The Quest

Lula-Hula

Oh, by the time I log on tonight the boards are almost deserted , probably because it's friday night & everyone has much better things to do :rolleyes: . Thanks to Tea & Bowski for the hugs - much needed & appreciated :A .

It's been a good day today I got an extra load of work to do over the week end, which in the past I would have turned down, but not these days . I was in town by 9.15 to do a bit more christmas shopping & managed to get the shorts & sparkly tights that DD wanted & they'll look great with the boots I got her yesterday. I know she's going to be really happy which is great. I also managed to get her a very cheap pair of trackie pants & top for outdoor PE at school ( hurray for Primark ) a present for one of my nieces, a small thing for my grandmother so her present is now complete . I also picked up a gorgeous pink cardigan for me, & then put it back on the rail again & contented myself with a new umbrella with elephants on it for a measly £3 instead . I really enjoyed going round the shops & coming away having got stuff that was needed for other people rather than coming home & feeling guilty for spending more money on more clothes for me that I really dont need .

I then went to waitrose :j to do some food shopping & spent £35 so quite happy with that although I do realise that I have overspent this week as I had that trip to the local co op too, although some of the stuff wil definitiely last more than a week. DD has rediscovered a passion for satsumas which is a relief as I do try to buy seasonal fruit & veg (apart from bananas :rolleyes: ) & was running out of ideas as to what to put in her lunchbox.

I did actually go into a 'cheap christmas' shop today - counted 5 :eek: of them in town - & bought a box of washing powder for £2, will just have to hope our skin doesnt peel off as although it's the same brand as i usually buy , I'm not convinced the contents are the same :rolleyes: .

Had the daily call from xbf but this time to say he was coming round with a trailer to collect the greenhouse. He actually did turn up half an hour later & I loaded that trailer so quick there was smoke coming off me . I now have an empty garage just for the car & the bikes can live in the shed again :j
I'm intending to finish tidying the shed up & then all the decorating stuff that's currently occupying 3 shelves in my kitchen larder cupboard can also go live in the shed - leaving me with space for stocking up on stuff. I'm going to sort through all the paints & take anything I wont use again to the tip along with the bag of broken electrical stuff that's been hanging around for months & the tv cabinet too. I love to declutter & managed to get xbf to take his stereo home with him too . It's just a shame that I mananged to completely forget to buy DD a new swimsuit & pair of goggles before her lesson tonight ; particularly as I managed to pay money into the bank for the CC payments & also top up the gas so that i dont need to spend any money again all week end :mad: . Will probably try to hang that out until next friday when I will do another trip for 'festive' shopping. I have never been so organised which is ironic as this is the first year I've had so little money to do it all :rolleyes: .

Right, I'm so tired going to go to bed now
G'nite zzzzzzz

mum2one

Dont benefit people make you laugh - Im on Income support and do some mystery shopping work, so when I get pd I send in the slips, doing it by the book.
Sent in the last 2 slips, and asked could they send me some pre-paid envelopes (as they closed my local office), got a "with compliments slip"....Dear Miss XXXXX, please note we do not send out bulk pre-paid envelopes, should you require an envelope, please ring the office and we will send you one out".

Why they couldnt of enclosed 1, I dont know.

Bowski_1011

Evening (morning ) Lula.... You're wrong, I didn't have anything better to do atall, infact I've had a miserable evening going thru DD's hair

Sounds like you've had a much better day today Good work on getting rid of the greenhouse.:rotfl: @ you smoking with speed !!! You crack me up!

Glad you're finally enjoying your car:j My car doesn't go straight when left to its own devices, I think its the tracking or something like that, I'm not too sure of the serious-ness of it. I suppose if I don't find out it can't cost me any pennies that I don't have!

I'm off to bed now, keep staying up really late and it's not good !!

Night

Bowski_1011

Mum2one... I really am not suprised atall !!!

Lula-Hula

Hi mum2one -

What frustrates me is that the people who work for government 'agencies' know damn well the rules are ridiculous - you can hear it in their voices, they are just bound by the bureaucracy themselves. I always try to remember that when I actually want to shout very loudly. Before I worked enough hours to get tax credits, I used to get half my wages taken away & the woman at the jobcentre advised me that"'in future, it doesnt 'pay' to be too honest about earnings" . I hope these people realise that having to claim certain benefits isnt a lifestyle choice. In this area childminders are charging more than the wages advertised in jobs, who in their right mind is going to work for a loss :rotfl: . I paid a weeks wages for DD to attend 4 weeks of camp in the summer so that I could work :rolleyes: . Apparently I only get help with the costs if I need the care for more than 4 consecutive weeks at a time. Actually she enjoyed it so much that I've now added the cost into my budget funds so that next year I wont have to pay for it on the cc .

Hi Bowski - if your DD has the same infestation mine had, you have my sympathy & be warned it takes about 2-3 weeks to be completely rid. Even now DD insists that I check her hair once a week,ugh make me itch just thinking about it :mad: .

Right I'd better get dressed & make a start on the shed, planning to have a NSD today so need to keep busy .

