It's been ages. I see there's been some good news since I was last on. Congrats to everyone who is now debt free.

We seem to be spending a lot more on food recently. We have barely been going out, only when really essential. I'm still off work due to my health. Just trying to keep everyone safe, that's the aim.

I let my budget slack these past few months. I need to deal with it now.This morning I updated it.

Everyone is healthy here.

Well that's the Easter "holidays" over as of yesterday. It's a strange time. We played Brain Challenge the past few days, which was good for eldest.

I have been making notes on J's progress to update his teacher.

L is copying J a lot. Toddlers pick up things quickly.

We have a musclefood order coming in a few days. I need to defrost the freezer. Tesco order due next week. We now have to go onto their website at midnight to try to get a slot three weeks in advance. I'm grateful not to go out though.

It's been a while so I thought I would update.

Kids are doing well. L is hitting her milestones; 13month review went well. J is thriving at his specialist school. SG is good, counting down till her eighth birthday.

Sinking funds are still being added to, i might have to increase them in the future though. Current balances are:
-90 in birthday fund
-60 in Christmas (plus 30 in vouchers so far)

Also, 30 to EF every four weeks.

Hubby's card is cancelled so trying to snowball that one.

I bought Budget Girl's monthly budget from Etsy last month. It is so much easier to manage finances. I can update on my phone. Best £4.26 i ever spent.

I just totalled up my spending so far:

Groceries: 92.33
Online shopping for kids: 24.55

I didn't realise I was close to £100. 76.73 of it was our weekly online grocery shop. Next week we're going to Aldi.

Eldest needed a few basics and J needed swimwear for school. My work had a special discount event. I decided to order online to prevent impulse buys. I did have to pay £2.95 delivery but I'm okay with that.

J also needs glasses. I didnt want to take him to get them during the Christmas rush. We will go on Friday.

Today was good. It was a NSD.

Steak pie from the butchers for dinner. Chocolate gateau for pudding. Lots of gateau leftover. I was going to defrost either pork or turkey for tomorrow but the fridge is full. So we'll have an omelette or something instead.

Lots of snacks leftover from Christmas to use up.

Note: eldest two like German chocolate snacks I bought for Christmas.

Happy New Year to everyone! It's been ages since I posted. Youngest is now one.

I'm going to attempt Uber Frugal Month Challenge since I didn't do it last year. I need to get back on track. Just waiting on the link to the Facebook group. I'll definitely give it my best shot.

It's been so long I don't know where to start. I'm back at work now, I have been for a while. I forgot how difficult it is when they're babies and going to work. L is so excited to see me when I'm home.

We received J's autism diagnosis. We also disputed his school placement. He starts a new school soon.

We owe MIL money from at the start of the year when we were behind on hubby's credit card. I'm finally able to start paying her back.

I haven't started Christmas shopping yet.

Eldest is doing good. I am wondering if we will need to start giving her pocket money soon. I want her to learn how to manage money.

My mum bought a household item from one of those stores that charge extortionate rates (69%+) She told me she can't afford the payments so they're taking her to court. She doesn't care. This is the same place that i spent years paying an item off for my mum (I'd bought it as a gift when i was naive) It took me *years* to get rid of it. I don't understand her attitude.

I didn't mean to leave it this long between entries. Since my last entry we've had my birthday and SG's birthday. I had money in the sinking fund for that. We had a relaxed day, eating food that the birthday girl wanted. I made a chocolate fudge cake.

We had to borrow money from MIL a few weeks ago to get current on hubby's credit card. Sigh.

We received the new baby payment, then found a highchair on Amazon for £58.20. It's similar to the one that we had for the older two. The rest of the money is in my savings, allocated as the baby sinking fund. (241.80)

I was also finally able to get the school clothing grant. That money is in the sinking fund too. It'll be getting spent soon,SG has had a growth spurt.

Baby L is 14 weeks now. Sleep is getting better: four-five hours followed by two wake-ups every two-three hours.

Just for reference, and because I haven't updated my sidebar, there is 40 in the Christmas sinking fund. Not much compared to the others.

