Life in our forever family home and the mortgage that came with it

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary.  

MissRikkiC

Thanks @beanielou

More money saved today but had to spend some first. £10 on a £50 spend at screwfix (x2 as the code worked twice) but I was buying the stuff already and using the code saved me £20. I maybe wouldn’t have bought it all just yet, but definitely within a few weeks so I’m glad I’m fortunate enough to have the funds available (budgeted for as well) to allow me to take advantage of such offers. Veg patch incoming….

MissRikkiC

Happy weekend, well kinda. We’ve been without power and water since 9pm last night however it’s all just been restored. The water pressure is rubbish but it’s at least running now and the lights are on as is the heating. We’ve stayed out most of the day today and had a roast dinner at a friends so it’s not been too bad, but yesterday we didn’t leave the house due to the weather. The children were exceptionally behaved considering however by today everyone just needed some fresh air. 

On Friday, I collected my orders from screwfix and got home to meet my friend there who had arranged for the hire of a turf cutter for me. £51 wasn’t bad for the day and saved probably 2 full weekend days for 2 people doing it by hand. It wouldn’t have been 2 weekend days because there’s no way we could have done that much work with the children on hand so it feels like it was £51 well spent. It took longer than expected on account of the rain we’d had making the wheels on the turf cutter just spin and get clogged up but it took 3 hours to cut the turf, roll it all up, lay weed suppressant and then drag the remainder of the wood chip, bag after bag, across to the veg patch. I’d briefly considered just taking up the turf but with the rain and storm due I didn’t want it to end up a mud bath so finished off what we could. 

I still need another 2 packs (or approx 30m of weed suppressant wrap) and then another meter3 of wood chip but before that Ideally I need to rotivate the lot first. Anyway, I think the worst bit is now done, other than disposing of the turf! My forearms and wrists are still sore but it’s going to be so worth it. 

Next step, edging to separate the lawn from the veg patch and fencing it off from the chickens/dog. 

MissRikkiC

What a rough week here. Preparing a budget for next year requires me working full time hours and given that I don’t, it’s felt like a lot! 

But we’re at Thursday and I’m not working tomorrow. I’ve popped my son into nursery for the morning so that I can catch up with everything that’s fallen by the way side this week whilst works been so busy. I feel a little guilty at not spending the time with him at home but I figured the time he would spend at home wouldn’t be as fun as at nursery, if I’m trying to get on top of the house which is necessary for the weekend. I have the guest room to prepare for people staying, the house to tidy for family visiting, a set of drawers to make up for the main bedroom, a bed to make for my sons bedroom, a tip run or 2 to do to dispose of my daughters old bed (we used the rainy Saturday last weekend to make her new bed up) amongst a few other bits. 

I wonder if the time I have allows for me getting a hold of the rotavator as well. Probably not. 

Money saving this week has just been the usual, buying stuff pre loved as Christmas gifts, planning Christmas meals with reducing waste in mind, making from scratch and trying not to food shop! It’s going okay so far! 

MissRikkiC

Christmas here has been such a joyous time. The best we have had yet I think, both since the children and before; which takes some beating since I no longer have my mum at Christmas time. 

We saw my family, great friends, my OHs family, more friends and also had some time to spend just as our own little unit and it was just beautiful. It is currently bringing a tear to my eye thinking about it; I’d say that was a feeling of gratitude and something I’ve previously struggled to really connect with. 

I’ve been frugal, in that I’ve purchased yellow sticker stuff which should see us through the month of January, ensuring we retain meat stocks from joints for soup, prep pre purchased cheap veg (although not enough in my opinion) and try and stay out of the shops now. I’m keen to already the start the new year afresh, with a few goals and intentions but also not wishing the time away. 

On Christmas Day, my 4 year old was thrilled to receive her very own gardening gloves from us and all day asked to go and do some gardening. We finally got around to planting red onions, shallots and garlic. Maybe too late for them to be successful but we did it and for the joy it brought her, being outside gardening with me, and therefore the joy it brought me, it will be worth it even if we don’t get a crop. 

