My accountability Diary for £42k!!!!

KellyAS

So I need to change Mini me 1's hours at preschool. He is a sensitive little one and finds the 9-3 too much, it's only twice a week but he is soooo tired at the end of the day and gets very emotional and misses us plus the afternoon kids are a bit noisier and rougher apparently and he isn't too confident so it upsets him. So he will now be doing 9-12 Mon-Fri. I think this will give him a better routine as it will be the same every morning and hopefully help to build his confidence again. That means that childcare costs for this month will just be £10 for this weeks lunch clubs ad the rest is covered under the 15 hours a week free childcare scheme.

Got my tablecloth yesterday so £4.99 spent there plus £1 for some chocolate coins as Mini Me 1 was being very good (wish they wouldn't put sweets by the checkouts!!) Also finally got the dog a bone which he thoroughly enjoyed and is now in the freezer for another day so that was £1.

I have also bought a new mat (£24.99) needed for the dog to lie comfortably in the hall while we are all in the play room. He wants to get involved but is too big and clumsy to join us, he tends to want to sit right where everyone is playing! So he can now be comfortable whilst not being too far away and I don't have to be up and down every 2 mins making sure he's not causing trouble by throwing cushions or shoes around!

I have been really struggling recently with being patient, I think lack of sleep is the main culprit with a huge puppy who is still learning plus a 4 year old who wants to push the boundaries as far as he can and a teething baby. It's all taking it's toll on my mental health. It get so frustrated with myself when I lose my temper but find it so hard to keep calm sometimes. I don't know why I've put this down but maybe it will help me feel better. Some days are great, others are not, but I've made it through them all so doing well so far!

Out for lunch with Mr K tomorrow. My brother gave us a £25 meal voucher for Christmas last year and we haven't yet used it so I have booked a table for lunch and Mum is babysitting so we have to go. The voucher lasts 12 months so we're still ok to use it.

Tomorrow I need to sort the car insurance as that renews on Sunday, plus get new insurance for my business (cancelled it when I went on maternity but have an event in December) and I need to buy some new packaging materials and business cards so probably looking at spending around £100.

Lemon_Tree

Kelly I know exactly how it is about tiredness leading to a lack of patience, being a parent is hard. Mine are 5 and 3 1/2. We've had to take DS's hours down to 4 1/2 days because he wasn't coping full time at nursery and preschool and was struggling to get over the September colds/ chest infection.

KellyAS

Thanks Lemon Tree. It is so difficult balancing everything isn't it?! Then questioning everything you do! I thought adults/parents knew it all, now I am one I realise my parents were just winging it too!

db2016

very nice, i'm in the 70s-90s era's RS fords world.

has he got insurance via a good reliable classic company? also he should join an owners club, they have deals with insurance and parts etc, and any worth their salt also have "registrars" that know about one model of the ones they cover eg, an anglia man who knows them inside out, and can also value that car, and thus be insured for the proper amount and not just "and old ford" as the mainstreams will see it!

my dad bought a car, 9.5k in 2004, slowly its gone up, and the latest insurance value is 40k, its very much worth doing. as normal insurers covered only for 10pc of that. which totally strips out the rarity, age and other factors.

also as i say, being in a club whilst it's an inital cost, it can save on having help or advice and discounts.

not to mention we have many a day out with like minded people so it's a social thing too!

happy for you to PM me if i can be of help

KellyAS wrote: »

Hi db2016, it's a Ford Anglia Van. I've suggested Mr K signs it up for TV use but not sure if he's done anything about it yet.

Thanks Lemon Tree, I think I'm going to give Facebook a go too, although from previous experience I get a lot of timewasters who don't bother to turn up! I just hate selling things really!

clickerty-click

Our family have a couple of "vintage" 60's cars and have got discounted and free days out by putting them on display at various events.

OnlyPariah

Reading your diary with interest and to say keep at it. You'll get there.

As a parent of three I understand the struggle. They're 8, 7 and 2, although the 7 yr old is only with us every other weekend. Add to that a Belgian Malinois pup that is into everything and thinks its smaller than it is. I can sympathise.

KellyAS

db2016 yes it's insured with a classic vehicle specialist, although I have just renewed and forgot to check the value so I'll get him to do that. I know he's part of a few groups, he goes to a lot of local car shows and makes friends and he's also a mechanic so has the right contacts for stuff but thank you for the advice. Maybe we might see you at a show, there's not many Anglia vans around now, especially not yellow ones! lol!

