MeandO's money-shuffling

badmemory

I too have felt cold all day even though the heating has been on as normal.  Even sitting on a hot water bottle doesn't seem to have helped.

MeandO

It’s been an expensive couple of weeks and I was so glad to see payday, but money still seems to be filtering out of my account like water already. New dishwasher was £200 last week, today £150 had to be spent on window repairs. The bathroom one broke and wouldn’t open at all and my bedroom window was almost at the same point so that was fixed too. I guess it’s cheaper than new windows and at least I could cover it with money saved in the house pot. 

£90 has been spent over the past 24 hours on 2 items DS needed - one for sports protection/safety and another item needed. I tried to use £12 of nectar points towards one but it wouldn’t work, so they’ll be used another time. Money for both of these items has been taken out of the school/sports pot which is looking depleted now.

£30 spent today on a treat out for DS as I’d planned nothing at all with him over half term, he’s hardly been out of the house, and I felt bad as most of his friends are either on holiday or out and about doing activities. It was £30 pretty much wasted though as neither of us were impressed and didn’t enjoy it. We were both glad to get home. 

Money has been sent to the ISA, car/house pot, gifts, school/sports  pot, DS’s ISA and the YNAB fee pot as usual this month. Money towards DS’s big school trip has been paid for the month and all bills are accounted for. There’s £136 of the 'no council tax payment' this month which I’ll probably also send to the isa, but will keep it back for now in case it’s needed elsewhere. I may top the house/car pot back up with it, thinking about it. 

I’ve stated to divert the save the change ‘round up’ payments from my debit card spends to the mortgage now too, so a few very small op’s have been made this week. 

Health hasn’t been great, the recent xray on my neck showed some issues and am awaiting an MRI. I’ve also had to stop taking the blood thinners due to issues. Feeling a bit broken and worn out at the moment.

MeandO

Forgot to mention, I’ve started paying AVCs as of this month so was £200 down on my salary, but am hoping UC payments increase this month. I shall find out on 6th. 

enthusiasticsaver

Sorry about the health issues and broken dishwasher. Hope your OH is supporting you too. 

Honeysucklelou2

Hope your DS is on the mend now. 

MeandO

Thank you enthusiasticsaver and HSL2. DS is much better now with hopefully no more scrapes, injuries or illness for a while...

Financially, this month doesn't seem to be any easier than the last. I've spent nearly £90 on replacement school uniform in this week alone although am hoping to get around £30 of that refunded tomorrow as it didn't fit DS and was of poor quality. I'm not sure the company are the easiest to deal with when it comes to refunds though so I'm not looking forward to that task. I've just about managed to cover all of this from the designated savings pot, but it's left just over £15 in there now so I'm praying there'll be no more spends needed for a few months so I can top it back up again. DS's sports boots will need replacing soon too as the current ones are getting a bit snug. I will have to ask the ex to contribute to those though, I can't afford to pay for them in full as they are specialist ones at around £100.  

I seem to have spent a fortune on groceries this month again too. Is it me or has everything jumped up in price again? I need to try and think of a way to reduce my grocery budget as I'm doing lots more top up shops this month which always work out more expensive. Meal planning is the way forward I guess, but I've never been very successful on that front. I am trying really hard to eat healthily too as I have been off the injections for a while now and don't want to put weight back on. Unfortunately it seems to cost a lot more to eat well with fresh produce, fish and meat being on the menu.

My utilities bill went up by £8 a month this month too and I'm holding my breath to see what the astronomical water bill increase will be. I have also seen early indicators of the cost of the council tax rise via work so that's not good either. It all makes me feel like I'm being dragged down a bit to be honest. There seems to be something else to pay for every day and I feel like I'm not far off not being able to afford a lot of things.  

OH and I have been looking for a cheap break for the summer for the pair of us as DS is away with his Dad for a week and we both have the same week off. We just can't find anything though and everything seems like too much money to be spending. I haven't booked anything for DS and I either and I'm aware he's going to have a boring summer if I don't plan a little break for us. We haven't been anywhere for about a year now (and that was a weekend in Manchester!), so I have huge Mum guilt over that. How do people afford holidays though? I seem to be missing a trick. I guess I'll have to take money out of the ISA for it. I did start a school hols savings pot but the drop in income meant that I had to forgo that savings pot.

