Stopping the backsliding… a family of four no longer living beyond their means

KajiKita

Sounds like an event memories and long standing friendships are made from 😊 Well done to Bambi 👏💪

KK

Bluegreen143

Not sure I have much to report at the moment. Money steadily leaving the account to buy Christmas gifts. Spent just under £30 on lunch yesterday, plus £15 for the taxi home from the train station - I walked there in the morning which was great for my step count, as it’s about three miles away. 

Life certainly feels very busy right now. I really need to be getting more sleep as I’m feeling run down physically. My cold seems to be on the way out, but I’m struggling with the morning alarm clock! An early night tonight for sure. 

I did a cheeky mid week weigh today and I still weigh 11st 2 which is a great result after some indulgence at the weekend. I now have three days to work hard and get some kind of loss this week 🤞🏼. I do really want to be under 11st before Christmas.

I got a £30 Tesco voucher from work, our usual Christmas gift, so I’m planning to put it towards the Christmas alcohol. I don’t want to buy port or baileys too early as Red will begin drinking it now and then I’ll have to buy another bottle for Christmas 😂.

We had someone round to value the house today for the remortgage as we think our broker has finally found us a decent deal 🤞🏼. We’ll provisionally go for this deal but of course if a better one comes up we can change our minds. At least the ball is now properly rolling on it! 

Planned meals today:

B - fat free Skyr yoghurt with a fruit salad 

L - chicken and veg stir fry with rice (I made double so I have lunch sorted for the office now)

D - lentil soup & sandwiches (I’ll have mine in a wholemeal pitta) 

I haven’t planned to use any of my healthy extra A (dairy) allowance today which means if I get nibbly I can have some cheese and fruit too. 

Bluegreen143

Hello everyone! A bit of a brain dump below! 

Have been recovering from a cold the past couple of days and the weather has been grim - frosty, icy, overcast, foggy, dark. So glad I’m starting to feel better this evening as it’s been quite depressing! 

I was in the office today - I’ve been doing well at taking lunch every day I’ve been in there which is good for the waistline and my finances.

Feeling very positive about money at least. I think I’m *nearly* done Christmas shopping, at least. A few stocking fillers and minor things to get for Red and that’s it. 

Had my friend and her two kids round for an impromptu dinner tonight - rescued 3x various side tubs of leftover bolognaise from the fridge, combined them and voila, enough dinner to feed seven 🤣. My poor friend will have a small gap between selling her old house and buying her new one so we may have them to stay a few times over the next few weeks (sometimes just her as the girls will be with their dad). Luckily they are away over Christmas anyway. So stressful for her, can’t wait til she’s got the keys to the new place! Reminds me why we have ZERO plans to move! 

Really keen to sit down with Red and do some chatting about our “rich life” (a Ramit Sethi thing), our goals for the next year etc. Feeling positive that we will be able to grow our emergency fund to a good amount over the next 12 months and I’m keen to take the kids abroad for the first time as well as having a smaller U.K. holiday. I want to think about some smaller goals too though. Another friend of mine was asking a group of us what we are doing for ourselves next year and it made me think that I might like to do a short evening course in sewing at some point. 

In other news, I don’t remember if I’ve said on here (I’ve known for ages) but my sister is having her first baby!! She had her 12 week scan today, it’s great to see the scan and know the baby is healthy so far. I am so ridiculously excited to be an auntie 😍. Red’s nephews were already teens when we met so it’s a first for me and I already can’t wait. 

Floss

Just a suggestion when looking for a holiday abroad to check prices from an English airport as well as your local one for Scottish holiday dates, in case there are savings to be made.

Bluegreen143

That’s a good idea Floss, but I suspect it’s probably not something Red would want to do. He is pretty anxious of flying at the best of times and of course this will be the first time on a plane with the kids so I know he’ll find that hard to contend with. He’s also suffering from a bit of motorway driving anxiety right now which complicates longer distance driving as I’m not terribly keen on driving long distance if I can help it. I really don’t think he will want to make the journey any longer than it needs to be as he will be basically dreading it until we are there 🙈.

I think both of us will probably feel more comfortable considering a destination we can fly to direct from Glasgow (maybe Edinburgh) if at all possible. When we went to Paris for our anniversary this year that’s also how we ended up selecting Paris 🤣. 

smudge56

You also have the option of Prestwick depending on where you are going.  Probably more awkward for you to get to than Glasgow. But it’s a much quieter airport (and border force staff are much more pleasant 🙂)

Bluegreen143

Just been enjoyably buying my own Christmas gifts from MIL - she sent £100 and told me to buy clothes 😅. I’ve ordered two sets of leisurewear (jumper and legging sets) for active/very cold days when my dress-only policy falls down a bit. A preloved dress off eBay and three sets of snag tights. 

On the dress - I got myself a second hand Weird Fish dress off eBay this week (£9.50 inc delivery) which I’m wearing right now and love so picked up similar in a different colour way as part of my gift from MIL.  

I’ll add it all up, I think there is £5-10 left so I’m going to buy a lipstick too ☺️.

Loads to do right now. Whole house needs cleaned & garden tidied before Bambi’s party. Cake needs baked. We’re behind in washing, and have gifts to wrap and finish buying! Also need to post my papa’s gift which may not get there before Christmas. PJs need made as I’ve cut them out and pinned the first bits together but done no sewing yet…

Today I’m squeezing work into the available spaces around the school carol concert (Monkey’s class are in this), making dinner in a rush, then Red is taking both kids to clubs in the evening while I finish work
and clean the house. So. Much. On!

Bluegreen143

Oh and another 1.5lb down so that’s 6.5lb lost in my first three weeks of slimming world 😊. 28.5lb to go til target! 

Baileys_Babe

You are so much further ahead in your Christmas preparations than we are. So far, MIL has a box of her favourite chocolates. What is worse is that I don't even have ideas for anyone else. If we are not careful, panic will be setting in soon.

You have made the money from MIL really stretch, enjoy wearing your new wardrobe.

Both sets of parents have sent us Christmas money, and we have used some of it to replace our cheap and nasty baking and roasting tins. We will use some of it to pay for a streaming subscription for 2025, we only have this because every year we buy it using Christmas money from our parents/grandparents. Each of us will get 1 or 2 presents under the tree. We keep the rest and use it towards holidays, these are often cheap and cheerful UK based, camping, renting a caravan or cottage outside of school holidays.

Congratulations on becoming an auntie next year, I love it, lots of fun much less responsibility. Oh, and congratulations to your sister as well.

wannabedebtfreemum95

Aww the holiday plans sound very exciting! We regularly fly from Edinburgh because there’s just so much more choice. We’ve been to Scandinavian countries the last few years. The cost of living there might be expensive but the weather isn’t too hot and the parks, gardens, outdoor activities are amazing. Happy kids = happy parents. Very short flight times too!