greent's mfw journey

Fortune_Smiles

Love the making memories goal Greent

Fortune x

teapot2

Great goals and plans. I know money saving ones are important but glad to see you have lots that will bring joy and memories in there too . Thats a balance I'll be aiming for if I ever get round to posting mine .

greent

Thank you, all - and feel free to nab any ideas if you'd like!


First day yesterday at new school job - although not doing 'proper' cover supervisor - was supervising Y11 students in between exams. Did the same today and tomorrow - but tomorrow I'm also doing 1 cover lesson - my first one! - spent some time today getting my logins etc sorted (fingers crossed!)

Rent from BTL has come in and been OP'd to mtge... Also had some money from DD's boyf towards his flight ticket, so that's gone to hol fund

DS1 has gone back to uni last weekend and DD goes this coming weekend. Lots of food items sent back with him/ will be sent back with her. Also topped them up with funds for rent.... That's likely to be it now until Easter - unless we pop and see them at Feb halfterm.

Was DS2's 14th bday this week - luckily had an inset day that day, so was very happy!

Talking of him - time for me to go and collect him from shooting club - love a trip to the next town in rush hour traffic...….

greent

Whooops! - have been away too long again. job went ok - inc the real cover lesson (which included some of DS2's classmates!)

Jan = spendy....... (my) car problems meant I spent just over £100 on getting it fixed last week (thankful for my super cheap recovery service!! :T) (have lovely garage that we've used for almost 30 years) which meant some walking school runs in that foul weather last week (70 mins round trip to do DS3 school run walking) but also had electrical issue in kitchen which meant we called out friendly electrician - £130 later and the issue was identified - but not fixed (several non working lights and several 'dangling' spotlights) - need new ceiling for new lights (overheating had caused literally burned through wiring and burned/ crumbling plasterboard and lights installed under some insulation - big no no!!!!) so have called a plastering chap and am awaiting his visit/ quote/ availability..... Then need the new lights - and we're also having a newer fuse board fitted as a newer style one would have caught our problem earlier and we have other potentially 'dodgy' electrics in the house so we are having lights and sockets inspected when fuseboard changed..... That'll do for electrical work for the mo, as I think that'll be quite expensive enough for the start of the year! (we do need new outside lights as one was knocked over by a car reversing and now they can't be used as water has got in and they just trip everything! Also would like some outside power sockets for garden tools - 1 at front and 1 at rear. And some new landing and hallway lights as we really, really dislike the ones we've had for the last 14 years....can't find any we truly like, though. All that can wait, though!) We also still have a broken dishwasher, so I need to source one of those..... haven't had one working now for over a month! Ho hum!!

Other spends = booking a hotel @ Gatw1ck airp0rt the night before our flight - saves us getting up at around 3am to travel there (assuming no road issues!) so was £240 for the 7 of us well spent, I feel We shall hopefully go there after eating here and then just book in for sleep Still need to book parking (23 nights.... have found a fab deal, just need to check we can fit all the luggage in car without roof box as there is a height restriction on the carpark - I am a master of packing light, thankfully, but 7 of us and 7 cases and 7 hand luggage bags in a 7 seater car may be pushing it.... )

Thankfully - with all that other spending - we have spent very little on CCs - well, I have spent very little on CCs - £12 something on MnS card and £80 on TEsc0 CC (NYE takeaway for 6) OH has a large bill due (as always) - NOT helped by the fact I found out he's been taking cash advances!! :grrrr: - no idea why, as we have money in the c/ ac, so he's paying the CC co to spend his own money.... sigh.... He also needs to claim his expenses going back to the start of his new job (Sept) - I think it totals around £750 or so, so not a huge amount - but enough that I want the money in our accounts, not his employers!

Oh - I forgot - DS2's laptop has developed a major issue (less than 2yo) so will need to go in for repair..... he needs one for homework and it's a pain having him use mine!)

As is standard here, more decluttering is taking place - aiming for 2020 items in 2020 - currently at 275. Only £7 sold (no getting rich from selling stuff here!) - mostly donated/ recycled/ some binned. (binning = last resort, but I am not using my house as a landfill-substitute) (not that our rubbish goes to landfill... we have a large, ugly incinerator a couple of miles or so from our house....)

Other news.... DD has also gone back to uni (with lots of food! ) and DS2 has been doing DoE stuff (necessitating new walking boots (in the sale @£35 - needed because his feet had grown again...) and a belt suitable for walking trousers (thankfully only £4 in the sale) - we used DS1's cheap-cragh0pper-type trousers (no longer wanted by DS1), but DS2 needed a belt for the waist. DD and DS1 both did DoE, so I think we're pretty well fixed for a lot of stuff he'll need DS3 has just been his usual cute self

