£2,576.79 to clear by March

DD265

Thanks @liselle!

This week has been quieter than last. Unfortunately my husband got the news that the start date for the job he wants is still up in the air, and we won't know any more until June/July (I would love to know how it's acceptable to mess people around like this - oh wait, it isn't!) so he'll have to carry on temping for now, or find something where he wouldn't feel guilty leaving at some point. Not that there's any guarantee of the wanted-job; I don't trust it'll ever happen at this point.

Spending wise, with it being the start of the month various direct debits have gone out.

Non-essentials
£4.85 husband lunch (this was actually 31st Jan, took a while to hit the account)
£7.80 top up shop included lunch sandwiches
£17.98 KFC one evening

I had a voucher for the KFC, £10 off a £15 spend with Just Eat. Felt like a decent deal, until I realised that it only just covered the fees AND you have to tip drivers these days or they won't collect your order - that's on top of the delivery fee. So we went a different day in person, but felt it was overpriced. We prefer McDonalds and have plenty of points (we used to go a lot, and husband used to buy group orders in his old job) so it works out cheaper too. Lesson learned.

I've gotten impatient and moved money around a bit to pay off part of the Barclaycard. When I had the work done on the car in January, I had savings to cover it but paid on a different credit card to offer myself some flexibility. That balance isn't due for repayment until mid-March, so I've used that and a bit of extra money that we won't need in the budget to pay off the about-to-charge-interest portion of the Barclaycard. I'll have no trouble getting the £932.62 back together for the Virgin credit card before its due, and that leaves the £906.15 on my husbands credit card, for which we have £654.62 set aside, so just £251.53 to go there.

I haven't actually saved myself any time or any money here, but I do feel better for having a balance gone.

Unnecessary spends so far: £670.02
Money made so far: £286.18

DD265

The payment to the Barclaycard has cleared, so when the statement comes out early next week, I'll know for sure that I paid off the correct amount and won't be caught out.

Unfortunately my car won't start this morning. It's been a little temperamental since having the service etc last month, but whilst the lights/radio/dash etc come on, it won't do anything more than turn over. We think it's the battery, which is measuring low, but then because the battery level was tested in the service last month (I don't have the figure, unfortunately) that implies that something is draining the battery. The dashcam was fitted at the start of October, so I would be surprised if it's that. Booked in to the garage for Wednesday anyway, and I'll speak to them on Monday. They're either going to have to come and get it, or I'll have to call the AA out; our other car is electric so we can't use it to jump the diesel.

My mantra for this decade is shaping up to be 'there's always something' - and this is why, once these balances are cleared, we'll be prioritising rebuilding an emergency fund. We do have two other credit card debts from home improvements, but those have longer interest free periods and much higher balances.

Today we nipped to the garden centre for some orchid bark, went for a walk (free parking) and to a farm shop/butchers. Husband bought a coffee too. I won't confuse myself by listing the totals now, or I'll get mixed up with what I've counted when the transactions hit the bank account. There'll be Greggs for lunch, and tomorrow I'm walking with a friend, but I might suggest taking our own stuff rather than going to the cafe afterwards; I have some homemade blondies which are delicious.

Unnecessary spends so far: £670.02
Money made so far: £286.18

DD265

One new battery later and the car went off for its gearbox service - unfortunately not at the same garage; being an automatic, it went to a specialist. The battery was unfortunately £215, but the gearbox service was purely an oil change needed, so £320 as quoted. They have said it'll need a new flywheel at some point - something else to save up for!

We also had the plumber finally come to sort our toilets. All three were leaking to varying degrees, and our water bill, for two of us, is £45 a month. We've had various attempts at repairs before so I insisted on having all the innards ripped out and replaced. Each toilet also has an individual stop on the pipe now, so if there are any problems, we can isolate each. It cost a bit more than expected - £220 in total - but I'm hoping we'll see that back in a reduced water bill before too long.

I bought yet another prescription today, although a private one so the NHS PPC wouldn't have been any use even if I had one. We thought the cyst on my back had healed then yesterday it was weeping again. Couldn't get in to see or even talk to the NHS GP today, so took advantage of the service through private healthcare. Thankfully no charge for the video call, and I'm writing the £15 prescription charge for antibiotics off as a convenience fee. Annoyingly my swim membership went through on the 14th and I have only managed one swim this month!

