Keeping afloat till I can get round to the debts!

NeverendingDMP

slm6002 said:

A fund for school things is a great idea to use the survey money for.  They are always wanting money for something.  

Historically when my budgeting was better (beg of dmp).I us d to save a fiver a week for this and that covered discos trips, breakfasts with Santa Easter bunny etc. Over the last 18 months I've been treading water so things like this have gone down the pan. Surprising what habits I need to bring back now I'm focused on it all again.

NeverendingDMP

Jwil my list so far. I think you have a year or two till this springs on you. Hopefully the schools near you are cheaper.... Anything with no price next to it is waiting till next payday. I have got a free pair of preloved football boots but they are slightly too big so can't use them just yet. Will cover the next shoe size though.

Uniform costs eldest child.
Blazer. 35
Jumper. 21
Pe t shirt. 22
Pe long sleeved top. 26
Pe shorts.  13
Pe joggers. 22
Pe socks 7
Gum shield
Shirts 3 x current size and  3 x next size (not branded) 20
Tie 6
Pants  -2 x current size, 2 x next size  22.  (not branded)
Stationary 30
Calculator 12
Shoes
Football boots
Astro turf trainers
Non mark trainers
New drinks bottles 3
Bag -use old one
Coat

NeverendingDMP

So a spendy day (see last post 😂 )but also an mse day in that I got some preloved uniform for my youngest two, a free pair of preloved football boots that will fit in the next 3-6 months and a 20 pound voucher to use at supermarket for school uniform from a local uniform pop up run by the council. Everyone seemed to be offered this which was nice. That will cover tights and pe pumps I think for youngest two.
Only managed one survey today but new ones have appeared so I can aim for the next fiver. 
Bank account looking terrible so not going to add up anything till month end. I know.my weekly budget. I'm limping it to pay day  then I'll assess the damage.

jwil

Thank you.  I'll have a look on our (hoped for) school's website and see if they have a uniform list and prices for next year.  I'm definitely a fan of pre-loved!

slm6002

I saw a blazer for our school on olio last night and it just needed buttons sewing on.  Too small now for DD2 but would have grabbed it if it had been bigger.  All free sites are worth looking on - even if they only end up being backup uniform for when something is lost or left at school or spilt food down and the new one is in the wash

NeverendingDMP

slm6002. I've got my eyes peeled. Not sure if we are all donating to the pop up shop instead of listing as there hasn't been much. Think the highschool adapted it's uniform a couple of years ago too so not many things have filtered through yet. Most preloved is old version. 

Done another survey. It doesn't have very many  available to me at the moment which is no big surprise as I've done loads in the past week. I'm a couple of surveys off my next fiver so hopefully I will get offered them over next few weeks and cash out again.

CRANKY40

The other thing to remember for high school is that they don't need all of their PE kit all at once. This may apply more to boys than girls but mine would go back in September to wear shorts and t shirt for PE. The long sleeved rugby top etc wasn't needed until after October half term so didn't need to be bought at the same time. 

NeverendingDMP

Thanks cranky40.  All these things are handy to know. Hard to plan when you haven't experienced it yet.the football boots we have got are almost the right size but I don't know how much warning we will have/if we even need to buy the correct size just yet. Once they start I will follow the newsletters to learn about how finances are affected by trips/fundraisers etc but the first year I'm going in blind

NeverendingDMP

Another five earned on surveys..they have slowed down a lot so I'll give it a few days then see what crops up.
Also bank hours done and two more days agreed which is good. All helps !

jwil

Well done on the surveys and bank hours, it all helps!