Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Somehow or other I managed to royally screw up last months calculations. Having got all the statements together it apperas we're not going to be scraping the 24K barrier. We're limbo dancing right underneath it and are scarily close to being sub 23K. It does go some considerable way to explaining why we've been super mega brassic this month. Normality will resume on the 15th when payday eventually arrives again but until then we're seeing just how far £28.79p can stretch. Next month I will be utilising the calculator!

Some of the pressure has been relieved by a birthday party invite. DD2 is forgoing next weeks riding lesson to attend because its in a sweet shop. I already have a stash of pressies in the cupboard rescued from Christmas and birthdays when the DDs have been given them but completely ignored them. Need to donate some cash for a teachers wedding pressie at school which I keep forgetting about. £20 was suggested but since the teaching staff earn at least three times what I do they'll be getting a fiver. Its better than nowt.

Celebrated the sudden surprise influx of cash by blowing my paypal balance, all five quid of it, on a new pair of chaps for DD1 as shes outgrown hers. Mucho impressed as the local farm shop want £17 for the same pair. Have another heap of minimal bids on fleabay for riding body protectors for DD2 and replacement riding boots for DD1 as I can't find any 13s in the cupboard. I've kept all DD1s old boots but that pair obviously disintegrated beyond salvage.

Planning a very easy day at school today. The entire junior department is going to childrens day at Llangollen Eisteddfod despite it peeing down with rain. DD1 is supermega excited. Since I'll have the classrooms to myself I'm going to get the giant vibrating floor scrubbing machine out and blitz some vinyl flooring. Oh what fun!

skint_spice

I'm glad your mistake means you've paid off more than you thought - well done!

a party in a sweet shop sounds like every kids dream, very Roald Dahl...

moo2moo

£28.79p isn't going to stretch very far at all.

£5 disappeared as a donation to a wedding gift at school, although the lady doing the collection asked me if I'd like change - is this a sign of the recession or do I look like a bag lady who can't spare a fiver? Me thinks its probably the latter. Must spend longer than my usual nano second taming my hair in future.

Another £10.50 went to pay for a 25kg sack of coconuts I'd promised to donate to DD1s shooting club charity BBQ on Sunday and a further £1.30 on milk leaving me £11.99 to last until next Wedneseday. £10 of that will go on DD1s riding lesson which leaves me needing to find £1.01 to cover DD1s pocket money. Will be sending the DDs into school this morning armed with fresh eggs for the teachers. That should make up the surplus and give me a little breathing space.

Aprils fluffy cheepy chicks are now very robust birds. We moved them to one of the bigger houses last week and have spent the entire week teaching them to go up and down ramps. The girls grasped the concept well. The boys are hopeless. Girls are now free ranging with the rest of the hens whilst the boys can't be trusted to go to bed much before 11pm and even them their choice of sleeping accomodation is rather random - have had to leave them shut in a juvenile run to prevent Mr. Fox eating them. We'll be doing that at the end of October.

School held a leavers disco last night. Typical overkill. Girls arrived in limos wearing minute dresses, full faces of slap and stilletoes (my floor *sob*), boys were dropped off by parents wearing jeans and ironed t-shirts. Food wouldn't have looked out of place at M&S- mountains of profitteroles (very tasty) and enormous plates of gateux, chocolate eclairs and tons and tons of vol-au-vents. Reminded me of a birthday party DD2 went to age three when the hostess (Edith aged 3) was told to eat her crudites. The guests were seated in the formal dining room with multi depth cutlery and served lobster by waitresses. Very sureal. Mummy clearly had delusions of granduer and was clueless.

moo2moo

Nuuugh. My paypal payment has bounced. Not because theres insufficient funds but because the seller doesn't want to pay paypals fees. No point arguing. I got the things for peanuts so a cheque is in the post. Hopefully it'll clear after payday *fingers crossed* although now this whole unpredictable uber speedy banking thing is going on probably not. Why is it banks are incredibly efficient when you least want them to be and totally inept the rest of the time? Aw well. Definately in overdraft territory at this rate.

DD1 had a great time at the Eisteddfod. She didn't seem too bothered about being the only child without tacky plastic handcuffs, inflatable hammers, furry thing on stick or in one case a 4' sombrero. DD2 has gone to Erddig to spend the day as a victorain. Shes most exicted and talking in a very squeaky voice at warp speed.

Off to do lots of lurvely housework because its too wet to go outside. Steam is coming off my t-shirt from the brief sprint from car to house. Ventured outside briefly. Majority of hens have remained within chicken land so perhaps I'll get to eat some strawberrys rather than discovering they've munched them all.

moo2moo

OH is being a git again.We've reached day 12 or so of the nicotine exchange programme. Hes permanently hungry, permanently randy and drinking like a fish. Meanwhile hes going out of his way to wind me up. 8 veggie cauliflower grills materialised in the freezer (I hate cauliflower) so the logical assumption was that he wanted them for dinner. I duly cooked them. He had one mouthful and left the table to sulk muttering about them being bland and disgusting. Turns out they were a treat for me. He had a rough night, seemed to be in and out of bed like a yo-yo which means I'm knackered this morning.

I need more coffee!

