MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

I've looked at my monthly budget again today and made some changes. I've increased my gas/electricity payment by £50 a month taking it up to a payment of £125 a month for the winter. I'm still in credit with them but it's under £100 and I don't want to be worried about being in a deficit by Spring. Hopefully, I should get the £150 winter fuel payment again this year but I'm not entirely sure due to the tax credits/UC changes, so I'm not going to rely on it.

I've increased the Christmas/birthdays savings by £50 a month, taking that up to £150 a month from this pay day onwards. Unfortunately I have dipped into the pot again this year when money was tight and so I don't have the full amount I should have saved in it and now it's causing some stress with Christmas and 5 birthdays within the next 4 months, two of which are DS and OH so I spend a bit more on them.

As mentioned yesterday, I've also designated a holiday/fun pot and have earmarked the previously dormant Premium Bonds (PB's) account to stash funds into. It has £100 in there at the moment and I've set up a standing order to pay £125 a month into it. £300 a month will be sent to the EF and I've also set up a standing order to overpay my mortgage by £100 a month. Knowing I'm overpaying a bit sits easier with me. I'll also be rounding down any odd/annoying numbers when I can!

So, from payday onwards my savings will look like this:

£150pm to the Car/house pot (this covers house/car insurance, MOT, tax and maintenance). 
£300pm to the emergency fund
£150pm to Christmas/Birthdays
£125pm to the holidays/fun pot
£40pm to DS's clothing/school stuff pot
£25pm to DS's Junior ISA (he's way richer than me!).

+ £100pm to mortgage overpayments.

I've based the above on my basic salary so any overtime earnt will be extra (although I doubt this will be offered at work for much longer). I've also not included any UC in this as I have doubts as to whether I'll still be eligible. If I am, anything else will be a bonus and will likely be added to the car/house pot to up that payment a bit. Hopefully the transitional protection will be paid at least. 

The credit card can be paid off with the money currently sitting in my Christmas/birthdays pot but it will more or less empty it so I will hang on for now. I have 56 days interest free period to pay it off although a large chunk of that pot will go towards it. This months overtime (around £180) will top the pot up too.

One of the orders came today and I need to collect the second from a collection point. I forgot I'd ordered two items for my sister - one for her birthday and one for Christmas - so that's two more gifts sorted at half the price. My bargain walking boots (£27) fit lovely too.  

I made a big pan of soup this morning with veg that was in the fridge and needed using up so that's my lunches sorted for the rest of the week. OH is going to pick up a bowl for his tea too.

MeandO

I collected the other order and the boots look like they won't last 5 minutes and aren't worth the money so they're being returned, along with a top and a second pair of boots I ordered for size. That will be just over £110  back on the CC but I do still need to find some boots to replace my holey, stitched up ones I'm wearing every day atm. 

MeandO

Some turkey mince from the freezer has been turned into a huge pan of chilli Mac n cheese from the pinch of nom budget book tonight. It’s fed 3 of us and there’s another 3 portions which have gone in the freezer. I had lost my way a bit with my diet but am back on track the last couple of days. It feels good to be more in control of my eating and planning meals again. I’m not hopeful for any weight loss at SW this week but hopefully next week will bring a better result. 

I put the heating back on again for an hour or so tonight to take the chill out of the air. It’s been pouring down for most of the day and the house just didn’t seem to warm up today. I’ve been in a thick jumper and slippers all day but want the house warm for DS. 

I’ve just realised I’m down to my last 5 tea bags  . I only drink decaf tea and the price of it in the supermarkets lately seems to be astronomical so I’m going to see if I can buy it online anywhere at a better price. I think I bulk bought it on Amaz0n last time so will have a look shortly to see if it’s any cheaper there still. Exciting life I lead, eh?!

MeandO

I dropped the return parcel off at the drop shop on the way back from taking DS to school this morning so hopefully that refund will be credited soon and make the CC balance look a little less scary. The tea bags and two birthday gifts were paid for with the CC last night but that will be paid off when I get paid.

I've finally got round to listing DS's too small sports boots on Vinted this morning, hopefully they'll sell and make a few £'s as they've not been used much.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hi Meando, long time no read! I caught up on your previous diary after a hiatus, and have popped over here to catch up! As always, you do so well, even though life throws so much at you! I am really pleased you have booked a lovely holiday for you and DS, you deserve it, and you need time out too! 

enthusiasticsaver

Great that you have some fun things planned. Well done on sorting out Christmas presents.  I have not started yet but money is waiting to pay for them so not totally disorganised. 

