£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Week 73: Day 6

Wow, this weather just keeps on going and going, doesn't it! I honestly can't remember the last time we had a long hot summer like this. No doubt it will break just in time for the summer holidays, but at least we've all had a good dose of sunshine meanwhile.

It is a bit weird getting used to not stopping by here every morning, but I've really noticed how much time it's freed up. And so far no mad overspending caused by only coming by 3x a week instead of daily. For anyone starting out, I can not recommend daily posting highly enough - I know for a fact that I would have tailed off and lost enthusiasm without the honesty check of a daily check-in here.

So pleased to have a lovely quiet weekend at home after two weekends with long drives and family get togethers. DH is doing more overtime today, so I'm going to get Saturday sweets, play in the garden and watch the football with the DCs, then tomorrow we are going to friends' for lunch. I need to menu plan and shop for a cheap-ish week this week after last week's monster food shopping bill, must try and do that today too.

My smaller business has been making a little extra this month with the extra time I've allocated to it, which is pleasing - I'm relying on that business growing over the coming few months to help take some of the slack when I eventually manage to stop being client facing.

I am trying to work out how to keep our budget on track in the face of some mega holiday spends - we have three camping trips booked in, and need to pay the balance on two of them still (the third was paid for the other day), which I had somehow completely gone into denial about (read: forgotten) during last month's budget disaster area. It's a total of £300 between the two trips. I'm inclined to let my 'holidays' budget pot sit at a negative number in YNAB rather than borrowing from other pots, as that will be covered by August, September and October's holiday savings, and we have enough balance in our account to cover that 'shortfall' meanwhile. I think if I top the holiday pot up I will instantly forget that my budget actually isn't balancing and will be lulled into a false sense of security, whereas I find it intensely irritating to see a red number when I log on to YNAB each day, so that's quite a good reminder. I currently have three red numbers in YNAB - holidays, DH's expenses claim (due to be paid next week) and costs for something I bought for my mother which she will pay me back for next week. It annoys me immensely. Which it probably a good thing!

I had to spend a good chunk of our entertainment kitty for this month on a new family railcard and train tickets for next week for DH to travel with the DC up to meet me for my sister's wedding (I am driving up earlier in the week to help with prep), but since we're a week into the month with no other entertainment spends so far and should have a low/no spend weekend I'm not too alarmed. Then next weekend is the wedding so no spending opportunities. The only challenge is going to be making sure we have food for journeys. The railcard saved more than its own cost on this one journey, which is pleasing. Hopefully we'll use it again at some stage this year - the DCs love getting the train.

Ooh, I've just updated my signature after paying my barclaycard statement for the month and I am less than £5 away from being in the £12,000s! I will try to shuffle things around to get into the 12s this weekend. Also have finally paid over £3,000 off debt so far this year.

I've just ordered vanilla pods - I think someone asked me to link. I've bought 20 from here, as apparently Grade B are fine for vanilla extract. From the recipe I've been using, between 12-20 is right for a litre, depending on size - I think I used 16 last time, so I have a few leftover.

Suffolklass never thoughts about using the paste, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. Hard to judge how much paste equates to how many vanilla pods though, and I suppose one might as well just cook with the paste.

Apple muncher I have heard that re oats, but frankly if it is that, it isn't aggravating her enough for me to cut oats - she has a bit of intermittent bloating still, but no pain at all, and I don't think I can face cutting out oats as well! I will consider if it her symptoms get worse though.

To do this week
1. Practise batch of macarons when flavouring arrives. done, but need to make another test batch today as they didn't turn out terribly flavoursome or colourful.
2. Plan out the project I want to make for DC1.
3. Investigate our internet speed/usage with a view to changing to a more useful deal at some stage.
4. Check ebay listing for bike trailer and make it live. DH needs to write the text, hoping to get it live tomorrow.
5. Send letters to neighbours regarding planning application.
6. Book train tickets for next weekend.
7. Order vanilla pods for vanilla extract.
8. Invoice for last month's contract work and figure out how much I need to make to cover August's salary - no buffer any more!
9. Organise DC1's party - he wants an overnight camping trip nearby with two friends and DH, which should be pretty cheap if we can arrange it, so we're planning well in advance.
10. Get ahead on contract work to end of Aug.
11. Book the other camping trip we haven't booked yet!
12. Check the hand me down uniform we were given for DC3 and plan what uniform all three DCs will need for September - attempt to buy some while it's all on offer. Have checked uniform but not ordered yet as there doesn't seem to be any offers on cotton uniform.

Mini goals:
- £8.76/31 June rounding down pot.
- £3,107.07/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £328/£932 extension pre-build costs shortfall.

Week 74: Day 2

Phew, was able to make a £7 overpayment to the Barclaycard this morning, so my CC debt total now stands at £12,997.48. Into the 12s, people!

Finally managed to list the bike trailer on Sunday, then realised this morning that DH had listed it incorrectly (wrong type of trailer), so had to end it and will relist tonight. Irritating! And it had a bid. So annoying.

Suffolklass good idea re car powered coobox. We were going to get a new coolbox for this year's camping, but the trailer was more expensive than expected, so I think it's going to be one to look out for in the sales ready for next year.

Honeysucklelou2 planning do write to our neighbours, but we thought it might be friendlier if something came from us first. The architect failed to add some crucial document to the application which only came to light yesterday, so we are still waiting for it to be processed. Eye roll.

db2016 I did try compromising all out ideals when we first started out on this journey, and it made DH and I fat (too many cheap carbs) and downbeat because we felt like we were making the wrong choice for our principles. Since getting back on the ethical wagon we are so much more content. Yes, it's meant fractionally slower debt repayments/saving, but actually for us now it's like saying the council tax slows the debt repayment. We could make our council tax cheaper by selling our house and moving to a cheaper area, but actually that's not a realistic change to make, and for us the 'price of food' is the 'price of ethical, good quality food', not the price of compromise food. I personally think that unhealthy, unethical, un-environmentally friendly food shouldn't even be on the shelves, so the price of good (in all senses) food should just be accepted as the actual 'price of food'. And the same applies to other ethical/eco considerations. I personally think we need to accept as a society that food, energy, clothing etc is more expensive than we have been used to, and we need to manage those resources a lot more carefully and the minimum price should be a higher price per 'unit' of whatever we are buying because of the ethical/eco concerns that are taken into account as standard.

For now, we are able to pay the debt down, save for the extension and feed and clothe our family with those considerations taken into account, and as long as that remains the case I'm happy. If it stops being the case, I'll reassess.

Busy day ahead - DC3 has a school taster session which I need to attend, then I need to pack everything ready to go up to my parents' to help prep for my sister's wedding.

To do this week
1. Baking. Lots and lots of baking - for my sister's wedding!
2. DH - investigate internet speed/usage with a view to changing to a more useful deal at some stage.
3. Relist bike trailer.
4. Regular social media posting for work.

Mini goals:
- £9.22/31 June rounding down pot.
- £3,114.53/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £348/£932 extension pre-build costs shortfall.