“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

beanielou

So glad that your DH is 95% on board.  That's great 

Sarahwithlove

Hahah if you rant bout him we will just assume that you were being over generous at saying 95% hahaha 

browneyed_girl

If you could Sarah, that would be very helpful!!

Up early this morning with DS who has been awake since 5am .  Assuming he was woken up by the apocalyptic weather, which is currently blowing a gale and wreaking all sorts of havoc in our garden.  Thought I might take this opportunity to update on the comings and goings of the past few days - some good, some not so good, all of them with money-saving in mind (she says whilst simultaneously polishing her halo ).

Thursday - DH took DDs to museums as previously mentioned.  Had planned to meet up with SIL and nieces, but due to delays at their end, DH had to head to a different museum closer to them which meant car parking fees (parking was free at originally intended place).  In fairness, the museum was much bigger and kept DDs entertained for longer, particularly with their cousins in tow.  SIL then also paid for DH’s parking by way of an apology - win!  DDs had their packed lunches with them and DH resisted buying any snacks/treats/gift shop items so NSD achieved  Everyone then descended on us for the remainder of the day and (just as I was trying to figure out how to feed all those extra mouths) SIL arrived with food for dinner having stopped at Mr T on the way - an absolute godsend!  That means our meal plan has been extended by an extra day .  Not only that, but we were left with a whole cucumber, most of a bag of carrot batons, some cherry tomatoes, a bottle of peri-peri mayonnaise and about a third of a bag of frozen french fries - SIL didn’t want to take it with her and I’m not one to turn down free food! 

After some pleading from DDs, we then had our nieces stay for a sleepover.  They are all the best of friends and we love nurturing that relationship (I had so many siblings to choose from that I was never close with my cousins but regret this now I’m older).  A late night for everyone (but half-term still so nothing planned for the next day) and the kids all enjoyed their hot chocolates and YS hot cross buns which were made as a bedtime snack.  Finally flopped at around midnight - playing the long game as they then sleep very soundly the following night

Friday - more YS hot cross buns plus toast from YS bread for breakfast.  DH drove nieces home whilst I set about making good use of the leftover food from the previous night.  DDs had the cherry tomatoes and some of the carrot batons as snacks, though as they were already less than crunchy (I would never buy pre-prepared veg myself because it doesn’t seem to last) I decided they would be better off in a soup.  I already had plenty of onions and red lentils in the cupboard, so less than an hour later and I have a lovely spicy carrot and lentil soup portioned and ready to chill/freeze.  Had some that evening with YS bread, more in the fridge to use over the next few days and some single portions in the freezer that can be taken to work for lunches.  Made up macaroni cheese for the kids’ tea - HM cheese sauce, plus used up a stale crust of bread and a lonely floppy spring onion by whizzing them up with a bit more cheese and seasoning to use as a crunchy topping.  Everyone spent the day relaxing at home, tired from the previous night, so another NSD achieved!

Saturday - DH took DDs over to MIL’s for lunch, leaving me with the still poorly DS and lots of housework for company!  Needed a few items from Mr T to last the weekend, but being very aware of how little of the budget we have left for the month, I made sure to make a list of everything I thought I needed, checked prices on their website and edited the list until it came to under £10.  Actual spend was £9.24  This leaves us with just over £10 of the weekly budget and when we’re facing having only £17 left until payday, this helps with that little financial cushion!

I also set to work on more surveys and managed to cash out £5 on one site (will add to emergency fund once it arrives in my account) and exchange points on another site for a £10 Mr T voucher.  This means I can use this towards next week’s grocery budget, leaving another £10 in my bank account and bringing the total leftover until payday up to £37.  Though not very much, it’s sounds a lot better than £17 and is almost enough to cover the cost of one tyre!  Meal plan and shopping list for next week also done, which should be significantly under budget thanks to having lots of soup, YS quiches and bread, an extra day’s meals and DDs back at school.  Having had a really stressful day or two worrying about all the unexpected costs, things are certainly seeming a lot brighter!

Baileys_Babe

£37 is a lot better cushion than £17. I always like it when the meal plan stretches to another day. Great news on the free food. I'm sure SIL appreciated a child-free night.

browneyed_girl

Thanks Baileys_Babe!  It does feel nice having increased the cushion to £37 just through a little bit of organisation and work

Looking at next month though, it looks like we’re going to have to continue to pull the purse strings pretty tight.  Needing to pay £244 off Very and there are a number of other little expenses in March that will soon add up - Mother’s Day, school trips, extra fuel costs due to some trips for work etc.  Have made a start by being very strict with the weekly shop today - £24.29 at Ald! and £17.44 at Mr T (£10 of this being the gift card earned from surveys).  Uploaded the receipts onto three different receipt apps to claw back a few pennies.  

