Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

We've had octuplets! I'm such a proud adoptive mummy. They're an array of colours and they're all cheeping away happily. Cat has taken up residence on the roof of the pen just in case. DD2 is sitting in the garden wrapped in a blanket watching them, her earache has been completely forgotten for the moment.

Hollyberry

Congratulations on the new brood. :j Good to see that chicks are a fine cure for earache, and that cats remain optimists, despite the presence of wood and wire.

mooomin

Yay to parenthood!

Any chance of chick pics?

moo2moo

DD2 has made a miraculous recovery. Having been at deaths door for almost a week shes now racing round the garden on her scooter in shorts and shades. Its barely 8 degrees out !!!!!!. Will she put a jumper on or trousers nooo. Stop fussing Mummy was statement of the day. Shes 6 and a very bolshy 6. Can't even begin to think where she gets that from.

DD1 is still snoring in her pit and will remain that way for quite some time as shes been truly obnoxious for the past few days. Hopefully (in the nicest possible way) its because shes ill rather than becoming a hormonally imbalanced teenager several years too soon.

OH has sucumbed to DD2s lurgi and did his best interpretation of a bloke with man-flu prior to dragging himself off to work this morning. No doubt he'll sleep all afternoon then drink far too much tonight whilst killing Germans, at least I think his current game involves Germans. After a while they all seem to morph into one.

No chick pics as yet they're still hiding in the broodys pantaloons. Shes got very fluffy feet, a bit like giant surfboards so theres no hope of seeing whats going on under there.

Guilty confessions time. My spending seems to be spiraling out of control again. Allsorts of little things seem to be creeping in as I'm finally using things up but some of the prices for replacements are nothing short of criminal. We have a septic tank (no mains sewage) so have to avoid enzymes and biological agents for fear of killing the happy bacteria wot make it all work. This means that dishwasher tablets are £4 for 25. I could weep! All in all it means that yesterdays shopping bill was only just under £100 which is ridiculous for 4 people.

Edited to add: Actually it turns out £100 isn't quite so bad as I thought. I haven't shopped since the 3rd of April but it really doesn't seem like it was so long ago. OH has been to visit Mr S. quite a few times in between though.

moo2moo

Time for a new challenge.

My kitchen is a total disaster zone. Theres more stuff than theres cupboard space for. I have drawers full of things that I really don't need and loads of out of date bread mixes from my bread machine phase so project for the weekend is to gut and clean the entire kitchen. no excuses. I'm going to be very very ruthless. Otherwise I'm going to spend the entire day popping back tothe PC in thehopes that the odds have drifted back in my favour. This mornings matched bet went tits up. £60 backed at 2.3. In between backing and laying the odds drifted from 2.28 to 2.45. Difference between a 41p profit and a £5 loss in addition to gaining £25 from a free bet. It doesn't kick off until 3pm so I'll let it sit and hope that someone takes my odds. If not I'll accept whatever I can get nearer the time. Its all profit to some degree. £20 from £25 is better than nowt.

Plan for the day.

1 - Do all the laundry including the handwashing that I've been avoiding for several months
2- relocate empty laundry basket to bathroom
3- put on bread machine using up some of the many many bread mixes and the yeast thats about to expire.
4- chuck out lots of worn out things and most of the old chocolate tins
5- clean the inside of the cupboards and inventory the contents
6 - enjoy the cleanliness of the kitchen whilst baking a batch of hobnobs.
7- slob on sofa with a large glass of wine and a book.

Hollyberry

Moo, you're making me feel tired already! Could we just plug you into the grid and solve future energy problems in one go? I have now vowed to get off my posterior while OH is at work today, and continue mucking out the study.

Thanks for the info on the septic tank; that's very useful. I haven't had one of those since I was a kid, when there was no consideration whatsoever of what you put into them. A lot of the houses I am looking to buy have them. I'll definitely need to factor in the extra cost, particularly with B&B level laundry going on.

I'm now on my second reading of the matched betting starter thread. I assume that it does start to make more sense when you put real numbers into that comparison spreadsheet? I am feeling ever more stoopid the more I read about it. :rolleyes:

moo2moo

Hi Hollyberry

Matched betting suddenly clicked when I saw the Betfair web page. Up until then laying NOT to do something didn't make any sense at all. Freebets4all and "free easy money matched betting" are very user friendly as is MBassist.

In a lot of ways a septic tank works out cheaper than having mains sewage as I only pay for clean water supply at £11 a month. My last tank empty cost £80 about 8 eyears ago. You wouldn't have given what you put into it much condsideration as a child because you wouldn't have used anywhere near the amount of chemicals the modern products contain. Oxi-action super bug killing stuff didn't exist in the 1970s.

Everything we use is non-biological, most of the time we use shops own brands. As an example Parazone and Asda bleach are both suitable for septic tanks. Sometimes though its only the premium ecological brands that can be used. The dishwasher being the most expensive but since it only runs once every few weeks its more a luxury than a necessity. I got it 6 years ago and have just used up my first ever bottle of rinse aid.

