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

Well I started the day with a truly insane 38 items on my list, and have managed to tick off 23 of them. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or irritated at that success rate! Tomorrow's list just as crazy.

Wasn't quite a NSD today as had to post some birthday cards, but only spent £2.20, not bad for the first day of the holidays. DC2 is having a day out with a friend tomorrow so only oldest and youngest to entertain, and they get on pretty well, so I'm hoping it won't be too challenging a day.

Unsatisfying finances today, I had to finally give in and transfer some money over from our savings pots. BUT we have made it to the 24th of the month before doing so, which is a good fortnight further into the month than we have ever made it before without tapping those savings pots, so I'm not 100% disappointed. I might need to borrow a little more, but I'm optimistic that we're going to leave a record amount (i.e. more than £0) in there this month.

Interestingly, this has been one of the worst months for my business this year, and I think that's really concentrated my mind on MSE matters. When I'm earning with my business, I can't quite get out of the 'oh, I'll borrow it from my business account' mindset, and end up spending more than I can take from my business account. I need to somehow break that association that my self employed income is some great fat bonus cheque waiting to be spent, and I think throwing it straight at debt so my business account balance never grows too high is the solution - having a big cushion was lovely, right up until the moment I spent it all (albeit on useful things like doing the front garden), so a smaller cushion and more off the debt is definitely the way forward.

to do today
1. Email local young archeologists club for DC1. How have I done so much and still not done this? Argh.
2. Laundry. Three loads done.
3. Ironing. Done about half.
4. Make dinner for tonight. Done. Kitchari, the cheapest meal in the world, and very good for aspiring yogis.
5. check DS1's packing list for cub camp. Done, nothing needed apart from torch batteries.
6. weed front garden. Not done, DC3 was in the paddling pool in the back garden so i couldn't be in the front.
7. Make picnic to take to park. Done. Leftover homemade quiche from yesterday, houmous and veg sticks.
8. talk to DH about extension. DH putting the DCs to bed right now, so soon to be done.
9. Balance budgets. Done.
10. Posting for work. Done.
11. Check mobile bill - DH thinks he bought a data bundle which has now been added on as a monthly thing rather than a one off. Not done.
12. Bag up charity shop stuff. Not done.
13. Finish sorting the Lego, which is currently inhabiting the sitting room floor. More done, but it's still on the sitting room floor. Sigh.

to do this week
1. charity shop run. Donations still cluttering up hallway.
2. take snacks and picnics for days out with the children - no unplanned cafe trips!
3. pack for camping.
4. buy walking boots. DH managed to get some in the sale today for only £65 (down from £120), so only mine to go.
5. make a decision on house extension and email architect.

Aims for July
1. Pay some extra off the MBNA card - I'd like this card gone asap. Well, a whopping £15 paid on top of the minimum payment so far, hoping to make another payment before end of month.
2. Pay for camping holiday commitments out of self employed income rather than adding to debt. So far so good, but there is one more camping trip to cover in August.
3. Stick to the budget even more closely than in June!

Week 24: Day 3

Hurrah, DH and I had a good chat yesterday about extending. Didn't turn out to be too onerous as we had basically come to the same conclusion. Two options were immediately wiped off the table (doing the full two storey extension, and living with just the divided room for 10 years plus). We have come back to the plain old dormer idea, no modifications (architect had an excellent idea to gain a bit more space, but would add another £10k we think). We have worked out how our finances would need to look in order to make it happen in early 2019, and I will a couple of YNAB categories so we can save as necessary. If it isn't happening, it can easily be put back further until finances allow.

Broadly speaking, we are relying on continuing paying our current outgoings, saving most of DH's pay rise each month, which should start in August, back paid to June (£125pm will be saved), and as that amount builds up we will use it to pay for architect, then planning permission, then saving towards build. By 2019 we will, assuming there are no dramas, be able to add another £30k to our mortgage, and if necessary be able to restructure our debt and borrow any extra needed on an unsecured loan. We are expecting the cost to be £25-35k, largely dependent on whether we have space to put a bathroom in.

The biggest fly in the ointment is our (rarely discussed on here, as it just ticks along) mortgage. Our fixed term expires early next year, and if we sign up for another two years we will, I assume, have to pay an early redemption charge to remortgage and borrow more for the extension. Our options are to fix and delay things further or to sit on our SVR, which is about £60pm more than our current mortgage repayments. We can assess this in a few months though and make a decision, as it's the biggest factor that will decide timeframes. I will obviously check that my assumption about remortgaging is actuallt the case with our mortgage provider too!

I'm feeling pleased for having made a decision, and as it's also one that basically just requires us to walk a path for a while, if it turns out that the sums aren't adding up, we can easily re-consider things. So the first step remains the same - monthly saving for architect fees.

Hoping for a fairly low-stress day today, although still have a monster list to get through. DC2 is off for the day with a friend, and I have ambitions to walk into town for salt with the other two, then make playdough or maybe salt dough which we can bake - I figure DC1 can help make it, DC3 can play with it.

to do today
1. Email local young archeologists club for DC1. Must actually do this.
2. Laundry (for a change).
3. Ironing (also totally groundbreaking).
4. Make columbian black bean stew for dinner.
5. Weed front garden.
6. Phone EE to remove DH's inadvertently added data bundle.
7. Bag up charity shop stuff.
8. Tidy away the lego, which should now be easily sorted thanks to the zillion tupperwares.
9. Make a spreadsheet for the extension plans so we can see whether we are on track as we go.
10. Email the architect to keep him in the loop.
11. Email mortgage broker to enquire about remortgaging situation.

to do this week
1. charity shop run. Donations still cluttering up hallway.
2. take snacks and picnics for days out with the children - no unplanned cafe trips!
3. pack for camping.
4. buy walking boots. DH managed to get some in the sale today for only £65 (down from £120), so only mine to go.
5. make a decision on house extension and email architect. Decision made, need to email architect.

Aims for July
1. Pay some extra off the MBNA card - I'd like this card gone asap. Well, a whopping £15 paid on top of the minimum payment so far, hoping to make another payment before end of month.
2. Pay for camping holiday commitments out of self employed income rather than adding to debt. So far so good, but there is one more camping trip to cover in August.
3. Stick to the budget even more closely than in June!

warby68 wrote: »

don't think for one minute I'm as cautious as I sometimes sound here;)

I'm :eek: . Say it isn't so!

I like the idea of Prolific Academic, but finding the time is a pain at the moment - I use Pinterest for work, sadly I'm not whiling away my leisure hours (I wish) on there! Literally haven't stopped yet this holiday - first time I sat down at home all day yesterday was in the evening to discuss extension with DH. Feasibly things might ease up as all those end of term jobs that got pushed back to the holidays clear up, but I'm not wildly optimistic, as I'm usually working during any spare time I have. The little bits of work pay off - made a few quid on my smaller business yesterday after spending half an hour on it. It's tiny dribs and drabs, probably the equivalent of surveys, but occasionally I get a big sale and it's an unexpected bonus.

I go into real life shops about once every three months, and that's usually to buy clothes for the DC! But I do look at lots of shops online for work too, although it's rare that I find something to spend money on just by browsing - I'm much more likely to suddenly decide that I need something because I've suddenly spotted an imaginary gaping hole in my life and am looking for something to fill the need that I have just decided I have. I'm a capitalist's dream. :rotfl: