“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

Well, we’ve made some progress on the mystery bites front, but I feel I should update on money stuff first (this is a debt diary after all!).

Following on from DH getting paid on Friday, we paid an additional £435.33 off CCs .  It’s an odd number because I need to ensure that the remaining balance is rounded to the nearest £50 (DH thinks this is weird and obsessive, I think it just makes sense and is a neater way of doing things).  Friday spends included £13.73 at Lid! on some treat items for DH’s days off and £20 on DH fuel as he had to unexpectedly take MIL and FIL to the train station after their train was cancelled.  I also spent £15 on a new swimsuit for DD1 as her old one was too small and £8.99 on a Xmas present (first one bought this year!).  I only actually bought it in order to get free delivery with the swimsuit - makes sense to spend extra on something you’d need anyway and avoid half that being spent on delivery charges, or at least I think so.

Yesterday, the garage let me know I could pick my car up after they’d fixed all the problems and finally got it to pass it’s MOT!  Had to pay £52 upfront for a new tyre, but getting billed for the rest of the work sometime next week.  Final cost is uncertain, but we’ve still got £459.75 remaining of our buffer this month, so feeling positive that we won’t need to use a CC.  

Would normally be doing our main shop today but I’ve managed to stretch things to last another day, so DH will be shopping tomorrow instead.  We need to change our shopping day to Tuesday from next week due to other commitments at the weekend, so I’ve done a meal plan and shopping list to last eight days.  DH has filled up his car for £85.26 as it’s the start of his working week today, so another day that we haven’t achieved a NSD.  After tomorrow, I’m hoping we can manage two or three NSDs in a row - we need to if I’m going to hit my target for the month! 

browneyed_girl

So, it looks like it’s been ten days since my last update.  Last week was a busy work week, made ten times worse by all the kids being affected by a stomach bug.  The whole thing was pretty horrific - up multiple times in the night, a bathtub full of vomit-covered sheets as the washing machine and laundry basket were both constantly full, plus I used up an entire bottle of Dettol on every possible surface to try to make sure DH and I didn’t get sick (which worked FYI!).  

Now that everyone is back to normal, I need to be back to keeping track of the finances.  For my benefit, I’m going to post all the spends over the past ten days a bit later.  I’ve also had a few frank discussions with DH about our spending, which I’ll also cover later.  As it is, for now I need a cup of tea and some biscuits because I’m starting to get that mid-afternoon slump and could do with the sugar boost!

browneyed_girl

So...what’s that saying about best laid plans?  Just give it a minute and watch them all go t*ts-up?  Hmm...it’s definitely something like that....

A few hours after my previous post, I started to feel a bit unwell (the non-COVID and non-stomach bug kind).  Started with a complete drain of any and all energy, then a migraine quickly followed (I seem to be susceptible to them when my immune system takes a hit).  Cue my usual tactic of ignoring my symptoms and assuming things will get better by themselves (which in fairness to me, they usually do).  Long story short, I ended up really poorly and had to be forcibly sent home from work by concerned colleagues who (sensibly) ignored my assurances of “I’m fine!”.  Over a week off work and feeling much better, but I’m back to square one where getting the house in order is concerned.  Oh well, I suppose things could always be worse.  We could be living in a world without tea or biscuits.  That really would be a disaster .

I’m not going to go back over weeks of spending, but the highlights of the past fortnight are that I’m loving my Lid! Plus app, DH has admitted to naughty spending behaviours recently but is now back on track and the whole fuel “crisis” has really messed up my NSDs.  The selfishness of some people at these times still amazes me, as demonstrated by my very audible gasp of astonishment when last week I witnessed one motorist filling up his car and five 20 litre jerry cans whilst other cars were queuing down the road.  I understand the need to be prepared but I can’t be the only one to find that behaviour ridiculous.  I felt a bit better after giving said motorist my best stern matron look (I used to work as a matron at an all-boys boarding school so I’ve had lots of practice! ).

WinterWarrior

Glad you are feeling better and that tea and biscuits are still plentiful ⭐️

badmemory

I'm sure it used to be illegal to have/store more than one jerrycan.  Quite apart from it being dangerous!

ETA I was right (well almost).  One 10 litres plastic jerrycan or 20 litres in a metal one.

browneyed_girl

NSD today - have been too busy to buy anything!  

Cashed out £25 on my Swagbucks account which will be added to the EF.  I’ve also seen that when checking my ZipZero app, the pending amounts from receipts have cleared (not used it for ages as they held off payments during lockdown).  Not sure if payments are actually being processed, but I’ve requested my current balance of £8.36 to be paid to Bulb.  Fingers crossed something actually comes of it.

Did have a recent email from Bulb suggesting that we increase our monthly DD by £30 which is nearly 40%!  We’re already in credit and being really careful with our usage so hoping it won’t come down to this.

Should manage another NSD tomorrow if all goes well.  I could really do with an uneventful week after all the recent drama!

browneyed_girl

Having a spend day today after three NSDs in a row.  Not to brag but I might actually be a bit of an expert in these matters, to quote Daddy Pig (parents with children under five will hopefully get that reference and not assume I’ve gone temporarily insane). 

Top-up shop done at Mr T and spent £18.55 after using £5.50 in Clubcard vouchers that I had exchanged on my app yesterday in preparation.  DH topped up his car to the tune of £56.76 but no other spends from him.  

Need to pay for the kids’ tennis lessons whilst I’m having a spend day, but nothing else essential needed.  Feeling very positive that in the ten days since pay day, there has only been a £1.75 miscellaneous spend - everything else has been food and fuel from the allocated budget

DH should be getting paid tomorrow and has been working extra shifts recently, which we should see reflected in his pay.  He’s also negotiated a pay rise that will equate to around an extra £120 monthly.  Since we have the garage bill to pay tomorrow, any extra pounds are greatly appreciated - £545.83 is not an insignificant amount but much cheaper than buying a new car! 

WinterWarrior

What was the £1.75 miscellaneous on? I need to know 😬

browneyed_girl

WinterWarrior said:

What was the £1.75 miscellaneous on? I need to know 😬

  

Shall I give you three guesses?! Get it right and I’ll send you a box of choccies!

browneyed_girl

Sadly, the £1.75 is now not my only spend.  Paid £12 for tennis lessons this week.  I’ve included DS this time as the coach thinks he should be old enough to start.  He’s only three so I’d be surprised if he holds the racket the right way up, but Andy Murray probably came out the womb holding one and I’ve heard prize money at Grand Slams is pretty good. 

Also bought a few bits from Am@zon whilst snuggled up on the sofa with a blanket and cup of tea (no chance I’m putting the heating on yet!).  I’m sure Am@zon are supposed to be the devil because of tax evasion and ruining the high street, but it’s just so damn convenient to shop in one’s pyjamas.  Total spend of £36.94 on a couple of birthday presents for DD2’s best friend, some socks for DH (he’s very picky about socks and only socks bizarrely) and a year’s supply of multivitamins for DD3 so that she doesn’t get scurvy as a result of her refusal to touch a single fruit or vegetable.  All necessary spends so the highly polished halo is still intact!