Missy’s full time working mum juggling act MF adventure

missymoo81

Have also just cancelled swimming on Tuesday as Roo is poorly, put friend off today too for that reason which has also helped the budget. 

fionaandphil

Sorry to hear about your tax bill.

A couple of other things to consider 
Will you have 2 months without council tax for February and March?
Do you have a balance on your energy account that you could get a refund on for now? As long as you have a months payment left you should be ok
Have you got loyalty points you can use to pay for food? If you're going to Lidl for food, don't forget their app

There are a couple of good FB pages with cheaper meal ideas. I like Feed yourself for £1 a day and  Feed your family for about £20 per week. They have some meal plans for when you are really skint which you might help for a few weeks.

It's a few weeks away yet but keep an eye out for free things to do with your kids over half term. Or plan some fun things to do at home? our always liked movie night with blankets in front of film and popcorn and hot dogs. Your local library or council might have some things too?

Your accountant might have some ideas too. Try not to worry too much, easier said than done but come on here and vent if you need some help xx

slm6002

I've had friends in the past who have not been able to pay on time.  As long as you let the tax people know, you can normally pay it over a number of months.  Yes you will still owe it but you wont need to starve yourselves to pay it.  Please contact them and let them know you need help.  They are there to help

missymoo81

Hi @fionaandphil bless you thank you so much for taking the time to think and suggest things. The kindness of people on here always blows me away. 

And thank you @slm6002 i think you can pay it monthly, but I have another bill exactly the same in July, I would just rather get this all out of the way, rather than having such a huge bill monthly. We won’t starve but I will be tightening the reigns, only for February, and I should be getting a bonus in Marchs pay. So that will help. 

The council tax thing I’ll leave in the account as it evens things out as OH pays more for other things through the year, and we’ve just established his tax bill is even higher than mine and he has also only just got enough to cover it. It’s hit him harder than me, as I’ve lived on nothing/very little before and gone without, but I don’t think In his life time he’s ever been unlucky enough to have to fight for every last penny. He didn’t have children and has been employed since he was 16 and got some inheritance growing up, so he’s always had enough, so this is a real wake up, and he’s really, really struggling at the prospect. He’s gone to bed. I feel for him. It’s ridiculous we’ve both been so stupid, some naivety some head in the sand, but we’re dealing with it now, hopefully without getting ourselves into debt.

I keep anxiously checking my emails and my business bank account to see if there is any news on exact tax or on whether I’ve got any new payments in to help the cause. 

I’m definitely going to list some boots and maybe 3 gym tops and see if they sell on Vinted. 

I like your ideas on half term @fionaa@fionaandphil. I forgot about the library. We love a movie too. And we can make cakes too. Go for walks, there’s the Rec we haven’t been to for ages, and if it warms up the beach for a wander. 

I’ve got this, I will make it ok. 

missymoo81

Ok trying very much to stay positive. But it’s tough today, Roo is ill, OH isn’t sleeping with worry, so is super tired. He’s working this morning. Instead of using his money go buy coffee and breakfast, I made some and he came back for a snack mid morning, it’s hard being positive for everyone. I don’t know if it’s stress or I’m coming down with what Roo has. But I have a constant headache, and a twitch and zero energy. Have managed 2 wash loads and made the children pancakes for breakfast. I helped may with some craft stuff too.

i need to make banana bread and a pie and bits and pieces for tomorrow for lunch boxes. 

Really wish I could shake this headache. 

fionaandphil

Try and relax and look after yourself too, if you're not well it won't help. Make sure you take some time to just do something just for you, a bit of a walk or some pampering perhaps?

We are having a lazy morning as mum has stayed over last night. Sitting chilling and putting the world to rights and trying to count birds for the big garden birdwatch. Perfect for a cold grey day.

missymoo81

Thanks @fionaandphil I’ve tried to have a bit of down time. But sorting children and cooking from scratch has taken a while. I made banana bread, muffins and chicken and bacon pie, and with the left over pastry I made biscuits. I’m very pleased with the pie, although it took ages. I made the pastry with lard which I’ve never done and it was lovely! And the filling I made from cooking bacon, leftover Brussel sprouts from Christmas that were in the freezer, along with some left over chicken. Some carrots and some onions. Everyone loved it! But it did take forever to cook and was eaten in about 5 minutes 🙄.

