Marginal Gains

KeepingOnTrack

Ohh how annoying with the cash machine. If you were lucky and no unscrupulous person was wandering by, the ATM should pull the cash back and restore it to your account. Failing that, ATM’s have cctv but I’m not sure how keenly a bank would hunt down anyone who picked it up!

Cornish_mum

Worked at home Wednesday after my standard hospital treatment. I did not buy a flat white, had lunch at home and just spent (£1.25) on some double cream. Thursday took my lunch to work, bought moisturiser (£3.15) as my skin is so dry and the last bottle was all finished. Free coffee from MrW.

I then was so overwhelmed my recent frugality I then went a bit nutty in the evening and booked a hotel for DH birthday cost (£250 :eek: including luxury breakfast) it’s his present and he’s only 40 once. Don’t think my savings rate is going to be too brilliant this month. Also I did our regular online groceries shop £50. Mr S had a great deal on Lego sets but none was actually available to deliver; boo:(. So my plan to stock up for DD’s multitude of birthday parties was foiled. I hope I still get my 5x nectar points bonus.

Friday was free coffee but bought a sandwich and nice bread £5.50. Babysitter picked up kids as DH is working late (£30) and I can’t get back early enough to collect them without taking the afternoon off work.

On Saturday DH worked in the morning. I stayed home, did homework with DS, laundry and made mincemeat and candied peel for Christmas with DD. DD really likes sorting through dried fruit for stalks and odd bits (very handy help to have!). I have never made candied peel before and it was surprisingly easy. I used lemons that MIL brought back from her garden plus unwaxed oranges from Mr O. 4 oranges and 2 big lemons made about 350g of peel. It’s really tasty and I will use some of it for gifts for DM and MIL. I had loads of citrusy sugar syrup left over. I am not sure what to do with it; I might try it in ginger bread men instead of golden syrup.

DH came home in the afternoon, so I could take DD to another birthday party... as DS can’t come along to it. Card and gift came from my stores which are now looking rather depleted. DD was very shy at the party and didn’t want to join in which was a shame, she can be very timid sometimes and very confident in other situations. We have some play dates planned so hopefully that will help her. DH took DS shopping to help him choose new work trousers and underwear for DH, which were much needed.

I batched cooked bolognese in the evening, DH helped chop veg which was just lovely as I was pretty exhausted and wanted to get the kids fed quickly. It should be enough for 3 more family meals.

On Sunday I made Christmas pudding (one for us and one for FIL who is very partial to home made pudding). I jarred the mincemeat and started the Christmas cake. I made Home made soup for lunch (frozen spinach and a very old white sweet potato) it was quite nice. DH took kids to church and to soft play for a treat as the weather here is miserable.

Cornish_mum

Monday worked offsite bought a coffee and pastry on the way in. Good job I did as was non stop till after six, with no time to eat, but did manage to grab a free sandwich on my way out for the commute home.

Tuesday was a regular day but then had to work late from home in the evening to catch up with work because of being out of the office on Monday. On Wednesday had to stay a bit late and work in the evening from home, as my admin work load is increasing again. I spent £3.60 on bread, £2.95 on bargin bin tulip bulbs, £3 on multipack crisps and 2x £3 on sandwiches in MrW. Free coffee. Will plant the bulbs in the front garden, as the squirrels are being a menace in the back garden currently.

The train was late on Thursday so couldn’t pop in MrW to buy lunch, as I would have been late for my first meeting; which meant I went out at 2 to buy food and spent £8 on chicken and rice. Frugal disaster. I was reading MrMM last night who was banging on about the ludicrous extravagance of pizza delivery; I think £8 chicken for lunch falls into the same category. He’s right I should pack my own lunch but looking at how I spent my time this week I really didn’t have the time. maybe I could make something at the weekend but then I would have less time with the kids if I did that. :undecided:undecided

Did my banking on Thursday evening. I paid DS’s after school care bill using vouchers, DH credit card (£9.01 he’s such a big spender!), did my bank swish and found out my lost cash-machine money has been refunded!!!:D:D This made me ridiculously happy.

Refixed our gas and electric and decided to stay with Octopus as I would have had to switch to SSE to save anything and from previous experience their customer service is rubbish. Whereas Octopus are fine not so MSE but it will probably save me a couple of hours of my time of infuriating phone calls, so worth it to me.

