Pay for the future and not the past

anjyeah

Welcome back! And hoping that you feel a lot better - rant away and we're here to listen. It looks like you have everything under control for now, maybe give yourself a little bit of wiggle room before it gets overwhelming again. Well done on the tidy budget. I understand being torn, but you need to have that type of balance to ensure you still get things done without accumulating any debt again. But I agree, it is a mental battle sometimes. 

Always here to read and cheer you on. Have a good week ahead! And good luck with the houseworks

MissRikkiC

@ WW - The gentleman came out the following morning and said 'yep its load bearing - youll need a steel. Let us know when its up and we will come and look at it' and that was it! I knew half of that already!
Thank you, still not 100% right but cant put my finger on what it is

MissRikkiC

@anjyeah Thank you - i think ive honestly just been at it too much with everything and the mental load is often a little too much. Nothing a bit of exercise wont fix.

MissRikkiC

Happy Hump Day.

I still feel a bit off today but think im feeling stressed generally (Which is a rare occurrence for me) however victim of my own doing though as i rarely feel able to just stop. However ive not exercised since last Wednesday and think that is playing a huge part in this so going to work out later and i just know that ill feel better. 

Last night i did a full stock take of the freezer which im so reluctant to do as i hate handling cold items (i know what a baby) and used little tick boxes for numbers of things so that i can tick once something is used and i dont have to check again for a while.

This prompted me to do the same with the fridge which i dont mind so much and have been able to mean plan for the next ten days!

There is variation in the meals, im using up leftovers and still managing the friday night fake away. I also shouldnt need anything except milk from the shops as its using everything we already have which I'm pleased about. I think there is a need for double cream (in a gratin to use up a celeriac i was given) and some spuds but hoping i can substitute the cream for a white sauce instead and hold off on the spuds as theyre not needed until Saturday. Anyone know if the white sauce would work in a gratin? It might make it not quite a gratin but im okay with that.

Following some advice i have been able to dry out and make 18 finger rolls into breadcrumbs and spotted a cucumber pickling recipe too which means i can make use of the load we have growing in the grow bag since my daughter has gone off them all of a sudden. Ill gift the pickled cucumber to my grandad for his birthday i think in a nice jar later this year. 

Intermittent rain here so had to pop the tumble drier on for daughters nappies and dodge the rain taking the dog for his hair cut this morning but mostly feeling MS today. 

Off to do a bank check - Have a great day all 

joedenise

Would cooking the celeriac in stock work, like Boulangere potatoes?  Just slice and layer with some sliced onions and then cover in stock.

MissRikkiC

joedenise said:

Would cooking the celeriac in stock work, like Boulangere potatoes?  Just slice and layer with some sliced onions and then cover in stock.

Amazing idea! I’ve not even heard of that before so will go and Google now. Thanks! 

MissRikkiC

Afternoon All,

Not much happening over this way hence lack of updates - continuing to mostly stick to budgets and allow some money for everything rather than being too restrictive (which would result in me losing motivation anyway) which is going well.

Had a frugal weekend and feel like my mindset is changing which is welcomed. Just the OH to convert fully now but since i hold the purse strings its unlikely to take long...

Planning Christmas ideas now and despite having rejigged things to create a generous budget id much prefer not to spend it so being frugal is key. We are big foodies in our house so food and drink related items for all adults will feel like a nice gift to give. 

Ideas so far (not many....)

Purchase some small swing top bottles and making batches of fruit flavored Gin/Cocktail bottles for adult relatives
Kilner Jars with a layered 'Cake/Cookie mixture' inside for the children - these always look pretty
Hampers with selection of 'bits' in that we've made (biscuits/peppermint creams/Chutney etc)

Im enjoying thinking about Christmas as by then we should have a rather large space in the middle of the house as the planned renovations should have started (RSJ in, Wall down) and will feel like things are moving forwards for us and i can finally get my coffee corner! 

OH has been home all last week due to us coming into contact with someone who tested positive for C19 and needing to isolate  and so i have really struggled to concentrate. Actually looking forward to him going back to work! Whoops. 

MissRikkiC

Happy new year and 1st entry for some time. 

I’ve not fallen off the debt free wannabe wagon but there has been a lot going on which impacts money! 

I think I previously mentioned about the garden fence being replaced, we did that and then had most of the one sides panels blow through with a storm recently (thankfully not the panels I erected!) so spends went on that too.

 

We were in the midst of pulling down a wall and refurbishing the kitchen which is now well underway! I decided to get a wriggle on with this and look at all options available to us as otherwise I wanted to move house there and then. I was getting sad and miserable looking at the same things needing to be done every day and having life happen which meant savings to the extent we would need would take forever, so we decided whilst we’ve paid a small chunk towards our mortgage we would apply for a little extra borrowing to stop me losing my mind. 

However i had already spent some savings so I am hoping to recoup some of the previously spent money once the remortgage app goes through. Anything which is left over (borrowed vs used) I’ll then decide what to do with. 

I know that in order to clear the loan 6 months early to fit in with other life plans I’ll need £3.6k being over paid in the next 36 months however I doubt there will be anywhere near that left over (and if there is I can think of other things to do with it that are house related) so will need £100 a month saving/paying before then. 

I’m not sure if anyone else feels similar but right now I’m saving with 1 hand and giving with the other. I’m hoping all of that settles in around 6 weeks time when the kitchen (job number 1!) is done. 

We also have baby #2 due in May so also trying to save for that! Anyone have any wonderous ways to navigate everything?! 

I’ve also had spends for myself and not known what to do with them, as I feel I have been so careful for so long I darent spend any of it! 

Anyway. That’s as much of an update as I have right now, honestly trying to navigate through the midst of debt and life. 

MissRikkiC

Back to be accountable. 

£120 paid towards loan today. 1% challenge done, plus extra 

Made up of money from OH, I politely asked him for 10% of the bonus he earned rather than it all going in his pocket, my usual phone bill vs what this months will cost (last month of agreement) and spends which weren’t needed for coffee. January done!

Lookafterthepennies2020

Just popping through, will be bookmarking and cheering you along!! 
Hopefully all the renovations will be done soon and I am sure its giving you plenty to focus on, and clean up!!!
Congratulations on baby no #2 as you have done it before hopefully you won't fall into the baby money trap, we had everything going for ds1 and whilst ds2 didn't go without we had a lot more room to get around the house without every swing/chair toy going!! x