£2,576.79 to clear by March

DD265

Husband is settling into his new job. Things are a little all over the place in terms of hours during the training, and I'm not sure when his formal shift pattern is expected to start. It means having one-person food options readily available and ideally we'll get properly back into batch cooking. The challenge with that is our cats are now eating food that arrives/is stored frozen, and we get the biggest quantity delivered for the cost savings so it takes up two full freezer drawers.

His first pay will be 20th November, so we do indeed have a gap. I want to put that pay towards December, like I do my own, meaning we have to keep things low key in November. I am due that bonus (though as I previously explained, I have plans for it!), and my husband has asked to sell what he can of this years holiday because he doesn't feel like there's any opportunity to take it during his training period, so that could be an extra few hundred.

The cat insurance renews this month and it's gone up significantly; from £86 to £102 for the pair. We have pre-existing conditions so can't shop around, and our boys are only 9. We have claimed for one of them 3-4 times, so we've had reasonable value for money. I don't think it's sensible to cancel now given our existing credit card debt and lack of savings, but we'll definitely be reassessing at renewal in 2026!