Bye for now

lula

Lula-Hula

Hmmmmm,

well it didnt turn out to be a NSD .

I have now sorted the shed out & installed all the decorating equipment as well as all the stuff that's been lying around the place waiting to go to the tip :rolleyes: . It can all live in there until I cant get in the door, just as long as I'm not tripping over it in the home .

A local garden centre usually has great christmas displays with loads of moving charcters & creautres so we decided to go there this afternoon. Not a display in sight though loads of half price tat that I didnt want & I though I was going to escape without spending any money until DD spotted all the bird feeding equipment & the pic n mix ... £ 10.63 later I have an enormous bag of peanuts ( sadly not the kind to go with G & T ) & some seed & nasty looking fatty ball type things & a load of fizzy sour snakes :rolleyes: .

Then took a trip over to Dads house to do a quick check up while he's away ( actually just an excuse to drive around in car for a bit ) then went to another garden centre with loads of displays & pretty sparkly things but escaped without removing my purse from my bag . did a quick trip to the local co op on the way home & for £2.72 I got a loaf of bread, 2 packs of teacakes & 2 malt loaves so quite bargainous.

I also got another £2 coin in change so worth the spending. I did eye up those lovely terramundi amphora thingies but i) they cost £17 :eek: & ii) they have to be smashed to get a the money :eek: so not very DFW at all.

I've checked the bank balance & decided to do the weekly payments tonight so they'll leave my account on monday morning. I paid a total of £80 & cc1 now stands at £ 2,586.42 & cc2 now £ 3,677.33

Must try hard to have another NSD tomorrow as November disappearing fast.

bye for now
Lula

[Deleted User]

Hi Lula,

Sorry that your NSD didn't quite turn out as such but sounds like you had a good time anyhow the birds will be pleased.

Well done on the payments, they are going down :T

Catch you later,

Tea
x

Lula-Hula

Morning everyone,

Moo2 - are you & yours ok ? We miss you

I was so bored & fed up last night but after a good night's sleep have woken up all inspired & feeling creative...

Yesterday we bought all that bird food & were also yearing over the bee & ladybird houses & the big multiple feeder thingies that are £20 + :eek:

We have a bird table in the garden & loads of bits of wood of varying lengths & thickness in the shed, under the bed, behind the bookcase ... just about everywhere so today I am going to customise the one we have by adding arms to hang all the different foods on & also a birdie bath. If it's succesful then I see no resaon why I cant make more & then sell them for a few squids . Will have to take another trip to the garden centre at some point & examine the bee & ladybird houses too so I can then recreate those as well.

It will keep us busy during winter & could bring in a bit of extra money too .

I may have to invest in a drill but I've been meaning to get my own for years rather than borrowing other peoples , anyone know where I can get some cheap wood working tool type things ?

Right, need to get dressed as the heating's gone off now & it's a bit 'fresh'
bye for now ...

Lula

Lula-Hula

A slightly despondent hello,

I managed to have a NSD yesterday but didnt get started on my new project due to freezing wet stuff falling out of the sky , I'm having another NSd today too which is fortunate as I had another leter from the local authority - this time about the council tax. Guess I should have seen it coming :rolleyes: but anyway; it turns out that the council tax benefit was miscalculated too so this friday rather than paying the usual £38 I now have to pay £ 69 :eek: to avoid slipping into arrears, court action, prison & probably being hanged too :rolleyes: . I also have to pay an extra £18 next month too . Acutally I'm just glad that I did that extra work over the week end which although means I dont have extra money, means that I can pay the amount due.

Apparently the miscalculation is entirely my fault as my original claim was in november & I havent been sending the new tax credits award forms in when I receive them in April, but have waited until the local authority asked me to renew my claim in november :doh:. You can bet that I will be sending the new award notice in the minute I receive it next April :rolleyes: . It would be quite helpful though if the local authority / tax credit people did recommend this course of action; I'm just not savvy enough about all these benefits :mad: .
I hate dealing with it all but think I may well ask to pay the council tax over 12 months rather than the usual 10 next year.

I'm just wondering what other financial surpises are going to crawl out of the woodwork in the next few weeks. The handle came off the cooker yesterday :eek: but I managed to stick that back with some superglue so no need to go foraging for a new cooker yet, it's quite amazing how much of our home is held together with either 2 screws or superglue .

No other news so just going to update the NSDs in my sig

bye for now

Lula x

Bowski_1011

Hi Lula... I never bother sending forms in till they ask for them either, I just don't think of it!! But then that'll be why I'm now paying off a £300+ housing benefit overpayment! I'm glad you're looking on the bright side about your extra work at the weekend.

Well done on your NSD's you're great at them!! Don't know if you've noticed in my sig but i've finally got a couple...i've found it so hard this month but I can't be bothered to beat myself up about it so I'm just looking forward to starting again in December and I'm gonna get as many as I can in the few days we have left.

I'm afraid I can't help you with the drill.... I go so far as having a pink tool set which contains the essentials... not that they get used.

I'm off to get a bath and in my pj's and then I'll be back later to catch up.