Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

I have lots and lots and lots of things to remember him by. When he knew he was losing his marbles he started to allocate odd bits and pieces to people who would appreciate them so that at the stage he didn't know what was going on he'd have done the things that were important to him. All the daft trinkets I remember for visiting him as a tot were boxed up and labelled for me. Scary to think that in his late 80s he was clambering up and down a ladder into his loft to achieve this.

I will do something useful with the monetary gift at some point in the future but to go out and spend it for the sake of it doesn't feel right. So for the mo. I'll use it to reduce the debt and at the point we're debt free I'll put that amount into my "Big Splurge" account. Haven't decided quite what the big splurge will be but it will be gobsmackingly good.

The DDs were monsterous last night. Having said good night they sneaked a boy up to their bedrooms and then some 10 minutes later snuck out the backdoor to play at his house. Punishment has been nescessarily harsh and DD1 missed out on todays shooting competition whilst DD2 has been banned from playing with the boy in question for a week.

OH is in helpful mode and has begun photographing stuff for listing on E-bay. Once the oiks are in bed tonight I'll start writing the descriptions to go with the piccies and hopefully persuade him that we can part with some more dusty tat.

Spending seems to have been astronomical over the past few weeks but theres not much to show for it. I'll be glad when the DDs go back to school as life seems so much cheaper then. Need to go through their wardrobes before then as they've both grown lots since they last wore winter uniforms and I haven't a clue where DD2s skirts are hiding. Perhaps I'll torture them with that later today.

Still reeling in shock from OHs sisters wedding list. Teapot £50, pillowcase £18 each. Mugs £20. I am rather tempted with the dustbin although thats £90. Will need to come up with something thoughtful and considerably cheaper instead. DDs are currently making a Hama Bead bride and groom. Also have to track down something for OH to wear as I doubt any of his suits fit, not that hes wearing a suit if he has any say at all. Not even the vaguest of vague ideas what I'm wearing. Must go and dust off that portion of the wardrobe and try some stuff on in the hopes theres something suitable lurking in there.

mooomin

moo2moo wrote: »

Still reeling in shock from OHs sisters wedding list. Teapot £50, pillowcase £18 each. Mugs £20. I am rather tempted with the dustbin although thats £90. Will need to come up with something thoughtful and considerably cheaper instead.

Yeesh. That's a little cheeky in these troubled times

I am bridesmaiding at the start of September and the bride is NOT traditional (Neither of them are really) so her wedding list consists of a toaster which brands your toast with a skull and crossbones and lots of games for her Wii. She's 33 :rotfl: I am plumping for the Wii light sabers

moo2moo

Tis the start of yet another exciting day in Moosville. Challenge of the day is wedging OHs random issue of new uniform into the wardrobe. Random because some nameles penpusher looks at OHs uniform request, ignores it completely and stuffs the nearest things to hand in a Fed-Ex box before shipping it. This years ensemble comprises eight long-sleeved shirts in a rather farcical 2XL, a water proof jacket size L and 2 jumpers which are considerably bigger than the shirts. Its all huge. No sign of any trousers though or the short sleeeved shirts he requested. Being the biggest person in the office hes unlikely to be able to swap anything either. On the bright side its all clean and white and shiny, although not for long.

moo2moo

Major wardrobe clear out completed. OH parted with a bin bag of mankey shirts, DD2 appears to have outgrown all her cardigans. Fortunately DD1 has had plenty of smallish ones. My wardrobe gets increasily more laid back with every clear out. 99% of it is now jeans, t-shirts and fleeces. Found two potential outfits for S-I-Ls wedding but since she'll recall seeing me in one of them round about 1996 - thats perhaps not the best outfit to choose. Theres retro chic and then theres I found it lurking in the back of the wardrobe and really don't give a toss.

OHs chasis is once again occupying most of the drive. This time in an improvised garage (I use the term very loosely) concocted from a giant gazebo, the mesh panels they use to secure building sites (liberated from school) and lots and lots and lots of rope and tie-wraps. Its not pretty and it certainly isn't wind proof or water tight but its better than nowt. How much better is clearly debatable.

moo2moo

Todays my last day at work before the end of the school hols. Have to whizz in briefly to unlock the building so that any over eager teachers can make a headstart on rearranging their classrooms before heading off on a 30 mile round trip to drop the DDs at the riding school for the day before I start on a marathon school cleaning session. I'm looking forward to this like a hole in the head.