And breathe. £7 spent on new riding boots for DD2 from the newly restored paypal balance. Two £3 surveys done. Off to hang out the washing. Have done 2 hours extra at school already this week so I'm going to finish early this morning. beiing cheesed off does have its advantages though. I've done lots of theraputic throwing away of stuff and even more tidying. Still need to wash the slurry off the windows though. The muck spreader got a bit close yesterday and it was rather windy.

Toodle pip all.

moo2moo

Yesterdays really easy really dull day ended up being far more chaotic than anticipated. Shortly after abandoning the PC (late as usual) my glasses disintegrated thanks to a stray screw. Couldn't scrape enough paint of my spare pair to be able to drive so wore cool dude shades, extra extra dark ones. DD1 acted as my guide dog within the very dark corridors at school and all was going swimmingly well until £120 of very sophisticated lock refused to work and needed removing from the door to allow the secretarys into the office. Once I'd posted DD2 through the window to open the door from the inside I discovered I couldn't see the screws let alone be able to undo them. DD1 proved quite handy with a screwdriver. Lock now on its way to the very expensive repair shop.

Went to town for a new screw to replace the one that had come loose. Went to Primarini armed with a shopping list from the employees in the school office and managed to find everything required. Went to Mr Ts for bare essentials. Came away considerably lighter than anticipated. Went back to school to discover raw sewage cascading out of a manhole cover, across a playground and down the steep banking onto the lower playground. Man who does called out who did his thing remarkably quickly and hosed away the evidence. Made it home to find OH stood in the loo with his pants round his ankles. Went to investigate. Heard a strange buzzing noise - no before you say it OH does not usually take anything battery operated to the loo with him. Nor did he on this occassion. Went outside to insvestigate. We have new neighbours. They've built a home under the eves. Today will be spent evicting Mr and Mrs Wasp and their many many offspring armed only with a can of wasp nest destroyer, a pair of marigolds, a lot of masking tape and a paper bag over my head. Tis the closest to an improvised bee keepers outfit I can get at such short notice. I would venture down to the farm and borrow a pucker one but I doubt they'd be too happy if I return it covered in wasp killer and eradicate thier honey bee population. Oh the joys of home ownership.

Intergalactic_Floozie

moo2moo wrote: »

Made it home to find OH stood in the loo with his pants round his ankles. Went to investigate. Heard a strange buzzing noise - no before you say it OH does not usually take anything battery operated to the loo with him. Nor did he on this occassion. Went outside to insvestigate. We have new neighbours. They've built a home under the eves. Today will be spent evicting Mr and Mrs Wasp and their many many offspring armed only with a can of wasp nest destroyer, a pair of marigolds, a lot of masking tape and a paper bag over my head. Tis the closest to an improvised bee keepers outfit I can get at such short notice. I would venture down to the farm and borrow a pucker one but I doubt they'd be too happy if I return it covered in wasp killer and eradicate thier honey bee population. Oh the joys of home ownership.

ARRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHH ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *flaps arms around then runs off in manner of female Usain Bolt*

I'd be moving house if we had a wasps nest, I hate the !!!!in things

lucielle

Yep I usually do the dance of the 7 veils whenever anything buzzy comes near me. Have been told that ant powder is very good on them as well Good luck
L

moo2moo

Ding dong the wasps are dead la la la la. Surprisingly easier than expected. Sealed all the doors, windows and roof vents, moved the chincihlla into the kitchen and got out sleeping bags for the DDs in the furthest part of the house from the nest. Bunged a chemical smoke bomb into the loft space and went out for the evening. £9 very well spent.

Put our time out to very good use. DD2 went for a bicycle ride to deliver some rhubarb and eggs to a friend on the outskirts of the village, dog came along for a stroll and I got an impromptu jog in a vague attempt at keeping up with her. I'm considerably less fit than I thought. Arrived at friends sounding like a cross between a 40 a day smoker and a dirty phone caller. Finally made it home just before dusk to find the cat meowling on the doorstep with a loose hunk of flesh the size of a 10p piece on her thigh. Much to her disgust this was bathed in salty water and shes been quarantined in the dumping ground that was a breakfast room prior to OHs Landie dismantling project. Will be keeping a very close eye on that. At the first whiff of a smell she'll be at the vets but until then I'll wait and see what happens.

moo2moo

The weekend has flown by in a mini whirlwind. Have had a fantastic couple of days mostly outdoors doing fun things. Took my eye off the ball and have managed to blow rather a lot but the majority of it went to charity so I'm not feeling too bad about it. I need to let my hair down once in a while. Its only 3 days to payday and I'm still within the interest free part of my overdraft so things aren't as bad as they sound.

DD1s shooting club held a charity BBQ today. We got there for 7:30am, had a fab time which flew by and it was 5pm before I realised quite how late it actually was. No wonder I went through £60. The DDs managed to win a coconut, a hat, a t-shirt and an LED head torch. DD1 scored her best score to date and is ecstatic.

OH is offroading with his club and has coerced a collegue from work to join him. Planning to veg on the sofa until they return.

E-bay sales went silly. Stuff I've previously struggled to shift for 99p went for £25. I didn't do anything diferently, other than ending the auction at 11pm on a friday night. Perhaps people had been on the beer. This probably explains why they have yet to pay. I've sold another book on Green Metropolis too.