Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Just checked banking. Wish I hadn't. Only a week after payday I'm down to just under £80. Must stop writing cheques and then forgetting I've written them it plays havoc with my bank balance as I think ooh I've already paid for that and that and that and theres still this much left only there isn't.

moo2moo

Remind me again why I stick stuff on E-bay. Can't sleep because I'm so irritated. Again. Do the morons target me in particular. What expectations do people have from something with a 99p start described as used with school stamps inside. Surely that says hey people these books have been well read by children in a school. The photo showed the covers to be bent and battered but 12 for 99p seemed reasonable. Even with postage they worked out at less than 30p each but nooooo auction fever kicked in and with nano seconds to go the price rocketed to something daft. Finally the post office get something right and they arrive day after posting then comes the e-mail half the books are in poor condition I want a full refund including postage. Do these people have no common sense? Is it me? Should I spell it out to them. Hey these are used, from a school, any more than 50p a book isn't worth paying. Do I really need to pay more to stick a £3 buy-it-now option to prevent them doing this? Do I expect an e-mail from the person with common sense who bought 18 for 99p saying thanks they're a bargain. No I doubt they'll even bother to leave feedback. I hate E-bay.

Off to kick the OH in the hopes that it stops him snoring like a freight train.

moo2moo

Like a total muppet I closed the wrong web page thus dispatching an entire DooYoo review irretrievably into cyber space. Have now retyped the thing but out of time for doing anymore. Still I've topped 60,000 points and only need to write two more to reach this weeks 90 review target. Hopefully I'll get chance to do that later.

OH arrived home full of lurgi but with a whopper of an overtime payment so all recent splurges have been covered and we're back to where we were. Doubt he'll see another pay packet like that for a very long time. Still its been the kick up the bum I needed.

Baked 60 buns with the DDs last night ready for school on firday. Went up to tuck them in to discover they'd packed for their hols - by small child standards they'd emptied their wardrobes into a heap on their bedroom floors. Since I'd spent most of yesterday packing and tidying their rooms I wasn't overly pleased. Still its the thought that counts and tidying their bedrooms again today will give me something to do.

Have persuaded DD2 to go to school in overalls and wellies on friday as fix-it duck. Shes now negotiating for a tool bag or at least a hamer to complete the costume. Suggested DD1 goes at Roald Dahls Matilda but apparantly thas boring. She'd like to go as a horse instead. Will be spending the next 24 hurs attempting to persuade her to change her mind but shes as stubborn as I am. Vaguely thinking I'll go as Airy Fairy if I can find a fairy costume big enough otherwise it'll be something with pigtails and ginat freckles. Perhaps My Naughty Little Sister. Sure I'll come up with something.

Plans for today:

• finish packing
• purchase animal feed and coffe to take with us (the coffee no tthe animal feed)
• blitz the house so it doesn't look like a hell hole when we return
• attempt to sort out the E-bay disaster or at least hope that the person in question has seen some sort of sense.
• Deliver list of instructions to animal sitters and muck out chickens
• Deal with the aftermath of parents evening part one.

makeup

moo2moo wrote: »

something with pigtails and ginat freckles. Perhaps My Naughty Little Sister. Sure I'll come up with something.

Pippi Longstocking??

moo2moo

Should have gone with Make-ups suggestion. Instead I went as The Worst Witch but despite the presence of a witches hat the kids all thought I was Pippi Longstockings. Still it was fun.

Took DD1 to Pizza Hut as a birthday treat and had the worst meal ever. Complained to the duty manager and got the bill halved. He admitted he'd have walked out if he'd been served still frozen chips along with another half dozen other annoying little things.I won't be going back there. Ever.

Annoying E-bayer ranted some more and has agreed to a partial refund. Turns out I failed to mention that I hadn't disinfected the books before shipping - really is that normal? However her bigest peeve was that a 99p start price is to lure bidders into making high bids - erm no love its just a way of getting shut of stuff without forking out a small fortune in E-bay fees. Some people are truly barking. I'm tempted to banish all buyers with less than 50 items of feedback from bidding on my listings in future.

Anyhow today is the day the hollibags commence. Car is loaded. Dog can get in, just if we drop the rear seats thats the downside to fitting a bike rack. You can't open the boot which is a bit of a pain in the arris. Not quite as big a pain as having 4 bikes and a rack which only takes 3. Can't stick one on the roof as the roof box occupies the entire roof so have had to dismantle DD2s to stick it in the boot with the dog. Fortunately the boot is enormous but I'm beginning to agree with OH. Next time we replace a car I'm thinking a long wheel base 5 seater transit van is a good option.

Squeezed in a DooYoo this morning whilst waiting for the living dead to arise from their pits taking me to 90 reviews and 61,700 points. Only 110 more to go before Christmas. Still a week playing tourist will give me tons to write about.

Have a good half term all!

moo2moo

They're still snoring so I've been busy with the calculator and have updated my imitation 4K challenge spreadsheet.

Spends to date: £2889.05
Remaining: £1110.95

No planned expenditures between now and our return. Hoping we have lots of holiday fun on £200 although I suspect thats entirely dependant on the weather. If its nice we'll be bike riding and dog walking. If its wet and grotty I forsee lots of visits to museums and the like which usually sets us back £25-£50 depending on the nature of the attraction. Still we've already paid to use the heated swimming pool and sauna and water slides and the DDs would be quite content to do that and nothing but that given half a chance. Must remember to chuck in a hairdryer if I can find it. DD1 has ridiculously long hair which takes an eternity to dry.

beanielou

Happy holidays

moo2moo

Hellooo!

Its so nice to be home in a comfortable bed, so nice in fact that I can't sleep. Hrumph. Will need a week to recover from all the excercise and to catch up on the enormous amount of washing. I'm sure we didn't take that much stuff perhaps the suitcases have tardis like inner proportions. No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing today in addition to visiting a supermarket.

Spending was moderately well controlled although I'm fairly sure it exceeded £200 but by not by much. Took my eye off the ball a wee bit and splurged on food out more often than planned. Still have had a great time which is the bit that matters.

Vaguely catching up on life. Some 600 e-mails waded through and mostly binned. Several urgent requests for access to school from people who shouldn't be asking for access and wouldn't have got it had I been here anyway. I'm sure parents think I have nothing better to do. Will I open up so that their little darling can collect his reading book? Erm nooooo sorry wait an entire week.

Off back to bed in the hopes I can grab another hours sleep before starting the day again. Have done two DooYoos and yesterdays scratchcards though. Normality has resumed already.

Lula-Hula

Welcome back Moo

makeup

Glad to hear you had a good holiday!! And well done on getting on with the DooYoo's, I've been a bit slack in that area recently....