Marginal Gains

Cornish_mum

Month End Totals

Mortgage capital repayment £937, outstanding balance 174.8k

Cash savings +£785.

CM AVC up £351 (poor growth this month likely a rebalancing after last month’s crazy increase). Normal contributions paid in. Haven’t checked MrCMs

Spendiness a lot boo

Drain emergency work £180, the bill is looking huge for the actual repair. I think I might have to crack into the EF. I have 2 quotes but am waiting for a couple more

Rain related expenses 

Gazebo for DS birthday family party £125.

Emergency wellies for DS zoo birthday treat £40 for CM and DS.

Car entry for zoo trip £26 in addition to entrance fee (so we had somewhere to eat our picnic out of the rain).

Suit for MrCM for DN Christening £200 (lockdown weight gain related!)

New clothes for DS for Christening £30 (just general normal upward growth related!)

DD needed new PE trousers for school again as she destroyed another pair £8 (3 pack with money off voucher)

Work related expenses £80 (will try to reclaim).

Garden related treat for CM £60.

Gift and postage for friends 40th £20.

Childcare £600 (just had enough vouchers for half term club not May wrap around). 

Groceries £450 - really pleased with this as we hosted a family party in our garden and have been feeding my parents for a week too. Haven’t been shopping around as I have just been too busy with work so I am glad I didn’t blow the budget this month.

We did have a couple of take aways earlier in May  (£30) before MrCM decided he had to get serious about his diet. (having to buy a new suit was a bit of a shock).

Frugaling

Have been super good at cooking at home from scratch (MrCM is now on a diet so takeout is not allowed). 

Have been walking kids home from school rather than taking a taxi/bus.

Used top cash back voucher to save a bit on DD new PE leggings.

Took all food with us for the zoo trip.

Trimmed DD and DS hair. 

Did a side job that should give me about £300 extra income after tax (it was super fun too, the money just felt like a bonus)

May Goals Progress 

Passed down a lot of DS old clothes to SIL. 

We had a great time at the zoo and DS family outdoor birthday party (despite the rain). 

We got the garden looking really nice for the party for not much extra spending  (other than the unfortunately necessary gazebo) so that was good.

I have started to sort out the drains but it’s going to be pricey (😩) as excavations are required.

I talked with MrCM about longer term goals and he is happy with a balanced approach. We will prioritise pensions, then cash savings,  then mortgage but will keep on top of house maintenance (which is never ending as it was neglected before we bought it) and spend abit more on family fun.

June Goals 

Book in drain repair and accept that I can spend EF on emergencies (and that backing up drains is an emergency) but look into if house insurance might cover some of the costs.

I don’t expect to be able to save anything next month but if we can put £1500 towards drains from income that would be awesome (will need to be careful in other spending categories). MrCM second job pay is due and I am hoping my side job also pays out in June so that will all help.

Keep on top of garden and declutter house again. My parents have a habit of bringing lots of presents (old tat that they buy in CS) when they visit. They mean well but it’s infuriating as it destroys all my decluttering efforts and however many times I say please don’t bring us stuff they always turn up with a car load. I have on occasion stood by the car saying no please don’t bring it in the house but was a bit weak this time, with the pandemic and not seeing them for so long; so we have become awash with things again... Ahhh. 

CM household update 

MrCM and I are still super busy at normal work plus we have both had extra work so it’s been a bit hectic which I feel bad about as parents are visiting. DS has started to say things like ‘mummy needs a rest’ and ‘mummy has too much work’ to DD 🙁. I have been trying to keep weekends for family but had to work one Sunday and one half day Saturday this month.  If only there were more hours in each day! Little CMs and I have tomorrow off hopefully we can book a slot at the botanical gardens, MrCM is working as his uni don’t do bank holidays🙄. 

South_coast

Phew! Sounds super-busy as always, but sounds like you're just about keeping on top of things. I love that "rain related expenses" got its own spending category - just shows what a washout May has been 😮! At least the gazebo and your own wellies should still have plenty of years left in them. 

Fingers crossed the drains can get sorted (agree that definitely counts as an emergency) and you can get some more downtime this month, it can't be fun when your kids pick up on you working too hard x

debtfreeoneday

finger crossed for you the drain repair isn’t too much. 

Grogged

Drains are not nice... luckily we had drains cover as part of our boiler care package (as it's not that much more expensive than the annual service).
I'm amazed at how much you fit into a month - do you get extra days from somewhere?
Hope things calm down for you workwise.
ATB, G.

Busy_Mee

Great update CM, but slightly exhausting. I hope you are looking after yourself.
We also have parents who try and offload tat (their own tat and also stuff bought from CS) I always found it much harder to refuse when the kids were small, because they gave it to the kids. Now I just say no ! 

Cornish_mum

Thanks all! 

We had a lovely time at DN Christening yesterday - DD especially loved being with all her cousins and the weather was perfect. Off for a picnic in the botanical gardens today with the kids and my parents. Better crack on with the sandwiches!

debtfreeoneday

The weather would have been nice for that!

Cornish_mum

Thanks debtfree! It was very nice.

It’s my birthday weekend so I am having a lie in and breakfast in bed; which is a lovely treat. I am looking forward to a morning gardening and making my birthday cake in the afternoon. (MrCM finds baking very stressful, so we have agreed that I’ll just enjoy making my own cake!) My birthday present is for MrCM and the kids to do the house chores today and for DS to do his homework without complaining.  Only one tantrum from DD so far 😬; apparently she doesn’t like doing this type of tidying up, she just wants to use the dyson. 

Frugaling so far in June 

Sold an bulky item on the sticky-tree site (£15 plus got rid of something.)

MrCM cut DS hair and I cut DDs; it takes about the same time as taking them to hairdressers and DD in particular isn’t keen on having hers cut.

Mended DDs favourite socks.

Cutting flowers from the garden for the house.

Harvested salads, herbs and our first strawberry from the garden.

Decluttered DD and DS room of too small clothes and broken toys. Lots more to do on this.

Spendiness so far in June 

DS needed new shorts for school and home (£50).

MrCM and I went out on a date to an actual restaurant (my parents babysat) (£70.) It was amazing.

We broke our no take away rule for my birthday (£21). (We were both attending virtual conferences in the evening (US timezone) and MrCM gave his presentation that day so it made things abit nicer. 

South_coast

Excellent work as always - and many happy returns 🎂🥳

debtfreeoneday

Happy birthday. 

 I spent far too long working out what the sticky tree site was. 😂