Fresh Start At Fox Towers.

foxandflowers

hello gang

woke up this morning to rain pattering on the roof and was very happy for a minute. it's gone straight back to sunny and muggy now though. two days left and then the no spending begins!!

i finally reached enough to cash out on freecash, and i have another 60 levels of one game to cash out on testerup. what i have realised is that there is literally no point in doing these things. the amount of money you get is a pittance, my screen time is through the roof, and the money i've spent on the games probably has outweighed what i've made. it's a lot like buying second hand clothes, it's a false economy because even if you resell them you will have worn them and 95% of the time won't make back what you paid once you include shipping costs etc. the best way to make money is to just not spend it and i don't know why it's taken me so long to work that out.

mr fox has started talking seriously about getting a normal job, he wants to get his sia license so we emailed a couple of employability programs in the area yesterday to see if they could assist with the cost of the training. i'm trying to not push it too much and spook him but am also wanting to push it so something happens.

the puppy has got what appears to be a mild ear infection so i am dosing him with antibacterial ear drops, and then feeding him treats afterwards. today is the first day he let me hoover without trying to eat the hoover, so either he is feeling sorry for himself or getting used to the noise!

i've just been to pick up my new prescription from the pharmacy, and some bread and ham for the kids sandwiches. i still need to do a tesco order, buy some black dye to give my older clothes a new lease of life, and finish emptying/sorting the airing cupboard. i really want some new plastic storage tubs so the airing cupboard doesn't look like an explosion has gone off but i also know that is a want and not a need so i am trying to hold off. maybe if i sell some more things on vinted i can get some with that money. i did find our old portable power bank and i'm 95% sure the solar panel for it is in the attic eaves so if i can find that i can sell those too as we upgraded when we moved last year.

i have an enormous cross stitch project on the go and my new rule is that if i want to buy something i have to do at least one thread's worth of stitching as punishment - it's going to take 3 years to finish if i don't! i guess as i mentioned wanting some storage boxes i had better go and do some sewing!

love, fox.

lucielle

Could you use cardboard boxes until you’ve saved for the plastic ones?

L

foxandflowers

morning fox cubs.

i have made £54 this month already thanks to a payout (at last) from testerup, and some vinted sales. getting my nails done today ahead of my trip next week, and it’s nice that it’s come from “free” money.

last night mini fox and i worked on a puzzle together, took the dog for a walk, and i upcycled a tote bag by dyeing it and sewing some band patches on. looks very cool, didn’t cost me anything aside from the dye which was already being used, and some black thread from my stash. bonus is it made space in my drawers where the patches had been stored too!

mr fox had a phone call with the employment support people this morning, he will get a call from a work mentor in the next fortnight to discuss next steps. keep paws crossed please.

so far this month spends are £50.54 on a food shop, and £12.99 on some last minute back to school clothes. expecting tomorrow and friday to be nsd’s!

today will also need to spend 80p on printing a return label, take a suitcase of clothes and bric a brac to the charity shop, pick up some items for mr fox from the lockers, and do some back to school baking for mini fox. hard to squeeze everything in when i am also doing overtime.

love fox 🦊

MeandO

Hi Fox,

Nice to see you back posting. The tote bag sounds good!

Can Mr Fox not do the return label, charity drop, locker pick up and baking whilst you are working? It does sound like you are doing the bulk of the household responsibilities again, as well as paying for everything including taking everyone, including extended family, on holiday! The scales don't seem very fairly balanced at all and there's only so long you can do everything without burning out. xx

foxandflowers

hi gang,

hope everyone is having a nice weekend. i have had three no spend days so far this month which is most unlike me but is excellent for my wallet. i have also been reading a lot more, which is lovely.

we went to lidl yesterday, and slipped a teeeeeeny bit on the no buy as i got a replacement bathroom light (ours shattered a while back and is just an exposed bulb so not very safe, this one is LED and was a grand total of £6.99) which i will keep aside until the end of the month and then get an electrician to change over - i do not mess around with electrics myself as it scares me stupid. also took the dog on a long walk and deep cleaned the entire house - ended up doing over 22k steps yesterday, my knee hurts today!!

today has been a nice relaxed sofa day, reading and pottering. i've sold some more things on vinted so my pending balance is still sitting at around £45 and i've made £143.76 in side hustles so far this month which i'm very pleased with, especially as i got underpaid and i won't see that money now until my september payslip. my boss offered to lend me the £300 i was underpaid by, but as i don't know what the deductions etc will be i don't dare take it from her. mr fox has still not been paid.

my child maintenance is going up by an additional £9 a month - the arrears have jumped up to £750 but no doubt that isn't included in any of the money i am getting. i will have to ring tomorrow to see about it.

i fell into a hole and really wanted a bullet journal, but as i am on a no spend, i dug out an old notebook, covered it in stickers and spent an evening setting it up. if the habit sticks, great, if not, i've not wasted money. i've got £68 left in my budget for thursday's trip to include food and drinks so hopefully that is enough. next sunday we are going to take the dog to a dog show - he will need a good bath beforehand but it will be nice for him to meet others of his breed.

i'm off now, going to carry on reading no country for old men - the plan is to watch the movie with mr fox when i finish the book.

love, fox.

MeandO

£6.99 for a new bathroom light is excellent! I still haven't got round to getting a proper light fitted in ours, 5 years down the line so may have a look in 'the middle aisle' too! x

foxandflowers

hi foxcubs.

my child maintenance came today and it was £60 more than i was expecting - i guess they are finally taking arrears into account which is nice.

i have still not bought anything on vinted or dipped into my pay - i am staying strong. 17 days until payday! £151.93 in side hustles this month. mr fox's brother text him to say he hasn't been paid yet but he will pass the money on as soon as he has it. more trouble than it's worth and i'm glad we weren't relying on that money for bills, although i am still salty that i haven't been paid back yet. once he is paid though, we should net around £4500 this month which is just crazy when you think that when i started writing here we were on about £1600 a month. i love overtime. (well i don't love doing it, but i do like the extra money)

plus side is i can pay off my overdraft at the end of this month and then stay out of it, as well as the third credit card which will then be cut up. slow and steady progress is still progress i guess. it will be weird to end the month with money, as currently every time i get paid, by the time i've allocated the money into its various funds, i am back into overdraft again. i'm tempted to just turn it off, rather than have it there as a temptation. it's surprisingly hard to talk myself out of leaving it there… i don't need it and i'd be better off adding money to savings than paying overdraft fees, but for some reason i'm nervous about the idea of not having it as a safety blanket. talk sense to me please.

love, fox.

lucielle

We had a large OD. We reduced by £50 each month until it finally went. It’s so easy to use but incredibly difficult to get out of.
L

warby68

It could be sensible to just leave a small overdraft facility as a safety net - £100 maybe. I've always had one (never used it or a higher one thankfully) but it just makes sense to know that a small bump in the road would be covered without aggravation. For us, and hopefully for you too soon, its not that there isn't money elsewhere. It would be for a mistake or something you didn't know about until too late such as an incorrect DD claim or similar.

londoner2019

Suggestion: how about closing the overdraft, and build in a new pot which is your own personal overdraft? Say 100 or something?