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

System · 21 September 2018 at 6:42AM

Well done on getting some new clothes for £20! I rarely go into charity shops as I’m never near any, but I do stalk eBay a lot for specific brands. So many on there that still have the labels on! Only thing with eBay is you have to pay for postage, but by the time I drive to my town centre and pay for parking it probably costs the same!

enthusiasticsaver · 21 September 2018 at 8:28AM

Lots of positives in your post TOPM. Good result on clothes outlay, no car repairs and credit card debt soon to be below £12k. Hope architect quote is ok. I agree that the architect technician seems to be the way to go if you have already decided on design.

Suffolk_lass · 21 September 2018 at 9:34AM

Well done! I felt really proud of you (in my self-appointed role as your diary-nag), that you are not engaging a new architect. You really should not need one.

Regarding apples - have you tried making juice from windfalls? I do them with a couple of carrots and a little lemon juice, just to stop the juice discolouring. It does not keep well unless you use campden tablets and effectively pasteurise to preserve it - but a great juice for autumn. I am hoping you have a food processor (I sadly, have a whole juicer!) - just mangle them all together and put through a nylon sieve with a few weights on top to press the juice out. Practically free!

Kitten868 · 21 September 2018 at 4:19PM

Saying the naughtiest thing ever but what about keeping the car so you can trade it in for an electric car - you'd get way more for scrappage then you would selling it. Not saying do it now but to keep in mind as it could give you like 8k off a new electric car and I know you like being responsible.
Stop beating yourself up - she's nearly finished on half days and then you can get back to trying to work out what you want your routine to be. 4 days work/1 day house or 1 hour house rest of day work. Whatever it is. I have to do it again next year. Ughhhhhhh. Nearly there!

foxgloves · 22 September 2018 at 5:54PM

Fab charity shop finds. I love treasure hunting in charity shops. Yes, 'treasure' is rare....mostly there is nothing I want. Then just occasionally, I find something lovely - most recently, a beautiful purple velvet coat from 'White Stuff', lined with contrasting patterned fabric. Perfect condition except for one loose button. As I said in my dfw diary post, I do hope that wasn't the reason some non-sewing person got rid of it, because it was a very tiny, super-easy job. But hey! Their loss, my gain! Great coat....makes my struggling waist look smaller than it really is, so double win!

Treadingonplaymobil · 23 September 2018 at 6:59AM

Week 84: Day 7

Last day of the week! Having a lovely weekend with a nice relative to stay. Hasn't been remotely spendy as the weather has been dire, but I did have ANOTHER charity shop win yesterday, although not for myself - I spotted a Disney fancy dress outfit that DC3 has been desperate for for aaaaaages for £3, and she spent her pocket money on it. Her excitement was so sweet. Foxgloves your coat win sounds excellent!

Lots of nice food bought for the weekend means only £50 left in the food budget for this month, but we had a food shop delivered on Friday and have SO MUCH FOOD in the house, so I think that should be perfectly doable. The only thing I think we might possibly need is some seeds for making granola, and maybe some fruit and veg later in the week.

Suffolk lass I hadn't thought of juice! Will have to try that with next week's haul. Was hoping to go again today but the weather is fairly grim.

Kitten868 I would love to get an electric car but (a) there is no way we could cope with the pressure of another monthly outgoing commitment. At the end of the day if the car gives up we can choose to scrap it rather than keep forking out for fixing it, and can even choose whether or not to save for a replacement, whereas the commitment to a finance scheme might kill us. Also (b) we don't have off street parking so charging an electric would be a nightmare and it would need charging virtually daily for DH's long commute - we will get a hybrid or a super-efficient petrol one next time.

I'm definitely on countdown till the end of the month, waiting to see how much DH gets paid on Thursday. Negotiations for his promotion/pay rise are just beginning, so I guess it will be a couple of weeks before we even know what he might get, but we're hoping for a nice surprise while preparing for more work for not a lot more money.

To do this week
1. Make a decision on architect replacement.
2. Batch cook bolognese sauce. Haven't done this yet as had so many leftovers in the fridge and freezer to use up.
3. Batch cook macaroni cheese.
4. Send birthday cards to three relatives.
5. Order trainers for DC2.
6. Top up fruit and veg shop.
7. Clean house for relatives visiting this weekend.
8. Three social media posts.
9. Contract work for next week.
10. DH chase builder and phone another builder for a quote.

September money goals:
- £18.43/30 September rounding down pot.
- £3,812.12/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £664/864 income for October.

