Small steps lead to big changes...

savingholmes

Glad you had a lovely time at the beach.

jwil

savingholmes said:

Glad you had a lovely time at the beach.

Thank you

jwil

Today's PAD - £2

Jan - £319
Feb - £135
Mar - £129
Apr - £114
May - £103

jwil

I'm still padding even though I've withdrawn from the account - I don't want to break the habit!

I was a bit worried about my finances so updated my spending spreadsheet yesterday - this has been a real eye opener, and I'm definitely going to keep doing it.  It helps me keep track of spends that I just forget about.  Anyway, it reminded me that I started this month on the back foot with all the vets bills last month and I've spent over £200 on school stuff this month!  All those small amounts that I don't think about, plus larger amounts for lunches and school trips soon add up!  So I'm not going to feel guilty about spending £50 on three t-shirts and a pair of shoes, and I'm also relieved that I'm not falling into the slippery slope of debt again, it's just a tough couple of months, and I can dip into the PAD account to get back on track (which is what it is meant to be for anyway), and I should be able to carry on as normal.  The final expenditure for this month is the dentist tomorrow, and hopefully that will just be a checkup for us all.  I think it's unlikely that I'll be saving my election pay, and will most likely use it to cover the things I've spent on, but at least I won't have needed to dip into my proper savings.

The kids want to go swimming today so I've booked that.  Little miss goes free due to her swimming lessons, so I've just paid for little jwil and me.  DH is working.

WinterWarrior

That sounds very sensible. Life is for living after all. I loosened my grip when I realised I felt guilty doing anything nice, or buying anything I wanted (rather than direly needed). I feel it’s sensible to be really blinkered when it’s debt, but then you have to relax a little and enjoy life, even with those unexpected bills coming in. You are solvent, you have savings, you are doing brilliantly. 

jwil

WinterWarrior said:

That sounds very sensible. Life is for living after all. I loosened my grip when I realised I felt guilty doing anything nice, or buying anything I wanted (rather than direly needed). I feel it’s sensible to be really blinkered when it’s debt, but then you have to relax a little and enjoy life, even with those unexpected bills coming in. You are solvent, you have savings, you are doing brilliantly. 

Thank you   I'm so used to not being able to do anything, I'm very fearful of being back in that situation again. I do want to spend more on experiences rather than 'stuff' though.  It's really nice to be able to let the kids do things and not have to panic.

in_need_of_direction

Could you and mr jwil divert some income from sales to an experience pot? Helping to free up space and have fun

jwil

in_need_of_direction said:

Could you and mr jwil divert some income from sales to an experience pot? Helping to free up space and have fun

I don't really have anything to sell any more.  It's all DH's stuff, and he's not really moving on that at the moment, much to my annoyance.  We both contribute to our days out and weekends away, and I'm happy with the level of that we are doing at the moment.  Again, I don't need or want to spend lots on doing stuff, our NT membership and wanders to the seaside and countryside suit us well enough.  I'd very much like it if he sold some of his stuff and converted it into available cash/savings rather than filling up the house though!

jwil

Swimming was good today, I feel like I've had a proper workout.  Here it's time for the usual 'I should do this more often', knowing that I'm not likely to go again til the next holidays   

My small step I'm working on at the moment is improving the strength in my legs, so I'm trying to do lots of squats.  My aim is to be able to get off the floor in a more dignified manner   I did notice an improvement at the beach at the weekend.

Busy day tomorrow with the dentist and then lots of visiting so a bit of dashing around between different places.  Then a whole 2 days work.  Payday on Friday at very long last!

I'm enjoying the new Stephen King book, and DH and I are very nearly at the end of Bones on Disney Plus.  I might rewatch Reacher next as I've just finished the first book again, so would like to compare.

WinterWarrior

I really enjoyed the new Reacher. Have you been watching Tracker on Disney? That’s very good and he’s easy on the eyes 🤭
Well done on the leg strengthening progress.