Queen Bee fighting for her Hive!

Queen_of_the_Hive

I have to confess that this week is mini moon for myself which basically means i've taken a week of annual leave & taken myself to the holiday let minus the better half and kids with the intention to restock & prepare for winter guests, take advantage of the local deserted beaches and a lot of chilling and I can't lie. i'm loving it! Sadly tomorrow is my last full day before heading back to reality on Weds.

Spending this month is a bit haywire with the build up to Christmas and the mini moon - will review and update debt situation later this week but already have overspent by min £200.

Speaking of Christmas gifts - I've been focusing on getting the kids sorted with gifts and last week hit the jackpot with hunting for the football table as we bought one from the big auction site for £50. It looks really good quality - the kids will go nuts when they see it!

Mrs_Money_Penny

That sounds a blissful week. x

Queen_of_the_Hive

Its been a lovely week and honestly I could happily do another one! Not that my bank balance could manage it:D:smiley:

Mini holiday moon was lush, didn't do anything major but just getting away from the normal thugh of life, hanging some Christmas decs and generally chilling was lush. In my moon I'd managed to get a hair cut and little afternoon tea over looking the sea was the icing on the cake.

Came home on Weds, there was a crash on the motorway which delayed getting back by over an hour which was one of those frustrating things! It was nice though to get home to the kids and OH.

This weekend we ventured to the school Christmas fair at DS2 school, enjoyed a cheeky mulled wine whilst the kids went off to catch up with friends. There was an air of school reunion with DS1 having quite a few of his old school chums there too. He was happy.

Today was back to reality with a bump and a day filled with a usual sunday when the kids are here, this consists of homework, nattering from me to the kids to practice their musical instruments and cleaning. Seeing as British Gas is still offering the half price energy on sundays between 11-4pm its a bit of a marathon washing time in the mix!

Tomorrow is back to work for us, I must admit I did log on this morning just to check what emails were lying in store as a week holiday for us is a week and a half in realty. Ah the joys of part time work.

lucielle

Sounds like you had a lovely time. 

L

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello December, Welcome snow!

As i'm writing this, I have my low energy heater on, fake log burner all lit up and a crackling fire playing on the tv whilst having a cheeky glass of Bailey's. Gosh I love this time of year, all cozy! It feels lush! This weekend the kids were with dad and I have been a bit too laid back. Cleaning not done but ah well! There is always tomorrow.

Yesterday we needed to pop into town to collect a parcel i'd ordered for OH. So parcel collected and OMG I was completely blindsided by the number of people in town, it was actually nausatingly too busy for comfort! Nowhere to get food, everywhere full and when we did get a table the pub had stopped serving early Eventually struck it lucky with a table at one of the well known pizza chains. It was pure luck, the previous diners were leaving as we arrived and the rest of the restuarant was fully booked for the evening! 

I'm not ashamed to say I have chucked myself into Christmas this year! As I share the care of the kids with their dad 50/50, the dynamic of our Christmas's are going to change from this year and so I will have them for longer this time but we have already agreed that they will be with their dad & his partners family abroad next year. Am ever so greatful we get on good terms but will find this time very painful.

I'm doing the naughty elf & one of the benefits of sharing the kids is not having to think of 24 activities for the elf... its a more reduced number but still... So today's shopping challenge was a trip to the pound shop which was a nice 30 min walk away and to stock up on some accessories. £16 and some shrampnell spent and pleased with the loot. It won't do every idea but its enough to get us started! The kids love football and I was chuffed to suprise them with elves from their favourite football teams so there will be one or two sport themed elf antics this year.

Spending wise - TBH its head in the sand stuff now till end of the month. The dreaded move is edging closer and closer and for now I'm just giving myself a bit of headspace to enjoy life. All the spreadsheets are upto date and I know where I am. Its higher spends as would be expected and I may use a bit of savings to pay down the credit card so I don't carry too much into 2024 but money and the move is a big headache that is better to park right now. 

Jobs for this week - Thursday is dentist trip for yours truly. I need some treatment, I have a broken tooth that has no nerves so no pain but there is so little of it left so that will need to come out - its been a long standing dodgy tooth that has limped me through my 30s! Our washing machine has packed up on us too! TBH quite stuck what to do as we just don't yet know how long we will be staying here and its a rented place. Going to take a walk to the local launderette and find out what it will cost to do washing there. Feeling greatful for having a pound jar now! Think this is going to come in handy!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello last day of 2023! As I am writing this I can tell you I am really tired from another rough night of poor sleep and my unwanted mind cogs going around and around. Guilty as charged for the overthinkers on the forum!

This year has been a funny old one, I fell off the MSE wagon a bit at the start of the year from dispondancy setting in on our household finances. We are a low income, high rent paying household and the cost of living was biting hard. We'd had 3 major floods at our little holiday let business and everything was feeling bleek. The cost to fix the leak and damaged took all the little funds we did have. I finally shelved my grand plans for living in a home we owned in the area we currently reside and I needed a break from it all. So my earliest post from 2023 was acutally closer to Valentine's day.