I've booked the MOT for the car today which is due in a month's time. I'm praying to the MOT gods that it will pass with no issues, but I don't have confidence in this car. It seems to be problem after problem with it since I've had it.
I will also need to budget for a new microwave soon too as the inner coating is coming off around the door on the current one. It's in its 7th year though so hasn't done too bad.

The UC was increased in line with my decrease of salary this month due to the AVCs. It has helped, but  it has been difficult as income sources are now spread out across the month and I need to budget better to ensure there is enough money to pay for everything at the right time.

I listed quite a few things on vinted yesterday with one sale of £4 made already. It won't make me rich but it's a few extra £'s. I also took a black bag full of clothes and kitchen bits to the charity shop yesterday, but probably should have waited as I sorted out another bin bag full last night after repairing a chest of drawers of DS's and going through his too small clothes. I've put a few things aside which I've listed on vinted but the rest will go to charity.

Lastly, I received a product safety recall email for an item bought from Ama$on about a year ago. It is wrapped and ready to be returned for a refund of around £20 but, annoyingly, it seems I have to pay for recorded postage to get it to them. I'm not overly happy about that considering it has unknowingly posed a safety risk to DS or myself in the past year we've had it.

Sorry, it's quite a depressing update really isn't it!

MeandO

The vinted parcel has been posted, alongside the item which has to be returned due to the safety recall and a parcel returned for refund. The latter will see £60 refunded to my credit card and clear the balance, the first two parcels will return fund of around £24. 
I have changed yet more school uniform this morning as I was given the wrong size by the shop and I need to return the three shirts for a refund of nearly £30 later. 

I've checked my AVC fund and the first deposit has reached the fund and is worth £285 now, costing me £200 in wages. I guess my dreams of retiring soon are a bit pie in the sky...  Hopefully it will build up quickly though and is better than any savings account interest I could earn presently. 

A friend I haven't seen for too long called round unexpectedly last night which was just lovely. She stopped for a cuppa and a quick chat, it was good to see her. We used to live in the same street and then would see each other most weeks when I moved, but clashing work schedules and child arrangements mean we rarely see each other these days and I do miss her.

I have a weights class booked at the gym for later, am hoping it shifts me out of the 'grey' mood I've been in this week. I'm determined to get up early tomorrow and go to an early morning class too. It always boosts my mood and I feel so much better for it afterwards, It's just forcing myself out of bed early I have the problem with!

MeandO

I've struggled with money again this past month so am very glad to see pay day. I had to take money from one of my saved pots to cover the last of the groceries this week and a £46 school trip payment which was announced unexpectedly. The ex agreed to pay half of the school trip money so I've been able to pay back the savings pot with the money I borrowed from it and the rest has gone back into the 'school' pot. I didn't have enough in this to cover everything school related this month so had to take money from other categories. I can only afford to save £50 a month into this pot at the moment, am hoping there will be no further school spends this next month so I can at least get the pot back up to over £100, there's just over £57 in there presently which won't go far.

The AVC deductions and not receiving the UC or CB until much later in the month has made budgeting and covering everything very difficult, so today I made the decision to withdraw money from my ISA to cover the total I would receive from UC, CB and another small income of £40 and use that to 'work ahead' a month. This means I will have that amount available to me to budget at the beginning of my financial month which usually runs from the 25th onwards and should take the pressure and stress off a bit. I've found it all a bit overwhelming this month and have felt like I've been robbing several pots just to cover things which then leaves them low and makes me stress about not having the money to pay for things those are intended for. Long term, I'm going to try and drip feed an account so I can save enough money to cover everything for a month in advance so I'm working a month ahead. I would need just under £2500 a month which would cover bills, savings, spending - everything - so that's my goal. I've sent an odd £2.43 to it left over from budgeting and £10 from the school dinner account as I've put £50 on DS's card this month instead of £60 due to the Easter hols so there's £12.43 in it so far. Once the UC, CB & £40 income hit my bank account, they will be sent to the holding account ready for next month. 
There is just over £3300 in my ISA now which I'd allocated as the 'paying off the mortgage' pot, but I'm not doing very well on that front and seem to have to keep dipping into it. The mortgage stands at £57,621.76 so I have a very long way to go. Did I mention the car has started to make an alarming noise too?! It's booked in for an MOT in 3 weeks so I'm hoping it will behave until then and I can get the mechanic to investigate the cause of the noise. In the meantime, I'm trying not to drive it unnecessarily. 

