Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

missymoo81

Ok, this is absolutely unheard of, but I have just bought my first Xmas present…. In August….. who even am I?! I just checked on something that I thought might be in the sale. It was but unfortunately it’s sold out, but I found it somewhere else, for more money but still £12 off what it normally sells at. So one present for Roo down!

jwil

Hope you get the coffee voucher extended!  Well done on being organised for Christmas.

missymoo81

Good morning!

I hope you’re all ok! I’m sat with my cuppa again waiting for OH to get up. I’ve already downed 2 biscuits and one of last nights chocolates! But I’m still rather hungry. Going to put the coffee pot on shortly. We’ve got lots of food to still use up, so we’re having fruit and yoghurt, crumpets and cereal for breakfast. 

I don’t think we’re venturing far today. Although the weather is a little better than yesterday. I’ve been going over the shopping list and I do think £240 for the month is indeed doable. I think I will get a monthly tins and packets shop, from Tesco if the prices are the same, and then do a weekly shop in lidl. There is a little leeway in the budget so I’m hoping fingers crossed it works. I have been realistic with things, it just means I need to sort stuff once I’ve been shopping. For example separating the chicken, chopping it up and putting it in dinner sized portions in the freezer ready for myself or OH (yeah right 🙄) to pull out. The same with the veg. Lidl will be my saving Grace as a lot of the things I use are much cheaper in lidl. 

So I have started my Xmas shopping, I have found another thing that I know Roo wants for Birthday/ Xmas and I’ve found it for £8 cheaper than other places at £32. So my surveys are now sitting at £29 when everything is approved, so I’m hoping i can make it up to £32 today, and then that’s  another present down. I haven’t forgotten about May by the way 😁. Roo’s birthday is November so I need to think of double the presents, and he is also way easier to buy for! He has a habit of searching through Amazon and ear marking things he wants. Where as May is quite happy with what she has. Will need to have a big long think about what to get her though, as I like to start early and be organised!

Need to get my pen and paper from upstairs and look into my budgeting for the month. But don’t want to wake OH, the cottage is so old, every floor board creaks!  Mind you it’s about time he was getting up! Might very noisily skip across the floor actually 😁.

missymoo81

Of course now I have mentioned surveys and how well I’m doing they have all but dried up 🤦🏻‍♀️. I’m so close to target today too.

So I have sat and worked out that shopping in Lidl and basic tins etc from Tesco should come to £230. Which leaves me with £10 leeway. I can get basics etc in Tesco for around £55. I can do a click and collect, that way I get at least some points. We get our fuel from there too which comes to around £200 a month. Although I’m not sure if OH has used the Clubcard as can’t see any points! Will need to check that!

Looking at finances and things are super tight. I have £31 in bank, obv had I had know this I wouldn’t have stocked up on all of the makeup and shampoo etc, although it’s hard because I will definitely use them and they were almost half the price so needed to be bought 🤷🏻‍♀️. It’s so hard to budget for anything at the moment with work being so up and down!

I need to pay £228 into the loan repayment account at some point in the next 3 weeks.

And I promised the children I would redecorate their bedroom. That’s £200 and no I don’t need to do it now, but I desperately want to and it’s a project I really want them to help me with. 

And I will need to get some sort of food shopping, mostly bits and pieces as both OH and I are home and away and all over the place. Need to look at this. So maybe £50 for the next few weeks as we’re barely home. Will start my £240 a month and budgeting come the middle of Sept. 

So need to ‘find’ £478……

Going to leave the £31 in account for incidentals. 

Need to think about this logically before my brain blows up. I work a lot better to very tight budgets else my brain just thinks everything is fine to go around spending money. 

I have no idea If I will be paid again from small business in that time. It’s very sparodic with no way of forecasting. 

So I have £240 in cash……
I have £70 to come from an unpaid invoice which I really need to put in! 

I really need to put some new gym clothes on FB market place I could prob get £100. 

So that’s £410. Soooo £68…. Trying to think if I've forgotten anything I need to claim back….

I can probably cobble together at least another £30 in cash. Will check purse etc shortly. So £38 to find……. Definitely have more I can sell on EBay. 

OH is going to pay for the next 2 smaller Shops whilst we’re away. And he’s paying all of the people working my shifts whilst being away. 

Going to go to the car shortly and have a look see what I can find! 

missymoo81

Im hoping come the middle of September I can start budgeting for things more and have little pots for things as I’d hoped to do in the past. But wages have taken a hammering over the summer with everyone being on holiday. When people are back and back to school things should settle.

the car produced £5 in change, I’ll have a better look when I get back home on Friday. Also need to put that invoice in Friday too.

Cheery_Daff

Lots of lovely planning here Missy, well done!

Can you set a smaller budget for redecorating the kids rooms, given you're so strapped for cash? A tin of paint, maybe a new duvet set, and charity shops for rugs/cushions? Then bigger stuff once your bigger priorities are taken care of? 

slm6002

I am hoping to incorporate decorating the kids rooms with their bday and Christmas so the extra bits can be given as gifts as they have so much already but would like extra bits like cushions and fairy light which family could donate towards

missymoo81

Hi @Cheery_Daff and @slm6002thank you so much for popping in and for the input, I really appreciate it. They desperately want a minecraft theme, their bedroom is very babyish with a jungle theme. I’m trying to find cheaper ways of doing it. I can def get duvet covers and possibly cushions and wall stickers, but the blind and rug are very jungley as is the lampshade….. so would look very odd. Have just looked at rugs and blinds but both are extortionate, I wonder if I’m missing something 🤷🏻‍♀️. I’ve found a cheaper much smaller rug. Which would do, but I’m stumped on a blind……

Baileys_Babe

Could you buy a plain blind in a Minecraft related colour?

missymoo81

Have got myself into a bit of a tizz actually. Everything is so much more money than I thought…… only tiny things but think more the straw that broke the camels back type of thing…. Actually that’s a little dramatic….. I’m just annoyed I guess. For one I have finally got to £32.87 on surveys, this is a separate pot of money for Xmas. My head works in a very strange way and things have to be in separate pots else I get very confused and I just spend money randomly, so in theory this money could and possibly should be moved into bank to pay for ordinary things, but Xmas would never be paid for. It means I have to be more creative about how I earn money etc whilst Xmas is taken care of so I don’t need to worry. That probably doesn’t make sense to anyone but me, but hey ho.

So  I’ve just gone to order said toy and of course there’s postage to pay and it’s £35.79 so I don’t have enough as yet, rather vexing and disappointing. 

Feeling rather despondent about the bedroom too and the general lack of funds….. I wish things weren’t so tight all of the time!