The Mental Debt Struggle...

Baileys_Babe

I was going to suggest a spreadsheet going forward, brilliant that you have already designed a suitable one.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hi @keedie just catching up on diaries, as always the changes and alterations you have made in your diary is incredible! I am sorry your pain and mental health is constantly impacting and you aren't getting enough support, I hope the waiting list is quicker than predicted! Exciting news on the lovely looking fridge, and fantastic congratulations to DS for graduating, he has done amazingly, because his rather fab mum believed in him!

Cherryfudge

Aimingforthegoodlife said:

 his rather fab mum 

She is, isn't she!

Makingabobor2

When I had a letter from HMRC saying they had changed my tax code, which I knew was wrong. I just logged into my account online and where it asked why I thought it was wrong, I  just out that I no longer had the self employed job that they seemed to think I had.....which TBH, they should have known as I had already informed them when I stopped it and it had been ok until I started my pension, and then they'd go it wrong again and started taxing my private pension at £20 a month, when I should only be paying £8 a year!  Its all sorted now anyway, they sent another letter after I went online, to say it was back to normal 

Sun_Addict

I was going to say can you sort it out online. Failing that I would suggest phoning Tuesday to Thursday when there are likely to be more experienced staff available. 

Agree with the others you are indeed a fabulous mum, your son is a very lucky lad to have you 🥰

Keedie

Awww, thank you all for such lovely messages. I woke up to notifications and read your kind and encouraging words, and I was so touched. I don't really think of myself as a good mum, but thank you for the support and vote of confidence as it means a lot to me! 🥰

I can't take credit for the spreadsheet @Baileys_Babe, as it is one that I brought off Etsy a long while ago and then rediscovered it. But it has really helped me with understanding where I am making overspends or not accurately budgeting, so it's very useful. It doesn't fully fit my needs, as I've realised that I have my own unique way of looking at things, but it does really work. And so I'll need to adapt the categories for my sister's expense tracking, as it needs to align with the OPG categories, but for the most part, it's a 1,000% improvement on what we currently do.

I'll try HMRC on Tuesday as I'm not working that day as I'll be at the CPD Day tomorrow. If I can't get through, then I'll try online like you suggested @makingabobor2. I get confused with doing these things for some reason, but I'll definitely try. I can't believe the difference in £8 annual tax and £20 a month tax. What a difference!

My days of free and easy spending are coming to a halt, as I thought I was able to keep on track of things without tracking all my expenses. And yet here we are, part way through the month and already running out of nearly every category 🥴. So yes, back to diligent tracking in August, alongside my new budget. I'm going to have to put my thinking cap on how I can sort this out without touching the money set aside for August's budget (which I have ashamedly done on way too many occasions to be proud of 😬). I can't touch the emergency fund as this is not an emergency, it's a result of poor discipline and a lack of proper planning.

So my son's 18th birthday pot is looking like the most like casualty of this month's budget, but I'll have to figure out how to re-budget his whole birthday if I do that. As I'll still only be putting what I was due to save in that pot. If I end up still adding more to get to the £500 goal, then that's not really any different than taking money from next month's pot. So I need to a wise owl, and cover my tracks from the times when I've not employed any wisdom with my finances. Oh dear... 😂.

But I must say, I did have a good day yesterday. I went to my sister's in East London and brought my niece and nephew with me, and it was nice to catch up with my sister. But unfortunately, the three boys were too quiet for too long. And we didn't realise the error of our gossipy ways until we heard something drop from the little box room where they play the Xbox etc. My sister went to check and screamed so I rushed over and saw that the bean bag had been popped and they were practically swimming in hundreds of those styrofoam balls! It took us ages to clean it up, because they seemed to be wearing more than they were cleaning and I had to pick them out of their hair 🤦🏾‍♀️. See Exhibit A 😂😂😂...


I'd forgotten to take a picture of the playroom floor, I was so stunned by the carnage. And then after it was all cleaned and mopped and put back in order, within 15 minutes it was a mess again with Pokemon cards and lego everywhere 🤷🏾‍♀️! At that point, my sister and I just took deep calming breaths and went to sort out dinner and pretended we couldn't see the obstacle course in the garden made from the cushions on garden patio furniture... 😂.

beanielou

😹😹😹. That reminds me of when my DS’s beanbag burst. Was finding them for blooming months. 

badmemory

I've only had it happen with a lap tray & that was bad enough.  I can't imagine the carnage with a bean bag.  Were they dive bombing?

Keedie

Lord only knows what they were up to! They were trying to scoop it up and put it back in the bag, and racing each other to clean it up, but hadn't thought to prop the bean bag up, so they were just throwing the balls back onto the same pile and it was sliding onto the floor🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️. But after 30 minutes of me and my sister sweeping and hoovering, clearing a blockage in the Henry and battling the little balls all over again, we were still finding them! 

Aimingforthegoodlife

hahahaha love that picture! The old saying, always suspicious when children go quiet!haha