retrocircles' DFW diary

ragstoricheswannabe

doing well retro, and big well done on your weight loss recorded in your sig!!!!!

retrocircles

I swear my kitties know when I'm budgeting!!! Keiko-cat was peeing blood last night, so a trip to the vets for a couple of jabs & some anti-biotics left me £56 lighter this morning.

They want a urine sample, again, though they had one 18 months ago & concluded stress-related cystitis. I have my guilt telling me do it (just in case), but then I have my bank balance saying no (it's about £60). What to do, what to do?

retrocircles

Still keeping track of the finances, writing down everything we spend. Going to do a summary at the end of the month to show where my weaknesses are.

Have a lot on my mind at the moment. Some family drama, which doesn't help.

Been looking over Martin's recent email & am considering applying for the 0% Virgin CC. DH got denied a short while back, but I've had my job for over 3 months now so I may be accepted??? Not sure whether to run the risk! I want to try for a joint account too.

For my Mum's birthday I'm taking her to Iceland (in December but b'day is August) with a view to try to see the Northern Lights (her dream). The Hilton over there looks lovely & only around £50 a night. It's the flights that are expensive... through Expedia I'm looking at around £300 pp return. I'm going to try direct with Icelandair today at work because their site just crashes out my netbook. I'll be putting it on Mum's CC & paying it off by December... I should have been saving but there have been so many other things to do!

retrocircles

Skint again. £70 left to last until end of month... not good. Roll on payday. Luckily I have a full tank of petrol and food in the cupboards. 2 thrifty weeks might not be so bad for me!

Really need to start Ebaying, but it's so hard without the garage being finished. It probably won't be finished until the end of September, so I'm thinking I HAVE to start now... plus I have to start paying back my Mum's credit card... & we're supposed to be going to Padstow (camping) in September. Hmmm...

I'm being very thrifty right now while I update. I'm scanning selected bits of a recipe book from the library. I could have bought it for £20... but instead I'm scanning! Very proud.

Vets clearly don't know what's wrong with my kitty cat Keiko. To the point where they're just going through things what we've already done. They keep telling us to bring her in... just give us more anti-biotics which aren't helping at all. I think I'm going to buy some Feliway refills to try to de-stress the house. Only the cost of 1 appointment covers 2 refills for 6-8 weeks.

Off to the tip tonight to get rid of a lot of the stuff in the garden. There is a small mountain that can't be taken away in green waste that I'll be glad to see the back of.

My Mum has been away for a month & she comes back on Friday. I can't wait to see her. I think her being away has been the result of me spending too much money. We've done a lot of eating out to 'get away' from home... whereas we would go to Mum's & have a chat, eat out of her fridge (!!!) or she might feel uber sorry for me & take me out for a meal.

DH had a bit of a realisation earlier about the debt. And spending. I think once this week is over (lots of chores to do & getting ready for Mum coming home) we are going to seriously re-assess everything. I'm going to call a 'family meeting' at the weekend. I'm also going to try to do all my weekend things this week so I can spend the weekend focussed on Ebay & selling & making money.

lilmissmup

Hope things get in gear for you hun soon.

Its good your OH is realising he needs to be fully on board too, will help things.

retrocircles

Have 'treated' the cystitis myself & touch wood, it's cleared up. It's amazing what a few hours of research can do for you! Kitty is a-ok for now & will make some changes after pay-day to try to ensure this condition doesn't come back for a while at least!

Ebay's 10 free listing days have come at a bad time! Why couldn't it have been next month when my garage would probably be finished?! But I can't not take advantage of it, so I'm going to be doing a bit of listing this afternoon & hopefully carry on this week. That way we might have some extra cash for in 3 weeks time which is when we both have some annual leave.

DH is working on the garage as usual. Plasterboarding FINALLY done, just have to do the window frames & fill the cracks before the skim!

Am making great progress on the garden. I will have to post some pics.

retrocircles

Mum's 40th birthday was a hit. Had a lovely cheap break in Padstow. Garage is coming along, finally plastering the walls. Been doing nothing but DIY at home in my 2 weeks off work.



Have some overtime today, first time! Time & a half... paid from the moment I leave the house. Excellent!

Can't see how we're going to pay for windows AND a boiler before winter sets in... so applied for a loan. Got rejected. So annoyed. Not sure what to do.

Did get a computer on 0% for 12 months though!

pandapaws

Wow, your garage looks so much further on than ours, which is still basically just a garage! Looks great - have you guys done all that yourself?

Glad that the cat is better, I hate it when they're poorly. Ours have gone to live on a farm...no, really! My friend has got a mouse problem in her house, so has borrowed our cats for a fortnight to see whether that helps, and it seems to be so far. We're missing them though! Think we'll get them back early next week.

Great that you got a new computer, hopefully that one won't die a death until you're all nice and shiny and debt free.

How did you get on with the family meeting and financial action plan?

retrocircles

Panda - Yes, all ourselves. Well, mostly DH. We were quoted between £1-2k for boarding & plastering. It has taken a couple of months, but we've probably not spent over £300. I will calculate it properly to see what we've saved.

Get the cats working, now I wonder if I could charge for that?! No barns around here so probably not. *Heee.

Financial action plan is still pending. *Hides*. In my defence I need the garage to actually dig things out & work out what inventory we have left. Everything is piled to the ceiling at the moment.

Actually got some overtime at work twice this month. Sis-in-law & her partner have invited us to Devon for a last trip of the Summer. Only 4 nights, but I think my overtime will cover that nicely. I'm going to Ebay some things to make a little spending money, so won't cost anything really.

Not really on target for my 4 year plan. So must try harder until the end of the year.

lilmissmup

Hope you enjoy your trip away soon