Hugglemonster's homemade happiness diary

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  • Sorry to hear your not feeling great, hope you feel better soon. xx
    Mortgage Jan 2023 9yrs 11mths £61,389 Mortgage overpayment £1867/£3600 Mortgage Jan 2022 11yrs 6mths £69.996 Mortgage overpayment £3132/£3600
  • ladymay
    ladymay Posts: 1,126 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    Best of luck on the new leg of the journey! Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather...
    2019 Aim: Save £10,000
    Don't sacrifice what you want most for what you want now
  • Hi all, hope all had a good Xmas. Ours was lovely and relaxed but ds has been poorly with a cold, upset stomach and vomited at 0600 this morning - seems a bit better but as we are due to travel to the south of the country tomorrow we will see how he is in the morning.

    Everything is OKish, had to take car in for new brakes and discs last week so unexpected £220 out of the bank, I am just about to update the budget for 2018 as a few changes and I really must allocate some funds for car repairs and home expenses just to have some money put away and not have to worry about finding extra. I know these are very basic MSE tips!

    My MSE things:
    *Had loads of veg left and since we're away from tomorrow I have par-boiled, bagged and frozen them plus some herbs.
    * Surveys done.
    * Washing on airer to dry.
    * Budget to be updated.
    * Cut up some more t-shirts for dishcloths
    * We have lots of biscuits, cake and treats to last until the end of time! No buying anything :D

    Hope everyone is having a good break, H x
  • Merry Christmas, pleased you had alovely day.

    Hope your DS feels better soon and you have a safe journey.xx
    Mortgage Jan 2023 9yrs 11mths £61,389 Mortgage overpayment £1867/£3600 Mortgage Jan 2022 11yrs 6mths £69.996 Mortgage overpayment £3132/£3600
  • Home from an eventful time at dh parents house, on Wednesday when we were setting off the car wouldn't start so had to use the defib to start it again, thankfully it's OK but we will have to get a new battery as last year when it happened the mechanic said that it would need changing soon enough, so will put some money aside for that. DS was better whilst we were there but DH has a cold, my niece had Chicken Pox and we left this morning due to bad weather moving in. So glad to be home!

    Anyway we came back with a few prezzies including a couple of vouchers and M-i-L had saved Mr T's vouchers so we have £50 to spend there which will pay for a weekly shop. One of the vouchers is for WHsmiths so going to use that to buy a diary and whiteboard for the kitchen to plan meals, activities and who's going to pick up ds from school when they're back to school on the 9th.

    Since being home I've caught up on a few surveys and need to update ynab, I also need to submit my monthly report and expenses to work and remind them that I haven't been paid for last month! Both dh and I are off so going to do a few odd jobs around the home, I need to attack the overdraft and get that gone once and for all and then save to get the next stage of ds bedroom done. I think ds' room needs another decluttering so will do that too.

    H x
  • Oh my goodness me, I have just given myself a shock - I looked on the reports bit of ynab for our groceries spends for 2017 and it's over £11,000 :eek: this does include kids school dinners but this is outrageous! I knew we had always overspent in this area but seeing the full results has made me and dh cringe. So a mutual pact has been made to get this sorted.

    I have just been out to the local DIY shop to buy some seeds, have got salads (mild & spicy), broad beans and will pop to the next town tomorrow to get some 1st early potato seeds to start chitting and some herb seeds. As I don't work full time anymore there is absolutely no reason why I and the family won't have time to look after the garden and grow as much as possible.

    Dh got paid today and child benefit went in early so I have updated ynab and sent a payment over to the overdraft and this is now £860.

    My MSE things:
    * Surveys completed, nothing ready to pay out yet
    * Laundry hung up, not using tumble drier
    * Washed dishes, not using dishwasher
    * Meals planned from freezer until Monday as need to defrost the freezer.
    * Decided not to buy a whiteboard for the kitchen as have a memo board an d lots of notebooks to use up so will write everything down.

