Frugaleer Festive Fun

[Unescorted]

I went to post and realised we had nearly run out of room.

old thread here

Bring the sparkle on....

Very difficult relationship with my dad as does my mum, but as a result I'm v close to mum. It has been challenging over the years and has caused a lot of problems and heartache for me, but I'm in a place now where I can let it wash over me. Lockdown is difficult as legally we can't bubble with them, so I have to get on with the knowledge that they are locked down together, not really liking each other. They should have gone separate ways years ago, but mum is 81 and it won't happen now. Mum's having her vaccine on Friday as am I hopefully, but this time we are going to bubble with them so that I can give more support to mum. Technically it will be illegal, but I feel they are vulnerable and am happy to take a chance.
Happier I'm sure I've written on here about dd's struggles with same. The website ERIc has good advice, there is also a poster on mn called sidge who was a school nurse and gave great advice. Hope the alarm works. Happy for you to dm me if it helps, don't want to say too much here for her sake.

Had a real downer over the weekend and Monday about the restrictions. My heart just breaks for the dc at the age they are, the impact on them is huge. Waiting for the incompetent education minister to explain what process dd will have to go through instead of GCSE exams. Ds got his first uni assignment back yesterday & has done really well. I felt so happy for him after all he has been through the last few years, hopefully this is his opportunity to shine.

Dh did a top up shop yesterday, not sure how much spent, but no other spends. I'm going to spend my spare time over the next few weeks/months reading, quilting and crocheting.

Yaaaas! norths ds! Good job!!!!

Welcome DrD I think it is a bit of a spread.. some use You Need a Budget, I use a spreadsheet & simplified my finances so everything goes in on one day and everything goes out the next. Everything left 2 days after is spending money - this does include day to day expenditure on food, fuel, school randoms. Everything that is predictable has a sinking fund - car and house maintenance, annual bills, birthday presents, etal. I make an estimate for those, add a bit and divide the number by 12. I put the sum of all of those in a saving account each month on pay day. They best system is the one that works for you and the rest of your family.

em I remember my DM's realisation that I was not a carbon copy of her. It came after a period of me asking why each time she asked why I wasn't doing something her way.
Her: Un, why don't you use Sainsbury's.
Me: Why should I it is further away and more expensive
Her: well I have always used it because I prefer it.
Me: I don't remember inviting you for dinner.
Over and over and over...

I am quite fed up today already.... I need to get out of this hole before it gets any deeper.

YaY northDS - the first term has been so difficult for them at uni. DD was super stressed because she had no way to gauge how she was doing.

Your DD is the same age as my DS - Gavin Williamson is making a statement later so I am hoping that it is either his resignation or clarity on how GCSEs will be assessed. I am not holding out on either count.... it is like buying a EuroMillions ticket when the Jackpot is over £20m. Hope over experience.

Well done North's ds that's fantastic

Welcome Dr and other new folk

Dr I use the reminders bin on the Apple I phone. Every expenditure/budget category has a line and is ticked off when it's paid each month. I know exactly how much money to put in each account each month because I know what's going out of it.

Same for annual expenses. I know what needs paying each year, including clothes, emergencies, holidays, Christmas and birthdays etc, school uniform, sports club fees. Divide by 12 as unescorted does and then that's a payment each month into savings.

Also pay yourself first. When you get paid do all your savings and moving money around before anything else

DrDoolittle Ynab Referral Link there's a 30 day free trial for anyone that wants to use it.

I also do shopandscan if anyone wants my membership number for that pm me I'll get 500 points = €5. I've got €120 earned in last 12 months for scanning my weekly shop, it also keeps me conscious of when items go up in price too as I'm looking at my receipts.

@mrs.hawkins.house and @Mrsmadevans

Thanks north we did attend enuresis clinic with dd so I've a good grasp of their advice, we attempted it as it was that she didn't have the capacity to hold enough and we were to stretch her bladder by filling her up with liquids every two hours by day. Blackcurrant was a certain no no then but ds doesn't drink cordials
Well done to your ds

When I get time I need to look at what I paid for different sinking funds last year and allow for them each week on pay day. Already I'm allowing €35 to each dc for clothes out of child benefit monthly, this is €420 per year. And have my car tax, nct and ynab subscriptions set as goal for month they're due on my ynab.

