Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Karmacat · 29 March 2017 at 9:41AM

That's a very interesting article, thank you! Never read anything so tightly written and so full of useful tips

Jessy103 · 29 March 2017 at 10:42AM

Thanks for the link and I will definitely have a go, just need to buy a loaf tin first! Lol! x

themadvix · 29 March 2017 at 10:49AM

Don't bother with a tin Jess, just shape it and put it on a floured baking tray - unless you have a compulsive need for a traditional farmhouse shaped loaf. I never bother as I've never managed to find a 'proper' sized loaf tin - the ones in the shops produce weirdly small loaf shapes!

When I'm feeling adventurous I exchange some of the white for wholemeal (makes a good 50/50 loaf) or rye flour, or add poppy seeds. I frequently double it and make two loaves (one for the freezer).

Jessy103 · 29 March 2017 at 11:07AM

Oh great I won't then if I don't need one! I like the thought of being able to add to it what you like because when you see the fancy ones at the supermarket they look really nice but are often part of the extra special range and can get expensive! x

themadvix · 29 March 2017 at 11:54AM

Approaching normal amounts of work to be getting on with this morning, which is nice. DH has had the day off to sort out the cars - fortunately he was right about what was wrong with his car, so that's now fixed (involved fiddling with fuel tank which wasn't much fun). He's going to check mine over this afternoon and hopefully it'll get a clean bill of health.

Am going to be writing a complaint to JL. I ordered a carpet for our stairs and landing on 8 Feb with an expected delivery of 10-14 days. When the 14 days was up I received a call saying it wouldn't be available until 27 March. So yesterday, having not heard anything from them, I rang and left a message. I received a voicemail this morning saying it wouldn't now be available until 10 April. I think this is ridiculous and completely unacceptable (it certainly falls short of the standard I expect from JL). The carpet was the last thing we needed to complete the hall, stairs and landing and we've been waiting 6 weeks for it now (and now apparently it'll be 8 weeks, if not longer). I'm so fed up. If I could get the same thing elsewhere and have my money back (which I could have been earning interest on, grr!), I would, but it took fussy me a long time to decide on it. We're not even waiting for it to be fitted, as we've got our own carpet fitter lined up. Sorry, rant over.

MSE things:
* Still haven't received info from RM surveys, but I checked and it did say 'this week'.
* 40p from Prolific survey
* Improvised dinner last night when I realised we didn't have the ingredients needed for what I was going to cook!

Things to be grateful for:
* Plenty of work
* DH at home

* 2 out of 3 cars working
* Chauffeur-driven trip in the mini to my evening class last night - never fails to put a smile on my face
* A well done from my evening class teacher

* Naughty kitty didn't repeat the previous night's idea of peeing by the litter box, not in it (small victories!)

Have a good day, all!

try_harder · 29 March 2017 at 12:21PM

Its making me feel hungry now all this talk of homemade bread ,i just love rye bread with butter and cheese the heavier and denser the better and so much cheaper to make at home ,it costs around £3.70 in our local organic greengrocers.
How annoying about the carpet ,i would be furious i can quite understand why you are cross ,i would definitely write a letter or complain directly they might give you some compensation preferably a reduction on the price of the carpet i always find them very good like that ,we live beside a Waitrose and they are so helpful i would certainly try .

themadvix · 29 March 2017 at 12:25PM

Anyone thinking of trying the white loaf - beware, the cooking times he gives are different to in my book! I cook it for 10 mins at 200 (fan) and then 20 mins at 180 - which is what the book says. I do find I frequently have to reduce his timings if I don't want things to be cremated - that's my only issue with his recipes (rolls, do for 15 mins, not 20-25).

Karmacat · 29 March 2017 at 1:01PM

The timings thing is one of the reasons I love my halogen oven - *so* easy to see how its doing!

themadvix · 30 March 2017 at 11:37AM

Despite not sleeping very well, I'm having a productive morning (think this might be making up for the definitely-not-on-the-meal-plan Chinese we had last night). Hot cross buns baked (and tested), washing on, work doing, surveys doing whilst working. Have sold a hand bag on ebay - so once they've paid I'll transfer the profits to the OP fund.

CC bill is in for the month and I'll have to dip into savings to cover it. This isn't surprising really given the poor work situation for the last couple of months and it's what my buffer fund is for. Still not happy about it though! Tomorrow will be end of month invoicing day, so I'll have a better idea of whether things are improving - it certainly feels like they are.

Complaint made to JL, so will have to see what they say. My car didn't get checked over yesterday as DH ordered a new fuel filter for it and Eurocarparts gave him the wrong thing when he went to collect - he couldn't be bothered to go back, so I'll exchange it tomorrow and he'll sort it out on Saturday.

Still no news from RM surveys!

DH has had some good news today at work and some really awful news. He's been given a small bonus due to a patent he submitted progressing (with promise of more to come, presumably when it's no longer pending?).

In bad news though, one of his contractors, who he gets on really well with, has been given two weeks to live after a very late cancer diagnosis. DH is hoping to go and visit him at the hospice tomorrow. This has really made me think (and him too, I'm sure). Life is definitely about making the most of what we've got *now*, as no one knows what's around the corner.

With that in mind, gratitudes for today:
* Gorgeous sunny day
* Leftover Chinese for lunch
* We both (and our families) have our health
* Lovely holiday coming up to look forward to
* Walk later with DH to make the most of the longer evenings

Have a good day all!

themadvix · 30 March 2017 at 4:47PM

I've been told by the debt collectors that the former client has transferred the money - it's not arrived in my account yet, but if that's the case, then :j:j:T:T:beer::beer: I'm going to wait and see before celebrating though!

If it does arrive it'll be lovely to see the amount outstanding from them in my accounts drop to £0 and I'll be able to more quickly and accurately see how much my other customers owe. More importantly, I won't have to dip into my savings to sort out cc bill and I *should* have enough to add to the OP too

Once I've sorted my invoicing tomorrow and seen where I'm at I'll decide on how much to OP - I think I'm well behind on my targets for MFW2017, but I hadn't foreseen the work shortage at the beginning of the year. Hopefully things are back on track now.

Tonight we'll be back on the meal plan, after a walk and popping in on my dad to borrow a tool. Not heard back from JL yet, but their automated acknowledgement said 24 hours.

Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

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