Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Yesterday started so well. Managed to arrive at school on time with two neat and tidy children laden down with assorted bags containing everything they needed for the day and a few things they didn't. Did a few of the jobs that I hadn't had time to do recently and then spent half an hour scrubbing vandal sized handprints of anti-vandal paint off walls outside. Came home early because I'd run out of things to do, hung out the laundry, bunged another load on and then sat down with a cuppa. Two mouthfuls later I was on my way out the door to meet OH at the nearest car superstore a smidgen over an hour away. Looked at all sorts of things finally test driving the total and utter opposite of what I have now and something twice the size of what I thought I was looking for...and I liked it. Prices were distinctly odd. Who'd have thought you could buy a two year old Bentley for 20K, not that I could afford to put fuel in a Bently but it would certainly be fun to turn up at school in, just the once. Now have to sit down and do lots of homework as everything suitable was either half as much or double what I was actually planning to spend.

Incidentally what I won't be buying is a Vauxhall Astra estate. I drove OHs company one halfway home, pulled up on the drive and got out shaking on the verge of vomit I was in that much pain from the drivers seat. Added to that indicators which cancel because you've touched the steering wheel and the worlds most umpredictable clutch pedal (think bunny hopping whilst the engine screams followed by a Driving Miss Daisy style take off). I can truly say that driving a Trabant was easier even if it is made from papier mache with a lawn mower for an engine.

Plans for today involve doing everything I didn't do yesterday and a fair few more things besides. Also want to take puppy for a long walk but the forecast is for thunder and lightening which she has yet to experience so I'm thinking that staying home to reassure her rather than having her out in the open is the best way to approach this. Am expecting to have to drive to school through floods this morning so may well resort to driving the landie. Of course theres also the possibility that the classroom with a tendancy to flood has flooded overnight which will make my day very interesting indeed. At least the torrential downpour should have washed all the nuts and nut casings from the playground which will make life much easier over the next few days.

moo2moo

Must remember to bung all my old uni text books on Amazon at Bargain Basement prices in order to shift the lot at the start of the Uni term.

moo2moo

Whoo hoo its payday. Logged in to internet banking and discovered it was child benefit week too. My balance looked incredibly healthy for all of about two minutes. Have transferred enough to the Halifax to gain this months £5 and need to remember to write to them to complain that I've yet to see the promised £50 for switching to them in the first place. After that I need to do the usual payday money shuffle so that my overpayments to the debt are made. At this point in time the bigger the better as the idea of whopping a car onto the debt and starting the long slog over is a very depressing thought. On the brightside if we go for the car we're considering and I fold all the seats into the floor it is almost big enough to move into which is always a cheery thought. Still not a 1960s VW camper van but a gal can dream. Imagine trying to keep the hairballs off the sofa in that.

Am working on my wishlist for the universe aka subtle hints to drop in the weeks prior to my birthday. My dad has helpfully pointed out that its a bit dull so when I told him I'd happily accept a weekend break to the West End to watch Wicked in place of a book on 'shrooms he was rather quick to agree that if 'shrooms was what I wanted then 'shrooms or a gift voucher for the purchasing of 'shrooms was more than likely what I'd get. Apparently my step mother wouldn't be happy... she has previously been known to post several kilos of assorted chocolate to me out of the blue just because.

Think I'm coming down with a random assortment of start of term lurgi. It happens every year. All the new kids bring with them a whole heap of new bugs and my immune system goes into overdrive. Have been feeling a wee bit tired for a couple of days but managed to fall asleep on the sofa at 7pm last night. Went to bed with a lemsip (ghastly stuff) in the hopes of feelig a bit more human this morning. Awoke to a kitchen which looks more like the aftermath of a mens cookery school so first job of the day is to unload and then load the dishwasher in order to make enough space for breakfast.

