The alternative hive - making plan B work

Queen_of_the_Hive

Good Morning, happy Friday!

Last day off from work… boo hiss! Its actually been a really lovely relaxing week at home. We haven't done a lot but as the kids have pointed out they haven't been here since Easter! So have enjoyed just being here pottering rather than lots of day trips.

Yesterday was a NSD as hoped for. We all went out on our bikes. OH took DS2 around the car park near us and then on a 'left, left, left' cycle around turning you guessed it, left! Whereas I took DS1 onto the cliffs. Surprisingly we got back before OH & DS2. Today OH has asked if we can go further on our bikes. We had a mini goal for the summer of taking the bikes on the train and going for a bit more of a day out cycle ride so am up and looking for options. Yesterday I also went for a run, picked up a wk 2 C25K run and it felt good. The kids have been enouraging me to make some changes so tomorrow will go out and rinse and repeat.

Today won't be a NSD - I need to get the ingredients for the home made bagels and expecting some small spends on train tickets or whatever we plan to do.

Lastly DS1 he shared a quote (which is very unlike him!) "don't cry because its over, smile because it happened" from Luka Modric over chatting about our old home in the city. The kids reassured me for the millionth time they are happy (bad habit of mine!) and we left it there. Its hard being a mum, mum guilt hits us all in different ways but I was mightly proud hearing this last night.

We ended the evening with a scary movie as my 10 yr old now likes scary movies… He's apparently seen a couple with his friends. It wasn't the best film, I couldn't keep my eyes open and kept nodding off! They enjoyed it though!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Saturday,

Yesterday's day out was really lovely, it wasn't as long as anticipated. Original plans was a bike ride via the train but the kids had a little melt down about taking bikes on a train. So to keep the peace we opted for a beach walk with the aim to reach a particular cafe. However we didn't make it that far as OH & the kids were finding the heat too much. Instead we walked so far on the beach to a nearer cafe hut. DS2 very kindly treated us to ice creams and we had our picnic under a shaded spot myself and OH had found a few weeks earlier. After food it was an attempt to fly our kite which was a bit of a flop. The kite had an unplanned splash down in the sea minutes into first attempt. However to save a bit of face and show the kids mummy had some skills, after a lot of persistence and untieing of knots we finally got in to the air (they didn't think it would as it was a bit wet).

We all agreed in the end it was a fun day. It was nearly a NSD but I had to buy the kids sunglasses from a vendor. They have sunglasses at home, but refuse to wear them and then when they are needed we have to buy an emergency pair each.

Since coming home from the walk, i've had a mild crampy leg which although not painful is making its prescene known. So must do some yoga type stretches today. Am also aiming to do another of the C25K runs too.

I had a bad night sleep, silly me signed on to work laptop last night and of course thats left me feeling the "sunday night" anxiety! I really should have left it alone!

Today need to do a bit of food shopping - more of a top up shop, really low on toothpaste, bread, milk etc. As work is going to be full pelt next week I have started putting together a weekly meal plan. I know most do this normally but am not as slick with this. My mind just goes blank thinking what everyone would want to eat.

DS2 said he fancies trying lemon meringue pie. Tempted to have a go at making one with DS2. Alongside making bagels with DS1.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Saturday ended up being an "at home" day. I had a huge mountain of bedding and towels to wash and wanted to plough through it. Our machine is not the most efficient or large but it "gets there". Wouldn't mind upgrading but honestly on the list its way down there on priorities. 4 loads done and pegged out by 10pm!

I took out DS2 into town to primarily get my library card sorted and to buy birthday cards, candles & some little "open its" etc for upcoming DS1 birthday. We had a little embarrasing situation in the sports shop. I'd moved over some money from my bank to Mo*zo to pay for the goods in cash rather than card but it wasn't enough (one item wrongly priced). There was very poor signal in the shop and I was standing there for what felt like an age trying to move over the extra fiver. Ended up putting the whole shop amount on the CC as it was taking too long and a queue was forming behind us. I was mortified. I can say growing up with mum, this happend more than was once so it might have been bad memories rather than taking too long. They def need to get their wifi sorted out though.

Talking of shopping, DS2 is a pre-teen but unlike his brother, is getting into brand names which makes things a little awkward for me. In the sports shop he picked out a tracksuit top at £55 and trainers in his eyes could only have the big tick. My budget is so stretched I did feel a bit of **** mum having to explain that if he wanted said top its a special for Christmas. I did buy him trainers yesterday (to have as a spare pair at mine) but they were a compromise in that they were the big tick but the more budget end. To be fair to DS2 he was gratious about it. The kids have a more lux life with their dad and its hard to manage expectations at times.

