Making money make sense

Franalamadingdong

Well I needed to throw out so much food my son and I have been too poorly to eat it. It peaves me to throw it out, but I also can't risk food poisoning on top of everything else we've been through.

I filled the car up spending the £30 on fuel I'd budgeted this month and we bought some ingredients. Made a big pan of Bolognese, cleaned the fridge and the kitchen and changed all the bins. Spent 95p from my beauty budget (sanitary ware) and £18.72 on food and lucazade for the boyfriend.

I added everything to my spending log in my bullet journal so everything is taken account of.

Franalamadingdong

TV licence (£13.20) and council tax (£91) have gone out today.
The boyfriend has left today too :-( he has golf with a friend and then will spend the weekend with his brother before going back to work. Because of roadworks I won't be seeing him next weekend either :-( so it'll be just over 2 weeks until we're together again.

In other news the child has been invited to a birthday party on Saturday, thankfully I keep a gift or two handy for such invites, so I just need to wrap it up and get the card ready. His back to his usual self (argh) and other than no swimming or showers we're back to normal life. I'll be wrapping up mum and dad's gifts too to take with them on their holiday. They'll be leaving next week and bringing the dog to stay with us.

I might take down the Christmas decorations today and try to get the house back to normal before school starts again.
Other than food/household delivery on Saturday I'm not expecting any extra spends. I've some bills (cello, childcare etc) due to come in soon, but they're all budgeted for.

I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine again.

Blackcats

So pleased that your son is back to his usual self. Boo to throwing away food but absolutely the right decision. Kids parties can be expensive so it's a good idea to have a couple of gifts in reserve. Cards are so expensive too and really just end up in the bin. I like to buy nice cards to post to close family and friends because I think that makes a nice connection if we aren't able to meet up. I also keep a stock of cheap cards which I think are ok to use when seeing people face to face with a gift. I need to re-stock on cheap cards next time I pass the cheaper high street card shop.

Franalamadingdong

Oh I like to keep a generic store of a few kids' birthday cards in the drawer and top up when I go to the city too. I've got January - March birthday/new baby cards ready for the family, mostly due to getting mum and dad's ready early.

No spends today and I got a 10p survey one OP and 25p one on PA. They've been a bit sparse lately.

I also listed all my skincare products given that I was gifted so much at Christmas. it will hopefully stop me from buying any more products and to encourage me to actually USE the products. Had a bit of a pamper this evening and warned the boyfriend I might be lovely by the time he next sees me. Haha.

I've taken down some of the decorations, but will do more tomorrow and Saturday. Doing some more sewing to try to catch up on a sewalong. I got so behind doing my mum's quilt for Christmas. I'm planning on sewing up a make up bag for my friend for her birthday in February and a patchwork cushion or two for the boyfriend for Valentine's Day, I'll just need to buy cushion inserts when I get round to doing it.

Franalamadingdong

After Christmas I ordered a new remote as some buttons on mine weren't working and annoyingly the payment has only just come out. It was £15.19. thankfully my gas and electric direct debit has gone down by £30 I just need to rearrange my budget as I only put £10 in my miscellaneous for this month.

I've brought my lunch with me again today, but I did forget to take a chicken breast out of the freezer for tonight's dinner though so I need to think on that.

Shopping is being delivered tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine again

[Deleted User]

Hi Fran,

Happy New Year

So glad your DS is on the mend and how sweet of the hospital to give him a present.

Franalamadingdong

Thanks pmo2. It was so sweet of them.

Actually looked at my pension pot today. Is it bad I have totally just ignored it and let the money go into it? Lol. I need to look into my old one from my previous job and maybe move it over to my current one... Which reminds me that I have no idea what is in my old one! Anyway, the current one has £765.87 in it. Which is nice to know. I'm a long way off retirement but it's nice to know the little amounts are adding up.

Franalamadingdong

There was half a tin of spaghetti hoops in the fridge and some eggs in the cupboard so my son and I had those on toast for tea. Turned out he had eggs chips and beans at mum and dad's so wouldn't have wanted a full dinner tonight anyway, given his shrunken tummy, so he had hoops and I had eggs.

Paid the cello hire and it was £30 instead of the £35 budgeted. I know that my childcare bill will come under budget this month too. Hoping to syphen off the extra into the laptop/holiday/flooring fund. I already have calculated savings to go across for birthdays, Christmas, events and car costs.

I've had a couple more surveys. OP is now at just over £6 and PA will be about £1.50 when the surveys have been approved. I think the surveys will join my TcashB for a new phone fund. Not looking for anything too fancy, just a couple of hundred when I'm ready. TbashB already has £77 with £5 pending.

maggiesmummy

Just popping over to say hello Fran - sounds like an up and down Christmas but glad you are all on the mend.

Have you thought about an Instagram account for the craft business just to get you started? Less work than a blog - lots of pretty pictures though and a quicker may to build followers.

Franalamadingdong

Thanks Maggie's mummy, I have an Instagram set up and I take part in sew alongs which help, hence being annoyed I'm so behind on this one, but it was necessary to complete mum's quilt, which I won't be able to photograph until the spring.

I've paid the rent today and the T delivery arrived. £5 household, 52p beauty £39.27 groceries. All logged in my tracker in my bullet journal.

My son is at his friend's house, I've wrapped up my parents' birthday presents ready for them to take with them and made 2 extra sandwiches for the freezer for lunches next week while I made one for lunch today. And I had a nap. Been feeling so exhausted recently. Doing some sewing now and cleaning later. Nothing else planned for today, and certainly no more expenses.