MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

Everything I posted on vinted yesterday has sold already with one last sale (£2.50) last night. All but one item have now been posted, the last one has to go to a different drop off shop which I'll do later today. All of the parcels have been sent using recycled packaging too, I can't remember the last time I bought mailer bags. Don't worry, there's no cut up cereal boxes, food tubs or crazy wrapping here! It's mostly @mazon card envelopes as OH has a lot and saves them for me, and a large plastic mail sack that a new XL doormat was delivered in has been cut up into smaller sections and will cover around 6 smaller packages. Waste not, want not.

I've raided my birthday card stash for 5 cards for birthdays coming up this month, all at 'home' so I'll take them with me when I go there later this week to save on postage. I need to look out for some more birthday cards to refill my card drawer when I see some good offers as I've nearly run out now.

I've taken prawns out of the freezer for tonight - prawn risotto won. There's not much fresh veg left other than potatoes, onions and a couple of peppers but I'm not buying any more as DS is away next week and OH and I will be too. There's a bag of frozen baby corn, green beans and, I think carrots, in the freezer so I'll use some of those in the risotto tonight. There's not a lot of risotto rice left either so that needs to be added to the shopping list, but there's plenty for one portion for DS. I'll have a jacket potato as there's several of those to use up. Poached eggs on toast last night hit the spot!

I have to go into the office for a while tomorrow so there'll be more petrol used than normal. There's free parking so no parking charges to contend with. The car will need filling up with petrol in the next few days but as I'll be doing a long drive at the end of the week I'm waiting until nearer then so it is full for the journey.

I need to call the water company now. Despite telling me they're massively increasing my bill from this month they've taken a random amount out of my bank which doesn't tally with anything listed on the bill. Whilst I'd like to pay less, I don't want to be stuck with a huge bill when they say I haven't paid enough... 

MeandO

Water bill mystery sorted - I paid £17.77 on receipt of my last bill as it said that was what was outstanding so they've deducted it off this month's DD rather than just allowing me to clear the bill.  I've sent the extra I had allocated for this month's water bill to the mortgage, along with a little bit that was left over after filling all the 'pots' for the month to make a £25.74 OP. The v!nted money will follow that when it's cleared and any other funds I can generate this month.

The mortgage interest is well under £100 a month @ £90.81, although I appreciate it was a 30 day month so is also a bit lower.  That equates to just over £3 per day. The mortgage now stands at £52,091.86. It would be great to be able to clear that £91.86 before the end of the month.

in_need_of_direction

i'd be aimimg for £91.87

MeandO

I think all the 9’s would affect my inner OCD, INOD! 

MeandO

I was hoping for a NSD today but we needed milk and eggs (I buy them in 15s as DS eats 3 every morning for breakfast) and I picked up a small tub of (own brand) ice cream for DS as we didn’t have any left. How it came to £7.18 I don’t know, managed to get it down to £5.98 with 2x60p off coupons I ‘won’ on the &sda app in the past month, but still… 

I posted the last remaining v!nted package too, now to wait for them all to be delivered and the payments cleared so I can pay a bit more off the mortgage.  

MeandO

Morning lovely Money-Savers.

I've been MIA for a few weeks as we've all been away. DS went abroad with his father (I have a few more grey hairs, but he had a good time and came back safe, thankfully), and OH and I went on a little UK break we booked months ago after visiting my family for a few days. I can't say either of us relaxed much, I think it took us both a week for some of the stress to fade, by which time it was time to come home. It was also too hot to venture far from the air conditioned accommodation and I found the location and driving all a bit too much hard work. I was actually glad to get back to my little house. We kept spends to a minimum as breakfast was included each day and a stunning evening meal on the first night. The rest of the meals were either in a local 'Spoons' and we picked up some TGTG bags/picky bits from the supermarket for a picnic type sandwich/pasty/bakery packed lunches out or eaten on the balcony in the evenings. We had one meal out at a lovely place which cost a bit more (£40 for two of us), but was well worth it and my parents had kindly given us £40 to take ourselves out for a meal so that's what we did. OH kindly covered all of the petrol costs and I did the driving as he is struggling with driving far at the moment due to a medical condition he is undergoing tests for. All that being said, this month's budget is not looking good and I'm only two weeks in. There have been more extensive costs to pay for DS's sporting event (£500 ) which I have currently had to cover as the ex claims not to have the money and there was a deadline to pay by or DS wouldn't be able to participate. He told me he has been made redundant, but we work for the same establishment and I have since seen his job advertised - it appears he didn't pass the probationary period. He has, however, found himself a new job so I am hoping to receive his share of the money soon. No doubt it will be spread over several months though. 

I also ended up buying DS supplies for his holiday, such as toiletries, a few clothes he was short on, sun cream etc, which all added up. I gave him some spending money too, otherwise he wouldn't have had any and I wasn't entirely sure if he would end up having to buy some of his own food/drink. Luckily, I had euros left over from a previous weekend to Ireland a few years ago so didn't have to buy any, but they were earmarked for the upcoming sporting trip which is overseas so I will need to buy more in the next two weeks. My parents kindly sent him 50 euros too so he went away with 150 euros and came back with 50 which he's put aside to take away with him soon. 

The service light has also come on in my car, reminding me it's due for the next service soon which is an 'expensive one' according to the mechanic I try and use. I'm aware I'll probably need two new tyres and possibly brake pads/discs in the near future as well. There's £1200 saved in the car account presently, I'm just praying it covers it with a decent amount left over.

