Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

greenbee

I took both my nephew and niece to build a bear. Unutterably boring, but they loved it for some reason. Thankfully it was once each and never again!

Bluegreen143

Oh I didn’t know there’s an offer on their birthday! That would have been better 😂 

My children are fortunately quite “young” in their interests anyway, Monkey at 7 still loves Disney movies and music, fairy tales, kicking about in the mud, crafting, dressing up, Winnie the Pooh and building things etc rather than being interested in gaming, superheroes, wrestlers or sports (well he does do a football class but isn’t fussed about watching it or following a team or anything). I know I probably don’t have long until he thinks the things we do are really uncool 😅 so I’m enjoying it while he’s still at this little kid stage! 

I have been outdoors for 3.5 hours today! As walked Bambi to nursery and back (school strike again so Monkey was off), then we walked down to get her at 3pm. We went to the park for 40 minutes where I just about turned into an icicle! Then bus home. Monkey had Beavers tonight so I had to do the whole journey yet again on foot (Beavers is just round the corner from nursery). 

Met my friend for a quick pint while Beavers was on, but she paid so no cost there (I got them last week). Her little girl goes to Beavers too so I might try to make it a weekly thing, saves going home in between. 

Dinner was minestrone soup which was delicious 😊 we always have soup on Mondays.

Spending today

£60.26 Tesco
Food for the week, will top up on Friday 

£159 Council tax 

Bluegreen143

Today’s frugal wins

1. Biggest win - Red is incredibly clever and has fixed my KitchenAid mixer, which has been broken for a few weeks (when I needed it in December I borrowed my sister’s so that we weren’t under time pressure for the repair).

It needed a new part at a cost of £14. No idea what it would have cost to get it repaired professionally but certainly more than £14! It’s also saved the hassle of researching where to take it, booking it in etc.

I’ve been reading the Frugalwoods blog backlog and she writes a lot about how it’s often a misconception that frugality and insourcing takes more time because people don’t factor in the hassle and time used in organising outsourcing.

Not to mention that fixing things yourself is “stacked time” (a concept from the movement specialist Katy Bowman) aka it’s a single activity which meets many needs - my need for the repair but also Red’s need to learn new skills and spend time on projects. 

2. Lots and lots and lots of walking. Yet again no car = no petrol costs. I did get the bus once (using a pre-purchased ticket). And hopefully all this walking is helping to make up for having no gym, which also saves money, of course.

3. Made a big pot of veggie minestrone soup today and have leftovers for lunch, yum!

4. Meeting a friend at the pub for a quick drink while Beavers is on = a method of socialising which is efficient both with time and money. And my friend paid, so even more of a frugal win 😜

5. Finished reading my book today, which was excellent, and from the library, so also very frugal. I have a book I got for Christmas to move on to.

Baileys_Babe

Today I replaced the broken knob on the lid of my slow cooker, replacement found on eBay, ordered at the weekend, delivered and fitted today. A simple quick fix, but now means we can use the slow cooker as we can once again remove the lid.

I'm trying to get us back into the habit of acting on these little repairs promptly to get the repaired item back in use again to stop us from resorting to buying replacement items.

Bluegreen143

Well done @Baileys_Babe 👏 

Baileys_Babe

I'm in awe of Red fixing your KitchenAid mixer but I'm pleased with my low skill fix.

Bluegreen143

Just a quick note to say we got our gas & electricity bill through - we’ve changed to a variable direct debit (paying for just what we use each month) for several reasons, a major one being I believe that being confronted with each month’s spending and paying for it in real time will be very eye opening and encourage us to take more responsibility for our energy use.  

Our bill was a whopping (but not entirely surprising) £357.39 - that’s £161.98 electricity and £195.81 gas. 

We have enough credit built up from being on the normal DDs before that this has been totally paid by the existing credit luckily 😅 

I should say this covers five weeks as for some reason the bill was a few days late (probably just the switch in payment method).

