The final countdown to June 2026

beanielou

Ooh love a good baked potato.

carboot_karaoke

It was very nice l have to say @beanielou worth every bit of the 38p l spent on it 😂.

In fact l went and did a big shop today and splashed out on another one to have at lunch.

Today has been super busy, lots of errands to run, food shopping it felt like we had run out of everything, l could barely steer the trolley round the corners. l posted the vinted parcel, went to see my parents and completed our mortgage application.

I must say the process thus far has been much easier than with HSBC. But time will of course tell if that remains the case.

I am just about to hang out some more washing while the sun is shining, then have a quick tidy, run around with the vacuum and prepare dinner before collapsing on the settee.

Have a good day everyone.

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

I'm not sure where the last two weeks have gone 😕. Every time l log on to update my thread l get distracted reading other peoples, whose lives are considerably more interesting then my own 🤣.

It turns out The Mortgage Works are very efficient our application was approved just 4 working days after it was submitted . I assumed that it was subject to a valuation, but that had also taken place. I was pleased, but a little nervous if that makes sense. I also chased up our solicitors who it seems hadn't actually done anything!. "waiting on the sellers solicitors before searches" was the official phrase. I will give them until the end of the week before chasing again. I'm not in a rush, but if we could get the keys in December it would be very helpful with time off over Xmas to clean and paint etc.

Half term is creeping up so this week l will try and book in some playdates (kids hate it when l call them that 😂) or at least a day out somewhere. I find this half term the hardest because the weather is so unpredictable. I do still have £300 in our 2026 hols fund so l could dip into this if need be. Mind you l had to jump start my car this morning, and again this evening. I think a new battery will be needed so some of the fun spend funds, might have to be used for the essential spend funds

In other money news, I have sent another £1450 to the property fund bringing us up to £16,750 l think £20k is doable by the beginning of December if we don't have any disasters.

l have tried to stay money sensible taking lunches to work every day, l have made a jacket potato every Tuesday for the last 3 weeks saving over £20 compared with buying one tomorrows filling is beans and cheese 😊. I also claimed a free £2.50 Sainsbury voucher for downloading the Money Supermarket App, it took me ages to decide what to buy. In the end l settled on a 12 treat size pack of Cadbury chocs the kids will definitely enjoy.

carboot_karaoke

Morning all,

As suspected l have had to buy a new battery for my car £133 😟 for a good quality one including the fitting. Not a great start to the day but l guess its a cheaper and quicker fix then a lot of other car issues.

Currently, I've put the amount on my credit card in the vain hope l can underspend on our food and petrol budget enough to pay for it. However, given that we have a school holiday, several dinners we're hosting and my petrol spend has increased by £30 a month it seems unlikely.

carboot_karaoke

Hi all,

Well that was a nasty commute, roadworks yet again !! on the main road l have to use.

Yesterday was quite spendy, l visited two supermarkets trying to utilise there respective deals. We have friends coming for dinner on the weekend so it always costs more than a traditional shop but, considerably less then eating out. Enroute I popped into my local charity shops and picked up two winter coats at £25 each. I like both but will need to get rid of at least two of my existing coats for cost and space reasons.

I also booked an eye test and dental check up for us all during half term. With the colder weather l also need to buy the kids the school jumper to wear under there blazers and little CK wants a base layer to go under the PE T Shirt. Looks like half term is going to be expensive 😒.

I have also looked into day trip ideas but to be honest l think the kids would probably be just as happy with having there friends round. Last time l brought cans of fizzy pop and ordered pizzas (a rare treat) they were very pleased with me☺️ .

I emailed the estate agents on Tuesday to chase up the vendors solicitors. The reply seemed a little strange…"I have been chasing the onboarding of the vendor with their solicitors and have established this will be concluded by mid - November" . I called up all he could say is this is a distress sale and that the vendor isn't in a position to instruct his solicitors until November 🤷‍♀️ there goes my December deadline. Oh well, l guess it gives us more time to save and therefore less to borrow.

carboot_karaoke

Morning,

I'm not feeling great this morning 😞. I woke up at 4am and between Mr CK snoring and the smoke alarm that started beeping l struggled to get back to sleep until it was time to actually get up. Why is it that my smoke alarm battery always goes at night? ?

Yesterday's commute home was eventful l went to get petrol £72 😱 to fill up a tank that used to cost less then £60 . Then l got stuck in solid traffic, there was a broken down vehicle causing delays, temporary light's and the most shocking driving you've ever seen. I did think if l had a dashcam l could make some money from the footage 😂.

Speaking of money, the rent has been received and for the first time in 4 months its the full amount 😊. I'm going to leave it in the account for now.

I did also email our solicitors last night and asked them to put our house sale on pause until we get confirmation from the vendors solicitors, l dont want to pay out only for the sale to fail again.

Once my working day is over we have fish and chips planned for dinner and a nice weekend with friends planned.

carboot_karaoke

Against all the odds ive actually had a decent day Mr Ck logged me into his Greggs app so l could claim his free hot food item 😁 I chose southern fried chicken strips. He also sorted out the smoke alarm 😇

After dinner we played Traitors the board game version it was hilarious, we're 3 episodes behind the celebrity series no spoilers please 🤐.

Dinner and pudding is made so tomorrow all l have to do is reheat the chilli, cook the rice and make salad and guacamole.

Heading to bed for what l hope will be a good nights sleep.

I forgot to say, now that the Flat is purchase is delayed my thoughts have turned to holidays. It was our 25th anniversary this year and we had money set aside that is ring fenced, we enjoyed a lovely city break earlier in the year but now I'm thinking about some winter sun after Xmas. Cape Verde, Morocco and the Canaries are on the list. Has anyone been to Cape Verde? would you recommend?

carboot_karaoke

Morning all,

I had such a lovely weekend😊 Saturday, was spent with friends in the morning for lunch, then some other friends came round for dinner. The food went down well, literally 😂 but I'm always happy (and a tiny bit relieved when that happens).

Sunday Ck3 had planned to drive into town for an appointment so , l went along with Little Ck we manged to get several winter items and it will save a trip into town during half term. The street parking is free on Sunday so it was a +£7 saving on train fares. I need to tot up money spent which should be covered by the "Kids pot".

Meanwhile, Ck4 was busy at home utilising our 2 free hours electricity from Octopus. We returned home to a roast dinner and freshly baked cake 😋 , the dishwasher, washing machine, and steam iron were all on the go plus phones/tablets charging. I think they might withdraw the offer from us 🤣. My BIL and his wife made an impromptu visit and shared a cuppa and a slice of cake.

Then we took the youngest three children to watch a basketball match they were doing a special offer with kids tickets just £1. We lost the match but for £27 it was excellent value and we still enjoyed ourselves.

This morning it was back to reality, everyone a little weary after such a busy weekend. Looking forward to the slower pace of half term. It felt chilly this morning but Mr Ck is holding the line no heating till November. We are though, allowed our electric blankets at night.

beanielou

Eek to no heating til November.

daisy_1571

Good grief ! 😂 november !

Should heating perhaps not be dictated by a temperature rather than an arbitrary date on a calendar ? Or will he be putting the heating on in November no matter what. Even if we get a lovely late warm spell 🤣😂

We try to hold off as long as we can but a cold damp house is not my idea of fun whether that be an odd day in Sept or October more regularly, so its on as I speak