    Having a very low key new years, not bothered about staying up and just looking forward to a new year of hard work at home to hopefully reap some good rewards.

    H x
  • :eek: to the £11,000 on groceries and school lunches, can you meal plan and write shopping list every week,try going down a brand or cutting things out such as alcohol during the week. Could children go onto packed lunches now you are working less or only have school dinners once a week such as chip Friday.
    My DS has school dinners once a week as he has 2 clubs one after the other after school and doesn't get in until 7.30pm, but I have decided that i'm going to try and use any prepaid CC I get from surveys to top up his account.

    Love your enthusiasm about growing your own veggies, I can manage salad leaves and strawberries, anything else I seem to kill.

    Enjoy the rest of the weekend xx
    Mortgage Jan 2023 9yrs 11mths £61,389 Mortgage overpayment £1867/£3600 Mortgage Jan 2022 11yrs 6mths £69.996 Mortgage overpayment £3132/£3600
  • Oh I know, we seemed to have stopped meal planning and I don't know why just drifting from day to day, it's got to stop and yes cut down on alcohol and although I will get non branded things I have to remind dh so try not to take him shopping with me! I was really strict with dh and told him that we were not going to Mr T today to buy food because he fancied cooking but stick to the menu. Also dd asked if she and her friends could make cakes and also buy some chocolate - I am dumbfounded as to why since we have so many treats from Xmas to use up so again the answer was no.

    Packed lunches not an option for dd and ds does prefer the dinners plus he gets a good meal so only needs a light meal in the evening and need to ensure this is the case when he goes back to school.

    I can grow veggies but seem to be useless with plants! Looking forward to planting tomorrow and also planning what get be started in February.

    A nice quite evening looking at a recipes from Jack Monroe!

    H x
  • Busy today, went over to next town with dd to use some vouchers I managed to get a diary and a book for dh birthday in Whsmiths, used part of Boots voucher to buy some toiletries - use cheaper own brands at 75p a bottle and own brand deodorant so still plenty on the card. I don;t usually get them from Boots but surprised at the price today. DD brought a watch with her voucher and a second hand game with some xmas money. I also decided that I should do more acts of kindness in 2018 outside of my volunteer coaching at sports club, so I brought a young homeless lad a cup of tea and a sandwich and left a car park ticket on the machine for someone else to use as still a couple of hours on there. Nice to help out others!

    We also got seed potatoes, herbs, a mushroom growing kit, strawberries to grow and these are all the windowsill waiting for Mother Nature to wave her magic wand.

    Lunch was beef stew and veg out of the freezer and some rice, and I currently have Foccacia dough rising for Posh Beans on Toast for tea (kids baked beans, dh and I have broad beans with spring onions). Freezer is nearly empty now, a few things to use up tomorrow and then I can defrost and meal plan for the rest of the week.

    DH is on board with having a frugal year, we have agreed for our anniversary in January that we won't have the planned stay and meal in a hotel but cook at home instead, I'll ask my parents to have the kids so we can go for a long run together and have a peaceful evening to watch a film.

    My MSE things:
    * Using vouchers to pay for most of shopping
    * Updated ynab
    * Laundry hung up on airer
    * Washed dishes
    * Meals at home from stores
    * One survey completed - nothing else around!

    Hope everyone has a lovely evening and Happy new Year, H x
  • Well done on your spends today, sounds as though you got lots of bargains with your vouchers.

    Lovely of you to buy the homeless lad something to eat and drink, I made a donation to Shelter last week, it really doesn't sit right with me that we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we have people living on the streets and going hungry, everyone deserves a hot meal and a roof over there head.

    I hope you have a lovely evening and wish you a very happy 2018.xx
    Mortgage Jan 2023 9yrs 11mths £61,389 Mortgage overpayment £1867/£3600 Mortgage Jan 2022 11yrs 6mths £69.996 Mortgage overpayment £3132/£3600
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