With DS2 we did have a quick pit stop in Gr****, I had a free cuppa voucher from the big fish to use and DS2 picked a pizza slice for lunch. They'd just come out of the oven - good timing. It was a real treat to just have this bit of one to one time. I learned he's worried about his teeth and has been asking for braces. We are awaiting for a referral to the dental hospital. Some of DS2s baby teeth never came through at the front and so he has wide gaps and it turns out he's had a bit of grief from friends at school. It is a toughie, I have no answers how long it will take for the dental referral, going private - the potential cost is a bit scary. I've said lets see how we get on and if we hear nothing by the end of the year, it might be something that between his dad and I we have to look into for next yr.

We did pop into a charity shop for a little nosy around and I was really chuffed to pick up 2 'snack and chip' trays. Basically trays with space for snacky items. Perfect for picky bits in the holidays. It was £3.50 for the 2. Unsure if this is a real bargain or not but they were just what I was looking for.

Last nights dinner was a jacket potato, suggestion of OH after we had a little disagreement about his lack of meal planning and ideas. Frankly this is a bit of an ongoing battle and some days I get fed up of being mum to man child. To his dues, I do like a jacket spud so was happy with our meal.

Lastly I did something good for me, I did get out early evening for another run. It was good except I think I need to get some replacement headphone usb audio adapters for my phone. It was a battle to have music playing (kept going off), can't stand listening to myself heavy breathing whilst running, its a real turn off.

Queen_of_the_Hive

A mini update - nothing to exciting. I had grand plans for today but so far we've only suceeded in a food shop at farmf**ds. We don't normally shop there but needed one or two things they do in bulk. OH paid - I deliberately stepped away for a change. Still need some fresh stuff from Li*l but feeling tired now with that mid afternoon slump.

Was going to go to play tennis at the courts just around the corner from us but the clouds are really dark. May save this for tomorrow.

Bathroom needs cleaning which is more important but am procrastinating.

Humdinger1

Well done @Queen_of_the_Hive. You're modelling reality for the kids; one day they'll thank you. My DD always says that she's been hearing about the evils of overdrafts once a week since she was 14. She's 22 now, living independently and not in an overdraft! Love Humdinger xx

Queen_of_the_Hive

Pinch, punch first of the month! Happy 1st August and for fellow Yorkshire Folk happy Yorkshire Day!

Its been a busy week for me in the hive as this week was back to full time work combined with the school holidays! Its been interesting trying to integrate work and the kids. We've tried to make sure we do something most evenings. One night we played tennis in our local tennis courts which the kids loved, another night we played a board game and went to the beach another night. Last night we didn't do much tbh, the kids were occupied playing games online with their friends and I was happy to watch a movie on Nflix with OH. Week 1 of the holidays really felt like I was haemoraging money but week 2 has been a lot more frugal. For week 3 we will continue in the same vein.

Summer holidays for us has really been a quiet, relaxed one. Partially I think we need to decompress. I'd say since we moved here in April 2024 we haven't as a family just had a solid 4 weeks of no agenda as such and i'm enjoying it while at the back of my mind thinking we are not "doing enough". I really should ignore this niggle. One thing I am pleased we have got in to the habit with is I'm getting the kids to do a very small amount of maths for DS2 and reading for DS1. I don't get to help the kids during normal school time due to our situ but its nice to do a relaxed 5-10mins a day with them and they are loving it.

Money feels incredibly tight and I have tried to not think too far ahead. July was a spendy month and i've drained a lot of cash reserves I have for the year. It has lasted me long than it normally does. I have been doing this now for a few years but each month I put £300 into a reg saver (often the bulk of this is recycled money from savings). This then gives me a pot of money at the start of the following year to use as cash reserves. I've re-invested some of this years money for next year but I get to around this time of the year and it dries up which it nearly has done. Anyway I will do my best for the latter half of the year and plod on.

Debt wise - Its all very slow progress and very small wins that to many are insignificant but progress is progress a £1 at a time. For a while, while life felt out of control I was servicing two cards based on their individual balances at the time. I've stopped using the highest interest card and between using more cash and the other card my overall card spends have come down a little and the debt is slowly reducing. July it did shoot up a bit again but I had a better handle and i'm managing to capture and pay this down now which I have to say feels like progress in itself. As cash reserves are a bit more dried up, I will need to be even more smarter with my debt situ, try to sell things etc.

This week its been payday and apart from CC1 and awaiting the funds and a couple of things that come out mid month - all pots are allocated.

