Bumbling along to be Mortgage Free

gratefulforhelp_2

Valli wrote: »

from The Hippo website -
If your toilet was installed before 1991 it will be 9 litres in volume, or more. This type of toilet will work well with a Hippo fitted and will reduce the flush volume by up to 3litres. If your toilet was installed between 1992 to 2001, it will be 7.5 litres in volume. This type of toilet will also work well with a Hippo fitted and will reduce the flush volume by up to 2.5 litres.
If your toilet was installed after 2001, it will be 6 litres in volume (the current standard) and it should not be reduced further with any type of device whatsoever.

Although ours was installed after that and has suffered no ill effects from the pint milk carton (without the milk, obv).

exam marking, now that is something I can help with. Back in a mo. Have you considered private tutoring? You could do it at home, £20-25 per hour and this is the season.

eta eta http://web.aqa.org.uk/over/vacexp_vacancy.php vacancies in human biology A level and applied sci GCSE

and again http://www.ocr.org.uk/assessors/becoming/index.html 21st C sci or biology couldn't see any vacancies for edexcel.

Glamazon

hi

you have done amazing to Overpay so much :T:T

We lost £12K in income last year compared to 08/09 but we wll get no extra TC's!
I lost 9k from being on Mat Leave & OH had to take a lower paid job so lost 3K=k

it sucks!

gratefulforhelp_2

I wish they hadn't scrapped them from an earning point of view, they were jolly lucrative, weren't they?!

No reason you can't tutor after 7pm, but I see what you mean. I did it with DD2 when she was weeks old, but I knew the girls and if baby needed feeding, I had to feed and teach, not ideal!

I have moderated AQA applied Sci, you don't have to have taught the course, tho' obv it helps. You could do that easily, it does mean one day in London training, but what are grandparents for?! The rest you could do evenings or whatever fits in with you. Once I got the hang of it, I thought the money was pretty good.

Haven't worked for OCR yet, but am moderating for them this summer - cos I've moved schools and so exam boards. Am also doing A level chem for edexcel which is good as paperless, all online.

And I'm sure you've thought of this, but when you do your bathroom, a dual-flush loo?

Cinny91

cha97michelle wrote: »

I don't think it is bad value at that.

It's bloody good value *slightly jealous* Don't mind me!

Coming home from work today I heard about this on the radio and thought of you *in a none creepy way :eek:* I think I remember you saying you having a new boiler fitted when you have the bathroom works done?

Valli

cha97michelle wrote: »

Presents - i'll see what i can make or do as cheaply but thoughtfully as i can. I seem to be a bit over generous with some people and have said to DH i spend more than is given in return. I know it is not the point, but it needs to be taken into account. I spend a fortune on my nephews and it is not always appreciated.

Has to be said I agree with you on this. Add to this you have to cut your cloth as the saying goes. You have, in effect, one income only and you should not be spending 'for the sake of it'. (IMHO that is) This is where the hampers come in as they can look extravagant when in actual fact they aren't. What they always are though (IMHO) is thoughtful. And when they are themed they look brilliant - I often post on the hamper thread admring other folks creativity.
For instance, Morrisons are selling metal kitchen tongs on clearance at 28p (they were £1.49) - they could easily go into a cooks' hamper, a new home hamper, a barbecue-themed hamper, a hamper for a new student going away from home for the first time...
hampers can be bulked up by salting away BOGOF buys - you keep the one you paid for and the 'free' one goes in the hamper - but you allocate the value at full price
Always a good idea (if your family can take the honesty) to tell them well in advance that you are going to have to trim the gift budget and perhaps even say that you are thinking of spending no more than £X on gifts for xmas/birthdays.
I personally believe that presents need not be 'frivolous' and have given clothes before (eg PJ's) - I had a BIL once who was appalled by clothes as gifts (why shouldn't they be given as gifts) but would appreciate any amount of clutter *insert shrug smily*
I have brought my two up to appreciate clothes as gifts - they have also had 'preworn' clothes all their lives...
Another idea I have had which may/may not be useful is this.
I buy Douwe Egbert's coffee (on offer, of course) and save the jars. Some of them I use for my dry goods but not all.
With some careful buying of value sweets and a pretty ribbon you have a retro style sweetie jar gift.
Other HM gifts I give include jam. I am hoping to branch out into pickling one day!

BTW I don't feel quite so old yet. I am still in my forties

cocalls

Cinny91 wrote: »

It's bloody good value *slightly jealous* Don't mind me!

Coming home from work today I heard about this on the radio and thought of you *in a none creepy way :eek:* I think I remember you saying you having a new boiler fitted when you have the bathroom works done?

I was looking into the scheme as our boiler is over 15 yrs old but i think they've stopped it now
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Heating-and-hot-water/Boiler-Scrappage-Scheme-NOW-CLOSED

katsu

Hi cha97michelle,

I hope you don't mind me popping in as a new MFW. It is great to see how well you are doing.

I wanted to comment on the presents. We also do gifts for a large family - last year I spent £180 on 23 people, of whom 3 were children. I shop all year round (am about 60% done for 2010 ) so that I can maximise sale bargains (I got MIL and FIL a dinner set in Jan 10 as it was BOGOF on Denby seconds at the outlet mall, and it is now happily sitting in the loft). I was just updating my list today (got a brand new book for £1 in a charity shop) and realised I've not paid full price for a single thing for this year. I buy new things from charity shops, use 99p/poundland (some rubbish, some great deals) and also make some gifts. I've just made a nappy cake for my first nephew and the cost of that was about £25 in materials, but it looked amazing.

I'm sure with having kids you and they could make some lovely home made gifts and keep your pressie budget down a bit further?

Hope this is some help.

Radish72

Nothing wrong with a bit of time to chill out, re-charge those batteries

juliejim

Hi Michelle

You're doing really well and it's really working for you being at home with the boys. I've been trying to OP bits on our mortgage but nothing like the amounts you have - just the odd few pound here and there. I need to sort out our budget again actually and try and persuade DH that he doesn't need to spend money left, right and centre - even though he says he doesn't!

Keep at it - I've subscribed to this so I've been reading it every couple of days.

Jue

katsu

Michelle,

I occasionally feel nervous, but that is why I check my pressies carefully to avoid stickers saying "British Heart Foundation" or "Oxfam" . Now I remind myself that I don't always give someone a thing they want even when I go to Debenhams and buy it new and pricey. I try to work on being thoughtful, and accept sometimes it isn't going to be a brilliant gift for someone. OH and I watch their reactions carefully and try harder the next year if we think the gift we just gave was not right for someone. This year, for example, I'm going to possibly make cuff-links for a cousin who we don't think we've really got spot on for two Christmases.

I do find handmade gifts are well thought of, so am sure something like you and the kids handmaking gifts together would delight a lot of relatives.

Thanks for welcoming me to your diary and to being an MFW.