We've definitely burnt through the food budget quite quickly and I've had to top up that category. Last month we did use Nectar points for one shop, but I'm thinking we may have had additional subscribe & save items this month. Also we've done more cooking from scratch as the freezer was emptied of meals, which does cost more. I think for next week I'll plan a couple of batch cooks and some cheaper meals if possible. We made a curry at the weekend which was nice, but used a lot of spices - you made a spice blend and a base sauce then a marinade then the actual curry. We had most of the spices but not necessarily enough, and I had to order a couple of spices on Amazon.

Discretionary spends include:
- meal deals/fast food (£30 ish)
- a new mattress protector (£20 ish)
- some embroidery threads £9
- my husband's birthday present - £145

In terms of spending on my "big 4" (spending money, allotment, fitness gear, clothing), which last month was £76.21 (average September-February is £585.57), and currently in February it's at £90.40. I think part of this is that I've done some bits with my houseplants and at the allotment, needing me to buy soil/pots. But I still want to be mindful of keeping it low whilst not restricting myself completely.

Money made:
£53.01 - Prolific

I took out a new credit card yesterday. I got the weekly email from MSE and it said that there hadn't been cards with 32 months interest free on balance transfer since October possibly. I took a deal with Lloyds for 29 months, 2.49% transaction fee. It's an ample term and the cheapest fee. They gave me a £15,100 limit, so now I need to decide whether to move both balances or just the one. I'm moving £8k from the MBNA card (interest free period is up in April), but still have £6000 on the Barclaycard (interest free until February). I can't guarantee that I'll be able to pay the latter off by this time next year, particularly as we really do need to rebuild some savings. I have some time to think about it, anyway - the offer is good into May.

Unnecessary spends so far: £981.85
Money made so far: £286.18

DD265

The end of the week has been tough - my husband's grandfather passed away on Friday. He was sedated and it was very peaceful, for which we're grateful, but still a bit of a shock. He has been bed bound since June, but deteriorated very quickly and the nursing staff thought he had a little more time. We travelled up to be there and although we didn't make it in time, he was sedated and wouldn't have known.

It threw our spending out a bit.. takeaway Friday night, then we got lunch when we were catching up on the food shop yesterday. Today we've been doing DIY in the kitchen (we recently realised the extractor fan wasn't connected to the duct, and removed the moulding on top of the cabinets to gain storage space) so also got lunch out today as the kitchen wasn't useable at that point, but we had our evening meals at home yesterday/today.

Apart from food the spending has just been on things for the DIY projects... decorators caulk to finish painting the bathroom, bits for the duct repair, breezeblocks to sort out the water feature etc in the garden (they're sinking - the soil is too soft), zippers to add to existing pillow cases, and boxes for on top of the kitchen cabinets. Plus a strap for my husband's watch - £10 on Amazon as opposed to £45 from Garmin.

I'll tot everything up when it's all cleared. Unusually, ignoring the food/household category for the weekly shop, everything else - including the boxes - are within budget. Admittedly still a £115ish distraction from the credit cards, but when I'm stressed or grieving, I have a tendency to want to fix things that are within my control, like the storage in the kitchen. There's also the element of breaking my rule of only spending on non-essentials 2 days a week, due to the unexpected trip home. We can argue that Friday's food was essential (we got home at 10pm, and I had to have finished eating for the day by 8pm due to the antibiotics), as was the duct repair, but it feels a bit like semantics.

Tomorrow is a new day.

DD265

The week has been a little calmer spending wise, although I've felt rushed off my feet at work and I do not feel calm at all!

Discretionary spends this week were pretty much all food related. I went into the office on Wednesday to have lunch and tea with friends from work - unfortunately I'm not able to expense these! But it was really nice. I used the park and ride which was £5.50. Also £6.44 via Google Play for an in-app purchase, which I don't usually do, but if I really like an app I'll try to support the developers in some way. I offset this with credit from doing the Google Rewards app - just a few pence for a survey/receipt image here and there.

I did get a few bits listed on selling sites, and hopefully getting the first item (£10) picked up this evening. Still plenty to go, though, which is a job I'm hoping to make a big dent in this afternoon.

This weekend we'll have a food shop to do, and a run with a friend which will probably include a cafe stop, but nothing else planned. Hopefully the weather holds up and we can do some of the work needed in the garden too. Cold but dry will be fine. I'm also debating taking our PS4 and games/blu-rays to CEX. We never use it, so it makes sense to get rid whilst the console is still worth something. The question is whether we get in store credit to use against something else, or take the (much lower value in) cash. I'm not sure we want anything else...

