The Bills

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Claire's husband is Out of work during the pandemic, so he has plenty of time to play with your son

My money is a series on how people spend their money - and the sometimes difficult decisions You have to. Here, Claire Millington, auditor at PwC, from West Yorkshire in the UK, takes us through a week in your life, such as the country goes through the Corona-Virus-pandemic.

Claire (35) is the mother of Alexander (4) and married to Luke. She lives halfway between Todmorden (pronounced death-m-dun, not Tod-mor-den! ) and Hebden Bridge .

over to Claire.

I work full-time from home now, while my normal pattern of Two Days At Home and Two Days would be in The Office . So, because of that and the fact that the munchkin is watching more TV than normal, because he is not at the preschool, We Are spending a little more on gas and electricity.

child-care - we use the government's tax-free childcare system, so what we pay in the Treasury tops up to 20%. Our pre-school fees in the monthly fees in advance, so that today I Am paying for 80% of the c£400 Cost in my online-tax-free childcare account. It is a bit annoying, as the preschool is now closed, the key-worker children (we qualify by the hubby's career), but I understand that You need the money to flood, until the government comes to 80% of holiday cash-in.

fortunately, we can afford to pay for this, since I'm still working as normal, only At Home , and the husband is still at full employment, though he is currently stood down from his normal duties and is At Home With Us . While I'm glad the employees will be paid for it, I know this is really difficult for some of The Other parents who are really struggling this month. Hopefully it will be a kind of compromise/reimbursement agreement, once this is all over.

expenditure: £320

insulation to save (£17) £12 train journey Plus a £5 lunch, as if I was in The Office I often forget to have lunch, or if I do I have a Bad Habit of rushing Out The Door to get munchkin to nursery and leave it in The Fridge !

hurrah for payday!

to relieve Another quiet day of working from home with the odd break for daddy daycare. To do some baking with the munchkin later in the week, we made a socially-distant visit to our neighbors to buy some eggs. You have to keep a fantastic small goats, sheep, and chickens, and I think that We Are their best customers. Especially when the hubby is home, we go through eggs like nobody's business!

phone bill paid by direct debit. I needed a new phone a few months ago as my contract increased to £23 Per month from £13 Tariff I was on, as I found Out , that over the duration of The Contract (24 months), I would just the same as buying a new mobile pay about part.

Alexander 'help spending' his mummy with The Work

£26

insulation savings: £0

The man was under the opportunity to finally build the compost pile (it's only been waiting for months...) so we needed a delivery from our local builder's merchants, costs Around £42.

It is a large, today, as the mortgage payment of Around £1400 on The First of each month. He never failed to swallow me, but it's Worth It . We love Our House and do what is recommended by our mortgage Advisor pay off as much as You can, as fast as You can and if You can afford it, pay a lot, if You can. That is, we store huge amounts of interest over the term of the mortgage, and it should (fingers crossed) be mortgage-free by The Time We Are 50.

expenditure: £1,442

insulation lunch: £17 £12 train fare and $ 5.

My money

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I'm trying to make sure that the majority of my bills are paid by direct debit (It is a state of my current account, and makes sure I don't Miss A payment) and You come to the beginning of each month. So I know that, with The Exception of the Babysitting service and my phone bill, the rest of the Bar is for us to do as we please.

So today, a bill is The Day of almost £300 to cover council tax, electricity, gas and water. As we Cost of a Septic Tank , our water minimum every month than we pay for sewer, but we do save up a little each month to cover the costs for emptying the Septic Tank should You need it.

expenditure saving: £300

Isolation: a, £0

Claire and her son is getting some daily exercise

Friday is usually The Day for planning The Meals for the week in advance, do the shopping, housework and generally sorting My Life Out while the munchkin is in preschool (I'm contractually to four days in the week and try to be strict with myself and nothing else to do, as in The Work phone for emergency E-Mails from my team on a Friday).

fortunately, we had our monthly big Costco shop for things like toilet roll, kitchen paper, canned food, etc. before the lockdown started. This Week it was supplied with fresh food, meat and some treats, as well as additional baking, as I really like the cake, enjoyed with the munchkin. We also try to support our local small businesses, so where possible we buy from local butchers and grocers. This is slightly more expensive, but as The Butcher has to produce award-winning (his Italian sausages are to die for) it's Worth It .

It was also believe a little bit of an increase in the alcohol bill This Week , but a glance at the man's face after a week of full-time entertaining our very active and demanding four-year-old me, he deserves it!

Normally, the husband lives and works during the week, during my weekly food bill went up, this is probably balanced by what he is, not spending it on food, when he is gone. I call that pulling a network - no pain, but no gain either.

expenditure: £150

Isolation save: £0

Claire Millington

We Are really happy where We Live , that we have an acre paddock (no horses, though my budget is not quite up on that kind of Hit ! ), So There is plenty of space in The Garden and to the paddock for the munchkin, and to drive his toys JCB dump truck. We also look at Stoodley Pike (pronounced Studley), so it is really easy for us to Get Out and about in the Fresh Air .

in General, on a weekend, we would have taken a Day Trip somewhere to Get Out when The Weather is nice, but We Are following The Rules #stayhome.

We treated ourselves to a snack given, we would have done, as You came a long walk and returned a little later than planned. Unfortunately, our favorite local Indian has closed for the protection of your employees and customers, but to help a member of our local community, bringing You local information together in one place through the creation of a community website, so that we were able to find one that was still open.

expenditure: to assess £30

insulation savings: Difficult as our day-trips can vary in Cost . If we do go, pack a lunch and drinks, but we often pay at The End for the Park And Then coffee and cake. I with an average of £25.

Claire's son enjoys the Wide Open spaces in the vicinity of your house,

I took The Weekly readings from the smart meter, which came to £34. 50 for gas and £20. 39 for electricity. This is slightly More Than normal, probably not all of The Other cups of coffee, I'm not helped to work Out while At Home , the extra Two Days , it seems to be massively different. Fortunately The Weather was reasonably good with only a few cooler days This Week . This was in the depths of winter, it would have been a different story.

Today was The Day , when I checked, the digital banking, in order to ensure that all debits were paid for the invoices. I was pleased to see that my gym has done what they promised and suspended can open all of the member contributions until You again. So this is to save a £26 Per month isolation, if I do not make a Special Effort to make some of The Free home workouts, which is as simple as people - I'm missing all the enthusiasm, if You try to do this in my Living Room !

expenditure: £154. 89

Isolation save: £6. 50. As The Gym membership Per month, I have divided to save the four, an average on a weekly basis.

Overall, This Week spent: £2,447. 78Total weekly isolation savings: £65. 50How does Claire feel about your week?

coronavirus lockdown measures, coronavirus pandemic, childcare, money

Source of news: bbc.com