A new royal start

QueenJess

DD is not only teething, but going through some massive development stage.  My app confirms it, but I can see it in how she is reacting to the world and what she is able to do.  She is ultra clingy, cannot be left for a second and is barely sleeping.  My eyes now hurt from lack of sleep I hope this lasts days at a time rather than weeks...

Somehow I managed to make my mum a card and get them posted for Friday.  Present is all done, so I need to work on the A*di order for Sat and then DS's birthday for Tues.  I have already wrapped half the presents for DS, so some progress is being made somehow.

DH this morning agreed to "try" the milk delivery from the milkman.  Well seeing as I already ordered some and he had brought it in for today, I assumed that was saving face?!  There is no option here!  I think even he could see I was on the edge already this morning and it's never a good idea to poke a bear...

No particular plans for today apart from survival parenting on my own (DH is working late in the office).  Bonus points if I manage to make my soup for lunch (pot and leek), get any washing on/hung out and any presents wrapped.  At least I found an activity to do with DS last night after DD goes to bed and requires no effort... he is watching The Green Planet with me and is loving it.  At least it's educational!

QueenJess

What a hideous week.  DD has been really annoying all week and I've had no respite in the day as she refuses to sleep and she keeps waking up for food at night.  It's almost like she needs full on entertaining and stimulating all day (not just a bit of playing) and it's exhausting (plus it's impossible to get anything done).  I'm starting to think nursery will be great for her.  I'm trying to console myself with the fact it probably means she's smart (apparently DH's brother was like that when he was younger and he's very clever) and Plus DH has been at work until late most of the week and I've had to try and deal with both DD and DS together.  As I also had no break last weekend

My eyes physically hurt because I've had so little sleep and my brain is barely functioning.  As I also had no break last weekend I hit breaking point on Thursday and barraged DH with p*ssed off texts in the evening when he was still at work saying I just couldn't do it any longer.

DH has been looking after DD and DS mostly on his own today, although I did make lunch, dinner, do the washing, change the beds and pick up the massive food shop from A*di.  I still feel like s*$t and am not really looking forward to next week either.  Just trying to survive the days really

My cupboards and freezer are now bulging at the seams and it looks like I'm going to need to do a branded shop soon still as DH/DS eat everything in sight.  Trying to prepare for DS's birthday on Tuesday.  Already told him the order of the day so there are no surprises and got the cake ingredients in (just need to bake it on Monday and decorate on Tuesday when he's at school).  Presents are wrapped, but need to write on the card.  The chocolate shapes are cooling in the fridge and I need to do the other type of chocolate tomorrow and put them in a little bag for him.  I think that's everything..  Love that this week DH said "we should get a badge for DS so he can wear it to school".  I just rolled my eyes, muttered about the fact DH never listens and pulled out the badge I bought in December... DH has now decided I am all over it and will leave me to all planning (probably best!).

Not talked about numbers much, so here they are...

Mortgage is now at £175k, but we can overpay by 10% on 1 Feb and DH is going to do that himself (he's been saving from all the money he hasn't spent from having to travel to work the past couple of years).  Means he will own very slightly more of the house than me, but I need to divert any spare cash I have to build a better emergency fund and also build up my pension/ISA more as I am very likely to be made redundant in the next year (or possibly leave).  I am very excited to see the mortgage decrease on 1 Feb though and by my very rough calculations, we might just tip under £150k this year!

Jan was a reasonable month.  Could have been better, but definitely could have been worse.  I've changed the spreadsheet for our joint account now, partly because I like making changes to ward off boredom, but I've decided to trial looking at it a different way.  Previously I had expense lines for all the key items and I would budget for the year and divide by 12 months.  Means everything gets cleared out at the end of the year.  However, I've changed it so I have a very few sinking fund accounts to work the same way (insurance etc) and then all the other expense lines come to zero each month with any surplus going to savings accounts (house/garden/furniture etc, rainy day and holiday).  The way it is actually working at the moment is I am currently using the same budgeted monthly amount for us to put into the account, but it can be used variably across the accounts - so more of a "I have £X for this month, but I want to try and have savings left over".  I just thought it might make an interesting challenge and I want to see if I can reduce the amount we pay into the account to get a percentage of DH's earnings to make it more reasonable if my salary was to totally disappear.

