A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni

Spendless

I had forgotten to pay DD's rent (mind fog!). Rectified immediately.

Our new cooker should be arriving today.

Friday and the fivers have gone out. Am now at £135 for xtra rent. £65 for Friday savings and £70 for category 'lost' in my alternative universe savings. I am hoping to make an announcement re lost before the end of the tax year but I need Mr S to be paid first and that's not until next week.

Today I will be accompanying eldest to get cat registered with a vet. He had concerns last night over the cat's health but had him checked out, no major concerns and they waived the fee, which was good since it was out of hours.

Spendless

This morning I'd typed out a long post, was a sentence away from finishing when my laptop 'jumped' and I lost the lot! I've no idea whether it is (relatively new) laptop or me as user creating the issue. but when DD said she was struggling with her coursework with her (same make) laptop I knew exactly what she meant, which is why the money given to us by Dad (from my late Nan) to pay for a need for all of us, was helpful in replacing DD's.

Mine was recently used on getting a new cooker at long last. Should have been here a week ago, but shop said it hadn't turned up. We patiently waited another week to be told 'it had turned up but damaged'. At this point Mr S got annoyed and told them to send another, which they did and was £30 cheaper. We bought from an independant shop thinking it was the right thing to do, but never again, especially since my parents told me their friends had had issues from same place with a load of white goods they bought. Oven is ifine though, we had our first roast dinner since Xmas day cooked in it yesterday.

DH gets paid tomorrow and I can see we are going to be £40 overdrawn for a few hours tonight till he his wages go in tomorrow morning. Again we have had last minute expenses not anticipate for the 3rd or 4th month on the trot. For this reason from tomorrow I am trying a zero based budget I've seen by someone on line, where you allocate all your wages to what job it is doing in various pots. I want to establish if it is us being careless towards the end of the month or if we've not taken into account various prices increases and that's what we need to address.

Yesterday Mr S did a 'top up' shop at Tesco and it came to £45 (which has caused the overdraft) and that was with a clubcard! Since when did a top up shop cost that much? Ok he did have a chicken, coffee and dog food in it but still! I can also tell the £25 worth of petrol Mr S put in my car when we bought it - before the situation with the US and Iran went a lot further than the fill up I did last week!

After the Easter weekend, my hours return to my contracted ones, for a few weeks anyway, until holiday season kicks in. It has been handy having extra income but I'm ready for more time at home especially with the lighter nights and hopefully nicer weather!

This week it is both DD's bday and Easter. I already have items for both bought at discounted/sale/on offer prices. I found it a hard slog to build all this up at the beginning of the year with money being tighter but I am so glad I did. It makes it so much easier when you don't have a last minute expense. Due to rehearsals DD is coming home inbetween these dates and asked if we could do something. I found a bargain spa session for us both at a place we've been to before. I'm also on a work's night out this week and meeting up with a friend for something to eat. Friend has a special bday coming up that she's going away for and though we don't usually exchange gifts I've bought her something for this - again I found it in a discount store, at half the price it is elsewhere.

Right fingers crossed this post works this time!

Spendless

End of the month. Mr S has been paid. Dog got me up early (and has returned to sleep!). I have used the time to transfer money to my Monzo pots to see how I get on this month with zero based budgeting.

Part of this exercise is still paying something from DH's wages but instead of it going towards DD's rent it now goes towards the alternative universe savings.

Today I am pleased to say that 'lost' is now FULLY PAID BACK!

Lost was a lost deposit from a drama school which DD turned down in order to do a course elsewhere. I refer to it on my very first post on this diary. Most drama schools charge a deposit if you successfully audition for them and accept a place. This is because there is huge rivalry and a heirachy between them and they tie you in with a deposit if you accept hoping that will prevent you accepting elsewhere. If you go they refund or knock the money off accommodation, if you go elsewhere (like DD did) then you dont get the money back! In this case it was a whacking £500 we lost!

Each time an alternative universe pot is fully paid back I put the money into my ISA. I have paid 'lost' back slightly earlier than I might have done, purely due to the end of the tax year and changes coming to how much can be paid into them. Ok I might not have enough to put in the full amount anyway next year but I wish to keep my options open.

This means since I started my alternative Universe pots at the beg of July last year I have paid back:

Event, Jabberwocky, Stolen and Lost. This has totalled £3770 paid back.

I had a goal in mind to have finished the above by the end of this academic year and pleased Ive beaten it. The new alternative universe savings now all relate to higher education. There are 7 altogether, to pay back. 6 are for accommodation, 1 for other costs. 4 are from DS at Uni and 3 from DD.