I just checked, and my loan is now under 1k. Only 4 more payments to go!! I'll be applying that money to my credit card when it's gone.

I've reached the halfway point. Baby is doing well,according to my recent ultrasound. We haven't bought anything yet. However, we now need to start getting organised.

I've still been decluttering,although not as much as before. I need to step up before I add baby stuff.

I need to get started Christmas shopping soon. Luckily for me I have a 6 year old who is happy to tell me what she wants. She is an advertisers dream. I do point out to her that she can't get everything. I've started an Amazon wish list for the first time ever.

Speaking of Amazon,I've just claimed a £5 voucher from swagbucks. I need to get back on it so that it can help with Christmas shopping.

It's been a while since I last updated. Since then I've been a bit lax tracking my spending. Time to get focused again.

Last night I meal planned and wrote today's shopping list. It's payday today. I'm going to make sweet and sour chicken in the slow cooker (a first for me). I'm hoping there'll be plenty of leftovers.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant now. I'm definitely making an effort to eat good stuff. Of course, this pregnancy is already heaven compared to the last because I'm healthy.

I'm trying to continue to declutter. My mum wants to buy stuff for the baby already, but I told her I need to check what we have first. If I can get stuff nearly new,I will.

Debt is going down. I have to update my sidebar.

I've been really bad these past few weeks, getting a takeaway impulsively last week and buying little things here and there when I'm out. So bad.

I also bought a coat rack from amazon. £23

Kids have school trips coming up. For once, I had money set aside in my sinking fund.That was good.

So,one of the reasons I've been distracted is because I was having bladder problems. I had a catheter in for a week. I went to the doctors the other week because I hadn't peed for almost a day.Two litres of urine later.. then a catheter. I'm now without a catheter and doing it myself, when needed. I wasted some money at the hospital a few times on sandwiches from the cafe.

So,the reason I'm having issues,if you haven't figured it out already... I'm pregnant. I don't know when I'm due,I haven't seen the midwife yet or had my ultrasound. Plus,family don't know yet. We will tell them once I've had my ultrasound. It's nice to tell people, even if it is anonymously.

I've spent £112 on food so far since payday last week. Ouch. My tesco order was huge though. I've been looking into portion sizes and trying my best not to waste leftovers.

I found a bean and pasta soup recipe that I'm going to make for lunches next week. I cooked up some pinto beans and I also have cannelini beans in the freezer.

I'm going to a speech therapy course for parents of children with social learning difficulties. It lasts 6 weeks. I think it'll help a lot.

My new hours started. My first pay will be at the end of the month.I'm looking at that budget now.

I'm really hoping for a Low Spend April. I've ordered, what I hope, is two weeks shopping from tesco. It doesn't arrive until Thursday. I made sure to order dried cannelini beans, pinto beans and adzuki beans. I've never tried adzuki beans.I'm going to make sure that i cook and portion them up for recipes. My new contract starts next week so I need to make sure I limit my shopping trips. If I can get most of it at once,the happier I'll be.

My meal plan is looking like this:

-slow-cooked pulled pork with potatoes and veg
-sweetcorn fritters with salad
-carbonara-style pasta with pulled pork and mushrooms
-penne with red peppers and spinach (SG picked)
-tostada with chicken, black beans, salsa
-frozen pizza (twice)
-sweet potato and white bean chilli (Jamie Oliver)
-chilli con carne with rice and tortilla chips
-leftovers (definitely need to make sure there's no waste)

I cancelled one of DH's direct debits. It was only for a fiver,but every little helps,right? Next I'm going to look into reducing our cable package.

I bought a bag of dried turtle beans (black beans). I'm going to definetly incorporate them into our meals. We've already tried black beans with a tortilla and an omelette. It was from my new recipe book. A few meatless nights a week are the way to go, I think.

I finally opened up a savings account for my sinking funds. It's for birthdays and school/nursery expenses. Hopefully I'll have more in the future.