So.. Jan was alright, but the savings mask the fact I've had no nursery fees this month.  Feb and March will have no council tax and so April will be the real test of whether I think I can reduce the amount we pay into the account.  I'm interested to see how it works out.  I think trying to save up vouchers (rather than taking cash) and searching for everything second hand far in advance so I have time is really having an impact.  I am still working on the food front, but it is definitely improving each month and I've now built up a massive pantry/staple items (including the big shop I just did for Feb) so am hoping that will continue to improve in March.  Time will tell!  At least I've changed our average monthly bill from £125 a week (!) to £105ish and the £105 now also includes all consumables which it didn't before (so batteries, light bulbs, bath stuff etc).

House/garden stuff savings include the one off things to buy, but also bigger ticket items.  I am expecting to have to buy some sort of guest bed this year and we do need new sheets etc (although I want to try and save vouchers for the latter if I can).  Rainy day is partly because I worry I've forgotten something!  Oh and the vouchers for DD's birthday present is now up to £40 out of the £60 I need so nearly there!

I want to take DS to L*goland in the Easter holidays as he never seems to get a look in with DD and he would absolutely love it.  I took a quick look at the prices and can't believe how expensive it is even if you book far in advance.  Will have to try and investigate whether there are any other discounts or whatever as I always thought these things were often on offer.  I'm very rusty though and not sure where to look these days.

DH just came in to tell me he's booked my deferred birthday meal (in March rather than Feb as DD will be in nursery and I won't be at work yet!) at a fancy restaurant we haven't been able to get a table in for years!

I've waffled on and forgotten lovely food talk!  The veg box came Thursday so I have a new pile of things to use up.  We have had 2 milkman deliveries and DH says he likes the milk I got, so that might be a winner.  For lunch today we had fish finger sandwiches (with curly kale and carrot, although DS had beans) and pudding was frozen berries with yogurt.  Dinner was cottage pie (half now wedged in the freezer) which included sweet potato, carrots and peas.  Pudding for DS was ice cream and chocolate sauce.  DH and I had a slice of the Ki-Lime pie I froze a while ago from a ys find.  I'm enjoying putting as much veg and fruit in a meal as possible (it's the way I like to eat) and I've been eating more than 7 a day all week (and sometimes 10!).  It does make me feel better and if I get to eat the way I want I find I don't want to eat rubbish.  Everyone will be benefiting from that and DS has now been eating all his veg each meal (I often get him to choose which two he wants).  Yesterday's dinner was great for me... I had a spicy beanburger with pickled beetroot, hm coleslaw (which DH said was the best tasting one yet and I didn't follow the recipe per se and just did it by eye of what I thought worked), sweet potato chips and sweetcorn.  DH and DS had beef burgers, but I've never been a big fan of those.  Will try and make my own beanburgers next time I think.

Anyway too much waffling and everything is coming out jumbled because my head is all jumbled up with lack of sleep.  If you made it this far, kudos to you!

themadvix

Sorry to hear you’re still exhausted. Will DH’s work be quieter now? 

Lots of positives in there though!

Is Legoland owned by Merlin? If it is, there’s sure to be BOGOF vouchers on branded cereal at some point.

QueenJess

themadvix said:

Sorry to hear you’re still exhausted. Will DH’s work be quieter now? 

Lots of positives in there though!

Is Legoland owned by Merlin? If it is, there’s sure to be BOGOF vouchers on branded cereal at some point.

Sadly not - his peak is yet to come ☹️

I think it is owned by Merlin, although I don’t buy that branded cereal I think the vouchers are usually on for reasons of sugar content/taste/ethics. Hopefully I’ll find someone who does and wants to donate some to me!

QueenJess

Took a look through news sites yesterday and looks like my work are marching ahead with their changes. I reckon it could be done by end of August and so worst case scenario is I have a job until then.