They will take years to pay back completely. My target date is retirement, which is a few years away. No idea yet what order I will do them in. I probably wont start next month due to taking my parents on a little outing (something I promised them last year when they had to cancel a hol for Mum's 80th due to Nan being discharged from hospital). As I pay back I sometimes like throwing in a month off too - feels like a recharge your batteries.

Thanks for reading along.

Spendless

Yesterday I went out with my workplace as someone is leaving. By chance I had a 40% off voucher emailed thru to me from the same place we were booked to eat it.I asked if it could be used for our party and it could. It knocked almost £40 off the bill! I'd bought my train ticket in advance to get there so only cost me £2 instead of the regular £3.30 and DH picked me up - win, win.

Today I am going to DS house for a few hours whilst he works to give the grandcat some company and so he gets used to me. Later I am out with a friend as she has a voucher for a free cocktail.

For the rest of the week, I have a work shift followed by DD coming home. I got a great deal on a spa day for both of us, less than £100 total for a day using the facilities includes a small treatment (both chosen a facial), a hot drink and sweet snack. We have both beeen before and enjoyed it. We both need suitable shoes round the spa/pool area and I was deter,mined not to buy anything I can find in the house. Yesterday morning I roped my Mum in to help and mission successful.

Interest has been paid into my Monzo account.. Just over £10 in total. I have moved this to my new entertainmet budget as. I think DH will need some extra money from this as he is also out this weekend.

Humdinger1

Marvellous progress @spendless! You're in a totally different place. Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx

Newstartforme

Well done on all your achievements, hope you and dd enjoy the spa , what a lovely treat for her birthday xx

Spendless

Thank you. Yes humdinger still a long way to go to replace savings (8 consecutive years of funding kids at Uni - why did I ever think nappies, formula milk or school day trips were expensive?!) but at least its not a credit card bill anymore that's increasing to be dealt with 'one day'.

Today is Friday. Im not back at work till Monday and I have moved my Friday fivers into my savings pots. Now at £140 for xtra rent (10 more weeks till I hit this target) and at £70 for my savings.

DD came home yesterday. Loved her birthday gifts all of which had been sourced as discounts or offers. Today is the spa. Ive woke feeling slightly stuffy so going to get something for my ears before going in water and risking an ear infection.

Enjoy Easter weekend.

Honeysucklelou2

How lovely of your son to give the cat a home. Oh for the days of school trips!! Uni rent is something else isn’t it?!

Hope you have a super Easter weekend.

Spendless

Easter over - well for me cos back at work later.

I never bought lamb for yesterday. I decided to use up what we had in, which was a gammon then added more veg and trimmings. DS joined us, DD had already returned to London as she was having a party for her birthday.

I received pics of Grandcat on Saturday, clearly settling in his new home, lying on his back on the bed in the spare room basking in the sunlight. Completely different to how he'd been 10 days earlier when he was just hiding himself in corners.

DH's car has a chip in the windscreen but yesterday was a nightmare trying to see if it could be fixed. Earliest appointments end of the month??! We are going to watch a play DD has written tomorrow. We were already going there and back in 1 day due to time constraints. Now it looks like we'll be making the journey in my car. That will cost us in fuel and I think London congestion charge, things we dont pay in DH's company car.

We could skip going as this is something DD has written, shes not performing in it but her days as a student are now numbered so I think we should still attend. Im going to suggest that we use some of the money Dad gave me to pay for a need towards the costs.

After that DH either has to get the windscreen repaired or borrow another company vehicle as we're due to take parents away on an outing soon and my car isnt suitable for all 4 of us.

My fridge is full with food to feed us thru the week. The zero based budgeting is working well with the exception of groceries, which is what I expected. Its cos its a variable amount which I cant change cos some days we feed 1 (me) or even none (if I eat at parents) and can go upto 4 (if both kids are here). Im just muddling through at the minute but my initial thoughts are to either have a 2nd joint account (so either can shop) or to just work in cash. Ill have a think once we're back from our trips. Easter was a curveball anyway whereas most weeks wont be the same.

Spendless

Tues and DD's student rent paid. I now have 1 week left of rent money from my wages and as there's another due before Im paid again will be taking that week from the amount I saved up.

Think weve sorted how to get to see DD's play. Wasnt the congestion charge Id need to pay but Dartford Tunnel, I was getting mixed up.

I went through the fridge, deciding a rough meal plan for the rest of the week. Decided to cut quiche into slices and accidentally tipped a full half of it onto the kitchen floor and straight into the dog's water bowl. Urgghhh - glad I wasnt relying on it!