Hugglemonster's homemade happiness diary

hugglemonster · 1 January 2018 at 11:32PM

Happy new year, had a lovely quiet evening and went to bed quite early as did dh. We got up this morning and had a nice run together before the weather turned bad again.

The end of freezer meals today, we have stuck to eating everything that was in there, I was a bit sick of brussels though funny I watched a Xmas episode of The Vicar of Dibley last night where she has a sprouts eating contest!

Freezer has duly been defrosted and cleaned, menu written until Thursday evening as we will order a veg box which will arrive Thursday evening and then we can plan from then.

No surveys or financial things today, nice day pottering at home.

H x

hugglemonster · 2 January 2018 at 3:46PM

The good work continues, dh and I went food shopping and he was very good with the things we got no branded items and used the £50 voucher from in-laws. I have therefore sent the £50 over to the overdraft to take another little bit off, redeemed a few pounds from a survey site so will pay this off when it arrives.

DH has decided to go back to work tomorrow and save a few days holiday for later in the year also we have decided that any surveys where I can get vouchers will be saved to buy the kids new bikes for their birthdays, they currently have BMXs so need better mountain bikes. Birthdays are August and November so plenty of time to save.

Lovely lunch of homemade roast tomato soup and fresh loaf of Foccacia, chicken and veg for tea this evening yum!

Ynab updated, also brought ds a new coat as his was too smal and he has always had hand me downs, got a lovely warm coat for him.

Just off for a run before it gets too dark, H x

pennywisepoundstupid · 2 January 2018 at 4:13PM

All sounding good huggle, good idea about the vouchers and as you said loads of time to save them up for new bikes.

PWPS xx

hugglemonster · 3 January 2018 at 3:52PM

Afternoon all, dh hasn't gone back to work after all as someone didn't shut the plant down properly and when they turned it on yesterday it blew the main fuses. So bonus that he's off but not using leave. We went for a run together down the beach, couldn't get on to the prom as the tide was so high that it covered it and splashing beyond.

I've sent my report and expenses over and remind my boss that I haven't had my expenses from November, it's £250 which needs to come of the overdraft!

Pottering around the house today, a bit of cleaning, lots of lovely food prep and although I'm still on leave I am answering emails and have a meeting on Friday evening as we have a big competition in the region next weekend.

Need to update ynab in a minute and also keep an eye on 2 payments in the bank as they as showing as paid and also still in pending. Ordered dh birthday present yesterday, just need to get cards for him and his Dad and an anniversary card for dh. £2.50 just received from survey site so off to pay that to the overdraft.

Trying to psyche myself up to do a tip run, ours doesn't open until 10am in the next town so a pain in the backside.

H x

hugglemonster · 2 June 2018 at 12:26PM

Hi all,

I haven't posted for months but I have still been reading the forums, it's been really busy at work and home which is good but I still have debt to pay. I have said it time and time again so I need to make it happen, I am currently going through everything I can that can be reduced again unfortunately the biggest area is food shopping still massively overspending despite some good areas where dh makes his meals for the week so cheap and cheerful it's all the extras that add up. We have got out of the habit of meal planning and seem to be at the shops every day! This stops now

So updates on situation and finances:
* My work - I an now contracted for 4 days a week which is great and have lots of work to do over the next year, luckily I enjoy my job. I'm also starting to look at setting up a small business to earn a little extra income but as it will be a social enterprise there will be a lot going back to the community in terms of the activity I provide.
* DH work - the staff were called into a meeting a couple of weeks ago and told there there is 2 years left in the plant and not 10 years as expected, we are hoping that instead of redundancy dh will be safe as he works across a number of areas compared to others although it may involve a bit extra travel time.

Current debt:
* Barclays loan - £3000
* Overdraft - £1500
* Car finance - £7300
* Credit card - £1900

Other:
We are currently getting work done in the house, hoping to get ds room and our room done this year, we are not having a holiday this year. Last month we paid for some work to be done by the electrician and the joiner was meant to come on Monday but has been delayed which isn't a bad thing as more time to put aside the £360 for it. We also paid for ds to go on a school trip which was £130 and a deposit for the joiner of £200. So a very expensive month.

We still need to pay for the following - next installment of ds school trip for next year £100, joiner £360, Dad's birthday, plasterer £200, carpet, paint/curtain pole and curtains/lightshade.

So onwards and upwards! Today dh and dd have gone camping for the night so it's just me and ds, he is currently reading one of his new books that have been paid for by vouchers from survey site and we sold some toys that he no longer used to pay for them :T I'm going to do a meal plan from the stocks of food we already, I'm done some surveys this morning and reposted some more bits on fb selling site.

As well as saving for the jobs I need to build up my emergency fund and also my target debt is the credit card.

Lots to do, H x

pennywisepoundstupid · 2 June 2018 at 2:43PM

Lovely to see you posting again.

Hope your all ok, take care. xx

hugglemonster · 3 June 2018 at 12:25PM

Day one was good, nothing spent mainly because ds and I stayed in all day - as planned all meals at home. Today has been good so far, dd and dh got home really early from their camping trip and are shattered so still peaceful!

I've made a loaf and homemade wraps/chapati type breads for our burritos for lunch plus chopped up left over salad items. Washing out on the line and last night I actually caught up on the ironing which I hate.

I'm back at work tomorrow after a few days off so currently writing a list of everything I need to do, why is it you get hundreds of emails when you're off?

I will catch up on surveys after lunch and also work out how much to try and put aside for each of the expenses coming up.

Hope everyone is having a good day, H x

hugglemonster · 5 June 2018 at 10:09PM

Evening all, I did write a short post last night but it didn't save just as well as I was ranting about how not one person in the house could get bread and milk whilst I was working afternoon and evening - I only knew when ds told me when I was getting ready for bed. So quickly got dressed and went to the shops! Also unfathomable reason why dh washes his own plate and cutlery after dinner when there's the rest of the dishes to do!!!!

Anyway back to it, two low spend days sticking to the menu for food but needed some toiletries from H*me Bargains, small payment made to credit card of 8 pounds (keyboard gone doolally so can't find pound sign) and some money to come in from a couple of survey sites.

Question for you lovely peeps - how do you put aside money for savings when you have lots of pots to fill i.e. the kids need shoes, I need to pay for school trip and ds room but don't know which to do first. Would you split between them or save one first and go from there?

We have a new app for expenses at work and had a message to say my expenses had been approved a new record since I usually have to chase it up.

I had some great info from a colleague about my small business, I need to write a business plan and work out my set up costs etc. If anyone knows how I would go about finding info about paying tax when self-employed (will be extra/second job) please share diolch yn fawr - thanks very much.

H x

Honeysucklelou2 · 5 June 2018 at 10:19PM

When you become self employed you will need to let HMRC know, which will in turn trigger a tax return which you complete and pay any tax that is necessary. When you first register as self employed HMRC are quite helpful and send out an A5 information folder ( well at least they did when I registered at self employed a few years ago, it's probably all online now!).

[Deleted User] · 6 June 2018 at 8:18AM

Morning H,

Lovely to see you back xx

Hugglemonster's homemade happiness diary

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