So, I had my meeting at work. It went better than I thought it was going to. I was completely shocked when she said that my hours weren't changing. However, as she started reading through my hours I realised that they had one day wrong. Well,I explained that I can't do that shift because I can't get there early enough. She had a think and suggested a long day. I pointed out that buses are unreliable at that time so she shortened it. The result was that I was now 4 hours less. She said that I can pick up another day to make up my hours,in fact another very early start was suggested.

Well,I came home and spoke to hubby about it. Another very early rise just doesn't work - I'm talking before 4 - so we're just going to rework the budget. Before I left work that day I spoke to another woman who is also reworking her budget.

So,it's not official yet because I haven't signed my new contract. Was it the best decision financially? Probably not, but for my sanity and family life, I think it is best.

I've just done an online shop which is getting delivered on Friday (payday). Before that, I done a meal plan:

-slow cooker pulled pork
-black bean tacos with salsa and guacamole
-pulled pork carbonara
-pizza
-Mediterranean spiced pasta

I'm also going to try baking an orange loaf cake for the first time, and banana bread.

Took out an amazon prime free trial. I didn't plan on SG buying the Frozen movie accidentally today. That was 9.99, but thankfully I had gift cards on the account.

It's SG's birthday soon. All money for it will be coming from this upcoming pay. I wish I had sinking funds already. Mothers Day is also next month.

I've decided I'm going to put an a4 sheet of paper on the fridge with our grocery budget, and spending, on it.

My work are being a nightmare. I had a meeting to discuss my hours. They want everyone to be as flexible as possible. Well, I explained that I'm not. They noted it down. I asked if redundancy was on the table? No, it's the last option. At the next meeting they will give me hours that some computer decided is best (to meet the needs of the company). I'm dreading it. Someone told me that she was offered hours, but she couldn't work that late and they wouldn't negotiate with her. So, it's all or nothing.

For now, I'm job hunting and resisting the urge to hand in my notice.

So, any idea what I should do meanwhile? Minimise expenses? Put away extra cash? Or towards debt?

This is one thing that I don't have, but I know I'll need to set it up ASAP. I know a few of you have sinking funds. How do you keep track? Are they in a separate savings account? Right now I think I'll need one for school/nursery and clothes for the kids. Us too, possibly. I know this'll help my budget in the long run if I can get this set up.

It's been a while since I last updated. So, what's been happening?

First of all, I started watching a lot of budgeting videos on YouTube. Actually, I started that at the beginning of the year when Creditcardfree mentioned it in her blog. Now, I'm trying to figure out if I'm more of a pen and paper gal, or if spreadsheets are the way forward? And, do I prefer updating daily or once a week? And cash only? Right now, it's mostly cash for variable expenses.

I had a birthday. I treated myself to a new cookbook from Amazon. I had vouchers so the book was free. The aim of the book is feeding a family of four for £40/wk. I'll be making some stuff from it.

I also just spent a Christmas gift card today. I added a couple of things for the kids. I was 6.49 OOP.

I had a check up at the dentist. One of my fillings needs replaced. It'll be £56. This wasn't in the budget so, today, I made sure that my health plan is updated online. I can make the claim the same day so that's good. I also made sure that both kids are on it. They are. (Youngest has had a lot of referrals since last year. Possible autism diagnosis. We've been to lots of appointments for him. Next one is ophthalmology this month, since they really did refer everywhere).

Hmm, what else? SG's birthday is next month. She told me the other day she'd like a party. I had to tell her that's too late notice to book a party. Looks like I'll be planning one next year.

On Friday I spent more on food shopping than planned: 72.xx in Iceland and another five in Lidl.

Yesterday it was 16 - I think? - on pull ups and some snacks.

Today it was some new shoes for littlest, whose went up half a size. I also got him a jacket that was on sale. Spent 38 on trainers, then another 26 on the sale stuff.

I think that's enough for now.

I finally phoned to cancel my phone contract. I'll be taking over hubby's next month.

