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Home > Archive: October, 2014

Archive for October, 2014

A Day in the Life Of...

October 14th, 2014 at 08:25 pm

Today was an average day, although now it includes an afternoon nap. Yesterday I slept for over two hours while J napped, today it was for an hour and a bit. Now that J is in our room - and I'm not in the livingroom with him - I don't see the point of hubby doing night feeds because I have to wake him up. Then I hear everything, get involved and can't get back to sleep. Hubby said I couldn't do this forever and that I need to catch up on my sleep so I should sleep when J is. He said I was grumpy, forgetful, making mistakes etc. Basically exhausted. My motivation had gone out of the window but it's back now.

I got caught up on some washing this morning and our dishes are almost always practically up to date. This is new for us so we need to keep it up.

Hubby's friend is visiting from England. She's got a little boy who is eighteen months. She brought up three huge bags of clothes for J. Ranging from 9mths-18mths. SG "helped" me sort through them.

I realised yesterday that I still had cottage pie leftovers and my attempt at meatloaf in the freezer. We had the cottage pie today with turnip to bulk it out. It's now put hubby in the mood for haggis, neeps and tatties (haggis, turnips and potatoes to everyone else) I'll pass on the haggis for that meal, which won't be until after we're paid.

SG is almost completely out of snacks. I'm buying milk and bananas tomorrow. She loves bananas. I also found a flapjack recipe. I haven't got the right shape of foil container, I#ve only got a flan foil container, but it will do the job. The plan is to bake more snacks when we're paid.

I need to phone the new credit card company. I tried to register my details online but it said there was a problem. Just send me my statement already so I can make a payment please. I want online access so I can view the statement ASAP.

I've decided that when we get paid I will buy fruit and veg, and possibly meat that's on offer in Aldi's Super 6. Nappies and formula I will get from Tesco by doing an online order and getting a £1 delivery slot.

The government start charging 5p/carrier bag next week. I don't think it will go down well but I'm pleased about it. We've got plenty of reusable bags so we will be fine.

I think that's all.

An Update

October 12th, 2014 at 12:26 pm

We're still struggling by but getting there I think. Five days until payday.

Meals have been mostly potato and pasta based with veg and sauce. We've been living off a 2kg whole chicken for the past few days. I'm making it into a curry tonight. Our cupboard is jam packed with pasta, cous cous and tins, it's just lack of meat that's the problem. We will need to buy bread and milk this week, and more formula for J. I've made a batch of lentil soup too.

My new credit card - or debt card rather - came through. I noticed today that an unexpected bill came out of my bank, hubby suggested using the card. No. I will buy the bare minimum. No extra debt is getting added. I don't think he expected me to agree anyway.

I've listed a few more things on FB. I'll set up a page on hubby's days off this week.

Busy, busy

October 8th, 2014 at 01:27 pm

Decluttering. I'm trying to sort out our paper clutter and get rid of old clothes, toys etc. It's a big job. I'm hoping once I've caught up it won't be as hard to deal with. At the moment i can only spend 10-15 mins doing something before I'm needed. But it's progress.

Just Thinking

October 4th, 2014 at 08:54 pm

The PIN for my new credit card arrived the other day. I didn't even bother to read it, I just put it in one of my files. I haven't got the new card yet but when it arrives I want to have a plan about what I'm doing. (The last time I transferred debt to a 0% card I didn't have a plan, see CC2's balance) It's either 33 or 34 months interest free. I don't want to just pay the minimum, although maybe I should so I can focus on the extortionate balance that is Bank of Scotland aka CC2. I do plan on paying extra to CC2 now that CC1 is 0%. Obviously, I know I'm going to have a tight month this month.

I checked Capital One's statement and the interest hasn't been added yet so I will need to pay that from my October pay, which is two weeks away yet.

Even though I now have this huge balance "available to spend" I guess I just want to remind myself that it isn't there for spending. In fact, I haven't activated the card
This post is really just to tell myself that I can't celebrate when the new statement comes through because I've still got the debt. It's just on a different card.

And when this new card arrives it will go somewhere safe (my folder) I'll set up my details so I can view the balance online. I'll make a payment. I WON'T USE IT!!

Ok. That's all.

Being Proactive

October 3rd, 2014 at 09:21 am

I've gathered up some more clothes and toys of SG's that I can sell on Facebook. These are toys that she had two of or a similar one. I'm going to comment on my posts on the selling pages to take them to the top of the page. I'm also considering creating my own selling page since there's a lot of clothes to get through.

I've joined a new site to earn rewards: www.superpoints.com

Last night I found a page on FB: Feed Your Family for £20 a week. I liked the page and was reading it last night. It shows a lot of easy recipes and tips e.g. bulk out meals with veg, buy a whole gammon joint instead of pre-packed sandwich meat, which I already do. Also the creator of the page seems to go to her local supermarket each night to get items which are reduced to silly prices such as 5p. I think I'll have to stick with what I'm doing which is shopping at Aldi and meal planning. I'll check back in with my cooking websites, Resourceful Cook and All Recipes to come up with inspiration.

Oh I got it wrong we're still short, but it's by 27.45 not 40.00.

The numbers :(

October 2nd, 2014 at 12:18 pm

I worked out this morning everything that has to be paid between now and payday (15 days away) Even after I withdraw savings - which I really really don't want to do - I will still be £40 short. Hubby told me not to panic, he's on his way home from work so we can discuss it. But there's nothing he can say that can make it better.

My overspending over the past few weeks has gotten us into this mess. That, and my maternity pay being less.

This is nothing compared to how bad it was when I was off sick, so I'm at least grateful for that. At least I can use my savings. Again.

My frugal and not-so-frugal ways

October 1st, 2014 at 09:13 pm

Recently I've noticed that I've been trying extra hard to save money while at the same time having a lot of unplanned - usually impulsive - spending. This is a new problem.

I'm a member of a FB page that auctions of items to help a charity. I love this charity. I'm not sure if it's because I've been a member for a few years and read their story (their nine month old died) that I really feel involved with their story. Lately, as in two weeks ago roughly, I won my first auction. I had only bid £1 but it was the highest bid and I won. I paid the money, feeling great about giving to charity. The following week, I bid on some more items, not intending to win but just to start the bidding process and help raise money. Well, I won. I've won two more since then. I've spent almost thirty pounds on this charity. All unplanned. The good news is that it's for SG and J's xmas.


I've managed to stretch a 750g packet of mince into three meals for us. I think hubby is sick of mince now but he knows the situation.

We went through next pay's budget with a fine tooth comb and it's going to be just as bad as this month (not due to impulsive spends though) I might have to transfer money out of savings this pay because it is that bad. I'm so disappointed in myself because I already did this in May I think it was, and now I have to do it again. It was nearly at one hundred pounds again. I don't want to do this every few months, it's like one step forward, three steps back.