The final countdown to June 2026

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all,

Today has been a disappointing day so far. I failed to prepare for my gym session this morning therefore, it didn't happen 🙄. 

Then Mr Ck called to say a light had appeared on the dashboard in the car, he went to the garage and was told its a £500 job to fix ..ouch 😖. We have no choice, it has to be fixed. Between his tax bill and this Mr Ck's reserves will all be gone.

I currently have £646.68 in my car/insurance pot l will add the next two months water rates money and council tax to this. My car tax is due at the end of this month, home insurance in march, car insurance beginning of may and MOT, service in the summer. Its an expensive business running a car isn't it.

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

Hope your staying safe and warm. 

Its been a snow day in the CK household, kids schools are closed and older children WFH. 

It's been quite productive, l had some sad looking peppers and courgettes  so l made two lasagnes for the freezer, and a cottage pie with some of our xmas cheap veg for dinner.  

Mr Ck and l watched homes under the hammer in the morning, which prompted the "are we going to buy another property" conversation. It seems like we are both on the same page and another development isn't planned atm. 

That said, I've taken the opportunity to have a closer look at our finances, last years success was built on having various pots of money saved in advance ie a holiday fund, car fund, utility bill etc. These pots covered planned expenses and allowed for the occasional treat.

This year we begin the year with car / insurance fund mentioned above. Plus £500 remaining in the holiday 2025 budget. That's it...realistically, to try and get a balance and actually live a bit we cant throw every disposable penny we have at the mortgage.

Instead the plan is to;  spend a little, save a little to build the EF up to £10k and clear the mortgage. This wont happen by June, but hopefully still within 2026. 

carboot_karaoke

Oh l forgot to say that Mr Ck managed to fix the dishwasher  😁 .

It became clear that my role was to cheer from the sidelines and provide a well earned beer at the end. 

South_coast

The supervision of any job is always the most important part 😀

carboot_karaoke

South_coast said:

The supervision of any job is always the most important part 😀

Haha yep I totally agree 😅

carboot_karaoke

Today has been a very enjoyable one. 

I managed to get to the gym this morning,  it was nice not to rush the workout but I feel sure l will be aching for the next few days.  

Youngest Ck has been asking since before xmas to go shopping so l finally took them.  We had a lovely time and a few treats the one to one time is priceless.

I brought a new dress perfect for our holiday reduced from £26 to £7, gym tops x 2 for £4.50 each and a blouse reduced from £20 to £10. I did also have a few gifts cards with random amounts on. So total actual money spent is £9 exactly 😁 l''m happy with that. 

I text my friend to confirm our lunch date next week. We're going to a restaurant that does a good lunch time menu offer two courses for £20 so hopefully l won't spend more than £25.

The hairdressers called to say my appointment has to be changed. I've moved it to the 30th ideal as it's also payday so was going to be in town anyway. I'm hoping to complete our holiday shopping by then ready to get packing. 

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon everyone,

Yesterday was another chilled day in the CK household.

I went to the gym first thing, did some jobs round the house and made some bacon and lentil soup which l had for my lunch.

This mornings commute was a nightmare took me nearly 3 times the normal time to arrive.  Heavy traffic, followed by a road closure and long congested diversion 🙄. I suspect that is going to be a daily occurrence this week.  

But I'm trying to stay positive i just packed my gym bag and lunch ready in the fridge for tomorrow and set the alarm for a 5.30am start 🙈. So planning on an early night.  

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

The last two days have gone by quickly. I made it to the gym Tuesday morning at 6am 😇. After checking Waze it looked like my commute would be ok...errh nope 90 mins later l arrived. Work was super busy not helped by my lateness.

Today l went to see my parents and found out the carers have stopped coming, since today which would explain why my mom was still in bed. She receives some benefits so she has to source and pay for support herself. I will have to investigate further but in the meanwhile I'll have to go back to showering her myself. Not ideal 😒 but needs must.

This afternoon l had a lunch date with a friend it was lovely to catch up. We went for a walk followed by a delicious lunch, total cost was £24 as expected but worth every penny. 

In other money news my SIL has signed up to Octopus energy so if all goes through that's another £50 credit onto our account. Should cover our hot tub use over Xmas.

carboot_karaoke

Evening all, 

The last few days have been busy.

Thursday l managed to get to the gym nice and early and got to work on time, by taking an entirely different route to work probably helped that l left at 7.10am and traffic was lower than normal. 

I had to take my car to the garage and to cut a long story short ive left my gym bag in the boot of the car 🙈 I'm gutted I have spare gym kit but no headphones l couldn't possibly listen to myself huffing and puffing on a treadmill. I will try to find a solution and l should get my car back on Monday. 

I had another look at our finances for the coming year basically each month we will split the disposable income between mortgage overpayment and savings.

It means progress is feeling very slow this month 🙄 and payday is still two week's away!!, Although, l need to remind myself we have paid the loan off. We did receive a bit of money £250 from Ck3 on Friday which I have added to the emergency fund.

Total now stands at £3750

carboot_karaoke

Morning all,

After a lovely weekend and a better commute l arrived at work to the news that the bathroom window in the rental property is broken and my car might need a new windscreen 😢 not a great start to the day. 

On the plus side l made it to the gym yesterday and l also sorted out some holiday things. In the loft l have complied the toiletries bag (shower gel, shampoo, conditioner), the medicine bag (painkillers, diarrhea relief, antihistamines, etc) holiday toiletries (mosquito repellent and sun cream) plus laundry handwash and softener. 

I hate this job so i'm pleased with myself for getting it done. Only 4 weeks to go ☺️ would you believe the price of the holiday has increased +£1,100 to the price we paid,  scandalous.