I realised from just using cash this month, that a lot of our money goes to debt. I knew that was the case, but this makes it clear. At least, I'm paying more than the minimum and I should only have to do this until the end of next year - hopefully I'll be debt free by then (November 2019,hopefully). So, although I won't have saved a lot, I think I'll keep up this cash only habit because it really makes me think.

In other news, I'm almost finished that bag of lentils. Finally. I'll buy in a 500g bag the next time, not a kilo. We're having the last of the turkey for dinner tonight. Afterwards, we'll have rice pudding that's in the slow cooker.

I started this blog 12 years ago today. Way back when I was a young twenty year-old. Wow.

I was thinking the other day that I need to actually write down estimated payoff dates. I know the loan is May 2019. I can't remember when my 0% card finishes - August 2019? Then after that, I'll put all that money to hubby's card.

In other news, I spent 43.xx at Aldi. Way more than the 25 I wanted to. Ugh. But never mind. I'll deal with it.

I think I'm doing okay, ten days into Uber Frugal Month. I don't know how much money I'll actually save, but I am more conscious of my spending.

I returned three unwanted Christmas presents yesterday. The store didn't offer store credit, so I exchanged them for a new pair of boots for J, and a loofah. Spent 50p.

I also bought a box of baby wipes because I seen they were on offer. Originally, I was going to get them next week but I changed my mind.

Meal planning has been going well. I think I bought in too many bananas though, so I'll get less next time. I shouldn't be shopping until Friday.

Next week I will use up the last tub of turkey in the freezer. I'm still trying to decide how, though. I froze half of the chilli that I made too, but I don't think I want the same again (we had it with rice and tortilla chips)

It's payday. I went to three different shops due to offers, and spent 59.61.

Over the next week, we will be eating:
-macaroni and cheese
-pizza
-chilli with rice and Tortilla chips (making a double batch and freezing the rest)
-Turkey burritos (leftover turkey, burrito mix needed using)
-loaded potato skins with salad
-leftovers

I withdrew 140 cash for the week. It's a bit more than needed but I'll need enough change for bus fares. Leftover money will be rolled over. Next week I'll be withdrawing less since I expect to spend less now. All that's left to buy now is nappies - and wipes, but we're not out yet.

On Sunday I want to buy a couple of tins of black beans to make soup. I have to get them from Tesco because nowhere else sells them. While there, hubby wants us to treat the kids to a babyccino (about 55p) plus he'd like a coffee. Not frugal, I know. I did say no to food there though (3.50+ for a toastie). Anyway, if the weather's really bad I'll just go myself.

Oh, I paid off the catalogue today. Almost forgot that.

It was SG's first nativity play yesterday (at nursery they just sang, they didn't tell a story). I spent:

-£4 entry (£2 each)
-£1 at the craft fayre

Then I bought a raffle ticket from J's nursery (£1)

Completely unrelated, I also got my hair cut (£18)

It's dress down day today, so that's another pound. Last week it was Christmas Jumper Day/Save the Children and I spent £2 for them both to wear theirs.

This is mostly for my notes. It's all in my notebook in my bag anyway.

Oh, we just wrote cards to each of the staff since DH and I ate the chocolates I bought for the teachers (they were two small boxes). Lesson learned: buy them later next year.

I'll also be spending £36.75 at the butchers next week.

Yesterday I spent some time thinking about UFM. I checked bank statements from January and February this year; I put 107 extra towards debt after this year's Uber Frugal Month. I don't think I'll be able to match it next 6ear for two reasons: 1. We aren't getting warm home discount yet (I switched suppliers and I've been told we're in the latter stages of the process) and 2. I pay the equivalent to dh's credit card. Anyway, I will definitely give it my best shot, especially since I've had more time to think about it this time round - last year I only heard about it from Debtfreebythirty's blog post.

DH is going to decrease the number of screens on Netflix in preparation. I'll remind him today.

I need to phone my current phone supplier to cancel since I'm taking over Dh's plan - he's joined a new one via our cable supplier.

I checked online for recipes using pearl barley and saved a few. I've got a bag in the cupboard that's barely been touched.

Lastly, I reread some blog entries from fellow SAers who took part.