Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Bluegreen143

Good advice on camping, thanks!

Well yesterday was utterly miserable as we both caught Monkey’s tummy bug. Not been so sick in years! Bambi threw up twice too, but she definitely had it the mildest and was otherwise ok. Red and I were basically unable to get up except for running to the toilet when necessary 🥺

So proud of my little Monkey, he was feeling better and he made peanut butter sandwiches & fruit for dinner for him and his sister, sorted out their PJs/teeth and put Bambi to bed with a glass of water. And he (without being asked) cleaned the whole kitchen on his own!! 

I could feel guilty, but he had such pride beaming from his face that I don’t, really. I wouldn’t want him to take on so much responsibility all the time but I do think it helps so much with their self esteem if they feel capable and competent and that they can contribute to others. 

Today Red & I still feel pretty rubbish, I’m WFH (from my bed 😨) but Red has called in sick. Kids are fine but need to stay off today due to exclusion period, and Bambi will then need to be off tomorrow as well. 

Budget

I’ve made my own version (😎) of a printable budget planner I saw online, and printed it out. Pretty pleased with it! It’s got spaces for a weekly budget round up and reflection which I think is better than waiting til the end of the month. 

Doing this I learned that we spent £795.24 last week NOT including bills 🤯

Round up as follows:

Home & garden £202.45 
Mainly planned & saved for garden stuff, also a picnic blanket and a frying pan 

Holiday £142.98
We bought a few bits for camping, like an air mattress, pump etc, and also includes the food, disposable BBQ & logs we brought with us

Groceries £134.41
Erm, no idea why this is so high already!

Kids £82.48
Day out, pocket money for the month and water shoes for both kids

Petrol & parking £67.38

My spending £57.45
Drinks at wedding and a cheeky greggs the next day…

Taxis to/from wedding £56.04
Sounds extravagant, but much cheaper than a hotel room! 

Household £36.75
Cleaning stuff etc 

Eating out £15.30
Got us all a greggs when out at the last bank hol weekend as there wasn’t any picnic food in - thought it was at least cheaper than lunch out 

Clearly this is a ridiculous level of expenditure!! Though we had planned the garden stuff, and have had a wedding and camping trip this week, plus a day out last bank hol Monday. Plan to spend nothing now until we go away at the end of the month though 🤣

Baileys_Babe

Sorry to hear you have all caught a stomach bug.

Well done Monkey on being responsible and looking after himself and Bambi. When you are well shower him with hugs & kisses for tidying the kitchen as well.

Ouch to the spending even if they were planned it still hurts spending so much in such a short space of time. 

Bluegreen143

Plans for this week:

- I was invited to a work’s dinner (which I’d need to pay for myself) tomorrow but have gotten out of it due to being within 48 hours of having this bug. A bit of a shame but tbh it’s good for money saving 🤣 I don’t actually have enough in my personal budget anyway as get paid on Monday, so it was good to have an excuse. 

- We have two of my friends and their children staying over this Friday. Haven’t decided if we will do a takeaway (appeals due to ease as there will be picky kids, vegan diets etc). If not we will do a BBQ but more of a pot luck and ask them to bring stuff. Might need some logs for a garden fire and BBQ coals if we go down that route.

- On Saturday my mum is taking my kids overnight. We’re either having a date night at home to watch Eurovision or may have some friends joining us. Either way, no real extra cost except some crisps/olives etc, people will bring their own drinks. 

- We had to cancel going fishing at a fishery this weekend due to the horrendous tummy bug of doom. There’s talk of going on Sunday instead. Unsure how much this will cost, but we should get some trout out of it… Monkey is devastated about fishing getting cancelled so we do want to take him ASAP.

Other relevant MSE plans on the to do list - clear out & organise freezer, sow some more seeds in the garden. 

Hoping for a fun, but not very expensive week/weekend 😉 

Bluegreen143

Quick round up of where our savings and “pots” are currently.

