If you’ve followed the Palmer family story over the past few years you’ll know that money is tight at the moment.
We’d gone from being a high earning power couple to having our lives changed forever thanks to our second Daughter, Dorothy. Mrs P had developed Post Natal Depression which took her from her high profile job, which has meant that she’s been an amazing stay at home mum, but we’ve lost an income.
I’ve moved jobs twice in the past two and a half years. The first move was to a company that was progressive, offered me the progression and leadership I needed for my career but I ended up working more hours for less pay and away from home nights on end. After my amazing boss left, it was my chance to get my career back on track and earn my worth too.
There have been times throughout the two and a half years where money has been so tight, I’ve struggled for fuel to get to work, Mrs P has coppered up to buy some bread and milk and I’ve sold my favourite DSLR under value so I’ve got enough money to get to the airport for work.
It’s been really tough but 100% worth it for this little one. (Disclaimer, she’s not little anymore!)
I like to think of myself of someone that looks forward and tries to plan as much as possible. While neither of us could have prepared for the incredible highs, we’ve protected ourselves from the terrible lows.
We started by expiring as many contracts as possible and trying to get early settlements from those like gym memberships and overpriced insurances. We had to stop visiting the fancy places and the brand new Ralph Lauren clothes for work were now Primark with the odd trip to an outlet.
Looking at how we could reduce costs, we also looked deeper at our home. This was one of the biggest costs on the balance sheet each month and the first thing was to re-negotiate our mortgage. With spiralling utilities thanks to high water usage, heating on most of the time and everything plugged including inefficient bulbs. There’s also the things that you don’t consider that cost less than you think but combined are a big hit, XBox live membership, Audible books, Amazon Prime………… the list goes on and includes fastest internet speed and TV package.
Our house really was a money pit
The harder you try the harder it gets!I happened to be quite good at the game actually I suppose it’s all of the practice that I’ve had. As you can see from above my score is pretty good 🙂 Give it a go if you think you can beat me 🙂 Share your scores in the comments below. https://britishgas.co.uk/the-source/your-home/smarter-living/Smart-meter-maze-game try to beat my score of 23250!
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