OH got his wage slip yesterday. No overtime for the first time this year. Hardly surprising as they've lost lots of UK based contracts and are running on a skeleton staff. Unfortunately our outgoings have been considerably higher than normal, project Land Rover being a large chunk of that. Fortunately thats a lot of one off expenses and we'll be able to E-bay a fair amount of parts from his original Land Rover to cover some of that. Just not for another few months. Hes decided to part with all his old dive gear but photographs haven't been forthcoming. He'll be getting a gentle reminder over the next few days before free listings end.

Need to go food shopping before the end of the week for stuff to see us through the camping trip but as theres a Tesco not far from the campsite I'm not overly concerned beyond making sure we have the rock bottom basics. Also need to locate the tent and the sleeping bags and everything else absolutely essential for 48 hours in a muddy field.

moo2moo

The holiday starts here. Of course being the UK its raining so all todays plans for drilling sheared bolts out of axels have gone out the window. OH has spent the past few hours wading few Land Rover parts catalogues and has an enormous shopping list of little bits an pieces. One can only assume from the price tags that Land Rover spares are hand made by incredibly clever people on a similar pay scale to footballers. As an example the bolts which hold the bulkhead (bit the steering wheel and radio attach to) to the chassis (bit that that the wheels go on) are £4 each and he needs two of them, at least I think its two, the parts catalogue is not the easiest thing in the world to understand. Its a bit like looking at a picture of a halloween pumpkin drawn by a two year old only to discover that its actually a cat and that the two year old in question is mortified that you are so thick you couldn't see this for yourself because its clearly very obvious that it is a cat right down to the green whiskers that look remarkably like the pumpkins stalk.

Despite it being my official week holiday I'm going to job #2 this morning to do a post holiday club deep clean. I have been avoiding this since last Friday but since the after-school club staff are likely to want to start setting up in there fairly soon I need to get the cleaing over and done with. Still once its done I can forget about it.

OH was hoping to waxoyl his chassis today (paint on waterproofing) but since that can't be done in the rain I forsee lots more time spent poring over parts catalogues. Looks like I'll be doing lots more housework in an attempt to locate the dining room floor which is knee deep in smelly horse riding gear dumped there by the little darlings yesterday.

moo2moo

Bleugh. Still far too early. Totally and utterly my fault for reading a 283 page Tess Geritson novel between sticking the DDs into bed and my head hitting the pillow. Still it was a very good book.

OH is now the happy owner of a set of ratchet spanners, 5 litres of Waxoyl and someone elses old homemade shot blast cabinet. Just need to find him some cheap shot blast media and I should get hours of peace, unless of course he sets it up in the house and then it will be rather a different story. The vibrations from the sir compressor drive me nuts. Still being able to shot blast things here will be considerably quicker and much cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

This years male chicks have reached the end of the road. They've all hit that point in maturity where they begin to fight for supremecy and will fight to the death if I don't intervene. Its time for them to occupy freezer space. Will be getting that over and done with as soon as I've finished my coffee. This is perhaps the worst part of raising chickens for food.

moo2moo

Rant alert - Look away now!

What is it about men that makes you want to scream? Apparently I don't express enough interest in OHs hobbies. Thats despite spending 2 hours scrubbing corrosion off rusty Land Rover parts with a brush and then shot blasting them. Turns out if I was interested I'd know what the parts were, where they came from, how they go back together and I'd have noticed that theres a difference betwen the front and the back bits and the left and the right bits. As it is they all look like rusty chunks of metal to me. OK I'd go as far as to say some look similar but only in a four of a kind way. I couldn't sub-divide them beyond that without resorting to eeny meeny miny mo. As to the whys and hows of what they do - well I'd rather clean toilets. Which is precisely what I did thus gaining the admonishment in question. Still the bathrooms clean and tidy. DD2 even helped. As predicted OH tidied to make space for the shot blast cabinet. Bulkhead has migrated to the dining room and the shot blast cabinet is in the house as predicted. Still I have been assured it will all start going back together rather quickly. Watch this space - but not too closely.