Off to make coffee and try and stay on top of the housework! 

LadyWithAPlan

Glad you had such a lovely Xmas - I am sure you can make your budget work - just keep focusing and magic does happen 

MissRikkiC

It will be such a small budget (vs usual) and not one I’ve done with the children both eating quite as much fruit but I’m determined. The money saved will pay for the fencing around the new veg patch if we can manage it. We have that budgeted for but it would be nice to do it otherwise. 

Today my OH went back to work (and will be the same tomorrow) and I had both children so we had a slow morning whilst I cleaned up the house (slowly… rather than rushing to get it done) and then took a flask of tea and some treats to the woods for an explore. Having taken the dog too meant I entertained the littles and got the dog out as well as enjoying some much needed sunshine. Once finished we swung by home for a sandwich for lunch (packed lunch style) and went to the park. 

By 4pm the children were shattered 😆🤣 we’d done 14k steps and everyone wanted to crash on the sofa which was very much allowed. 

If they wake up at 7am again tomorrow it will have been worth the witching hour at 5pm today. IYKYK 

MissRikkiC

Back to work today so used my lunch to money shuffle and sort out various pots. I have good intentions and move around the right money to the right pots but still require better control as to the left over. I so try and give all money a job, but odds and ends all mount up and i feel i should be better at mopping them up, or not squirriling them away for something unassigned. 

I have moved holiday savings and garden savings to the right places. Plus squared away some general savings. I feel like i cant manage with a 'general' pot so it needs a purpose so that i dont do the above. I need to set a few targets and dates for said targets to keep me on track. 

OH is off with the littles today so he's been assiged the job of making banana bread to use up some black bananas and i might even get him to make soup from the bag of frozen veg bits and ham stock i got out the freezer. 

We are currently 9 days into this months Grocery challenge and having spent only £35/£150 so far, i think we're doing okay. Thats been 3 shops of a little over £10 each. Theres milk in, loo rolls and wipes so just need to check the nappy situation to be sure we have the main staples covered. Note how milk (for coffee) came first

Now, off to sort TV license which is still registered to the old house - heres hoping i can just transfer it over. 

MissRikkiC

2 work days done and it was actually the easiest for a while. I should give plenty of credit to my team for that. 

Today I researched a few ways of making compost bins and checked the cost if I was to make them from new timber. I posted on a local Fb group and decided if I could get my hands on some pallets this weekend I’d build one rather than buying new materials. Needless to say, for free, I have sourced some pallets and can go back for more tomorrow to get the rest of what I need, so approx £150 saved. 

In addition, I’ve asked a local farm if I can have some of their horse muck so will be sending my husband out for that tomorrow morning 😆 that should be enough to sort the beds before the summer. 

Just the fence to go, I have priced that up roughly, choosing the cheapest option (buying pales and rails rather than panels and rails) and will see if I can get a bit of money off if I pay in cash 😆 

Veg patch incoming. 

MissRikkiC

Veg patch update:

This weekend I really wanted to get the turf I pulled up about 2 months ago, shifted out of the way, so that I could build the compost bins having secured a large number of pallets over the weekend as all of the turf was stacked there. (Free pallets of course) 

I could have moved it to somewhere else but it would have meant then handballing it again at a later point so I enlisted the help of my friend who’s OH has a trailer and we loaded that with the turf. He will dump that in a heap (along with some of their own) and is making a mound to then build a tunnel for the children underneath. 

Now I have the pallets I can build the compost bins. Will source cheapest price for the fence this week to keep the chickens out and I might be able to start, if I would just stop raining/snowing a bit! 

Meals yesterday to thank friend for collecting the horse muck with my OH was free baguettes (OH scored from work after a buffet before Christmas) with tuna etc and then said friends paid for dinner (take away) as a thank you for sourcing said muck. 

Today the men moved the turf so I paid my friend and her OH in kind with roast dinner, serving 4 adults and 4 children our YS supplies and cheap veg. Everyone ate the lot and despite it having eaten into our stores a little, it was worth it to now be able to make some headway!