Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

beanielou

Wow, that’s quick on the fostering. Mind you where I live there is a big shortage. Someone I know does it.  

Hope all goes well for you tomorrow xx 

Bananabreadyum

Good luck for tomorrow, I hope you get given good groups! 🤞🤞🤞

debtfreewannabe321

Thank you both 🙏🏻 hopefully it will be fine.
I'm up and dressed not quite awake yet though 🤣. My sleep is progressively getting worse. Although DP said that he slept awful last night. He's convinced it's the bed so he's going to try and fix it today.
For the first time in months yesterday my knee wasn't hurting, even after my 6000+ steps and 20 laps in the pool. It is after sleeping on that bed that has done it..move woken up yet again with pain 😒 so look the walking dead 🫣😆.
Anyway my friend is coming to get me in a mo so I'll sign off for now! Hope everyone has a good day. 

slm6002

I hope you have a great first day back

debtfreewannabe321

First day done. Timetable is incomplete 🫣and the two days I have were both changed as we were discussing it 😒🤣. So I've no idea yet.
However the worst group I had last year- two have been excluded, and I don't have the rest of the group I've been promised 🤞🏻. And then I was changed to the other group in January (same course) which were just as bad in a way...I don't think I have them either. But I'm not 100% sure yet.

I actually requested a building close to my house that not everyone likes going to as it's not in town and quite difficult to get to, but I am close by to it and it means not having to go to the main campus which would be nice. Not sure if they will accommodate me but I'll find out I guess.

A student I had last year passed his GCSE  that I supported him with 😍. He's requested me again this year so I think I will have him again (and he's lovely).

Aside from that I don't really have a clue yet. I've just been told to turn up Monday (same as most of us as there were quite a few of us in the same boat) and they will direct me to where I need to go. 

Bit of a wasted day it was a tick box exercise to say they'd done training. We had team building exercises and a quiz. All okay but I could think of a better way to spend my day 🙈🤣.

Anyway I'm home, DD has gone to the gym and then swimming 😳 so will be gone for two hours.
DP went to the shops to buy hardboard to put under our mattress and he's also wanting to buy a mattress topper. It seems we are both sleeping as badly as one another right now 😴. 

I met my friend whom I helped get the job, she spent most of the day with me but then was called away with other new starters half way through. I've sent her the timetable. She's got a nice group so hopefully she'll like it. 
I've got a nice long weekend now to chill and try and catch up on sleep. I'm expecting a fruit and veg box on Sunday and I have a recipe box thing due on Saturday or Sunday too as got it half price so that is meal planning done for the week and I don't have to think about it 🤣.

beanielou

Try & take it easy & be kind to yourself  xx

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all 😃 
Well DP fixed our bed yesterday! He bought a mattress topper and the boarding to put under the mattress (the bed frame sags in some places) it all worked out much cheaper than buying the new bed frame so I was happy with that. The bed was completely different to sleep in. I hadn't realised how uncomfortable it had become. My hip and knee isn't hurting as much this morning and I feel almost refreshed (think I might need a few more good night to get rid of that almost). 

Today I will iron all the washing as some of my work clothes are in there.
Meal planning is done with the food box (I went and had a look which one it was as I couldn't remember and it was green chef- 40% off!) for four days and I've enough food in with the odd box (£18!) coming and what I've already bought for the rest of the week. Might need bread though as I didn't buy any as I thought I had some in the freezer and I think it's all been taken out now. I'll send DP if we do as he buys what's on a list and that is it...
I received my new budget planner yesterday as my old one had run out of space. I have filled out this month's (sept) budget and will get DP to move money across to accounts, I've already done my wages to where it needs to go. 
Also need to move my photos off my phone the ones that haven't yet deleted themselves and put them on a hard drive - mental note, find hard drive!
Also want to go to gym and swimming this weekend. Gym will be my first time since circa 2010 🤣 wish me luck. 
Need to meet up with friend as she's doing my references for the fostering and wants some clarification on a couple of questions so she asked if I could come see her to help her. 
Aside from that not much else planned and this doesn't all need to be done today just before Monday. 
DP and I have agreed to try and have a frugal sept as a bit of a reset and because we have spent money elsewhere and don't have a lot. I've been buying clothes and shoes this last week as DP desperately needed trainers, I needed some new bits and DD bless her has bought all her own stuff lately so I didn't have that cost. She was so made up yesterday when she got paid over £700 for a month's work 😃. Of course at £7 an hour she did work a lot of hours to get that. But very proud of her and I think that wage will hopefully keep her in the job because she was about ready to quit the other week 🫣🤣.

Right off to start my day 😃.

debtfreewannabe321

END OF MONTH ROUND UP

I don't usually do this but this summer has been hella stressful for me and I would like to see where I am at with my budget, my goals, and everything else. I need a boost I also always see September as a bit of a new year for me and always set my new goals around now and these are the ones I usually end up sticking with rather than NY resolutions.

Right budget for this month-

Yearly Bills 
I have paid the car tax and car insurance for the year, around £450 for both. I should get some cashback for that but it's not tracking at the moment, so will leave that a day or two and follow up if need be. (£45 cashback!) That was £80 less than I had budgeted which was a win. I have left the extra £80 in the 'yearly' bills account. That's at around £200 now, I do need to get a chimney sweep in soon so there is money there for that now. Unsure if we have any more yearly bills now until next year....but I will keep adding to it so it is ready for everything next time something is due. 
So far on my list I have:
Green bin
Car tax (x2)
Car insurance (x2)
MOT (1)
service (1)
boiler service
chimney sweep
log delivery
House insurance
Prime membership

I have been adding to this as the year has been going on, I am sure there is probably more to add but I can't think of anything else at the mo. I add £150 a month to pay for these bits and so far it has been covering it, but now we have two cars it might not be enough 🤔.