So must make sure I’m saving everything I can until then and throwing cash at my sad  looking emergency fund. Any additional money after then will be considered as a bonus! Need to be in the habit of saving by then and cutting down where needed so it isn’t a shock, but this has all been underway from the start of this year anyway. Looks like groceries might be really tight this month as my 4 monthly toilet roll/tissue/kitchen paper order is due 😬. Will see what happens there..

DH has finally decided I can use his vouchers for DD’s birthday present, which effectively means we are going 50:50. When he hands them over to me I can order it. I also needed to order DD some moisturiser as she has got a fair bit of very dry skin since feeding herself and therefore having to be cleaned every two minutes because of the mess!  I already knew one I liked and so ordered that with a voucher, so no money spent. Next up is to save up survey vouchers for DD shoes (will likely need some this month) and then a small M&S treat food shop in March (stops me going crazy with the budget and keeps DH happy - and me if I find any more of those ys key lime pies!).

Must also cancel the extra week of after school club I had before work start dates were confirmed (£60 coming back my way!) and then finish the various nursery forms for DD so we can arrange the part visiting days this month. Haven’t even thought about half term yet 😬. Half is with DD at nursery so should do something nice with DS… any suggestions gratefully received! I have National Trust membership so there must be a trail or something to do nearby, there is the brilliant park and we can visit the library (DS loved the latest set of books I got him). Ooh - I wonder if anyone I know has time off and can meet up with their kids 🤔. I mean I know almost nobody here, but I have two people I could ask…

In other news, DS’s cake is made for tomorrow and already looks lovely. Will decorate it tomorrow. His chocolate l*go men came out fantastically and I know he’ll love them! Presents all wrapped so just the card to write on later when DH appears back from the office (late) and some balloons left over from last year to blow up!

Dinner tonight is leftover chicken stir fry from the roast yesterday with sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower leaves and curly kale and noodles. Already cut up the veg yesterday, so should be good to go later. Pudding is orange muffins and yogurt for me/DH and chocolate brownie and ice cream for DS. Have to empty the freezer a bit by next week as I want to make myself a chocolate cheesecake for my birthday and it needs to go in the freezer to set. Better get onto that this week!

themadvix

Appreciate you wouldn’t buy the cereal normally (same here!), but for a one off it would probably be worth it.

QueenJess

DS had a lovely birthday yesterday.  He has been thoroughly spoiled and he loved his cake (thank goodness!), but it is so stupidly filling, that we are cutting the thinnest slices actually possible.  We might be eating that one forever...

DH is back to work and won't even be seeing him until tomorrow, so I am single parenting today.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff on my to do list for Feb & March and so trying to ignore the list and just tick a few bits and pieces off each day until I feel better about it.  I did buy a mini egg mould so I can melt my own chocolate at Easter for £4, but it made me feel a bit silly since I've not done anything I need to do for this and next month yet!

Logged into the online banking system to confirm/double check the amount we can overpay the mortgage.  It has reset for 1 Feb as expected and I've let DH know the exact amount.  Fingers crossed he actually gets round to the overpayment this week at some point.  Because of the totally rubbish software system though, I don't actually know the new amount of the mortgage monthly payment as the documents were all corrupted/nonsense.  I saw it during the process, but at the end it never worked when I needed to download it.  I mean I know within £50, but can't recall the exact amount.  I should find out tomorrow as it will be listed in my pending payments.  Hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

Both DH and I have put the wrong amount into the joint account this month.  I changed it last month when I found an error in the spreadsheet as I totally forgot a whole expense line in my budget and it was too late to change the DD's.  As the amount originally is the amount I am aiming to get back to initially, I might just leave it and see if we can cope.  Will be a little challenge for Feb.

Somehow we have a very overripe banana that not even I would eat with my porridge, so I will be using that, plus some other overripe ones I froze ages ago to make some banana and chocolate chip muffins for DS puddings later.  They will have to squeeze into the freezer somewhere .

Lazy food for today as I'm tired.  Lunch will be potato and leek soup from the freezer, followed by frozen fruit and yogurt.  Dinner will be the last of the leftover chicken, rice and whatever frozen veg I throw in.  Pudding will obviously be the chocolate birthday cake until further notice!