Treadingonplaymobil · 24 September 2018 at 5:58AM

Week 85: Day 1

A new week! And so near to the end of the month. I am definitely on the countdown. DH gets paid on Thursday and I have no real handle on what the overtime will be. I'll be a bit disappointed if it's less than £500 as it feels like we didn't actually see him in August, but I couldn't be bothered to do the maths properly on the tax so I'm not sure exactly what it will be. I don't have enough in my business account yet for October's salary - my end of month invoicing will cover the remainder, but it's a shame not to be able to put that towards November's to get further ahead. Never mind, it is what it is.

The budgets continue to look semi-healthy. Not loads left, but we should be ok to get to the end of the month without any problems unless there's some major drama. <TOPM eyes the car suspiciously>

Kitten's diary has reminded me that I need to attempt turning the heating on this week - it seems to need a plumber every year to make it actually come on, so I'd better give it a try before it gets too cold. Our boiler is really old, but we'll get a new one put in when we get the extension done as it needs to be in a different location, so our current one really needs to limp on for one last winter.

Off to visit a friend today who has moved into a new house. It's a bit of a trek away so I probably won't get much else done today while the DC are in school - DC3's first day of staying all day! DC1 was a bit poorly yesterday and I will exceptionally underwhelmed if he needs to stay off today, on this day I've been counting down to for years :eek: (erm, because of the full time school. I'm not that excited about my friend's new house :rotfl: ).

This week is mainly going to be about preserving apples. My mum is coming down today and will bring a load, and I want to pop back to the community orchard to get some. I'm definitely going to make some chutney and prep some crumbles, but I'm thinking about trying some old fashioned canning too (poaching in syrup in jars in boiling water), maybe some apple amber that everyone seems to be discussing on here recently for pudding one night soon. And juicing it, which I'm quite intrigued by. We're all a little under the weather, so some apple/carrot/ginger/lemon juice might perk us all up a bit.

This week marks the first of three or four weeks where DH is away for a good chunk of each week. He isn't being paid extra for being away unless he needs to do overtime while he's there (which he might one of the weeks), so there's all the hassle with no particular financial benefit (apart from the fact he won't be doing his long commute in the poor car, which costs about £8-9 a day plus the ongoing risk of it dying a sudden death). I really need to keep on top of the house, packed lunch prep etc, or I'm going to end up in a complete state, so I'm trying to keep my ambitions with work as low as possible over the next few weeks.

To do this week
1. Arrange architect replacement to come for a meeting and start work.
2. Menu plan for the week, using up what's in the house already as far as possible.
3. Make chutney (some of this will be for Christmas gift hampers, some for us).
4. Stew and freeze apples.
5. Can/juice/do whatever I can think of with the remaining apples.

6. Contract work for next week.
7. Make granola.
8. Check the present box for a suitable present for DC1's friend's party this weekend (must order something if not - the first test of having a ready to go box of cheap presents!).
9. Check renewal date of home insurance.
10. Check renewal date of car insurance.
11. Plant bulbs for Christmas.
12. Plan any homemade gifts to make for Christmas.
13. Order essential oils for candles.

September money goals:
- £18.43/30 September rounding down pot.
- £3,812.12/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £664/864 income for October.

Spendy_Spenderson · 25 September 2018 at 11:01PM

"I'm not really sure what the solution is to the busyness, as I look at my list and don't see anything that could be reasonable cut (ok, apart from some of the really deranged cooking from scratch, like homemade frozen chips, but that was only because my mum gave me 10kg of potatoes and I needed to do something with them! :rotfl: ).

I want to lower my expectations of myself each day, but then I look at the things that need doing and I'm not sure how to manage that -what can I actually stop doing that won't have a material impact on our lives?"

Hi TOPM,

Delurking because reading the above, I just had to share a Ted Talk I listened to yesterday on 'steps to multiply your time'. Of course there are only so many minutes in the day and you can't truly multiply them BUT success often depends on knowing how to focus our time, so as to get the biggest return. Most people concentrate on what’s most important and/or urgent, but this says there’s a third factor of *significance* that needs to be considered. I think taking this into account may help with the key question you posed of "what can I actually stop doing that won't have a material impact on our lives?"

It also prompts you to think about the real result of always saying 'Yes' to people and plans. For example, it's easy to think that by saying Yes, one is never saying No. But in reality we are - we are saying No to ourselves. Our own priorities, our own downtime, our own balance etc etc. Definitely worth keeping in mind I think.