I do think its really important to take stock and celebrate the wins of the year and on reflection it wasn't as bad as it seemed. So here is a little summary.

* Holiday let business - it was touch and go whether we chucked in the towel and sold up after spending ££ on getting established. We worked through investing in much needed repair work to the roof and some internal work and other associated costs. There is some painting and decorating still required but its in a much better position than before. Bookings & reviews for the year have been more than we hoped for and we are entering 2024 with a much brighter optimism.

* We have close family recently moved overseas and we started saving in January using the save 1p a day method to save for a major trip to visit them. The budget required seemed so impossible but we needed to make a start. So between myself and OH who is not a natural saver we proudly managed to save £1563.60 or 31% towards the flights for the trip and will be continuing this method into 2024 with a hope that we may be able to book the flights in a years time

* The other major change we are making going into 2024 is that we are very close to purchasing a small home together and making a big move up closer to family and our holiday home. There is going to be a major trade off with this though so its a mixed emotions situation. We will though be swapping renting for a 10 year mortgage so this bit is a win win. 

* There has been a small amount of growth this year in savings in S&S isa & investment ISA which has helped to contribute towards the deposit for the little house. Cash savings have depleated though and currently working on building this back up using regular savers (i love 'em!).

* I've got stuck into doing a bit of surveying and other bits and pieces to bring in some extra income which has been put directly into a peer to peer lending investment ISA. This is more of a hobby to me and I am hoping to build the ISA so that this may be a small bit of income in retirement. I know peer to peer is pretty risky but as I say its something i've enjoyed doing alongside adding some money to S&S isa. With the surveying i've added £475.43 to the investment ISA and have reinvested £342.26.

* My pension is a relative small one for my age but I have been able to continue to invest in this each month with a combination of work pension contributions, personal pension contributions and adding a bit into a LISA each month. Each January I increase my payments into personal pension by 10% and adding an extra £10 per month to the LISA. I've also managed to make use of the tax benefits of paying into personal pension for my annual tax return as a basic tax rate payer on a rental property I have.

* On a personal level, I've completed a virtual challenge that was 2 years worth of work. This was quite a journey and something I am proud of.

There are many more things to add but this is just a little as a reminder for next year.

On the downside - I have gone back into some debt on credit card and current account overdraft. Once the housemove has gone through and we have settled down. I'm going to balance transfer the amount and work on paying this down, probably from a second job. I feel though things could be much worse so just accepting current position and will tackle in baby steps.

Goals for next year?

* House purchase to go through and settle down into a new ways of working.

* Work on a plan for debt reduction.

* Continue with investment ISA, pension, holiday savings etc.

* Most importantly continue to invest in my mental and physical well being. Live, love and laugh

Happy new year to all x

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Wednesday, day 3 of 2024 and with a new spark of enthusiasm i'm back on the 5:2 lifestyle and back out walking. Really fancy rejoining the gym too. We will see, I need to get a bit more control over spends but seriously considering this. Will get myself out for a jog tomorrow.

Today is a normal work day so getting in a quick diary update before starting for the day "in the office" aka this is at home which brings its perks and disadvantages - I do miss company of others but flex for the kids is perfect.

We spoke to the solicitor yesterday and all is going well so far for our end of this month deadline. We need to speak to the mortgage broker this week and estate agents but looking good so far. I've also sent out various emails regarding other related matter and waiting back to hear about those regarding the rental property and holiday let. Its quite admin heavy month. I did manage to pay my tax on the 1st so chuffed about that! Not that I would have preferred to have had the money in my account than HMRC! LOL

During Christmas I got myself stuck into swagbucks and enjoying that so far and having some fun playing some games. I'm not a natural 'gamer' but now and again its not too bad. I've also discovered the swagbucks 2024 forum and have that open ready for the near daily code. Its only small amounts but as I have learned from all the surveying it really does add up!

Right I better go and fight the good fight, have a good day x

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello February 2024! Diary wasn't updated in January, as, well real life took over and the past few weeks have felt like I was living in a fog! The most exciting news for the diary is.....! We BOUGHT A HOUSE!!

Along with my partner we've become the one of those modern middle aged first time buyers after renting for the past few years.. we don't even own any white goods.

The house is a Victorian terrace, with a low EHC rating and needing some TLC, but is in a good location (for our needs) and has some gorgeous features and something which was rare for our budget had a "proper" grassed back garden rather than just a yard.

We collected the keys a few days before the end of Jan and won't be moving in until near to Easter as we are in a rental contract in our current place but had some fun going around and making plans for upgrades last weekend. We've managed to lock in a 5 year fix and too as much advantage of falling interest rates when we could. We don't have much free cash but have decided to round up our mortgage payment so we are set to over pay by £55 per month plus shrapnel

 

lucielle

Oh happy days, congratulations. 

dawnybabes

Congratulations x