The DDs came home with their usual array of next day demands from school. DD2 needs a recorder by Thursday and DD1 has a packing list for next weeks residential trip. Had vaguely put that out of mind. No doubt there will be a last minute panic on Sunday as she remebers the supplementary list that school are bound to issue on Friday. Apparently recommended pocket money for the five days is £20. Oh how I did laugh. The child is going on an all expense paid trip in a confined village without a sweet shop and thy still think she needs £20 to fritter away. Think again. Will be packing a stash of drinks and sweets so that she has things if she wants them and also has a small amount of cash to fritter but nowhere near that much. Must also remember to write some addresses on sticky labels and give her some stamps so that she can send postcards if she wants to without having to spend her money on postage.

Plans for today involve doing minimalistic amounts of anything in the hopes of feeling human at the end of the day. Don't mind feeling a bit under the weather but I really resent the sort of lurgi that turns me into a walking zombie, lifes too busy for that.

moo2moo

You know its officially Christmas when work start chasing you for your deposit for the staff x-mas do. This years bargain bucket outing is amere £45 per head excluding drinks. Vaguely thought, very briefly, that I've never been to a staff night out and then slapped myself across the face with a metaphorical wet kipper as I realised that that same £45 would buy me a copy of 'shrooms and Bread from the v. loverly and highly addictive River Cottage Handbook range in addition to a stainless steel jam pan and I'd have enough left over for edible treats for the oiks. Wonder if school source venues by phoning up the poshest places in the vicinity (this years is a 45 minute drive) and asking for their most expensive menu ever.

Tesco_points_addict

Have you thought about buying a Kia? I realise it is not quite in the Bentley range, however, they come with a 7 year guarantee (I bought my Kia Ceed (lovely large boot) when it was a year old and it came with the remaining 6 years warrenty included:j. Costs me £30 a year in car tax and does well over 50mpg (Diesel). Best of all they have a fantatic safety record......

OK its not posh it doesn't ten million gadgets (however it does have more than I ever expected and certainly more than the Audi I test drove at the time of purchase.)

Wishing you luck

TPAx

moo2moo

I'm getting the impression my definition of a large boot differs from the rest of the world a tad. Firstly my large boot needs low down flat access so the pooches can get in and out without injury, then it needs space for them both to stand up (in order to get in ) and lie down once they are in which makes using the rear view mirror so much easier. Also need the boot to be square once the door is shut otherwise doggy head height diminishes rapidly and the old dear gets a bit grumpy when the puppy stands on her to stretch. The Ceed is lovely but about a third the size I'm thinking of, I'd be lucky to wedge one of the hairballs in the rear. Life would be so much simpler if I liked Spaniels. Think we've decided on a car (although I use the term car in the loosest sense of the word) as this is more like a van but with extra seats and a wee bit more visibility when driving. Now just have to find one that we can both agree on in terms of value for money.

Thanks for the suggestions though, I'd love to have something that economical but hopefully being a low ileage driver anyway I won't notice a gaping chasm of difference between that and my trusty rusty shed on wheels. Just hoping the alternator holds out long enough for me to replace the car without spending any more on it.

moo2moo

Reduced my books on Amazon yesterday and sold the first one this morning. Am left with £4 profit which ain't bad at all for a book I purchased 15 years ago. Just need to shift the rest of them and I'll have a couple more empty shelves on the bookcase.

Also wrote to the Halifax to chase up my £50. Fingers crossed that materialises shortly.

Spent most of yesterday attempting to thread a cable through a wall cavity but suceeded only in snapping the end off OH's latest gadget and losing two 1m long flexi rods in the wall. Left him to it and returned later to find him a happy chappy. Just one crater through the wall is all that stands between him and CCTV pictures of the house viewable via t'internet.

Postie finally turned up with his rechargable posh wireless headphones after a mere 7 month wait. Hes a v. happy chap, but not half as happy as I am now that I no longer have to suffer through Two Mules for Sister Sara and other classic westerns of the '60s.

Not entirely sure whats on today as OH is home. Am hoping hes going to puppy school as I'm still feeing a bit waffey. Seem to get more done in less time when I'm left alone which means I can get the days esentials over and done with and then collapse in a heap to recharge in anticipation of tonights disco. Oh deep deep joy.