I’ve also discussed contingency plans with DH in case we end up overstretched next month.  We still have £108 in the emergency fund and at least £100 in change in the sealed pot.  If we’re absolutely desperate, we will dip into either of these rather than using overdrafts or credit cards.  I know that we would be able to pay back a small amount of borrowing on the following payday, but I really need that hard line to keep on the straight and narrow.  As soon as one thing goes on the credit card, what’s the harm in adding another?  And then all those little treats we’ve been missing in our weekly shop to stay in budget? Well, we could get them if we use a credit card and it’s already been used once, right?  And given how stressed this whole situation has made us, why not treat myself to something fabulous on Mother’s Day - on the credit card, of course.  Then, before we know it, we can’t afford to clear the balance on the card that month, the balance rolls on to the next and the interest starts accruing.  Nope, not having that.  I’m keeping hold of my hard-earned money, thank you very much .

Hope everyone is having a positive start to the week, despite the horrific weather!!

browneyed_girl

I’ve continued to be hot on the scrimping today, even if I do say so myself!  It’s served as a reminder to me that money-saving is very much an active process - or at least it is in our house!

Managed to keep the heating off for most of the day despite it being pretty chilly, only turning it on after DDs came home from school.  Put the oven on just the once to cook jacket potatoes for the kids’ dinner, strudel for dessert and veggie sausage rolls that I found in the freezer for lunch tomorrow (I’d previously got into the bad habit of forgetting to plan and using the oven multiple times a day whilst only cooking one thing at a time - imagine the added energy costs!).  Dishwasher filled to bursting and put on an eco cycle, whilst laundry was done on a 20 degree wash.  I’m hoping that after the accidental top-up payment(!) to our energy supplier has made us almost square, we can work on reducing our energy usage and thus our monthly direct debit.  It’s a plan that works in my head at least...

Stuck to my diet today, which had the added bonus of saving money on all those uneaten biscuits!  DH and I had some of the soup I’d made last week with YS rolls from the freezer - cost-effective and low calorie, leaving me feeling positively virtuous!  Though I may need to treat myself to a hot chocolate this evening to stave off the late night sugar cravings!

browneyed_girl

Busy day at work yesterday but happy to report a NSD!

A quick fridge audit found half a tub of natural yoghurt that almost got forgotten about - DH quickly used it up making garlic flatbreads, which are now in the freezer ready for when we make curry later in the week.  I like to think our food waste is almost zero, though we can never predict when DS might suddenly decide his dinner looks better on the kitchen floor!  Previously, the dog would have made quick work of any such occasions but sadly she’s no longer with us, so it just ends up in the compost bin (though I have sometimes noticed DD3 eating bits off the floor if it’s something she particularly likes - hasn’t done her any harm yet! ).

Cashed out another £7.49 from surveys and duly added this to the emergency fund.  Pretty certain we’re going to have to put this towards the awaited garage bill, but I’m taking every measure I can think of to avoid this.  Payday tomorrow so will sit down and look at how we can juggle accounts to try and prevent a deficit.  DH and I have already agreed on having DDs bake items to give to mother/MIL on Mother’s Day instead of buying more expensive gifts.  I always love gifts that the kids make, so hopefully DH knows he doesn’t need to spend anything on me either.  Had also planned on buying a costume for DD1 for world book day at school, but am going to see if I can cobble something together with items we already have.  DD2 is already sorted as she received a Harry Potter outfit at Xmas .  Other than that, we’re sticking rigidly to our meal plan and hoping to have £20 leftover from grocery budget at the end of the week.  Don’t think we’ll manage all month without little treats, but will try to alternate really lean weeks with more relaxed weeks (though still spending within our original budget) - DH knows I get grouchy if I go too long without biscuits!

savingholmes

I think you are doing really well. I always found the school holidays stressful - I would rather work. You seem to have pulled back your spending and got some extra income in. Well done you. I agree using CC is a slippery slope....

browneyed_girl

Thank you savingholmes.  Your comments are always lovely to read and really help to keep me feeling positive!

DH has just sent me a message to say he’s made some more sales on FB as he continues clearing out his mountain of unused ‘stuff’.  £46 in total!!  This feels like an absolute fortune at the moment and is really going to help with the coming month.  It has just got me wondering whether we could generate the extra we’re going to need through more sales, rather than dipping into savings...it might be time to brave the loft!

browneyed_girl

Payday has finally arrived!  Not that it’s relieved much of the stress, knowing that next month is going to be really tight financially.  I was actually awake at 3am (having been woken by DS) and decided to check on my account, to find that it had registered my pay and I had to then try to battle an overwhelming compulsion to go through my budget there and then.  Turns out the compulsion was too strong, as I quickly found myself going over spreadsheets with DH snoring next to me!

In summary, accounting for the payment of £244 to Very (already done! ) and other accurately known additional expenses this month, we will have £170.95 leftover.  This isn’t as good as it first sounds as it needs to cover any unexpected surprises (DD1 already came home from school with a letter asking for £2.70 contribution for some event), as well as whatever our garage bill next week comes to.  DH has made a rough guesstimate of how much this will be based on what he thinks needs doing (he’s usually pretty accurate with his assessments) and we’re probably looking at around £200.  This obviously leaves us with a deficit at the end of the month unless we can find a bit of extra income (already on it!).  DH has various car parts in the garage that he knows are worth a fair few quid, as long as he can find the right buyer.  I’m really relying on him to help us out of the hole this month - I’d very much appreciate keeping my survey-funded emergency fund intact!