“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

So, it's only 11.30 and I'm already knackered!  Feel like it's been quite a productive morning though - sent kids off to school, put away all the laundry I washed yesterday, have washed and hung out another load of stuff for DH's work, unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, fed the pets and made the beds.  I do feel as though that's enough physical effort for the day!  I think the rest of my day until the kids get home is going to be organising things that I can do whilst sitting down with a cuppa 

Have spent £17 today to top up kids school dinner accounts and also pay for a charity dress-up day they have on Friday.  Thought I was going to have to buy a birthday present for DD3's friend as she came back with an invitation yesterday, but I've found a couple of things stashed in my present box that I had previously bought in The Works' sale which I can use (I think they cost me about £3 total!).

DH has also been finding ways to help.  He was on the phone to EE yesterday for ages to get a better deal on his phone contract.  He currently pays £75 monthly for his personal and work phones, plus DD1 and DD2's SIM only plans.  Ended up getting £10 knocked off with upgrades to unlimited data on all the SIM cards, plus a free tablet AND he's also arranged to switch our broadband to them for £1 a month more than we were paying Sky, but with much faster download speeds and with them covering the cost of our cancellation fee!  I know it's not a huge monthly saving, but I'm going with the "every little helps" theory 

Whilst DH was busy with EE, I found that I can also update my phone contract.  The cheapest device and SIM plan I can find with enough data is £13 monthly, which is actually £5 cheaper than what I pay now!  I'd be tempted by a SIM only plan if it wasn't for the fact that the screen on my current phone has been cracked for the last 6 months

Am going to try and get some surveys done this afternoon so I can cash out more to put in the holiday pot.  Not planning on any breaks away for the rest of the year in view of baby arriving, but always good to get a start on next year's plans!

browneyed_girl

Did not start off today as I'd hoped.  Got out of bed and my SPD was so bad that I could barely walk!  Had to shout to DH to help me make it to the bathroom - made me feel like an old woman!  As a result, I've spent my morning sat down and being waited on (just as well that DH is working from home today).  I know I shouldn't really complain, but I seem to be in serious nesting mode and not being able to get stuff done is really irritating me

Have had the time instead this morning to go over spreadsheets and plans for the next month ahead of payday.  I've also completed a meal plan and shopping list for the main food shop tomorrow.  Am aiming for a spend of less than £100, which is hopefully achievable with the 10% off coupon I have for L!dl.  Our food and fuel budget for the month was recently increased to £1000 from £800 due to DH's longer commute and the increasing cost of food, but I'm hoping I can be a fair bit under this next month in order to claw back some money that can instead be put on the 0% CC while it's still at 0%!  

Going to see if the pain has settled down enough this afternoon in order to get some organising done in the garage (there are still some unpacked boxes from the move).  As I'm out tomorrow for a midwife visit and shopping, I'd like to make the most of the fuel expended and get some more bits to the charity shop.  I'm trying very hard to have every room decluttered before baby arrives, if only to make room for baby stuff - I'd forgotten how much it seems to take over the whole house! 

LzzyIsGod

Sorry to hear about the SPD. It can be so painful.

I was shocked at the price of fuel today!

browneyed_girl

So, baby made an appearance just over 3 weeks ago and the whole family is thrilled with our new DD!!  Although it's been 7 years since having our previous youngest, it's all come flooding back!  All the night feeds, explosive nappies and the persistent zombie state that comes with the sleep deprivation - it's as though we went through all of this just yesterday!