September's budget
Money has been moved around, we have £214 in the emergency fund at the moment. So not too far to go till I reach my first target (determined to have that £300 in there before the end of the year ) 
£200 has been put aside for the OP. 
£600 ish in the gift fund for DS1 birthday, DP in Nov and then xmas (have a few more paydays to top that up anyway, hoping to have £700+ there for xmas.

I have spent way too much before the month has even begun 🤦‍♀️ so the money I transferred back out of the EF to pay for the extras on the extension I have been using. The bill was paid, we had around £600 left- and i have been using that to pay for food as we ran out, also some trainers/ clothes and fuel. MUST STOP> no more spending until sept at the least....!!!

Extra income

I have started doing surveys again, now I have a quiet house it's much easier- I can concentrate! I am up to £4 something and have a few quid pending. I will use this to top up the EF or send as OP maybe a little of both.
I have also made a few good sales over summer from sofas, to excess bits lying around the house, to clothes. Mostly the money has been recycled back into home budget and spent on new bits that have replaced the old, but that was fine as it wasn't out of our budget.

Personal Goals/ life
Well it was a hard summer, DS moved out which I have since found out was completely pre-meditated, mum (me) was the last to know. It feels reminiscent of my marriage to be honest, I was always the last to know then too. I have good and bad days regarding this. I had DS2 under my roof for 16 years and then *!!!!!!* like magic in some ways it is like he never existed, he doesn't answer my messages and if I ring him I have a teams call it feels like with DS, EX, his GF and whomever happens to be in the room with them. I don't like that so I don't call, and then I am told, I have been ignoring him and I am a bad mum.

I have joined the gym. I have been swimming at least twice a week, sometimes three, since joining. I hope to keep it up as the weather gets colder. I am also going to the gym later on for the first time. I intend to do some resistance training (whatever this is) to help my joints. Energy levels are even worse, I know this happens when you get into a new routine though so I am persevering with it. The after exercise exhaustion is awful and I keep reaching for snacks like I have never eaten before which won't help my weight. I am hoping once my body is over the shock of exercising regularly I can then cut back on snacking (it's not that awful actually, I mean I will come home and have a couple of bags of crisps so it could be worse).

Work was amazing. Because I wasn't there I am back Monday, so hopefully it will all be okay as I have an empty timetable right now. 

My kitchen is usable and lovely after months with a teeny tiny falling apart one. No plumbing yet but we just go over to the old kitchen and use that tap, it's not a biggy at the moment although I feel it may become a pain eventually. DP is back at work so work on this might be slow.....The house is feeling more calm now, things are finding their rightful homes again and also DS toxic skulking energy isn't here.

DD has completely come out of her shell this summer following on from that. A mix of DS not being here and her new job. I feel sad that DS had made DD so small for so long...  

I have ummed and ahhed over the fostering and I took the view of, if we don't try we will never know, so we signed up and are going through the process. DP is worried about his references from his ex this is why it was halted before. But we will try anyway. If we do manage to get through this could be a new career /lifestyle choice for me. We've been asked if we would consider siblings as our spare room is quite big, and we said yes. If this happens, I could quit my job eventually as we would definitely have enough income.

Income has dropped because of no maintenance, oddly I was sort of living without it anyway in preparation for it dropping next year. It was all going into savings in one way or another. So we have enough to live on and still save, just not as much savings as before. 

Goals going forward:-

• Continue with the gym/ swimming
• get into a better sleep pattern somehow
• get that emergency fund up to £300 then £500.
• Continue down the fostering route asap 
• a few house jobs need doing so we can be signed off as having a safe house for foster kids (new smoke alarms, chimney swept, boiler service and lots of other little bits need looking at to make sure we have it all done- lots of this we have but we need to go through the list).
• Finish the kitchen
• Make the old kitchen area safe/ nice enough to live with until we start the next phase of building works on it.
• Decide what we are doing with the patio area  as it was ripped up for the extension and there is a HUGE step out of there onto the garden at the mo which I nearly keep falling down (so clumsy) we need a step of some sort.
• Tidy garden and greenhouse for end of season as and when things start dying back
• Plant more in the garden next year, so need to decide what I want to grow and actually plant seeds in pots at the right time next year  
• Book a holiday. 
• Try and get all my children under one roof for Christmas....it's not looking good at the moment. If it is a total no go I am debating a few days away OVER christmas which I have never done before.......

Think that will do for now so overall things are going ok. I have had my ups and downs as we all do and I think I am doing okay with them. I have bad days and good days, and the good days outweigh the bad ones so that is all that matters to me. Aside from menopause I am fit and healthy really. I have a job which is secure. I have a home which we can afford and we have food in our cupboards (finally that was a bit iffy all of august) I am even making regular overpayments on the mortgage even if not life changing....they are regular, so overall very grateful for everything. 

dawnybabes

I’m sure the fostering people have had references from exs before that aren’t positive ! 

KajiKita

Yearly bills: life insurance if you don’t pay it monthly? Car breakdown cover?

Interesting that you feel that DD has bloomed BECAUSE DS has moved out / detached himself. What was going on between them that had that effect?

I think you have made OODLES of progress this year and should be very proud of yourself! 😊👏

In terms of goals - having the bed be more comfortable will help your sleep patterns, but I wonder if looking at some of the sleep hygiene factors might be worth considering? You do rather give the impression of going ‘full throttle’ until bedtime and then expecting to fall into bed and crash into sleep. Some downtime / ‘change of gear’ time before bed might help? 

I agree with dawnybabes on the DP’s reference from his ex … 🤷‍♀️😊

KK