DS has already grown out of lots of joggers I bought him for Christmas and his birthday so he needs at least another pair of those. The old ones have gone on vinted with three items sold so far which will go towards a new pair for him as they cost around £50 each.  I know, I know... I could buy cheaper non-sports-branded ones, but if he won't wear them, there's no point in buying them. Teenagers are not cheap to keep! I am hoping the remaining two pairs sell soon too, I've accepted an offer on one pair but the buyer hasn't actually bought them. I'm not sure why people do that. I do have some other bits I can list, I'll try and make that this week's task.

I also had to finally give in and buy a proper chair for working at my desk at a cost of £90 which my parents kindly paid for as an early birthday gift - my birthday is this week, although I wish I could just forget about it. It's always quite depressing and I get a bit upset. Back to the chair purchase - I have been experiencing more symptoms to a presently undiagnosed condition or range of conditions, but it's looking more and more like an autoimmune disorder or possibly MS and my poor seating position wasn't helping and was causing more pain. I have some specialist tests booked in for next week which will hopefully shed some light.  Every week seems to bring a new pain or symptom and I am shocked at how quickly my body seems to be deteriorating. I'm privately really scared about what the future holds and am praying that I can just be here and able for a few more years until DS reaches adulthood, is independent and hopefully thriving. 

I was also hoping to book a little break or holiday for DS and I this summer but I can't see how that is going to happen as I just can't afford it. I desperately want to make some memories of us having fun together for him. he doesn't seem to remember a lot about when he was young and the fun trips and things we did together.
He is going away with his Dad before the summer holidays though, so a least he will be going somewhere this year. Talking of which, I had the expense of renewing my passport this past month too as mine had expired and if I needed to get to DS whilst he was away for whatever reason, I couldn't. That was £88.50 this month plus £3.95 to post the old one. The photo was awful and it was such a shock to see the old and new one side by side and to see how much I had aged in 10 years. I look at least 20 years older and worn out.  
OH was hoping that we could get away for a week this year too, but I've had to tell him this morning that I can't afford to do much. I feel bad and like a bit of a failure on all sides at the moment tbh. I also don't want to travel much, I feel worn out and in need of a proper rest, the likelihood of that happening though is not high!

I dropped another bag to the charity shop last week and stored the kitchen chair I'd been using at my desk and a spare winter duvet (previously stashed next to my desk) up in the attic to get them out of the way. I've wrapped them both in black bags though as things seem to go mildewy or mouldy in my attic for some reason despite it being well ventilated.

I made the most of the nice weather yesterday and did two loads of washing to empty the washing basket. It all dried on the washing line and was promptly returned back to drawers. Unfortunately DS has half filled it again since yesterday and the weather is not so great today so I'm waiting to see what it's like tomorrow.

The council tax has gone up £8 a month so could have been a lot worse. I'm still waiting on the shock that is going to be the massively increased water bill, but apparently I won't get that until May. Something (not) to look forward to...

Mrs_Money_Penny

So sorry to hear that you have health issues and worries. I hope it’s nothing serious. I know you feel bad at not taking your son away but your doing a marvellous job on your own managing your money and paying your mortgage. Things are so expensive now. Take care xx

Sarahwithlove

It feels like everything is going up just not wages! 

Good move with the AVC though especially as UC are making up the difference. Hopefully you manage to get the budget adjusted to the new wage schedule.