£289 on new glasses and lenses (lenses were the expensive part) argh. But at least I’ll be able to see properly.

Exciting things here. Apparently there's a voucher for around £250 for local brewery for me at work. Christmas present from work.

This will keep me in Gin for a while! brewery does booze deliveries. yay! :)

Thanks all. I've looked at ynab but looks quite complicated, so might stick to a spreadsheet for now.

I can't move the day my rent goes out so might try to move everything else to the same day. Is it acceptable to write to companies requesting this, as I'm useless at phone calls? It's mainly the usual bills, water, gas/elec, car insurance, council tax, etc.

I'm aiming for as many nsd as possible right now. I need to have enough to build up a fund for new glasses especially plus would like to put money aside for car service and repairs. And Christmas. I have a savings account linked to my current account, but it would all be in one pot. Do some of you set up individual savings accounts for various things?

drDolittle someone I follow on instagram prints out a blank calendar page and puts all the dates that money comes in or out on that
I get paid weekly so it suits me that everything doesn't go out the one day

Thanks Happier. My money doesn't go in on the same day each time (4 weeks instead of monthly), so it's very difficult, but I figure I just need to build up some spare money. Been wracking my brain trying to work out the best way to do it, as it's making me very anxious.

It is more difficult to co-ordinate if it goes out on a pcm basis and in on a 4 week basis. I will have a fiddle with a cashflow spreadsheet to see if there is a way to do it.

Thank you. In an ideal world I'd like money in and out all in the same day so that I know exactly how much I've got left, but that's not going to happen. To be honest it actually goes in fortnightly, so even more difficult. There's no way around it. I've spent the last year fretting about it. There's always a point in the month where I thought I had plenty and suddenly I'm left with nothing. I have to check my account every day, I have all my outgoings on my calendar and still I get stressed about it. Just fed up now and need to find a way to deal with it.

I've already decided to stop using PayPal because I can't keep track of when they take the money, it's sometimes so delayed. I'd been using it to avoid using my bank details on too many sites, and also I use Ebay a lot, but it's too confusing.

I've just checked, I have dds going out in 1st, 8th, 15th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th!

We have 4 week pay here and it equates to 13 paydays per year but is a bastard to budget. The secret is knowing how much your bills total and the time between payday and bill day to not spend it. Have you a seperate billing account?
I see no reason why contacting people on line cannot be done to move your bills to the same day. On line chat will be as quick as a phone call.

No I have one current account for income and outgoings. I've tried that, but just can't keep track, would like to simplify it somehow.

I’d recommend the seperate bills account.

Also depending on which bank you’re with have a look for “save the change”
Options. Lloyds definetly does this - set it up and it rounds purchases up to the nearest £1 and swipes the change bit into savings.

Also something I found out recently - some premier cards (Hsbc is mine) give rewards. So sign up to those of you can. Every 1500 rewards points I get a £5 M&S voucher.

We don't have 2 accounts either but I know some who do.

Ok step one is definitely get a handle on spends and assess those. Your suggestion of aligning bills seems a good one. Is your double pay month start or end of the year? Ours is December

Thanks. I can't see the point of having two accounts and transferring money across, am I missing something?

Sorry, it was my error earlier, my income is fortnightly, so no double pay month.

I have a basic Lloyds account, not aware of a savings option, but will look.

I think I had a bit of a dip around Christmas, so fed up with everything, so I treated us a bit too much, nice food, some origami books for dd, new Christmas lights etc. I'm getting on top of this now, no more unnecessary spending for a while, frugal food shopping etc.

I am determined to crack this, but just can't work out when best to schedule bills.

If you have Excel there is template called simple personal cashflow - you can change the income frequency to 4 weeks by dividing the annual figure 52.12 and times by 4 OR divide by 365 x 28. The monthly formula is currently annual / 12 to give a pcm figure.

Thanks. I have excel but am no good with spreadsheets, so not sure how I would do that but will have a look. Income is actually fortnightly, so would be divided by 365 then x 14?

Yes. I am thinking how to do a simple spreadsheet ... do you get paid the same amount each fortnight or does it vary? Also you will have to account for WTC and CB.

Yes, same amount every time, but also other income four weekly, HB and PIP. It's a mess really.

Ah sorry, fortnight is tricky. Will a fortnight pay cover your bills? So one pay for bills then the other plus extras to live on?
I'm rubbish at excel too.