Pretty sure I am going to make the same decision with the mortgage and stay with my bank on 2 year 1.24 fix; rather than switch to the Spanish bank, who are offering a better rate. I have seen on here, that OPing with them isn’t very easy. With N@wide it’s a 2 minute job online. Think I will double check with LandC brokers too.

On Friday evening I made the Christmas cake (I left it in the oven too long as I was multitasking and worrying about work, then lost track of time):mad: think it will be ok once iced. I ordered DD play mobil Christmas present in an early Black Friday sale (£35); this price was ok but not a huge bargain. Just need a singing Elsa doll for a reasonable price now for her Father Xmas gift. Organised some camel_camel price watches for DS as he wants computer games.

I did lots of laundry too on Friday night; as I am out all today seeing old friends without the kids, so wanted to start my weekend chores early. Didn’t spend much money at the reunion as after first Gin :beer:I just stuck to soft drinks (as I don’t really enjoy daytime drinking).

On a more frugal note DH and I ate up the last of years Christmas pudding on Friday; it wasn’t too bad.

twinklie

Wow, you sound crazy busy. I have two boys with additional needs (7 and 4) so I know how crazy things can be. I’m lucky in that the big one has a diagnosis and gets good support at school. DS2 is on the pathway to a diagnosis, but I’m not sure he will get one. I think he needs it more than his brother though due to his behaviours. So I’ve got my fingers crossed he gets one before he starts school in September.

I look forward to following your journey. But for now I have to dash as my boys have a birthday party at 1.30pm for their friend and I’ll need to feed them a bit of something before we go.

Moneyfordreams

I have enjoyed reading your diary Cornish mum, I too look forward to following your journey . Best wishes

Cornish_mum

Hi Twinkle and MoneyForDreams thanks for stopping by I really appreciate that.

On Sunday DH and I tackled the laundry mountain, and inspired by MrsHinch deep cleaned (descaled and de moulded) the bathroom, the kitchen sink, kettle and toaster. It took about 4 hours all together; we took turns as the kids weren’t very interested in helping. DH suggested we get someone in to deep clean the rest of the house, as our cleaner is missing lots of bits. I think we need to do a big de clutter first.

Then I made apple crumble, banana cake, and a big batch of mash plus cabbage and bacon pasta for tea for us.

Monday was a normal work day, free coffee and £3 sandwich for lunch. Today DS was ill so I worked from home, we did some homework together in my lunch break (as he wasn’t that sick in the end) and I also cleaned the washing machine. It was a NSD because of being at home, though I did update my online groceries order for later in the week.

Cornish_mum

Month End updates

I’ve just been paid and all payment done so posting a day early.

Mortgage £197,100 (capital reduction ~£700).
Education fund £16,660 (+£1200):D
Pension AVCs combined DH and CM (+~£1400):D

I am pleased this month wasn’t too spendy in the end. My next savings target is £1700 in December; this is doable as long as keep Christmas spending under control. I have bought all the presents already (though some spending for gifts will be in next months cc bill), so just need to keep the food spending and postage spending sensible.

Fingers crossed that DH’s second job pays well this quarter. I am also owed £150 for a side job which should pay out next month (though some of this is due in tax). It would be great to make a December MOP on top for education savings.

Cornish_mum

DH worked all day Saturday. DD had a play date in the morning at our place and we managed to get some of DS home work done before hand. In the afternoon the kids helped me plant bulbs and I did a bit of a garden tidy; I bribed them with home made hot chocolate. Afterwards we started writing their Christmas cards. When DH arrived home he suggested a take away and I was sorely tempted, but we resisted and had sensible cauliflower cheese n pasta instead.

On Sunday I made roast chicken, the normal veg and baked chocolate pudding, both kids refused the chocolate pudding. I turned the chicken carcass into very weak stock and froze the left over meat for kids week day dinners.

Then I popped to Herr A for my pre-Christmas food and booze shop (£102:eek:), while DH took the kids to the park. I bought a lot of chocolate for making things to give as gifts, super 6 mini pears, cleaning stuff, dishwasher tablets etc. I pickled the pears using an old Delia recipe to give as Christmas gifts. I didn’t have enough Kilner jars so I had to improvise with old coffee containers. I think it will be ok if I mature the pears in the fridge. We had bubble and squeak with poached eggs for super (kids had a second round of roast dinner).

I am feeling pretty exhausted but need to sort out the kitchen, put the laundry away and pack school bags otherwise tomorrow morning will be chaos.