In the July surveys challenge - it was mixed progress really. Finished the month on £59.91 / £119.14. This will all be moved to holiday fund acc and the amount we didn't make will be rolled over to next months target.

Queen_of_the_Hive

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82086714#Comment_82086714

Many thanks Humdinger. Financial education is so important and it amazes me they don't teach this in schools. I didn't realise it at the time but I learned about investing through my grandparents. For them it was a bit of a hobby. But it sparked an interest that I hope my two carry on.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Happy late sunday evening!

This diary entry did start yesterday morning and typically became distracted with family and suddenly its Sunday evening. It has felt like the weekend has gone very quick. I've gone from a 4 day weekend to a 2 day weekend and its come as a bit of a shock to the system!

Saturday morning we had a fabulous pancake picky bits brunch at home. We had various fruits, golden syrup and chocolate chips and a very naughty Dubai chocolate spread on home made pancakes with bacon. It really was a summer holiday treat. It really went down really well and everything was eaten. This did mean a very early trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies - mainly fruit. I must confess I had totally forgotten how utterly painful our temporary hot plate is at heating up. Its worked perfect for most uses but pancakes its not powerful enough. I'd really like to get the replacement electric hob installed before Oct half term. History of this; we have a gas hob that was making some odd noises so we took the the decision to stop using it. The plan always was to move to electric (safer) but we didn't have the funds to do this. We bought a plug in temporary hob that has on the whole worked really well.

Saturday afternoon was a long walk around town as there was some free events on. The free car show wasn't that great as anticipated but we rounded off the walk with a game of crazy golf. I'd probably egged on DS2 too much as he was a bit of a tornado. But was a fun day. In the evening OH had a tasting for a curry and so we ordered takeaway. This is a rare treat for us but was also a bit of a first. It was the first time we had as a family enjoyed a curry takeaway together. DS1 was very happy to try a chicken tikka curry, he's really gaining in confidence with spice. DS2 doesn't do spicy food so we made him chicken nuggets and he had them with some of the accompanying rice.

Today was a very unexpectidly early start. Unsure why but woke up at 4.15ish this morning in a mardy but wide awake mood. Who knows what was dreaming about but it irritated us! It was useful though as I did manage to get in a couple of AI surveys before going back to sleep and waking in a better mood. This afternoon, we had a family bbq at mums house. Its a bit of an annual thing to celebrate DS1 birthday (this coming week) and also step dads birthday in late July. The party was fantastic, it was a small gathering really of us plus my brothers little girls. It served the perfect opportunity to get all the cousins together. They loved it! We cycled the 20 min journey to mums and back on our bikes plus i'd gone for a run first thing so honestly writing this am nodding off!

Money wise - am waiting for some money to come in to be used to pay this months CC bill. This is main priority of the week. We have a lot of food still in so I don't anticipate we will need to do much more to top up. I still need to book one or two activities for the kids to do in the evening inc the tennis court again and swimming on saturday. Luckily I have a full week of work this week and next week have a couple of days off before the kids go back to the city end of next week. The evening activities is working well for us. I've added updates on to my footer. The CC is higher as the bill hasn't been paid yet but tomorrow mortgage is paid out tomorrow. Survey goal for Aug is £140.27 for the month of which £15.60 worth of surveys already is in the pot from some AI surveys today.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Thursday,

I seem to be back to being a mardy bum today! Finding am being pulled in many directions and conflicting requirements. Work, family life, family, friends and finances and each one demanding time, ideas and input and simply put can feel the pressure rising.

Monday it was DS1 birthday - he had a wonderful day and on Tuesday I was able to finish his chocolate orange birthday cake. We had a little disaster with the choc fondant topping and had to buy replacement ingredients. Luckily the teen was less concerned it was late.

Money wise - all debts now paid for the month. CC total is currently sitting £207.64 less than this time last month. There is some interest to be applied on one of the cards, estimate this to be around £100 based on last months amount before 13th of the month. Friends are over for the week staying in a caravan. We had a meal last year and it was pricy. I can't really afford it this year and it'd put me back. Is it bad to suggest meeting up for ice cream and drinks but eating our main meal at home? I feel crap tbh but trying really hard to get a little ahead in the debt. Love to anyone facing similar choices. 😘

Made a little bit of progress on the surveys challenge for Aug, currently sitting on £20.92 / £140.27 = 14.9%. Picked up another £3.80 AI video this morning :)

Baileys_Babe

@Queen_of_the_Hive said:

Is it bad to suggest meeting up for ice cream and drinks but eating our main meal at home?

I don't think so, or meet for a picnic, or invite them to yours for a home cooked meal.