MeandO's money-shuffling

Four_Seasons

Hi, hope you are OK, just remember what an a strong, loving amazing Mom you are,  your son is a very lucky lad to have you. Love and hugs xx

Mrs_Money_Penny

Thinking of you today. Hopefully your son has returned in a better mood and your feeling better now he is back home.xx

MeandO

Thank you all for your kindness, I hope you all had a lovely festive break.
I am glad to be out the other side of the Christmas period. It held a lot of upset and felt traumatic at times so I just want to draw a line under it and focus on getting through January now. I can already feel the anxiety in my chest if I let my mind start thinking about next Christmas.

DS is with his father this week. I didn't anticipate him being there for the full week and was initially upset that I wouldn't be seeing him as I had booked time off to do things with him, but on reflection a bit of time to myself and down time from dealing with day to day teenage issues and moods may help me reset and recharge my batteries a bit. I feel incredibly guilty saying that though as I miss him terribly. I has meant I have had time to see friends with OH which has been nice. I have also cancelled the days I had booked off. I debated keeping them and having some days out to myself but don't have a lot of annual leave left so decided to work instead.

With regards to the finances, I got paid early in December but didn't really spend any of it early so am doing ok. I cleared the credit card to start the new year with no debt other than the mortgage. The CC balance meant that I didn't transfer any money to the ISA/EF but have upped my contributions to the car/house pot and gifts pot by £50 each. I have also sent £100 to the holiday pot as well as the usual savings categories which have all had money shuffled to them. I should be able to start paying the mortgage down or throwing larger chunks to the savings when I get paid this month, as long as I keep the CC clear.

I have lost more weight and most of my clothes are now too big for me so I need to sort through what is still ok. Most of my clothes are from charity shops anyway so didn't cost more than a few £'s but I will need to buy some tops in smaller sizes soon as I'm getting a bit desperate for things to wear now. I also need a new coat as the one I have is too big now and has been stitched up and repaired several times. I will look in the sales or wait until spring is on the way and they will hopefully be cheaper.
I was going to stop the weight loss injections due to the cost and some side effects, but got my latest pen fully refunded after an error on the supplier's part so I have one more month's supply for free. The side effects seem to have calmed down now too. I need to lose another stone to get me down to a healthy weight and then keep it off. I will re-asses the injections in a few weeks - I have been sent another £50 off code with my previous supplier too so it will be cheaper if I do continue.

I was kindly given some supermarket gift cards for Christmas which I will use to pay for groceries this month. I've deducted the same amount from my groceries budget and, along with some cash I was kindly given, is sitting in a pot to either save or use as a mortgage OP. I want to see how my new uplift in wages from my pay rise last month will affect my UC payment first before I decide what to best do with it. I should know in a few days.

I have a few hours to myself this afternoon now so I will return an item that DS got for Christmas which was too small, post a little ebay sale made over Christmas and perhaps have a mooch in the charity shop to see if I can find any new (to me) clothes.

Justcrackingonwithit

Great to hear from you, but I'm sorry to hear things have been traumatic for you.  Doesn't sound like it's been an easy time for you. 

I buy all of my clothes from Charity shops too, I can't remember the last thing I bought new, it doesn't bother me at all, I love the fact that I can be dressed head to toe in just a few pounds (always buy new underwear though!!)   I'm sure you'll pick a coat up soon.  I pray to the charity shop gods regularly! 

Look after yourself, and enjoy the bit of time to yourself this afternoon xx

MeandO

Thank you justcrackingonwithit x 

I ended up driving to a slightly bigger town a few miles away so I could bank the cash I had been given. The local bank is now closed on Thursdays for some reason so had to drive a bit further. Now that’s been paid in and combined with the money reshuffled from the grocery pot, there’s now £150 sat waiting to be paid into savings or paid off the mortgage. 

Whilst in the town I looked in 3 or 4 charity shops but unfortunately it wasn’t my lucky day. I did find a few nice things in one shop but they wanted £15 for a 2nd hand top which would probably only have cost that new! They seem to have drastically upped their prices to ridiculous levels so I didn’t buy anything. 

I stopped at an out of town shopping centre on the way home to return an item which will refund £18 back to the already cleared CC. I also bought two new bobble hats as they were reduced to £5.99 and mine is years old and looks worn now. I’m not sure about the new ones though now I’ve got them home so they may be returned at a later date.
Later, I need to pop to the shop to drop a parcel off and also pick one up - my bag has a hole in so I bought a new (to me) one on vinted last week and it’s arrived at the collection point. 

OH is coming over later for the evening which I’m thankful for. I’m not doing so well in my own company at the moment so it will be nice not to be alone. 

badmemory

I always put any cash in via the post office as it hits my account the same day unlike cheques.  Here it is much easier than going into an actual bank.

MeandO

Last night I ordered OH a pair of jeans from M&S for his birthday at a cost of £35. He was going to order them himself as he had some for Christmas and really liked them and wanted a 2nd pair but I offered to buy them for his upcoming birthday instead as I have no idea what to buy him. As £18 was already refunded back to the cleared credit card I only had to transfer £17 from the gifts pot to cover it. I also picked up a sports top for DS for his birthday this week which should have cost me £64  but I had it completely free using app 'loyalty points' I've built up from the sports shop that starts with JD... They had an offer on a few months back for 20 x the normal amount of points on every pound, so I ordered several things for DS for Christmas and received loads of points. I still have another £24 ish to use too so will get him something else for his birthday with that. I've also ordered a sweater he wanted from a different shop and something for his room so am glad to have found a few things for his birthday already, it's usually difficult to know what to buy so soon after Christmas.
I've taken some turkey mince out of the freezer to cook a keema cottage pie tonight for OH and myself, there will be leftovers which I can freeze for DS and I next week too. I have a load of carrots, potatoes and swede to use up from the cheap Christmas veg deals so will try and use much of that up.
Later today I'll be going to Aldi to do a big (for me) shop in readiness for DS coming home on Sunday and for the week ahead. I've used quite a few things up lately and so need to restock the cupboards and fridge. I have gift cards I was kindly given so they should cover the cost. I think I may return the hats I bought yesterday too on the way as that shop is nearby and I'm still not keen on them.

MeandO

I was feeling quite low and tired this morning but made myself get up from my desk when I'd completed the work I had to do and got a few things sorted around the house. I'm feeling a bit brighter now, it definitely helps to keep busy and make a bit of progress with jobs, I need to remember that.
I've transferred all the recycling to the outside collection bins, tackled a bit of black mould which has appeared above the bathroom window  and then went round and sprayed all the edges of the windows upstairs and wiped those down. The shower has had a bit of a clean, I've read the gas meter and submitted the reading, I've started another charity bag, listed an item on vinted and opened all the windows to let the cold, but sunny air blow through. My calendars arrived that I'd ordered - one for the kitchen and one for my office - so I've just sat on my bed as it was the sunniest part of the house and put all the birthdays, school holidays, appointments and house/car insurance, tax, mot etc dates on those. I also noted the dates the CB and UC are paid too so it helps me to see when money is coming in during the months.
I'm off to the supermarket shortly. I will leave the' returning of hats' until Sunday when I have to pick up OH's jeans as the store is in the same retail park so makes sense. 

Justcrackingonwithit

Hope you’re feeling a bit brighter now, it’s been a lovely sunny day here too x

MeandO

Thank you Justcrackingonwithit x