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.