I have sorted out my savings pots too for holiday 2024, christmas 2024 and car expenses.  Emergency fund already sorted. 

MeandO

Thank you Aimingforthegoodlife, nice to 'see' you again I hope life's treating you kindly. 

Great organisation too, enthusiasticsaver and thanks for stopping by. I just need to not dip into the pots on months when I've not stuck to my budget too well. I'd like to get my EF up to £15K before I'll feel more at ease about coping with what life can throw at me, but it's on the way up at least. I feel happier now knowing I have a separate pot for holidays etc rather than taking it out of the EF savings pot each time. That may seem daft as it's still all savings but it makes my mind rest easier! 

MeandO

I've struggle to get going with today. I'm a bit tired as I didn't sleep too well so that's probably why. I'm going to try and recharge my batteries a bit this weekend and have no real plans other than taking DS and a couple of his friends out tomorrow for a few hours. OH and I plan on having a lazy weekend at my home or his when DS is with his Dad too. I think we both need a quiet (and cheap, preferably free!) weekend.

I must be feeling on quite an even keel though as a situation arose this morning which annoyed and disappointed me greatly, but I've given myself a bit of time to think my reaction through and I've put things into perspective. I've managed to avoid a knee jerk reaction from myself so I'm quite pleased. I feel like a bit of a calmness and acceptance has descended on me but I have no explanation as to why! 

SW last night resulted in 1lb gain for me which I'm actually OK with as I hadn't been in the zone with eating well for a couple of weeks so I was expecting a lot worse. I really enjoyed the chat we all had last night and feel like I've got my focus back now. We also spoke about how eating well or eating junk can affect your mental health last night too. It was really interesting and I recognise that my mental health and mood is much better when I am eating well and in control. It's definitely a positive for me, mentally and physically. I have also made a few like-minded friends in the group and we keep in touch throughout the week. I am loving having a few laughs and making plans with people again as I have very little interaction with people WFH all the time and not having family or many friends in this area. 

Moneywise, I have tomorrow's day out for DS and his mates to pay for (I offered, I should've waited until after payday but felt like he needed a bit of a boost at the moment) and I need to get some grocery shopping - fresh fruit, veg, milk, eggs, bread etc. No meat or freezer foods are needed as my two little freezers are full! I might take a big joint of turkey that was a previous YS out of the freezer and cook it on Sunday. It will free up lots of room and really needs to be used soon. There will be loads left so I can make some curries and risottos etc with any leftovers. Lunch today will be leftovers of a SW friendly meal I made the other night; DS is at his Dad's so it's just OH and I and we've planned to have some fish (from his freezer) and veggies. I've also frozen a portion of the curried butternut squash soup I made this week to have for lunch one day next week. I might pick up a cheap pumpkin if I see one and make some pumpkin soup for next week's lunches too as I'm really enjoying some home made some again.

MeandO

I just listed an item on vinted which sold within about 30 seconds! Makes me.think I listed it too cheap, but it's still money coming in and an item cleared. I have plenty of bubble wrap and packaging to reuse from deliveries I've received recently, so that won't cost me anything to send either.

I've finished work for the day and am sat on my bed under my big blanket, reading with a cuppa for half an hour. It's lovely and warm but I think I may have to put the heating on for an hour later as the house feels really cold today.  

MeandO

Two more items sold on vinted over the weekend making £30 for the 3 in total. I need to package them up ready to send off tomorrow. 

I’ve also made just over £60 on a free spin offer since yesterday. I’ll send it to the CC this week as an extra payment towards that. 

Grocery shopping from Ald1 cost just over £37 this morning which I was pleased with considering the amount I had in my trolley. We now have lots of lovely fresh produce for the week. I also bought another butternut squash to make some more soup for my lunches this week. 

DS came back from his sports activity this morning head to toe in mud! I had to strip him off inside the front door and wring the mud out of his kit before taking it through the house! It’s all been washed and is on the line, and because the weather seems to have brightened a bit, I have another load just about to finish and peg out in the hopes of drying a little. I’m going to run a washing machine cleaner thing through the machine afterwards, after all that mud.
DS is off to his Dad’s later so it’s just OH and I for tea tonight. I’m cooking nasi goreng and picked up some 30% off stir fry veg from Aldi this morning to go in it too. There was also a 30% off pack of beer battered cod which has gone in the freezer for a night when I can’t be bothered to cook.