Todays fun and games involves locating and packing the camping gear. Sourcing food for six people for 36 hours and perusading one of the neighbours to animal sit overnight. Also need to fit in someone coming to view something listed on E-bay before bidding on it. That should keep me occupied for the majority of the day. DDs will be told that unless thier bedrooms pass inspection they will not be going camping. DD1 appears to have emptied her wardrobe onto the floor in search of something and has been walking over the clothes ever since. Kids. Can't give 'em away, can't rent 'em out, can't sell 'em into slavery.

moo2moo

I'm back - slightly smellier than anticipated thanks to a distinct lack of water. Turns out "water available" actually means "you can purchase bottlesd water at a Tesco 8 miles from the campsite". Still although it was a very brief camping holiday it was fun. We seemed to eat, drink and eat some more. DD2 danced non-stop for 3 hours accompanied by a live duo with a penchant for Dolly Parton and The Killers, she had the best time ever. Granny drank a phenomenal amount although it should be noted that she did manage to get a pretty good nights sleep despite the howling gale and torrential rain that battered the tens overnight. Visited an attic sale in the historic market town of Ruthin, watched lots of Land Rovers hit large and immovable objects and then left OH to a greenlaning trip with Granny whilst the rest of us packed up and detoured home via a selection of goat tracks which lead to Pen-y-Ffrith bird gardens. Seriously overhyped on the tourist info leaflets its a nice walk with a lot of ducks, a few swans, half a dozen owls, a rabbit, some chickens and a pair of very friendly Rhea. DD1 thought it was fabulous and spent ages stroking the Rhea who followed her around like a pair of puppy dogs. DD2 left with tons of feathers which shes planning to make into a collage as a present for her new teacher. Still have to unpack the car. Was too knackered to do it yesterday and the rain really wasn't very enticing.

Came back to the usual ton of junk e-mails including some fabulous ones from the school PTA - school calendars £8 each (no mention whether they're gold plated) and Art Cards at between £8 and £13 for 10. Eeek. My skinflinty gene kicked in hard.

OH is back at work for a 13 day stint. School starts for me tomorrow. I don't seem to have achieved much since school broke up. The house is tidier and a little bit cleaner but not as clean as I'd like. I'm vaguely tempted to sign up with FlyLady again as that did seem to help a little but the sheer barage of E-mails from them is enough to make me rethink that particular plan of attack. I need a back to school plan. Beginning with a game of hunt the tie / bag / pencil case.

Currently investigating switching LPG suppliers to get vaguely cheaper gas than our current 54.9p/litre. BT sent a lovely letter saying they're upping my DD from £11 a month to £23 to cover our arrears. Since our arrears are a whopping £41 and they only supply us with line rental this seems a bit extreme but they're not budging.

Time to come up with an Autumn Masterplan incorporating three 3 birthdays, a wedding and Christmas whilst taking into account that OH may or may not be away for a large chunk of it. I have home and contents insurance to sort and OHs car insurance too. Grandparents are already asking wht the DDs would like for birthdays but I'm lothe to suggest clothes which although practical would not be if the Grandparents were involved - thinks back to last years nylon drop waisted dress which DD1 declared was a prison uniform, thankfully not to their faces.

moo2moo

Have completed the last survey of a week long project thus earning a £5 voucher. Also got a £5 free bet with no strings from Sky. Mug punted that on a draw on a match tonight where the odds were pretty similar on all outcomes. If it wins I'm £11 better off and if not I'm no worse off than I would have been had I simply chucked it in the bin. Since it hasn't involved using any of my money I haven't broken my promise to OH. Still have several hundred surveys to wade through although the temptation to delete thiem is strong I will persevere with Toluna to get the £10 voucher and then abandon them once and for all.

Have made a start on the enormous pile of washing generated from 24 hours camping. Off to grab a shower and then start photographing stuff to take advantage of the final day of E-bay free listings in the hopes of getting rid of some of the PS1 games and the Ipod which is still gathering dust on the desk.