LONG TERM

Emergency fund £4,272.66
Help to Save accounts £2,900

SHORT TERM

Home repairs £0
Car repairs £0
Kids £703.92
Home & garden £0
Birthdays etc £100
Christmas £150
Holidays £511.78
Camping & outdoor wear £230.80
Wood burning stove £0

MY SAVINGS

Weekend away with mum & sister £10

When I get paid, I’ll fix some of those £0 figures! Will need to put a lot into my weekend away pot too, as my mum wants to book the accommodation fairly soon - it’ll probably be an Air BnB and we might not need to pay it all upfront however.

beanielou

That bug sounds horrid.

Bluegreen143

Good morning! I went to bed at 9 last night so woke up fully awake at 6 - not like me 😂

Finally feel better, and very hungry this morning after not eating loads yesterday, and nothing at all on Monday. 

Plan for today:

- work 

- go to Tesco to try to find Monkey green or brown trousers for his school play on Friday (he’s a grasshopper). Thank you, teacher, for only telling me about this on Monday 😂 he has a khaki green top already luckily.

- fully tidy the house, which is a horrific tip due to us all being ill straight after coming back from camping

- sort through the fridge and check nothing is imminently going off (our mealplan has been ignored as we’ve been ill - kids had the highly gourmet dinner of beans, cheese toasties & blueberries yesterday!) 

themadvix

Glad you are feeling better - it sounded like an awful bug.

 Loved your ‘Do it with the drama’ approach! We’re camping for our main holiday this year and need new waterproofs - I hadn’t thought of Vinted (mind was exploring the expensive ethical options), but will find something on there I’m sure!

Bluegreen143

Good luck on Vinted @themadvix - I’ve just won a set of as new waterproof trousers for £19 inc delivery and a 3 in 1 waterproof jacket for £16, both on eBay. My mum has also said she has waterproofs & outdoor clothes which are a size or two too small for her now that I’m welcome to raid 🙂

Will probably get most of the camping stuff second hand too - EXCEPT the tent. We are too traumatised by our leaky broken borrowed tent and want to invest in a decent one 😂 hopefully it will then get used loads over the next few years, throughout our children’s childhoods. 

Bluegreen143

Got my payslip through! Will get paid on Friday, and it turns out my new pay is slightly more than I’d calculated at £1,801.20. Hooray! 

I think it will go down slightly from August, because I buy an extra two weeks holiday a year which has been calculated on my old pay - my holiday year resets in August so it’ll get recalculated then. But still good to get more than expected this month! 

This will be budgeted as follows:

Bills - £363.14
Still need to pay energy, council tax and nursery school fund this month

Savings - £270.18 
£100 help to save; remainder emergency fund

My spending - £360.24
This is until my next payday, not just until month end like the joint expenses 
* Will pop £120 in my weekends away pot
* Am away for work next week so will have some expenses - I’ll get them back, but will pay for them from this pot first
* Would like to get some fabric to sew some fancy nightdresses - will price up as haven’t yet 

Groceries - £200
Should be able to keep this fairly low as we are away for nearly a week. Or would you class the groceries bought on a self catering holiday as groceries? I account for them from the holiday fund but curious what others do! 

Household - £20
In case we run out of anything, we usually do a big cleaning supplies & toiletries shop at the start of the month 

Petrol & parking - £80
Again, unsure if I should pay for holiday petrol from the holiday fund or petrol budget 🧐 tbh it’s not that far so won’t use a whole tank anyway. 

Topping up sinking funds 
Home repairs £25
Car repairs £25
Home & garden £125
Birthdays etc £50
Christmas £125
Holidays £150

Baileys_Babe

When we go self-catering we take core things from home like tea, coffee, cocoa powder, and condiments. If space allows we also take other things from home that we know we will use like jam, baked beans, Coeliac safe food. Whilst away any food bought the cost will either be attributed to the grocery budget or the holiday fund depending on where we have the money but other factors might also influence what we decided are going for more luxury items and or more convenience.

Sorry, probably doesn't help much.