My last diary take two, but this will be it

Choccygirl123

Humdinger1 said:

Choccygirl123 said:

Well i've been a busy bunny today and finished my tax return and according to HMC&E I should get £663 back. I'm chuffed to buts as that will almost take my loan under 3k. Need to double check how I'll get it back as i didn't fill in my account details as normal and system has a glitch to request it back.

I need to get some fuel and a choc bar for colleague at work today, so all budgeted. Dinner is sorted sweet & sour chicken, but may need another loaf of bread. Other than that, it's another boring Monday at work!

@Choccygirl123 that probably explains all the tax problems currently in the news. ... Well done on your huge progress love Humdinger xx 

I guess the glitch is down to the last minuters like me, who have faffed around and left it for another day and the system is maxed out. The good thing is I can say i don't owe the tax man £4.8million on an oversight :-:wink:

Choccygirl123

Supposed to be my py day, but looks like it'll be tomorrow instead as it's pending on my account.

Wednesday means fridge clean day, meal prep and food shop day. I've updated my spending sheet and the food budget has been all over the place. In two weeks I've spent £257.84 thanks to the butcher's order. They didn't have any black pudding so have refunded me £3.25. That means I've got £142.16 to last until hubby's pay day in couple of weeks. Going to split it £70 this week due to meat and pie order and leave the £72.16 for next. I do have some wiggle room in the misc budget if I go over, but I'm trying to be good! Shouldn't need any household cleaning, toiletires and will continue using stocks out the cupboard and freezer as much I can.

I've had another ebay sale over night so will get that wrapped and posted today. I'll update my extra income saving challenge when cash hits my account, but it's another £7.34 towards xmas 23. Still using up my free stamps, so include the postage costs as profit too. I've another couple of bits of furniture mid auction at the minute and both have a lot of watchers. Only one has bids at minute, but fingers crossed they go crazy. Currently at £27. I wasn't going to the item and nearly gave it away on freecyle as it's a project. Will see how that goes over the next couple of days. Still really motivated with the decluttering although I think i need to look at vinted to save the selling fees. Never used it, but my friend recommended it. Need to work out how it works before trying it.

Choccygirl123

Not posted for a few days, so having quick catch up. It's been quite an expensive time, with car insurance, yearly car tax etc all going out. Just a quick post to update my spreadsheet etc and I'll work out the remaining budgets / pots until the new month's budget starts.

I finally got the cash from ebay for my last sale another £6.10 in the Xmas Pot - 300 & 310 crossed off. Takes my total to £35.20in cash and £161.79 in the bank = £196.99 I was hoping another ebay sale would have collected by today to smash the £200 mark, but they've gone radio silence annoyingly! Still meage please to make that much in the first 31 days of the year towards Christmas 2023.

Choccygirl123

Just had a brain wave and thought I've not transfered by cashback from chase for a while.....£6.98 added to the xmas pot 50,98,100 & 450 crossed off. Total for Jan £203.97

Choccygirl123

Wednesday is fridge clean, food stock check and meal prep. Going to keep shopping to minimum today. Lucky we h still have a lot of veg and bits still leftover from last week. 

Hubby's car tax has come out today (completely forgot to budget for it) so I've had to cut food, misc and everything back to juggle what's left. It was £165 so there won't be any surplus cash left this month that's for sure! 

Have applied for my tax refund today and a £59 credit sat on my council tax bill. These should take few days. I'm planning on using tax as overpayment on my loan and the council tax babk into my bill account to try avoid going into the overdraft.

Sarahwithlove

Great news about the council tax credit. 

Choccygirl123

Sarahwithlove said:

Great news about the council tax credit. 

It is good news, but frustrating they've messed the account up.I'm just hoping it's finally correct now and i won't face another bill. There's still no sign of the refund yet, but hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Choccygirl123

Managed a £16.12 food shop yesterday, it's  definitely not a weekly shop but it will keep us going. I'd given myself £20 budget, so it really made me think about what was the priority.

Dog's groom was £5 cheaper than last time, which was nice surprise. Filled hubby's car with fuel so it was very speedy day. Not a good feeling when budgets pots do empty, but they were all planned.

My tax refund hit my account this morning, so I'm really excited. £663.48 I had pencilled it all to be sent as overpayment on my loan, but decided against it. I moved £63.48 into our joint account to help ease the budget, after I forgot about hubby's car tax. This means my budget has been slashed by £100. It's going to be still be tight, but pay day next week.

the exciting news is that I've just sent £600 to my loan. According to the over payment calculator I'll have saved £48 on interest and cut 3months off repayment. Takes the balance to £3096.30. Was a little disappointed it wasn't under 3k, but it will be at the end of the month.

Choccygirl123

I need to do better on the posting front! Hubby's pay day arrived yesterday and we had £36.40 left in our joint account. I've sent that across to my loan which takes it down to 3059.90. I'm looking forward to seeing that drop below 3k when the payment goes out tomorrow. Finally feel like making progress.

I still need to finish this month's budget as have car insurance and tax due on my youngest daughter's first car. 

Choccygirl123

Into March after a manic February. I need to stop and take stock of where we are
with our budgets. I've not been tracking spending properly and need to update but short for time todayI've written a list of things to do to get get caught up. Have crossed off : 

- mobile bills going up 14.4% (not great) so I've made a note in my diary for when contracts on 3 of them end this year. 

-updated my Xmas savings challenge from extra cash made. I have £60.20 in cash & £226.39 in the account. Total £286.59

-£1-52 week saving total (inc the interest)  £259.50. 

-the birthday savings pot has taken huge hit, so have increased amount for next budget month (15/3-15/4)

Made a start to catch up but still 7 things left on the to do list. It's odd how life can get in the way and the housework and money stuff can soon get out of control. I'm getting back on track with the cash and slowly catching up on house jobs too. I feel a lot better organised today, which is a great way to start the day.