My 2 year battle to try to keep our home

savingholmes

I'm also drinking and cooking with milk from 31/12. It was unopened previously - and I think it will be okay a bit longer yet.

Tiredbutdetermined

I don’t think milk has ever gone off in my house. My 3 kids love cereal and we have a hot chocolate station but we hadn’t planned to have our couple of days away so we were all stocked up before we went.
Our Tesco delivery comes tomorrow night so hopefully we can make it through until then but if I can’t have my cups of tea then things might get a bit emotional

Today has been a bit of a mess with the ex being vile with me and then a PITA with the kids. I wish he would just get a grip and be a decent father.
Myself and 2 of the kids have had a trip to home bargains though so that has perked us up 🤣 I had a lot of fun afterwards colour coding my receipt by food and household to take funds from the correct budget! 

Had a notification from EE that our massive phone bill is ready. Quite chuffed as my son accidentally charged some PlayStation stuff to his phone so I called to put a block on before Christmas. They said their records showed I had asked for everything to be blocked with no charges allowed so they refunded to my bill. It was only £6.49 but I also mentioned that when my Apple Watch was all paid for they moved me to a £5 a month contract with unlimited data I could transfer. It turned out I was mis-sold so they refunded 3 months worth too. I turned that into a long and boring story but once my direct debit comes out I can pay the difference off my credit card.

I also got my next batch of monthly contact lenses from spec savers. I have a load in my drawer from the sketchy   Husband has done a runner blur earlier in the year where I didn’t change them every month so have paused for 3 months so that will save me another £45 later in the year.

 

savingholmes

Glad that you had some financial wins. Sorry other aspects are so hard. Need to focus on the wins you do have. That's how I get through.

Steerpike88

You're doing so great! Just you keep on going. 

Tiredbutdetermined

Home bargains is always a win and I didn’t overspend so I am counting that as a double win.

I have my appointment call tomorrow with the mortgage advisor so hoping that gives me some hope for the future.
Made a PAD of 94p to my credit card too

Suffolk_lass

I have my milk delivered, but ironically I do so to save money. I know I am susceptible to picking up stuff not on my list when I shop, so I remove the need to go shopping so often, by having (more expensive) milk and (local) eggs delivered, buying a few things that are cheaper on a subscription delivered at regular intervals, and buying multiples of things I can't live without when they are on offer. We also grow and freeze lots of veg and soft fruit so often I can go three-four weeks without shopping. 

Having said all that, I first cleared my debts so IMHO you are prioritising the right things first. Black tea is quite nice if you have the right tea

Tiredbutdetermined

I am just having the tea with 5 days out of date milk! I have just been to Tesco this morning as my delivery is coming tonight but my lovely daughter just expressed her urgent need for sanitary products! I resisted buying milk as I have 8pints coming tonight. I picked up some reduced festive snack whilst I was in so that is extra frugal. I have had a chat with the kids about £150 a month on parent pay being too much so we are going for a bit of a hybrid packed lunch and school dinner mix. The snacks will be ideal for the packed lunches

Jill12

Wishing you luck with the mortgage appointment today. Your doing fabulous at the moment, try not to be so hard on yourself. Hopefully once you get some figures you will be able to make a more solid plan for you and your kids future x

Our home delivery has just arrived and after being without milk or bread for less than 24 hours, my lot have now stuffed their wee faces and content!

Savingtomove

Your doing brilliantly and all the small wins will add up over time! Well done! 

Tiredbutdetermined

The mortgage advisor seems nice and is giving me hope. She does charge £299 on completion, which I don’t think is too bad. It is nice that she is local so knows house prices in the area.

My eon bill came out today. Our direct debit used to be £144 but went up to £200 when fudgestick left as he left me with a massive debit balance. It went back into credit last month so I have decreased the DD to £100 and paid the extra £100 off my credit card. I might have to sell a kidney to make it to the end of the month but it felt good to do
something with the saving. I just need to keep my energy usage below the £100, which I definitely didn’t do in December!