Kitchen cleaning coming on slowly but profitably. Have just discovered I can cash in all the OHs corporate rewards for usable things. Diners club even give out Sainsburys vouchers. Wish I'd known earlier in the year befoer the points expired. Obviously the website is playing up so I can't claim them but I'll get him on the case later. I have managed to cash in his Crowne Plaza hotel points for £75 of vouchers though. I'm sure hes got an active Marriot card somewhere too although I did have that set up to go direct to Tesco Clubcard points but I've a feeling they pulled that link. Theres a Sheraton reward card in the cupboard too. Hes going to think its Christmas when this little lot arrive.

Earalier matched betting disaster sorted out for a £2.25 loss. Still its much smaller than it could have been.

Hollyberry

Thanks Moo - Will go and have a look at Betfair. I keep thinking that I have permanantly misplaced my accountant's brain (albeit that I haven't used it for that purpose for many a year). Glad todays' bet sorted itself out close to break even.

The dishwasher will be something to consider with the septic tank. I have psoriasis and eczema, so try to avoid doing much washing up; both detergents and rubber gloves make me scaly or blistered, neither of which is going to go down too well with B&B guests as I serve up the breakfasts. (I think the white waitress gloves might be a bit much.) Already on the non-bio for washing, so it's good that the supermarket stuff is ok.

Now off to fish out my Marriott card to see if I have any rewards worth converting, and will check the Hilton while I'm at it. Ta muchly, Moo.

moo2moo

Happy Sunny Sunday Morning Folks!

Small sections of my kitchen would make Kim and Aggie proud. Others are still knee deep in carp but it is progressing slowly. I can at least shut the drawer of essential tat on my first attempt now which is major progress. My ruthlessness knows no bounds. I have a huge chopping board, huge in that its slightly bigger than the top of your average washing machine which completely explains why I have 12 assorted smaller choppping boards including one 2" thick with feet on. Not sure what I was thinking of but thats going to the great wheely bin in the sky today. We've still got cheap carpy stuf kicking about from our half decade as skint students plus the stuff we inherited when we moved in and the stuff we had from our previous places. Well not any more. Fling fling fling is the motto of the day. Salad spinner anyone? Still in its original packaging. I have enough bun trays to start a cupcake factory but I've never bought any.

I've done a mental cupboard inventory. It was far too depressing to write it all down. OH has a knack for buying inspirational sounding but inedible things. Extortionately overpriced chicken and tuna in foil packs being his most recent. I'd swear it was cat food apart from the lack of !!!!! on the packaging and the rather odd sounding sauces the stuff comes in. Perhaps its government surplus food designed for stocking up a nuclear bunker. It doesn't taste of anything (ok thats a lie, it tastes of slimy chemicals however thats not the point) but at £1.50 a pack its far too good to feed the cat. Will be sticking it in OHs butties as punishment for his reckless stupidity. Perhaps he'll think twice. Bit like his pour over pasta sauce stuff that you oven cook without first cooking the pasta guaranteeing chewy pasta laced in something indescribale. Of course the vegetarian in me doesn't mind picking out the synthetic bacon bits (if I can find any). The slow cooker is my friend at least filling that before he gets home prevents him from performing some of his more bizarre culinary creations.

Todays battle plan:

1- continue detatting the kitchen
2- wash the two items of handwashing that are all that remain of the laundry
3- iron and put away EVERYTHING - no excuses! Pay attention Moo!!!!.
4- throw out anything which remains at the bottom of the clean laundry baskets thus evicting the 50 or so odd socks which lurk there. OH wears steel toe capped shoes and pokes his toe through a lot of socks. He is now issued with 2 dozen pairs of identical socks at a time.
5- take the DDS to see their friend and her pony
6- evict the bale of wood shavings from the walk in kitchen cupboard (don't we sound posh!) to somewhere more suitable so that I can reach the wine rack to put away (very briefly) the plonk.
7- find a home for the 30kg of assorted dog and cat food that currently lurk behind the door waiting to leap on my foot the instant I open it.
8- assist OH with project Landrover upon his return from work
9- and finally list on E-bay the stuff I haven't listed from the last time I threatened to list everything that wasn't nailed down

moo2moo

Its yet another gloriously sunny day out in the big world so I'll be indoors painting again then. My final day of this as the kids return tomorrow. The bigger kids are back today. Completely forgot it was a Bidet so the DDs are having to come with me. Have promised they can take their bikes and scooters to whoosh down the diasbled ramps and my piece de resistance crisps with lunch if they don't break anything.

Kitchen is looking remarkably better. OH is very suspicious that I'm about to drop a bombshell though as manic cleaning is very unlike me (its usually performed immediately before the arrival of my step mother). Will let him sweat for a bit. Theres no ulterior motive. It just really needs doing and whilst I've got a project on the go I can't be tempted to buy things that we don't ned. Admittedly yesterday we did buy the DDs a set of overalls each to try and prevent any more oil covered clothes as a result of helping daddy. Project Landrovers engine removal and steam clean is imminent.

All the laundry is done and the ironing. My halo has been polished. Have paired as many socks as humanly possible and bagged the rest up with a date on I'll give it a month and if their other halves still haven't shown up I'll dispose of them then. I can now walk into the walk in cupboard. OK I can't walk in very far but it is a start. I cleared an entire shelf so the animal feed is now out of the way too.

Matched betting is steaming along nicely. £772 cash to date and £80 Quidco making a total profit of £852.