Haven't spent a penny either so win win. However this week I do need to do some food shopping so list needs to be prepared for this.  

Queen_of_the_Hive

I have some wonderful news to share! My partners son & fiancé had a baby yesterday on International Mothers day! Absolutely blooming awsome! Very happy to have a new baby in the family and this kinda makes me 'granny'! I feel way too young to be called granny!! Anyway I am really excited and cannot wait to meet the little fella! 

Had cake last night to celebrate - this is a big treat and couldn't finish it so chucked the rest away so I couldn't finish it today. Not very MSE but I have a terrible sweet addiction that I needed to do that. 

Today its back to work so better get up and stuck into morning exercises. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

EUGH! Up way too early... keep waking up at 4am! Blooming body clock waking up just before sunrise!! It is a beautiful morning though so not complaining too much

Last night me and OH had a lovely date night - we took a cycle ride to one of the big parks near us and tucked into fish & chips! Then had a fun time riding around the park, I'm amazed my legs are ok this morning, was expecting the worst. 

Tomorrow is monthly budgets review and with the stock market nose diving yesterday this had pretty much wiped out any savings gains this month, so I have everything crossed it picks up today, so keeping my fingers crossed on this one. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

What a difference a week makes, today is monthly finances review and this time last week I was looking at being £200+ better in my savings than I am today. Stock market sneezes have reduced any gains earlier in the month. So now looking at being a tiny £34.07 better off than this time last month. 

On the debt front, paid off another bite of the cake so now at 54.83% paid off which equates to another 2% reduction in debt. Spending has increased as May holiday club and kids activity costs have dominated spending. I've had first rent payment in the bank from investment property & I have adjusted spreadsheets to include what income sources I have alongside spending outputs so that I can now manage my money a bit better and not go into savings (well thats the plan anyway!). 

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

Congratulations on becoming a sort of granny! Nothing better than a newborn baby, have a little headsniff for me.

Queen_of_the_Hive

The kids are with dad this weekend so I am determined to make the most of it. I usually struggle with these weekends but trying a new approach and enjoy the time away from them. So with that in mind I have a treat in store by meeting up with some friends for a pampering session tonight. I need to pop to shop for some bubbles

The scales were my friend this morning - reached 4kg weight loss. 

Financially I currently have £256.03 to last me to 13th June. We did a good food shop yesterday that cost £42 and I finally sorted out collecting Club card points with a Tesco credit card. This weekend I'm thinking of getting a gardening fork to attack the grass in garden -  its crap grass. I want to re-seed it & hopefully get better quality grass growing instead. The ground is lovely and soft so perfect for a spot of greenfingers. I need to re-pot some little plants etc so it will be a weekend of gardening. Budget for garden items is £20 so we will see how far that goes.

Been for a walk today, read my book, a bit of study and caught up with some diaries so a nice day. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Good Morning Sunday, 

I've just spent a bit of time in the kitchen cutting up a glut of apples and plums, chucked them in the slow cooker to make a fruit crumble. We get a fruit and veg box every couple of weeks and find this is a great way to use up excess fruits. Next box is due this week so had a good cull on the fruits. There was a lot of fruit so it will probably make two crumbles. Will make and freeze. Going to visit my parents soon so this will be a lovely treat for them. 

So far this weekend I have stuck to my guns and limited spend to £20. Went for a walk in the park yesterday and dangerously went to the cafe in the park - OH wanted bacon sandwich (they are lush!) so eek £19 down so for lunch. So all plans to buy gardening fork & some other bits and pieces has been put on hold. I'm thinking £20 for a weekend budget isn't a bad idea. Haven't really set a weekend budget before. Talking of next weekend - I have the kids and just booked tickets for an English Heritage site with our membership. One we have have not visited before and from a quick check of the train tickets will cost £12.50 for the day so not bad at all. I'll make a picnic and take flask of hot water for me so I can have a cuppa.  

Queen_of_the_Hive

Wow the power of some of the diaries on here is immense. Its taken me a week to read a particular diary and its really made me think a lot about things and personal journeys we are on. Happy Sunday everyone