Bluegreen143

Delightful news that they are having trouble sourcing the new car part (it’s for the car’s electronics) so we definitely won’t get the car back this week 🤦‍♀️ 

I AM enjoying all the extra walking though which is a positive!

Slightly alarming conversation with my manager today. She wants me to get involved in the project team for a big, exciting new project that’ll run for a few months. Which is fine. 

The alarming bit was she mentioned I might need to be a bit flexible with my hours to do the odd afternoon call - “I am” I answered, as I always have time to make back anyway and so do work the odd afternoon past my time - but the bit that concerned me was she briefly mentioned talking to HR to make sure I get paid for the extra hours if I do need to do them.

Thing is, if she feels she wants to involve HR (rather than me just take time in lieu instead) I’m guessing she is looking to increase my hours formally in my contract for this which I’m not keen to do. I know how it works, I’ll never get to reduce them again, and I want to stay the same hours til Bambi starts school. 

On the other hand it would be more money, but realistically if I want to increase my hours past the 26 I already do, I think I’d need more childcare - eg putting Bambi in nursery on Friday mornings or even all Fridays - and that would cost money plus I don’t want to give up my Fridays with her.

Anyway, fingers crossed I’ve got the wrong end of the stick and I can do this project within the working pattern I already do 🤞🏼 she did say something about using it in evidence for the pay rise she’s putting me forward for which would be nice. 

Apart from that, a fairly standard but pleasant day - walk to nursery / work / do bits of housework / walk back to pick up kids / brief visit to the park / do some more work while kids play really nicely together / make dinner / read stories and have family pillow fight…

Frugal wins

1. All the walking! (We did get the bus home on the pick up, shhhh).

2. Made a double batch of chicken & chorizo pasta. Had it for dinner, have enough left for lunch AND I froze half the sauce for next week.

3. As a certified Excellent Wife, I made Red a sandwich for tomorrow’s lunch 😇 

4. Hung washing up indoors on the airer while looking longingly at the tumble drier

5. Kept heating off all day until I picked up the kids. Resembled an arctic explorer on teams calls as I wore two jumpers one over the other. Everyone else looked similarly chilly and has long abandoned professional wear in favour of oversized hoodies. 

6. Began my annual reread of Your Money or Your Life. It’s frugal to reread a book you already have AND the book itself inspires frugality, so this is clearly a double win. 

7. Spent exactly £0 today 😇 😇 😇 and Red got an unexpectedly £50 bonus from work, so put £25 into the joint account (we agreed he could keep half).

8. I want a shelf in Monkey’s room for his Lego models. Red has checked his stock and apparently has “no big bits of wood but lots of wee bits so it’ll take a bit of time but won’t cost anything” 😂 I do love this man! 

Bluegreen143

Spending update

£24 MIL birthday gifts
Ordered by Red 

£30 Red’s sister birthday gift
Voucher, ordered by Red 

£25 My BIL birthday gift
Ordered by Red 

Frugal wins

1. Walked both school runs and didn’t get the bus today 

2. Hung washing on the airer again

3. Had last of the minestrone soup for lunch

4. Made Red’s next two work lunches (sandwiches) and have enough leftovers for my next two lunches 

5. Took the kids a slightly different route home, past the canal, where watching a duck kept them busy for ages. Who says kids cost money to entertain?!

6. Thought I may need to taxi to the office tomorrow, which would be expensive, but my manager is happy for me to work from home. Phew!

angela110660

Just wanted to pop in and say how well you are doing and all that walking! You will be vying with Martin over annual steps achieved if you continue! Really like the way you set out your spends and frugal wins so clearly.  I would be nervous too about HR being involved in the extra hours scenario at work. You will do the right thing I am sure for you and the family. 

Your Money or Your Life was a book I had only ever heard about and then it popped up in the library BorrowBox app. It was an audiobook being read by Vicki Robin herself so I finally got to know what it was all about. Great that you read it again and again. I will have to listen again at some point too as it was very inspiring. 

Best wishes.