Tales from The Shire

Guess what I've been doing guys. Yep.. cleaning :eek:

The downstairs loo is now presentable and a further, large box has been unpacked.

Mr F got paid. A lot :eek: It turns out his company sent the wrong information to HMRC, who issued a tax code based on the incorrect amount and so he got a big tax rebate in his pay. I've sorted things out now but it means we have to hold on to this extra money and do some recalculating next month as the overpayment will be deducted from his next pay. Took me most of the morning to sort it all out.

I am now on-line with the mortgage company. Very exciting although the balance looked a bit scary when I checked it.

The fun money has been replenished so we took ourselves off to the cinema last night to see Dunkirk. What a film. My heart didn't stop pounding the whole way through. We treated ourselves to an ice cream too but it was a relatively cheap night out overall.

We are noticing a big difference here:

• the journey to town was quick and easy
• parking was straightforward and there were plenty of spaces
• it cost £1.50 to park for the evening. We are used to paying £3 - £5 for a Friday night
• the cinema was clean, not too busy and the staff brilliant (we even got shown to our seats )
• the cost of the tickets was a whole £6 cheaper than we usually pay (and this is for the same cinema chain).

The savings paid for our ice creams

It's a good job the cost of living is cheaper here as I have now exhausted the moving in budget. There are still some things we need so I shall have to start moving up an MSE gear.

Next on the list... oh yes, more cleaning I'm going to try to get the hall in order so more boxes can be unpacked.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Fortune x

greent wrote: »

Mr gt is now trained at bringing back all hotel supplies - I use weird shampoos in the smalls' swimming bags. There are some hotel s'poo/ conditioner combinations I will use up on me and shower gels are happily used by Mr g or used to top up handwashes (depends upon the colour - only certain colours can be used to top up certain handwash bottles here! ) Teabags will get used if I like them, or taken into work if I don't. Coffee will get used by DS1 - he doesn't care! I use shower caps to cover proving dough and any sewing kits are donated to the local shoebox appeal - they make sewing kits up for sending abroad. My mum also donates all her airline (Emirates - good stuff!) and hotel toiletries to me (she will only use certain brands - sigh.....) - we get a regular supply of Gi11ette shaving foam, C0lgate toothpaste and a male anti-perspirant from her/ Emirates - it's fab!:T I pass on the toothbrushes to either the foodbank or shoebox appeal, along with any excess of the shaving foam (donated around a dozen cans last Xmas - they had a specific appeal for male toiletries) I'm all for making the most of freebies (and passing on what I can't/ won't use - I don't want any clutter from them):j

Hope the tiles come up wonderfully

x

Brilliant ideas GreenT. I love the dough cover tip too :T It's inspired me to try using the shower caps to cover desert dishes - I always manage to stick the cling film to the top of my desserts.

Mr F flies Emirates from time to time too - brilliant freebies. They often have little vials of perfume in. Other things I do with travel stuff is:

• make up little overnight packs for my guests to leave in their room - you can guarantee someone will arrive without their toothbrush or razor
• flight socks come in handy for people who forget to bring slippers
• use the toiletry bags to store shoe cleaning kits
• keep a toothbrush with my washing up stuff and another with general cleaning stuff for getting into nooks and crannies - I've worn out two so far cleaning this place up :eek:

If anyone else has ideas for this stuff I'd love to hear them.

Fortune x