Ds is on a school trip to a theme park 5 hours away today, paid for a while ago (£65). He has paid for a 'pass' himself using his savings to get on rides quicker as they will have limited time there and all his friends have done the same. I thought that was extortionate at £60, but he paid for it himself and I can see the sense in it. I did apologise to him that I couldn't afford to cover that at the moment but he said he wouldn't expect me to anyway as I've paid for so much else for him lately. He's a good kid. I have sent £20 to his account for some food and drink today though as that won't be cheap. I've also bought packed lunch items for him but he was less enthusiastic about those than a burger or whatever he can buy out!

The only thing I am doing 'ok' on is the groceries budget as we've been away. I had to do a BIG shop when we got home as I'd really run supplies down, but I will try and make that all last as long as possible. All we made need this week are more eggs.

This is DS's last week in school before the summer and I am a bit scared about the extra costs associated with the school holidays. We don't have a holiday or break planned other than going to stay with my parents and DS has said he doesn't want me to book anything, he just wants to do things we his mates now which is fair enough, so I won't have the extra costs of a break to pay for but it's the extra groceries and subsidising any activities I need to try and keep in budget.  It just feels like there is something new (and pricey) to pay for every day at the moment. 

MeandO

I'm making the most of the sunny weather today with two loads of washing done and drying on the line. My peg bag broke whilst hanging everything out this morning so need to try and fix that rather than buy a new one.

Yesterday was a LONG day after only a few hours sleep the night before and I'm exhausted. I'm trying to eat well, drink plenty of water and get an early night tonight. Last night was an unavoidably late one due to DS's school trip being several hours late returning. DS is also exhausted, I felt slightly guilty sending him to school this morning he was that tired, but hopefully he'll be ready and willing to get to bed early ish tonight too.

New t'internet was installed yesterday which turned out to be a pain in having to change internet settings on all the gadget and gizmos, some of which were having none of it, but I got all I can think of, done. It means considerably cheaper bills now for 18 months anyway so I'll take it.

£38 spent on a(nother ) pair of sports boots for DS, but these were reduced from £86 so a good buy. He shouldn't need any now for a year as long as his feet don't get any bigger... he is already taking a size 12.  His shoes size will soon be greater than his age! 

Newstartforme

Hi Meando , glad that you managed to get a little break while your son was away . I think in general with children some months the spending is never ending but thankfully you get a few quieter months where you can save a little.  Your son is doing so well with his sports ! Just been through the Internet change as well , worth it to save a little I suppose x

MeandO

Thank you Newstartforme, I'm still waiting for one of those quiet months this year!  Hope the internet savings are plentiful for you too.

I have a poorly DS at home today with a virus which I think has been waiting in the wings for a few days but has now unleashed the full act of coughing/sore throat-ness. Unfortunately neither of us slept well due to DS coughing last night so didn't get the sleep we were both in need of. DS is resting in bed watching videos whilst I work. 

I'm aiming for a NSD today, there should be no need to spend anything today. I had to pop out for a few bits we'd run out of yesterday - eggs, salad and fruit. I'd normally nip to &sda when I don't have much time, but decided to go to the local Ald! to see if it had improved (the fruit & veg was never that good there), as it had recently been refurbished. I was pleasantly surprised and also managed to pick up some large vine tomatoes at 50% off, sourdough crumpets (OH's fave) at 30% off and 2 large packs of chicken thigh fillets at 30% off. The latter were on my 'next week's list' as I'd just found a chicken dhansak recipe I wanted to batch cook make which required thigh fillets and they're usually quite expensive. I've split them up into portions and they're in the freezer, along with the crumpets for OH.  I was pleased with the quality and quantity of food for the quantity of £'s! Plus they now have self checkouts so no need to wait in a ridiculously long queue as there was only ever 3 checkouts there previously and only ever one or two open at once no matter how busy it was.

I forgot to mention, but I listed several items on v!nted at the weekend - all DS's clothing he has grown out of or he won't wear. Much of it was new or hardly worn. I had one sale for £8 which was sent off a couple of days ago and for which I've already received the money, a second bundle was bought for £30 this morning so I need to pack and send that off. I'm a bit wary as the buyer has no feedback so will take pictures and video the packing process to prevent being scammed. Terrible to think like this, but I have heard of people being scammed a lot on vinted lately with buyers falsely claiming items weren't included, were damaged or different to that sent. It's a shame people can't just be honest.

I caught up with YNAB last night and re-assessed the upcoming sports trip fund. I have saved/made enough to cover everything for DS's costs but will unfortunately have to take around £500 out of my ISA to cover my travel costs. I may have to re-asses the mortgage OP/ISA savings plan after this trip to try and build the ISA back up a little bit. There will only be around £1200 left in there once everything is paid for and I'd like it to be nearer the £3K mark as my household/car emergencies always seem to be expensive ones!

MeandO

Urgh, so DS has made a 'miraculous recovery' overnight at his father's apparently and has been sent to school. I don't believe a word of it after seeing how rough he was feeling last night, but I can do nothing about it. I have text DS and told him to call me if he needs picking up from school. This is all so he can say DS went to school so is fine to attend 'training' tonight for the sport that the ex is so intent on him doing for his own ego (he is part of the 'management'), not for DS's benefit. 
I won't lie, I am struggling this week with feelings of complete helplessness, feeling like I'm trying to put out several fires all at once and succeeding on none. The prospect of living like this for another X number of years is making the panic and anxiety bubble up inside me like a hot ball in my chest. Everything feels out of reach.
I'm going to try and re-read the Chimp Management book later that was recommended by a counsellor a few years go. I never did finish it, but what I did read really helped at the time.

Today OH is going to help me set my (wireless) printer to the new WIFI details. I'll be darned if I can make it work. I need it to print the label for the vinted items. I also need to pack and get them sent off today or tomorrow as I could really do with that £30.