Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Bluegreen143

Nice evening even though one friend cancelled this morning and one last minute, so it was just two of us. We had a right good catch up though! 

Just remembered I forgot to “tap off” the bus when I got off so who knows how much I’ll be charged 😳 I hardly ever use buses and I don’t find the new tap on & off system intuitive or maybe it’s just too complicated for me 😂

Spending for today (minus bus which hasn’t come off yet)

Second hand uniform £8
Branded uniform order £30.85

Dinner out £37

Running totals from 02/06

JOINT
Groceries £73.67
Kids £262.5
Subscriptions £18.24

PERSONAL/WANTS
Garden £22
Fun with kids £10
Eating out £37

Bluegreen143

I have a bunch of kids’ books in my Amazon basket, sooooo hard to resist 😂 will have a look and see if I can get them second hand instead (which I definitely will as they are all classics!).

I need to get the kids some more pencils and some lined paper. Monkey needs to work on his writing over the summer as it’s his weaker skill at school and I want him to feel more confident going into next year after the summer. In general he is doing very well at school and the teacher is very pleased with him but I do know what she means about his writing, it’s like pulling teeth getting him to do it! 

Funny how they are so different as I’ve started teaching Bambi to read and she is obsessed with both reading and writing! Such a joy to teach her literacy compared to her brother at this age, bless her. He is however really good at all things maths, STEM, building etc and at home he’s doing really well learning practical skills like DIY ☺️

Yesterday’s spends:

Bus ticket from the day before came in at £2.85 which is fine 

£76 petrol 

£53.79 groceries 

Running totals from 02/06

JOINT
Groceries £127.46
Petrol £76
Kids £262.5
Subscriptions £18.24

PERSONAL/WANTS
Garden £22
Fun with kids £10
Eating out inc bus fare £39.85

Bluegreen143

Oh, in other news, my air fryer has broken (I did get it off a barter site for a few beers so it’s old). 

We do use it LOADS so think we will replace it, but not this week, too many other expenses. 

fionaandphil

Bluegreen143 said:

Oh, in other news, my air fryer has broken (I did get it off a barter site for a few beers so it’s old). 

We do use it LOADS so think we will replace it, but not this week, too many other expenses. 

My mum got one of the cheap Aldi ones and loves it, I think about £40 and a good size to keep out on the worktop.  Not sure if it is right for the size of your family though.  We have a ninja which I like but it is massive and takes up far too much space.

TallGirl

Definitely think about the size of the basket my sister (family of 4) has a 2 basket one and each are so small it is useless. Mine is a Ninja one basket which was nice and big and we bought another insert/plate so make sure we have a spare. If I was to get a new one this one looks so good but the price (scary)

Landlord9009

Have a lovely time with your friend.

Bluegreen143

Spends from 7th-15th June:

JOINT

Taxis £58.23
For our date night, mainly for MIL to come babysit as she doesn’t drive but also a smaller amount for our taxis. Also a taxi Red had to get to meet us at the school dance when I was already there with the kids & the car. This should probably have come from our accounts instead of the joint account. 

Groceries £289.57
Over three separate shopping trips, and including treats and steaks for Father’s Day, but !!!!!!! 

Kids’ bike club £22.98

Tuck shop at school dance £4

Amazon Prime annual subscription £95

2x day watersports holiday club for Monkey £95.50
This is a luxury as it’s not for childcare, but he really wants to try out the various activities.

PERSONAL

Books for kids £34
Audible subscription £7.99
Audiobook £6.99

Father’s Day gift £16 (t-shirts he’s been needing)

Family cafe snacks/lunch (my treat) £22
Soft drink out with friend £2.50
Round of drinks on date night £8

Kids’ stationery £10

angela110660

Hello. Just wondering if your library has BorrowBox for audiobooks to save some money? I use it loads and find it so good but they might not have the books you like or want in their selection but worth a check maybe. 

Bluegreen143

Thanks @angela110660 it’s a good suggestion and I’ll look into it again, but last time I checked it I couldn’t see any decent kids’ books - most audiobooks we get are for the kids, who listen to audiobooks on a daily basis. The kids also listen to the same books on repeat lots of times, so buying them is usually worthwhile. 

The £7 for the extra audiobook on top of the subscription was because I bought myself a dramatised version of Macbeth, such a good way to “read” Shakespeare, which is a bit dull in written form 😅 but again because I was after a specific version I don’t know if it would have been on borrowbox. I’ll check before I get any other books though! 

I did also spend £33 on two big hardback books for the kids yesterday. I got a big comprehensive animal encyclopaedia type thing (more for Bambi, who is animal-daft, but both kids will like it), and a beautiful illustrated hardback of The Hobbit for me to read to them 😍 again both things we will keep and read/reference many times. We have the “vehicle” version of the animal encyclopaedia already and the kids flick through it a lot. 

Yes, I am a bit of a book addict! 

Meant to say what we were up to this weekend - a fun one and not too expensive. 

On Friday I had two friends over for drinks - friends I’ve not seen in absolutely ages so that was lovely. 

Saturday we had a day out to a new country park. I picked a reasonably challenging walking trail and we did that first. I was so impressed with the kids, who coped well (it wasn’t that long but it was steep in parts). They did get to play at the stream too which they liked. Then I treated everyone to some food/ice creams at the cafe before finishing up with the playpark. We usually give cafes a swerve when out, but I used it as a bribe to get the kids up the steep hill 😂

Yesterday I managed to get a bit of gardening done for the first time in a couple of weeks. We have some peas ready to harvest so I must get out there and do it! We took the kids for a swim too (£12 for all of us). Monkey is really getting there now and can swim just about half a length. Bambi is starting to accept her face getting wet which is the biggest thing holding her back! I then drove over to spend an hour with my mum and step dad after dinner, it’s a 45 min drive there so I don’t always get over as much as I’d like but I’m trying to visit and call more - Red is doing the same and now visits his mum weekly on a Tuesday. 

I’ve now got Monkey off today as he claimed a sore stomach and to be fair he had the runs a bit yesterday afternoon. Of course now he seems in high spirits and not at all unwell 😆

Red rarely travels for work but he’s away today and not back til tomorrow late so it’s just the kids and I. Thinking I’ll do mac & cheese for dinner but my mum’s special mac & cheese which Red doesn’t like (you add tuna and broccoli to it, it’s so good and such a childhood favourite! A cheap meal too dating from my mum’s single mum budget cooking days!).

Bluegreen143

I’m fessing up that we’ve ended up putting about £1,000 on the credit card (mainly holiday accommodation). I was considering a fresh start anyway so I’ve started a new diary over in the debt free diaries - I’ll be posting there until it’s paid off and we have enough savings to be out of danger of it getting worse! Please feel free to join me there, I’ll try to come back later with a link.