KellyAS

OnlyPariah wrote: »

Reading your diary with interest and to say keep at it. You'll get there.

As a parent of three I understand the struggle. They're 8, 7 and 2, although the 7 yr old is only with us every other weekend. Add to that a Belgian Malinois pup that is into everything and thinks its smaller than it is. I can sympathise.

Hi OnlyPariah, oh yes the giant puppy that doesn't realise it's size! My poor 4 year old keeps getting squished and is now scared of the dog, even though we had 2 Danes when he was born, they were older and not so mouthy! and more aware of themselves! This one really doesn't care if his bum is in your face :undecided
Good luck with your journey

KellyAS

This week I have renewed the car and van insurances. Did both through top cash back so hoping for around £50 back from those. I did pay for them outright so my overpayments to credit cards might not be as much as I wanted this month. But I do have more of an idea of where our money is going. I can now work out how much I need to be saving each month to pay for all annual expenditure which is £110 pm. That will cover 3 cars insurance, tax (one is exempt) and MOT plus house insurance.

I need to try to lower our grocery spending as we are going to go over budget. I have signed up for a free trial of 1 months home deliveries so will see if that helps me so I'm not tempted down the aisles!

Have had to do a bit of rejigging around of our balances onto new 0% deals so haven't actually paid much off the debt so far this month due to the fees however no more interest to pay, yay, for a while at least. Barclaycard 2 I have set the payment up to clear the balance by the end of the deal so I can just let that one run. I have made notes of how much and when each of the other balances need to be reviewed. Amazon is now on the MBNA under 0% and Tesco balance has gone to Amazon on 0% so the plan is now to overpay the MBNA when possible as a couple of those balances will start incurring interest soon.

Oh made another eBay sale of, wait for it.....£1.20! Oh well, it's all money! Oh and yesterday i thought about getting a wall planner for next year but after looking online I thought it wasn't really a necessity (although will be handy to work out when I can work around Mr K's shifts) so I would save the money instead. Today the postman knocked and handed me big cardboard tube. Some company I've bought from in the past has sent me their new brochure with not one but 2 wall planners for next year!! Whoop!! Me & Mini Me 1 put coloured stickers on it earlier so I can now see at a glance when Mr K's shifts are.

In other news, my big lump of a dog was the mankiest thing ever today! He found a decaying fox carcass and decided to charge around the field with it, with me screaming & running after him and him having a whale of a time. He then ATE it!! Wouldn't eat the fresh mince I put out in the morning but manky fox carcass, yes please?!!!!! Foul creature!

Kids had Christmas photo's done at preschool today so will need to budget for those next month.

Oh, very annoyed with Mr K, for some reason the high chair for Mini Me 2 was stored outside (I thought it was in the loft) and the rats have removed the stuffing (we back onto fields so lots of wildlife) so I've had to fine another high chair. Picking one up locally for £10 tomorrow but something I could have gone without paying for!

Need to find some time to make some marshmallows this week for my Christmas fair in Dec. Time is going so quick! I can't do it when I have the kids (hot sugar & noise!) but Mr K has been working so much lately! Hopefully this weekend I'll get some time.

Little Women is on so I'm off!

KellyAS

Quick post while I have this thought, I forgot to factor in the extra fuel Mr K would use this month due to his week of overtime so need to include that in my review this month.

Shopping this week need to decide if I spend as close to £40 as possible and take advantage of the free delivery pass or get the minimum bits I need and possibly spend less but that will involve driving to a different shop. Will do a check in the cupboards this weekend and see what we can get away with.

Mini Me 1's shoes were looking worse for wear the other day so had to buy new ones, £38 later although these will be part of his Christmas present from my mum so not too bad. I will carry on looking for second hand ones but he is very hard on his shoes so it tends to be a false economy sometimes.

Picked up the high chair and it is nice but the tray is too far away from the seat bit! Poor Mini me 2 can't reach the tray and it doesn't look like he will any time soon! Gonna see if our old high chair can be saved at all and if so will put the new one back up for sale.

Plan for today, make marshmallows, walk dog, hope it doesn't rain! Order bits for Christmas fair, need bags and labels.