I've given up tracking spends/money made officially, and will do it as and when. Unless I keep a running total somewhere, it's a bit of a pain figuring out what has been included and what hasn't.

rachmac3

I'm sorry to hear about your recent loss. 
Let's keep everything crossed for a whole weekend of sunshine and lots of lovely time in the garden. 

DD265

Thanks @rachmac3.

Yesterday was a difficult date for us - and I found the build up to it extremely stressful/upsetting. We'd managed to stay within budget, and also be productive, but definitely found more convenience and comfort food creeping in.

On Friday we had McDonalds, using loyalty points for half the cost, before the cinema, where we had 'cheap' tickets via health insurance so those cost us £12 for the IMAX recliners. Popcorn was another £6 (luckily we go about once a quarter these days, but that means we can always 'justify' the popcorn...).

I ran with the club on Thursday and had to wear a sports bra that was a size too big - very aware of what was going on there as it was a sprint session! - so checked M&S to find the style I wear was on sale. They had two pairs left in my size so I got 4x sports bras for £24. I run 3x a week, plus lift weights and have just started yoga, so I will definitely get the use. Saturday evening we went to pick those up, and had Wagamama for tea using a gift card. That cost us £18 on top of the gift card, and I left a £5 tip.

Sunday I went swimming but avoided the shops, and yesterday as a distraction we went to Lincolnshire Wildlife Park (had a great time, parrots are hilarious) and Skegness where we had fish and chips and spent £1something on the 2p machines.

So far today I've done the supermarket shop and the garden centre, which did cost significantly more than I'd anticipated. I wanted to replace all my seeds as last year was a disaster, so I wrote a list of exactly what I would grow, and gave myself permission to get some dahlia tubers (£25). The unusual houseplant wasn't planned (£13), but the seeds wound up costing the better part of £80! Wish I'd gone online now, as much as I think it's important to shop at local garden centres. Definitely hard to keep track when all suppliers have moved to the price code system, and there's an element of "it's just some seeds in paper, these are cheap" in my brain but £3-4 each soon adds up. It's fine because I'll have less random-fun-money/be waiting longer for other purchases but I'll hopefully be watching seedlings sprout which is satisfying unless it's 2024 when nothing sprouts..

I also filled the car up this morning because tomorrow is my husband's grandfather's funeral and it's about 100 miles each way. We'll be buying food too, but I'm OK with that and our other less-than-financially-ideal food plans for the week, because it's a sh*t week and we need to survive it. Thursday I'm in the office for a leaving do so there will be some cost there, then I'm off Friday-Sunday and aiming for a cheaper end to the week.

In terms of decluttering, it's almost all listed. I've had a short break from listing after knowing we were going to be out more, so there's a few bits left to do. A good chunk of stuff - both free and priced - has gone, and I've made around £100 which is nice. We've ticked off some jobs in the garden too, during which I realised I had a spare bag of bark at home which I could use for the allotment, so saved me buying more. And the tree fern I spent a lot of money on last year has survived winter - phew!

DD265

It's been a little while - not intentionally!

At the end of March I got paid an annual bonus and it was higher than I thought it might've been, having had two weeks off work last year and then doing a phased return. So for the first time in forever, I've been able to fully fund our budget just from my salary and put £1k in an emergency fund.

My husband's weekly wages are, at the moment, going towards more work on my car. We had the MOT advisories for tyres and brakes (just short of £1k, as it's all four tyres and CrossClimates are not cheap but worth every penny!), then the quote for the flywheel has come in at £1465 - higher than expected due to it being a 4x4. Still, I love this car, and it's cheaper to maintain it well than to change for something else, so that's what we'll do. The tyres/brakes are fully funded, and booked for the end of April, and the flywheel is 10% funded and I'll book that for the end of June so I have time to save.

We also need to get the garden pergola bolted down, so waiting for quotes from our builders for that and a few other jobs we can't/won't DIY. Not sure where these will factor in financially yet, as from April pay day we'll be back to business as usual, meaning no bonuses. Will have to see what the costs are, and prioritise accordingly. On the bright side, we've switched internet provider and they put a new cable into the house, which has saved us having ethernet cables run through the walls upstairs (we were quoted about £400) - and potential replastering/redecorating on top.