OH Is trying to chill this evening now as am I. Roo seems a lot better and will hopefully be at school tomorrow. I still feel rough, so I think I’ll work from
home in the morning. Give me chance to do the bits I need to at the post office too. Mostly paying in cash and sending things back. I haven’t managed to put anything on Vinted. Have a mental block with this it seems. But I have managed to do lots of surveys and have £11.50 now pending which will help. May has nits AGAIN though so I don’t know how I’m going to afford the nit stuff. So annoying as it’s so expensive. Need to Google home made remedies! Any advice gladly received. 

I will have to do a top up shop. Really don’t want to but have already used 4 pints of milk since yesterday. It’s because of all the baking etc, but still. Also with OH now not buying his lunch etc, I need to maybe get more bread and cheese and maybe crisps? I still have that £6odd in change and £2 nectar. Think that would cover it. Although children’s dad should be back at some point this week, so the children will go there some of the time, so that should help with stretching the food. 

fionaandphil

Your pie sounds delicious, well done. Makes me feel very lazy!

Have you heard of Parcel2go? Not sure what you're sending but it may be cheaper than PO and you can choose drop off at a time to suit you?  Vinted super easy to use, start with just one thing and my best advice would be to look for something similar so you can see how others have listed and how much for. 

For the nits, you could try the minor ailments scheme from the pharmacy, it may be free? I've not done it for years though. They might be able to suggest something effective. If not. I think tea tree might be worth looking at. I haven't tried this though.

Hope you have a relaxing evening

missymoo81

Thank you re the advice @fionaandphil apparently you can suffocate head lice with conditioner. So I’ll buy some cheap stuff and leave it on for a couple of hours and see if that works. 

And it’s Amazonia stuff I need to send back. We have a nice little post office, it’s just getting there at opening times. But have to do this tomorrow as time limit on sending things back is looming. I will do Vinted. It’s just hard as I have very little clothes and shoes and I wear them all. But I can definitely do without the ones I know would sell and wouldn’t really miss them, As have others similar…. Will think on this tomorrow.

Have got some payments coming in which will help I’ve noticed today. Although I’m worried about OH, as he has to go away with work abroad for 10 days at the beginning of Feb. And he is expected to buy food then claim it back?! That’s great if you have the money in the first place. He can’t have a credit card as he just maxes them out thinking it’s free money, and he knows this so he has managed to pay them all off and get rid of them. So we don’t want another!! It would just be snacks and dinner so maybe £20 a day, that’s still £200. I will see what we can do. Will know more when both tax bills are in.

missymoo81

Ok little things I’m doing, going to do to bring costs down.

Make OH breakfast and lunch instead of him buying it. I will Take banana bread as a snack and make porridge for breakfast and sandwich for lunch, I have a packet of digestives for snacks also. Make a cuppa at work for on the way home so don’t have to make one when I get in (saves on milk and teabags). I have downgraded the children’s lunches to celery instead of grapes and homemade treats instead of shop bought. I’m cooking from scratch, using veggie mince as much cheaper than meat and no one seems to care or notice. Counting out portions to make sure I have enough for the week, stops me eating things absent mindedly.

I’m only buying super market fuel, as it’s cheaper, and will drive sensibly. No eating out obviously. I will try and shop mostly in Mr L as I think it will be cheaper but I also need to look at nectar prices as sometimes they can come in cheaper. I have £8 odd left for this week (we have a packed fridge and cupboards but just missing extra milk and bits). Then I have £150 for Feb for food. Low I know but OH is away for 10 days and I love beans on toast, the children will spend some time at their dads too, so will help on keeping costs down. I’ve done a meal plan. Mostly using cheap veggie mince and cooking bacon and lots of veggies! 

Meal plan for this week in no particular order:

curry
chilli
burritos
stew and dumplings
stew 
pizza
carbonara