MrsMoo2U

Good luck with the car buying. I am a little envious. My car is a V reg fiesta. Moo looks very funny in the back but he loves it. I fold down the seats, well in truth they havent been back up for 2 years, and he sits quite happily. He has plenty of room really. Wouldnt be any good for 2 though. Although there is a funny scene every morning when a guy turns up to the forest with 2 newfies in the back of a renault clio!!!! He is a bit mad as he cannot control either of them, so he has resorted to keeping them on the leads which is even worse because you can imagine 2 mad newfies, one on each arm trying to go in different directions and when they see Moo they want to play chase.
Shouldn't laugh but it is a sight to behold, especially as he is a right grump anyway.

moo2moo

My current mobile skip is marginally smaller than a fiesta but with the added fun of having two small sticky children to wedge in the back post daytime trips to the park. DD1 keeeps complaining about mud on the seat (hairball no.2) and slobber on the window (hairball no. 2 again). Have abandoned the idea of going anywhere with both hounds and offspring because my O-60 at traffic lights is just a tad longer than the green to red light change. Have also noticed the fuel needle dippping with the strain of hoiking them all around plus if hairball no. 2 does much more excavating of the rusty patch in the boot lining there won't be any boot lining left. Admittedly the spray on wax stuff I used does smell rather nice and I can quite understand the need to lick it off. I'm just a bit more restrained.

And so having spent most of yesterday in e-mail negotiations with a used car company I left the house with a cheesy grin on my face and returned to find OH had cleared the financing of it with the bank who like to say yes and was somwhat gobsmacked when I said no. Great car, great mileage but too many things that filled me with dread. The idea of an unseen mystery car pulling onto the drive and m being given the keys is much like the level of surprise one gets with a newborn baby. Actually if I'm perfectly honest its much more exciting as a car is unlikely to be small smelly gunky and screaming. I'm thinkng an oasis of tranquility, but an oasis I'd like to give the fine toothcomb treatment before purchase for as long as I like rather than for 30 minutes with a man tapping a clipboard daring me to find some small thing wrong and reject it.

Plans for today involve a trip to a main dealer. Not the local one because although they have six on the forecourt only one of them is "high" mileage and thats fewer miles than I walk in an average month. The remainder have 50 miles or less on the clock and would make suitable deposits on a house.

This car buying malarky is an absolute minefield. Didn't get anything at all done yesterday. Still feeling meh. Its poured with rain for days which doesn't help. Will be borrowing a canoe to get to a supermarket if this continues. Am already rerouting to school to avoid several flooded roads. Rather glad its not freezing as driving anywhere would be a nightmare.

The nice poeple at Ocado keep sending me 15% off offers but since naggy pants aka DD1 is adament that her trainers don't fit I have to source a pair over the weekend for her to wreck next week on her school trip. Have also recieved further demands for coach fares and cookery club. Still need to find DD2 a recorder too. I forsee a weekends shopping being necessary. Still at least the cat will be happy shes reet grumpy abaht being fed dried food. Apparently only tinned will do. She wasn't this fussy when she had two eyeballs. All of which reminds me I still have to be summonds to the vet to pay whatever the insurance company won't. Was expecting to have had that particular phone call quite some time ago.

moo2moo

I can't sleep. Have too many what ifs flying around my head. What if I blow all this cash on a car and OH gets made redundant or the field we want to buy comes up for asale and we can't afford it? What if I put the amount in the snowball calculator and the additional amount of interest adds up to an even more scary amount. What if I prang it or scratch it or do anything other than wrap it up in bubble wrap and admire it. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggghhhh. Lifes so much easier when you drive a car with a dent on every door and every corner and the front and the rear and even the roof. Then you're more concerned about the actual driving rather than the paintwork.

Am thinking calming thoughts whilst hunting for some paper and some colouring pens. Am vaguely thinking that a multicoloured repayment chart divided into £50 chunks will allow me some sense of control although I need to brave the snaowball in order to find out just what effect this will have on everything. Am vaguely thinking that our debt free date will be pushed way back to something approaching 2013 which is pants. Have I become so obsessed about being debt free that I can't think rationally any more?