The decluttering happened. In the end I made the better part of £200, before donating what was left to charity. The only things remaining are two infrared garden/pergola heaters, which are worth several hundred each. I intend to eBay them. I will also go back to doing Prolific surveys as I didn't do any in March at all. That doesn't bring in a huge amount, but it does 

We've definitely had a slight uptick in spending, but working hard to stay within budget. I keep reminding myself that it's only the start of April, and not everything has to happen immediately. The temptation is to do/buy it all now, which would then inevitably result in overspending later in the month when stuff crops up. My main challenge is the weather; wanting to get jobs done at the allotment and at home, and we often need £10 here or £10 there to complete tasks. So I'm prioritising - and the car/pergola are the top priorities.

daintydaisy

Well done on all of the brilliant progress you’ve made so far. I understand the ‘need it done now’ feeling!! 

Just wanted to say I also admire your commitment to fitness! How do you stay consistent with running/swimming/yoga?! I tried couch to 5k last year but ended up giving up. Your posts are making me think I should pick it up again! 

DD265

@daintydaisy my commitment to exercise is better than my commitment to this thread lol

For running, I've learned that I like the social side, exploring new places and being outside. So, I did my C25K with a local ladies-only running group (it's free) and committed to keep going since. It's a social running club, so no 'training' or pressure. Outside of that I'll run with friends if they're available, and once a run is planned, we take it as gospel. As soon as one of us dithers over going, the other is likely to back out as well! I do have a treadmill in the conservatory so temperature control is a challenge, but I got a tall stand and a remote for my kindle so I can run whilst reading a book. I don't find audio (be it music or podcasts) particularly engaging for a run, but reading works well for me.

The swimming has become routine now, but what helps is that they fine you £2.50 if you don't turn up or cancel within 2 hours of the booked session starting. So I make sure I always book on, and then only let myself cancel if I really need to. Sometimes I go and do 10 minutes in the pool then I've had enough so I get out. So far I've always gotten in! My swim sessions are usually starting at 6.30am (I turn up nearer 7.15) which makes it extremely difficult to cancel last minute.

As for the yoga, that went by the by and I have been doing a mobility program instead. I committed to doing that every other day, then a short stretching session in between. This was fine for ~3 weeks until 2 days ago when I wasn't feeling well, so I've not done it. But I'm not beating myself up, because I was never going to manage every other day forever! I'll get back to it.

Financially, we're back to a 'normal' month now. I did get a pay rise for April but most of it has gone on my (potential) bonus, so my monthly wage increased by about £70. I may yet put another % on my pension contributions, so that would take the increase down to around £30 I believe. I've funded what I can of the budget, starting with the essentials, and my husband's weekly wages will top it up. In the mean time, I'll move some funds around between categories as I need to, to cover spending before those categories are fully funded.

I will be facing some credit card overspending (in budgetary terms) for work expenses; I don't normally travel but am starting a project which will involve some, at least for the next couple of weeks. I can claim the expenses back, but what I can't afford to do is stick £1k in the budget pot up front, hence the credit card - although I also find it useful to keep them separate and I'm conscious that I now have 3 unused credit cards, so I will rotate between them. In the budget I can either let the credit card go overspent, or I can put a dummy line in for the expenses payment. Not sure what my preference is, yet.

The car has its new tyres and brakes, and I'm £370 of the way to funding the flywheel (£1460). I do have £1k sat for repayment of the Lloyds credit card - the one with the balance - which they won't be taking, as the transactions hit the statement in May so no payments until June. So I can lean on that if I need to, in addition to the emergency fund. Annoyingly due to all the bank holidays, husband is losing wages; of 7 pay days between April-June, 4 will be low due to 4 day weeks. As it stands, I think we'll be £200 short of fully funding the budget, but this includes discretionary spending and savings categories like car insurance (due October), so I can make it work.

The jobs continue. The quotes from the builders came back, so we're waiting to book in the garden related tasks (the pergola fixing down and side gate, both funded last month) whilst also doing some bits ourselves. We did try to clean up the existing gravel, but have ended up replacing it (£28) so we can add the gravel binder, and today I've managed to get all bar one of the plants needed to replace some that failed over winter, so they need planting tomorrow. I was going to increase the budget target for garden stuff, but actually I think once this flurry of activity is over, there won't be much spending for it.