The final countdown to June 2026

carboot_karaoke

I am sat on my break eating a very dull 🙄 although frugal lunch of homemade carrot and coriander soup and a wholemeal cob.

l dragged myself (literally) to the gym this morning. Since the school holidays I've been really struggling to get up and get there. With the darker nights my motivation is even worse but l know if l stick with it i'll feel so much better.

I reassessed our finances over the weekend there is good news and bad news...

Good News
Totaling all the "unexpected money" I've received comes to a very decent £1500 😇 in addition, if my maths is right l could afford to overpay by £1000 less for one of the remaining 9 months and still achieve my target. That would give me a "spend fund" of £2500

Bad News
I'd forgotten about the service charge due on the rental🙄there is a balancing amount due this month and an initial charge in March 2026.  Plus the gas safety check in May 2026. I think it totals about £550 worst case.
There is also an outstanding debt id forgotten about its not urgent and i'm not paying any interest but still means l owe another £694.68. 

If l pay the bill and allocate funds for the service charge that reduces my spend fund from £2500 to about £1255😕 

I had really been hoping l could raise enough to take Mr CK and the kids away for some winter sun but with the scandalous prices you get charged for the school holidays it doesn't seem unlikely. 

I've not ruled it out completely i'm thinking if l can try and get as many Clubcard points as possible l could swap them for Easy jet Holiday Vouchers up to £600 off the price. A company called, Shoppers Thoughts, on the Tesco website offer up to 150 Clubcard points for surveys so i'm going to sign up later. I can also apply for a credit limit increase on my 0% CC increase by Xmas if need be to fund some of the cost.

At this stage its all speculation but even the possibility of something nice to look forward to has lifted my mood and renewed my focus 😊

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

Just signed up to Shoppers Thoughts and earned the grand sum of 50 Clubcard points - that's 50p to you or me, although l have to earn 500 before l can withdraw 🙄 the things they tell you AFTER you sign up.

I have £35.50 worth of Clubcard points at the moment, l spent about £100 worth earlier this year on a couple of meals out (regretting that now). I realise that its unlikely I'll reach the £300 limit anytime soon  but I'm going to save them anyway.

In other news l have just received £360 and paid it off the mortgage. 

New Balance £33,060