We've had a bit of an epiphany in the past week, or at least DH has.  I think the arrival of DD4 has suddenly made him want to focus on getting our finances in check and I've witnessed him watching Dave Ramsey's videos during his downtime!  As a result, I finally feel as though we're on the same page about money - only took 19 years and 5 children!!  With his full support, we've started to focus on paying our debt off with renewed vigour - DH thinks we can get it all done in 18 months but he might be a bit off with his calculations.  That said, he should be seeing a substantial pay rise within the next year, so if we can make the best use of any extra income it may be doable...The only downside is that there are still things around the house that are going to cost us a fair amount which we've decided to put on hold and save up for instead of getting into more debt, but at the moment it feels like a small price to pay

DH has taken the older kids out to the cinema today to give me a bit of time with DD4.  Bought the tickets through the Cinema Society so total cost for 5 was only £23 instead of £40 - not a bad way to kick off a frugal summer holiday!  I'm currently sat with DD4 doing the budget for August - I think we should have about £800 that could go towards the CC, mostly due to DH working very hard last week as his 2 weeks of paternity leave was unpaid (a necessary sacrifice for him changing to a much better job earlier this year).  I've also redoubled my efforts with survey sites to earn some more pennies to throw at the debt.  Trying to convince myself that it will all add up and that it's worth the effort because some of these surveys are incredibly dull! 

Hoping that despite it being the summer holidays, I can have at least 4 NSDs this week (today isn't one of them sadly!).  Going to try for some free activities with the kids, plus I've found a lot of arts and crafts at home that can keep them busy.  Any suggestions would be much appreciated - I think the kids will quickly get bored with forest walks and visiting their cousins!   

LzzyIsGod

How lovely to hear from you and many congratulations!  There's noting quite like the new baby days (the highs and the sleepless nights!) 

Having dh on board will make all the difference money wise- teamwork makes the dream work even if it is cheesy

1stTimer

Congratulations! 

weenancyinAmerica

Cookery and Housekeeping Lessons so they can help you out? Drawing house plans on plain or graph paper? Lots of reading (our summer reading was based on number of minutes read instead of number of books - works when they are different ages). Tracing the family tree? Learning to knit or crochet items for newest addition? Making quilts for the upcoming cold weather? Making doll houses, castles, forts?

browneyed_girl

Thank you for those suggestions @weenancyinAmerica - I particularly like the idea of the housekeeping and cookery lessons to help out around the house!  DD1 and DD2 are actually pretty good at both so I might have them supervise the younger two so that I can get a break!

Had hoped for a NSD today but DH has had to buy a new inner tube so that he can take DS out cycling.  The local park has recently put in mud ramps and the like for mountain biking, so of course DS is obsessed already!  Making plans to go visit some family tomorrow and hopefully pick up a bakery TGTG bag at the same time.  As we live in a village miles from anywhere, we can't get these regularly but I'm feeling in dire need of cake!  I think I'll set the kids the task of baking cake if I can't get any tomorrow...

LzzyIsGod

In May half-term one of my yoofs had a scout challenge to sleep in a tent in the garden. That tent stayed up as a den for days as he loved it 🤣

browneyed_girl

I really like that idea @LzzyIsGod particularly if it keeps them and their noise out of the house for a while!

Did the weekly shop yesterday evening and spent £72.44 at L!dl followed by £14.59 at Mr T.  This is a pretty good amount compared to what we sometimes end up with when being less mindful of what's being thrown into the trolley.  Still, I've been reading a lot of the frugal living threads for inspiration recently and the amazing people on there are clearly putting me to shame!!  I'm hoping that the ridiculously low grocery bills they have are in part due to small family sizes, but if anyone knows a way to feed a family of 7 for less then please let me in on the secret!

I do need to do a bit of spending today once I've shopped around for the right prices.  We are in need of a replacement toilet seat for one of the en-suites, new hinges for one of the kitchen cupboards and some baby lotion for DD4.  Although I've been trying to use Am@zon less for various reasons, I do have a £5 gift voucher on my account so might make use of this.  

On the plus side, this week I've cashed out £29.16 from my Prolific account which has been put on one of the CCs.  Usually any extra earning from surveys etc would be added to our holiday pot, but we're not planning any trips with the little one and have decided we need to be strict with ourselves about paying off debt first before thinking about holidays.

As it's the first of the month, I'm updating spreadsheets and will post tomorrow with an updated list of the current debts.  Some rough calculations tell me that all the debt could be paid off in 23 months if we throw everything we have at it - I just don't know if that's going to be practical!