Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Am exhausted already and the day has barely begun. Had the worst night ever. DD2 woke up in a wet bed at 3:30 and had barely dropped off again when OHs alarm went off leaving me wide awake. Bah.

The DDs are packed or at least all the clothes they are planning on taking are occupying the dining table. Had to add a few bits like knickers and socks but mostly they'd done a pretty good job.

My dad keeps phoning with last minute requests for things as random as wellies and cookie cutters. Could have done without his final call of the night though. Turns out tomorrow is my aunts birthday so he invited her out for dinner with us which means I need to whip up a card and prezzie today. Didn't have any plans for going anywhere other than work. Don't think she'd be overly impressed if I gave her anti wrinkle cream which is the only think in the new but to be E-bayed pile won by the DDs at a fete thats vaguely suited to someone over 20. Not looking forward to dragging the DDs round town. Might cheat and source a bottle of plonk in the village shop instead. Lazy yes but probably more appreciated than anything else I'll come up with.

moo2moo

Days to payday: 26
Money in purse : £5
Money in emergency jam jar: £0.03
Money in bank: £341.60
Money spent in February: £1064.86
Money remaining of this months portion of the live on £20K challenge : £602.14
Part used smellies used up and disposed of: 15
Gift vouchers for X-mas 2010 and all the birthdays in between: £40.00

Spent far more than intended yesterday thanks to several blonde moments. Today is going to work out considerably more expensive than planned too. Was hoping to go out for dinner with OH this weekend as a treat but am having second thoughts. Seem to be going through money at warp speed this month. Much as the time together is needed I'm sure we can have an equally nice time at home rather than eating out especially if the weather is a s grotty as it has been all week. Think I'd rather curl up in front of the fire with a DIY chinese than get dolled up to go to a pub locally.

Intergalactic_Floozie

moo2moo wrote: »

I have had the ultimate dumb blonde day. In fact even an actual blonde would have been hard pressed to top this morning.

Collected extra child on time. Arrived at cinema on time. Purchased tickets at automated pay machine. Inserted credit card. Collected tickets and then thought hang on a sec todays not Thursday. Not only that but the 10am showing was actually at 9:15.

Convinced the poor unsuspecting student on the only till operated by a real person that I was incredibly stupid and adding a further £14 to my card ended up going to see Disneys Princess and the Frog instead. There are days when I'm not safe to be let out on my own.

Blimey, you DO need a good night's sleep don't you? Mind you, in school holidays I also lose track of my days.

moo2moo

£9.95 later I have a bottle of wine for the unexpected birthday and have stocked up on 50p pasta from the Co-op. Almost had a heart attack at some of the whoopsies. Most of the bread was reduced to £1.45 a loaf christ knows what it was before they reduced it. In fact most of the whoopsies were still treble what I'd be prepared to pay. Either I'm getting more miserly or prices are spiraling upwards again. Fortunately I found a card in the enormous stash of cheap cards purchased from flea bay last year and have recycled a bottle bag from Christmas.

The day to day stuff seems to be going quite well but the unexpected blips are hitting my wallet rather hard at the moment. Still OH has managed to shuffle his overseas dates to avoid school hols and is doing a week in March and another in April both of which generate at least two days overtime plus lots of expenses although hes muttering about hiring a bike whilst hes away or even buying one and then disposing of it if its cheaper. Must do some homework on that before he departs.

honeybear_2

Thought of you when I read about this, Moo

moo2moo

Running v. late as a result of not getting home until almost 11pm. Sleet, snow and fog made for delightful driving conditions. Now well and truly knackered. Had a fab evening though. Went to Decathlon en route and exchanged the x-mas bikini for a bike. DD2 is ecstatic. Forked out £40 for hiking boots for DD1, ridiculously expensive but the only pair that fitted her properly and more importantly were waterproof. Couldn't see the point of a pair of boots that leaked in the rain. Spent far far too much but the DDs will benefit from the purchases.

Days to payday: 25
Money in purse : £5
Money in emergency jam jar: £0.03
Money in bank: £341.60
Money spent in February: £1229.75
Money remaining of this months portion of the live on £20K challenge : £437.25
Part used smellies used up and disposed of: 15
Gift vouchers for X-mas 2010 and all the birthdays in between: £40.00

moo2moo

I love Tesco. Well Ok thats a bit bonkers even for me but having been paid £8 for a ten minute survey they're up their on my list of favourite survey companies.

Their programme is called "shopper thoughts" and is by invite only although it may be worth harassing Tesco to see if you can apply to join the panel.

moo2moo

It snowed again yesterday with a side helping of sleet and so the boys toy decided it would be fun to play up. The push button on the door handle froze. Finally got it to open at which point it wouldn't pop out again so I couldn't shut the door. Five minutes of wiggling it about resolved that dilema. Made it to work. Filled five hours doing fun things like emptying the kitchen fat trap which is like wading through an ocean of rancid vomit. It collects in a hole in the ground accessible only by leaning over said hole, inserting arms and pulling up greasy rods. Cue slime in hair and on overalls and shoes and caking my marigolds prior to leaking through overalls and underlying layer of clothing. Even a quick shower (I've never been so grateful that they are an essential requirement in schools) failed to eradicate the smell. Did amuse the builders though. Not to all frugalites in time of desperation Fairy washing up liquid makes a most excellent improvised shower gel come shampoo. However. And this is a big however. Drying an entire person with tea towels does not come as highly recommended nor does wearing surplus PE kit from a primary school lost property box. In fact it should be noted that leaving a 60 year old electircian to find said appropriately sized uniform is not the greatest move in the world ever. I might be small but theres no way I can wedge myself into age 8 shorts no matter how stretchy they look.

Leapt back in the Landie and discovered my windscreen wipers weren't working. No amount of wiggling the fuse resolved this so drove home v. gingerly to let the dog out and swap the fuse. Could I find one? Could I b****r. An hour of rummaging around later OH appears and magics one up. Wiperes now working perfectly only today its not raining but the ground is frozen and I'm driving the car with the dubious brakes to the garage. Oh joy.

Spent £10 yesterday putting more fuel in the gas guzzler. Will be so glad when I can use my car again running the landie is costing me a small fortune.

moo2moo

Hoping today will be uneventful. Need to do shed loads of housework in preparation for a flying visit byt he wrinklies when they return the DDs tomorrow. Am almost up to date with the washing of the laundry but have been piling it up on the armchair from whence it has cascaded onto the floor in a mini avalanche. Will take a fair while to put that lot away but am hoping I can persuade OH to assist if not iron.

moo2moo

Finally got round to applying for a Nationwide Flex account and the free £75 that goes with it. Took an eternity to do as they have the slowest site ever. Now have to wait 8 weeks for the free cash to appear.