Sass' 2008 DFW ramble thread

Keeping_Positive

They are both still at arkward ages where they can grow so quickly without any warning. It will get easier as they get older although saying that the toothfairy is on overtime with DS losing his first tooth. Thats all three now!

Sassamac

Yeah I think by the time DD's clothes fit her for a year, it should be easier, and hopefully they will now / soon as she is in 2-3y tops and vests, and was just about to bust out of her 12-18m trousers when she suddenly went all tall and slim. DS shouldnt need as many clothes if hes going to be in school uniform half the week.

Whats the going rate for the tooth fairy these days, is it a quid? I never even used to get real money, it was an old shilling each time which I kept collecting in a box.

Keeping_Positive

Its a quid in this house. I think it started at 50p five years ago but soon went up.

Sassamac

Im baaaack! Went to spend a couple of days with M&D.
I think we've spent about £80 this w/e, will check properly when the payments show up on the online statements. It was more than I had anticipated spending but its all stuff we need sooner rather than later. I dont have the receipts as it was mainly DH who paid while I was running around after the kids etc.

Anyway £30 on petrol which was 5p per litre cheaper than what I pay round here - found a freakily cheap petrol station! DH got some office supplies which came to £15.

Got some more school uniform for DS although I was disappointed at the lack of range in both Asda and Woolies in the small sizes. Just need to get some more trousers, but otherwise we're fully equipped. Theres another nearly new sale on 26th April. DS starts school on 21st but will only be doing 2 days that week as they take a few new kids on each day. So I reckon I can hold out til then.
Bought a single duvet and cover for DD as we've been discussing putting her in a big bed. She doesnt really need to move, but DS did at this age, and it means we can sell her cot. She also got a rather expensive £5 plate and fork and spoon set as she doesnt really have her own. But its covered with tigger and pooh bear who she adores and I figured if it encourages her to eat her dinner when she hits the troublesome 3's then its worth it.
Think thats about all I need to decalre apart from food. Just off to work out that budget. I know we're way over on petrol this month but as long as it averages out I dont mind.

Sassamac

Right food. Spent about £8 buying lunch out. It doesnt reall;y have a budget to come out of, but it doesnt come out of the grocery budget. Its one of things I just want to keep to the minimum, but have no way of recording it.
Also got back almost at dinner time last night and didnt have time / couldnt be bothered to cook. So nipped to the only shop that was open and spent £3 on pizza. Which leaves a grand total of 84p in the grocery budget to last til 27th. We've got 7 pints of milk in the freezer, unfortunately no blue milk for the kids. So I think 78p of that is going to be invested in a two pinter and call it quits at that. Mum sent us home with some bread, bananas, and stew, so thats covered two of the other necessities, so we'll have to ration everything else. Cant right now, think of anything else we do absolutely need, but theres loads of stuff we've run out of or will do by the end of the week, that will have to wait til Friday. The cats need food too, but I have over £3 to spare in that budget. I will have to go out either today or tomorrow to get that and then call it a day.

Sassamac

Had DH's CC statement through this w/e which is useful as the laptop bust and he couldnt check his statement online. Ive updated the snowball with the interest and its tipped us back up to 58 months. I havent updated my sig to that effect because its only temporary, and hopefully will balance out at the end of the month. Im actually paying £50 off the secondary OD tomorrow anyway. I think perhaps I should really only update my sig at the end of every month, but its just too tempting to change it every time it moves nearer. Anyway were still showing as sub 10k. They have also informed us that as of next month the charges are going up. Instead of 15.9% it will be 16.9% on BT's and 21.9% on purchases. The whole £3700 is purchases so this is going to hit us hard. The interest costs about £50 per month as it is. It will affect mine too but the balance is that much smaller, and mine is all BT's so nowhere near as expensive.

Keeping_Positive

Good to see you back, glad you had a nice break even if you did have to run around after the kids! Bad luck about the interest increase.

Sassamac

Yeah it was nice to get away for a couple of days as its such a rareity for us.

I need to think of an action plan to combat the interest increase, but it is the CC that we were planning on overpaying anyway. Just thought I havent plugged the increase into the snowball. Will do that next month I think as thats when it kicks in. Eek, not looking forward to that adding some months on when we've been working hard to edge the DFD nearer.

Im still toying with the idea of DH applying for a Barclaycard to get the same LOB deal that I have. I would be happy if we each had under 4k on a 6.9% deal til its all paid off. Just not convinced he would get it and dont want to test the water and risk battering the credit score prior to remortgaging in the summer.

I might set up a bill payment to pay off a chunk of that CC every payday. Not until I have cleared mine though, hopefully at the end of the month, as we need every spare penny for that at the mo.

Dont think I mentioned I phoned TC's last week and they said its definitely going to be May for the back payment as our appeal for early release had been refused. I asked for the number to contact them directly (the call centre people just send off the appeal) but they refused to give it to the public. So they probably dont even know the situation, just received a request and declined it. Trying not to get wound up about it.

Anyway paid the £50 off my other OD this morning so were back to 57 months. And now its only 3 days til payday and another chunk goes the same way.

Sassamac

Ok grocery update. I popped out with the intention of spending 76p of my 84p food budget on 2 pts blue milk for the kids to last the the next 3 days. Sods law, Somerfield had loads of decent stuff discounted 75% off, I guess because of the easter break.
The thing is, the kids get through a pint of milk between them just on their breakfast (weetabix or porridge), plus the fact its their main drink. So 2 pints was never going to last 3 days and DH and I will struggle to last on the remaining 3 pints of green milk. So I figured, sod the budget and get the bargains and a 4 pinter of milk - I cant make the kids go without something they need just for the sake of a spreadsheet. And it just seemed daft to leave behind stuff that Im going to being buying on Friday, only it will cost more then!
I got loads of stuff we actually need, fruit, veg and pitta breads, plus some cheap stir fry which will use up my freezer loitering chicken. So I got over £13 worth of discounted food for £3.26, plus milk and 4 days worth of cat food. Bang on £6 total.

So to make the budget add up Ive been a bit sneaky.
The pizza I mentioned on Sunday night.... We were actually intending to treat ourselves to fish and chips as the first takeaway of 2008. But the chippy wasnt open (being easter Sunday and all), so DH grabbed pizza for £3 from the only open shop he could find and we cooked it ourselves. Had it been a chippy dinner, it wouldve cost us at least twice as much, but not come from the grocery budget. So Ive removed it from the grocery budget and classified it as a takeaway. That leaves us just 76p over budget on food, but a quid under overall so nothing criminal.

Will try harder next month, but Ive already decided Im taking the cat food / litter (£12) out of the budget as its not something I will comprimise on. I will stick £100 for the food. Im going to allow £20 for the toiletries, cleaning, and baby stuff, which is quite generous but allows me to stock up on nappies and branded toiletries when they're on offer. Realistically Id like it to average about £16 per month. I have done the non-food budget on less than that in previous months but its when M&D have donated cat food (that their cat didnt like) and nappies (from when we have stayed there) which makes a big difference to the budget.

Sassamac

Bumped into a friend today who was telling me about how her bank had shafted her by taking money for a loan payment, just because it was there, and I told her about HSBC increasing their charges on our CC's. She reckons its because they know they're going to lose the bank charges court case thats going through at the mo. Sounds like they're taking money by any means possible now - even the banks are skint! Not a good time to be in debt and one of the things thats making me more determined to pay it off as fast as poss.