In 3 hours odd
June 25, 2008
I'm going to see Ben Folds!
Please see previous entries for details as to why this is REALLY GREAT!
(Update)...
...and it was.
Wake up
June 25, 2008
We are skint.
We're probably skinter than we have been in years. Mackay finally did the long awaited budget appraisal and it's frightening.
In some ways it might not be as bad, long term as we think - in that we've spent money, on having the kitchen / downstairs re-done, some lighting changes - I mean we're talking real money going out of the door here, but because of the way our mortgage is set up, all those "loans" have basically come back out of our mortgage... and as a result we still only have one debt, but Christ, it's a big debt.
So I started cycling to work again and Bang, on day one, my front wheel snapped in two (incredibly) meaning I am now not cycling to work. Hopefully I'm getting it mended on Friday. More money of course, when the whole fucking point was to SAVE money. I am smacking my head against the table as I speak.
So, I'm going to have a credit card, for the first time in years, in the hope that that will get me over the immediate hump of bike repairs, 2 birthdays (and the kids getting presents for Daddy, of course) and the like, given that my monthly allowance under the new regime has been reduced by basically 50%. I'll tell you how much I have to spend on travel to and from work (including bike repairs and/or London transport), presents, clothes, shoes, holidays, travel, weekends away, taking the kids out, Nora's Charlie and Lola magazine, etc, etc every month: £220. Oh yes! And going out, of course.
We've worked out it has to remain that low for about 2 years. We're already looking at how to earn extra money. In our huh, huh, "spare" time.
Now. Nora had a friend come over the other day from pre-school. A lovely, bright, charming little girl who I hope comes over again, and we can arrange lots of co-visits and such over the school holidays. This little girl lives with her Mother, and her 11 year old older brother in 1 room, yet Mackay was saying that she didn't seem to want for anything, was dressed well, was polite, cleared up (a hell of alot better than Nora does)...
I think I can shut up now about being skint.