Right - off to see what I can achieve from my list for today...

Edit: DH just text me from the office and confirmed he's paid the full amount of the mortgage!  It is looking very exciting now at £156k!

QueenJess

Knackered, but house relatively in tact, kitchen clean and two sleeping children.  No sign of DH yet and I am going to have to go to bed soon myself since DD seems to wake me up every 2 seconds overnight.

Did manage to get quite a few money things done today as well as a load of washing and melting myself some chocolate shapes for my own birthday (well everyone else gets them ), including:

• Quite accidentally discovered that most councils have a scheme where you can get a small amount of money for using reusable nappies.  I applied with evidence of my purchase and hope I will be getting £30 back there.  Who knew about this?!
• Tried and failed to work out how to cancel my extra 4 days (thought it was 5, but seemed to have missed a day) of after school club not needed.  Will look again tomorrow and then probably just email them.
• Packaged up a return I've been putting off for ages (generally forgetting) so I can get a refund.  Need to send it back pretty soon now!
• Applied for a different CC as I may as well get some cashback in vouchers for the small amount I spend on my personal card.  Will cancel the other one once it is all set up.
• Wrote back to nursery to tell them why their invoice is wrong again...
• Made 24 banana and chocolate chip muffins to save a banana from waste

Hopefully will get through a few more things from the list done tomorrow.

QueenJess

Phew - another week of single parenting survived and my kitchen is clean and tidy again.  Got myself in a bit of a routine now in the week and everyone knows what is happening and when.  Only been doing easy dinners as it is impossible to cook with a 5yo and a 10mo who demand your attention every 3 seconds..

Am firming sitting down with my feet up now (brain has turned to mush for the day).  House is a little messy and I really need to do a ton of washing, but all the beds have been changed, the kitchen is lovely and tidy and clean and I've done a ridiculous amount of baking/cooking today.  I made the candied orange peel earlier (which is lovely, but gosh it takes forever to do it and so I don't do it often).  Just need to dip it in dark chocolate tomorrow and then it'll be ready for my own birthday present next week.  To not waste the syrup I also used it to make 24 orange chocolate chip muffins (smaller ones), which are now in the freezer.  Is getting silly as now I have over 50 muffins in the freezer  Also roasted a huge amount of carrots, parsnips, beetroot and garlic for dinners over the next few days.

Today's lunch was pesto pasta with curly kale and peas.  Dinner was pizza with mushrooms, sweetcorn and sweet potato chips as this was the last thing I made today and frankly couldn't be bothered!  Pudding is still DS's cake... it is so rich and filling, it is going to take us a million years to get through it.  I have given some to a neighbour and then will force some on visitors coming on Sunday!

Not happy this week as my big toenail was peeling off a bit at the top and was all rough.  Before I had a chance to cut it/file it or whatever, I managed to (in my panic to sort out two children complaining at me), to brush it along the carpet very hard as I got up and it tore right down diagonally.  Cue lots of bleeding and a plaster.  It's really horrible and is throbbing very painfully.  It definitely doesn't enjoy being forced into shoes and walking to and from school to get children every day.  I really hope it stops hurting soon .  Anyway, it is almost 8pm so that means I get to sit down for the day and as DH is hopefully putting DS to bed and I have my cake and a water within reach of me, I shouldn't have to get up until DD cries next or I give up and go to bed myself.  Just need to resist buying a few (very cheap) kitchen bakeware/cooking items that I have my eye on...

QueenJess

Oh - it turns out my mortgage payment is exactly the same this month. I went back to the half cut paperwork and I think the payment is the same this month and is reduced next month in my bank’s frankly bizarre system (their two year fixed mortgages seem to last 2 years and 3 months). Anyway, I guess it’s just effectively making me overpay and bringing me closer to mortgage freedom!

I also discovered I have written down the amount I think it will fall to and I should be £250 better off! However, I assume that’ll soon be eaten up by inflation. Looks like water is the next rise for the fun month that will be April. They reckon this is all going to go on for at least another year, so buckle yourselves in..