Cornish_mum

We ended up with a few random things in our weekly MrS online shop (which we weren’t charged for). The Peach Bellini bottle went straight into the donation bag for DS’s winter fayre. I managed to fill rest of the the bag with old toddler toys (for the buy your siblings a Christmas present stall) and my Christmas presents from MIL and DM from last year (for the buy your mum a Christmas present stall). When DS brings me gifts from the stall despite them being very random I completely treasure them! The fayre is on Friday so will need to give DS £5 spending money, DH is going to leave work early to take DS to carols after school.

DH was away Monday and Tuesday for work, so I booked annual leave but ended up working from home, as it’s all a bit busy.

DS had a choir concert on Monday night; it was a logistical nightmare with DH away, as I had to take DD and it finished way past her normal bedtime. She was very good. In the end we had to leave early because poor DS fell asleep twice and the head sent him home straight after his performance. He just gets so exhausted, so after school activities are really difficult for him. But he wants to join in so it’s a tricky balance. He had his assessment last week and it’s as we and school suspected, so it’s good we all didn’t miss anything more serious but bad because he can’t have any extra treatment (because there isn’t any). The team have agreed to do an in school assessment just to see what extra school can do for him. They also want us and school to buy some further aids for him; some of which we already tried but I am all for having another go. Also they have recommended a local optometrist for him, which is brilliant as the regular kids optometrist couldn’t assess him properly because he couldn’t comply with the eye exam.

Also they thought it was really good he had learnt to swim and ride a bike, as kids with his impairments often don’t manage to do so. So big thumbs up to DH who preserved with teaching him:p. Also they thought his attention and emotional control was good, considering his level of physical impairments so huge thumbs up to DS for dealing with all his difficulties with resilience.:p

I found it all very upsetting on the day but managed to hold it together until after bedtime. DD sensed I was upset and was really naughty on the day of DS assessment as she was confused; this always happens when I am tense - as she is very emotional aware; I really need to explain things to her more but it’s hard to do that as she only 4.

We went to Zizzi before the choir concert for a treat dinner (£35 with tip using a 20% off voucher) and took taxis £16+£8 and buses £3 +£4.85 to get around town, as it was freezing and kids were in no fit state to walk. I also bought nice bread £2.80 and emergency madeleines (£2.20) to feed kids, so Monday was quite a spendy day. But did take their water bottles so that was a small saving.

On Tuesday evening the traffic was appalling so in addition to our bus fare (£3), I had to take a cab to complete the after school pick up in time (£16) :eek: which was immensely annoying. However I must remember that my cab spending is cheaper than owing another car and me learning to drive. Also that using DH work nursery (which is not very conveniently located) saves us a huge amount of cash, as it’s mostly paid by salary sacrifice (pretax) and age 3+ free hours. Plus DD is very happy there and it’s great quality education.

I managed to hand in DD extra school forms for her 2020 reception application, fingers crossed she gets a sibling place at DS’s very oversubscribed school.

On Wednesday I was working offsite (started work on the train at 6.30am, clocked off at 6pm at the site but have 3 hours of travel to get home after that and no breaks all day as lunch turned into a work meeting). I will probably do a bit of work on train journey number 2 but really don’t fancy it. The dark and cold weather is making me want to hibernate. I am usually totally fine to do a long day but I am feeling massively lazy this evening despite having hugely important meetings next week and lots of preparation still to do.

The trains and tube were late this morning so I had to rush my morning journey and then bought a coffee on the train (it was completely disgusting and I couldn’t drink it £2.99 :mad:totally wasted, I won’t make that mistake again). Brought a banana snack and my water bottle from home, so I just spent £3.30 for a really nice fresh lunch. No other spends.

Cornish_mum

Thursday and Friday were very normal Days, free coffee and sandwich lunch (£3) both days.

Remortgaged to 1.24% 2 year fixed at N@tionwide; I paid the £999 arrangement fee upfront and reduced our term to 16 years and 4 months (payments are ~£95 less than we pay now), starting in January. I was also able to kept my OP limit from old mortgage (£25k/annum) and our overpayment reserve (£18k) which is a nice bonus. We would have been at 20 years and 4 months in January if we hadn’t overpaid & shorten our term.:p I’d like it paid off by 2030 so some way to go yet.

We are going to be tight to make our savings target this month of £1700, now I have to paid the mortgage fee upfront but it makes long term sense to arrange the mortgage now.