Anyway just wanted to share this with you and maybe it's worth prioritizing the significance of the 18 minutes it'll take to listen to the Ted Talk (that sentence will make more sense after you've watched it ;-). It won't allow me to post a link so if you're interested just google "How To Multiply Your Time | Rory Vaden | TEDxDouglasville" and you should find it.

Carry on, you're doing great!

Spendy

Treadingonplaymobil · 26 September 2018 at 5:18AM

Week 85: Day 3

And just like that, we're on Wednesday.

Work
Had a good day's work at the place I do contract work for yesterday, and we discussed some plans to increase my hours there slightly at some stage in the next couple of months. This all feeds into my long term goal to stop being client facing. They are happy to have me more and I love the work, it's the logistics of working there that are a challenge (as I need childcare those days). I'm going to try to put together some sort of proposal in the coming week or so and see how they react to it. If it comes off it means I can look at no longer being client facing from perhaps spring 2019, rather than early 2020. No guarantees though, just depends how things pan out.

October money
DH's salary is pending, and it's a whopping £700 extra due to all the overtime, which is amazing. He has specifically requested that some of it go on particular things, so I've split it up, taking his wishes into account:
£200 on 'holidays' - he wants to fly to see his grandmother in Ireland, as he hasn't seen her for 18 months and she's 95. He will take just one of the DCs with him, as he did last time.
£40 my kitty
£40 his kitty
£150 extension
£50 family kitty
£120 balancing the car pot (I know I said I wouldn't, but I can't cope with the negative YNAB number :cool:)
£100 debt

I know it's not as satisfying as chucking the entire amount at the debt or the extension, but he was absolutely clear that he wanted some of it to go towards extra funds for us as a family, as well as seeing his grandmother (who could of course leave us at any moment, given her age).

That's probably the last massive chunk of overtime, but next month there should be odd dribs and drabs, which is great. Fingers crossed it continues until he gets an official pay rise.

Extension
We've finally had the first outline quote in for the extension, from the builder we particularly like, and it's at the higher end of what we'd hoped (£60k excluding kitchen and bathroom, although including fitting of both. Also doesn't include things like internal doors, fittings and fixtures etc), so it really means we're looking at well over £80k all in, without a contingency fund. We can split the project up into smaller ones, but that obviously has the knock on effect that we're living on a building site for the foreseeable future. I'm going to chat to the mortgage broker and my mum (who is giving us a mortgage from her savings, as it were, for a chunk of it) and see how manageable that sort of number seems. It's the number I've had kicking around my head, but I'd been hoping it would come in lower.

Today
I'm looking forward to today - I'm going to a nearby town with my mum to look at a kitchen shop for inspiration, and going to a cafe for coffee, as a thank you for all the childcare she's done (and to butter her up for future childcare if I can increase my contract work hours :rotfl: ). Also hoping to start processing some of the tons and tons of apples she's brought with her.

Dinner should be nice today - I'm going to make a batch of bolognese with mince that's been in the freezer for a couple of weeks and I had forgotten about, bulked out with plenty of veg.

Busyness
Spendy Spenderson I'm definitely going to listen to that TED talk, thanks for the recommendation. I love TED talks, they can be so inspiring.

I've really been keeping my to do list each day to a bare minimum (still quite a lot of stuff by most people's standards, perhaps, but much more manageable than it was) and I'm feeling so much more relaxed, creative, and able to think of solutions. It's amazing how freeing up that little bit of headspace has relieved the stress. I've no idea if I can maintain it and still do everything I want/need to do, but it's a nice place to be right now.

To do this week
1. Arrange architect replacement to come for a meeting and start work.
2. Menu plan for the week, using up what's in the house already as far as possible.
3. Make chutney (some of this will be for Christmas gift hampers, some for us).
4. Stew and freeze apples.
5. Can/juice/do whatever I can think of with the remaining apples.

6. Contract work for next week.
7. Make granola.
8. Check the present box for a suitable present for DC1's friend's party this weekend (must order something if not - the first test of having a ready to go box of cheap presents!).
9. Check renewal date of home insurance.
10. Check renewal date of car insurance.
11. Plant bulbs for Christmas.
12. Plan any homemade gifts to make for Christmas.
13. Order essential oils for candles.

September money goals:
- £18.43/30 September rounding down pot.
- £3,812.12/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £664/864 income for October.

System · 26 September 2018 at 6:39AM

At least the extension plans are moving forward now if somewhat at a slower pace that you would like.

Hoping you find some inspiration for the kitchen , is the kitchen going to be kitchen/diner ?

Spending time with parents is great , I am going to London with my mum today , she is accompanying me to a hospital appointment tomorrow. Enjoy your coffee .

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

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