Positive money news... just upped the DDR to my S&S ISA by £50/ mth. Will look to increase that again within the next few months (hopefully!) Have had a couple of survey and tcb small payouts - all helps! And we are now going to be paying for our mobiles (was OH's old co) so am in process of swapping to SIM only deals @ around £13/ mth (half price for first 3 months and £20 through tcb) I pay for DS2 and DS3's mobiles anyway, so will change those as well, as that's cheaper than the deals they are on :T It's just a palaver..... Oooh - and my mum donated me several handbags (inc 3 K1pl1ng ones) for me to sell and put proceeds towards hol fund :T - she is a handbag-junkie, so has loads.... I sold some of hers last year... :T)

Final news.... we have mice (again) in the garage - they keep eating all the g-pig treats, so I've had to stash them in a tub! Can't blame them in this weather, I guess - they have an easy supply of food/ bedding in there from the g-pig. Does mean I've moved sentimental items stored in cardboard boxes to R-Useful boxes, though (and got rid of about a box worth to recycling whilst doing so :j) Traps aren't working, so I think we're going to go for poison again. And then a thorough clean and tidy of the garage in Spring. Harsh as it sounds we also won't be getting any more g-pigs after this one (we've had 2 die in the last 13 months so this one is sadly by herself but it's a never-ending cycle otherwise - they are pack animals, though, so it's a shame. She does get cuddles and handling, though - and I bring her indoors (she is in a well insulated hutch in the garage, so not totally outside) with the drop in temperatures, so she'll go in the family room (coolest room in the house so as not to go from one extreme to another) and get even more interaction whilst it's so cold. Won't stop the mice, though - I suspect they are well and truly snuggled somewhere in the depths of the garage!

tattycath

greent wrote: »

Whooops! - have been away too long again. job went ok - inc the real cover lesson (which included some of DS2's classmates!)

Jan = spendy....... (my) car problems meant I spent just over £100 on getting it fixed last week (thankful for my super cheap recovery service!! :T) (have lovely garage that we've used for almost 30 years) which meant some walking school runs in that foul weather last week (70 mins round trip to do DS3 school run walking) but also had electrical issue in kitchen which meant we called out friendly electrician - £130 later and the issue was identified - but not fixed (several non working lights and several 'dangling' spotlights) - need new ceiling for new lights (overheating had caused literally burned through wiring and burned/ crumbling plasterboard and lights installed under some insulation - big no no!!!!) so have called a plastering chap and am awaiting his visit/ quote/ availability..... Then need the new lights - and we're also having a newer fuse board fitted as a newer style one would have caught our problem earlier and we have other potentially 'dodgy' electrics in the house so we are having lights and sockets inspected when fuseboard changed..... That'll do for electrical work for the mo, as I think that'll be quite expensive enough for the start of the year! (we do need new outside lights as one was knocked over by a car reversing and now they can't be used as water has got in and they just trip everything! Also would like some outside power sockets for garden tools - 1 at front and 1 at rear. And some new landing and hallway lights as we really, really dislike the ones we've had for the last 14 years....can't find any we truly like, though. All that can wait, though!) We also still have a broken dishwasher, so I need to source one of those..... haven't had one working now for over a month! Ho hum!!

Other spends = booking a hotel @ Gatw1ck airp0rt the night before our flight - saves us getting up at around 3am to travel there (assuming no road issues!) so was £240 for the 7 of us well spent, I feel We shall hopefully go there after eating here and then just book in for sleep Still need to book parking (23 nights.... have found a fab deal, just need to check we can fit all the luggage in car without roof box as there is a height restriction on the carpark - I am a master of packing light, thankfully, but 7 of us and 7 cases and 7 hand luggage bags in a 7 seater car may be pushing it.... )

Thankfully - with all that other spending - we have spent very little on CCs - well, I have spent very little on CCs - £12 something on MnS card and £80 on TEsc0 CC (NYE takeaway for 6) OH has a large bill due (as always) - NOT helped by the fact I found out he's been taking cash advances!! :grrrr: - no idea why, as we have money in the c/ ac, so he's paying the CC co to spend his own money.... sigh.... He also needs to claim his expenses going back to the start of his new job (Sept) - I think it totals around £750 or so, so not a huge amount - but enough that I want the money in our accounts, not his employers!

Oh - I forgot - DS2's laptop has developed a major issue (less than 2yo) so will need to go in for repair..... he needs one for homework and it's a pain having him use mine!)

As is standard here, more decluttering is taking place - aiming for 2020 items in 2020 - currently at 275. Only £7 sold (no getting rich from selling stuff here!) - mostly donated/ recycled/ some binned. (binning = last resort, but I am not using my house as a landfill-substitute) (not that our rubbish goes to landfill... we have a large, ugly incinerator a couple of miles or so from our house....)

Other news.... DD has also gone back to uni (with lots of food! ) and DS2 has been doing DoE stuff (necessitating new walking boots (in the sale @£35 - needed because his feet had grown again...) and a belt suitable for walking trousers (thankfully only £4 in the sale) - we used DS1's cheap-cragh0pper-type trousers (no longer wanted by DS1), but DS2 needed a belt for the waist. DD and DS1 both did DoE, so I think we're pretty well fixed for a lot of stuff he'll need DS3 has just been his usual cute self

Positive money news... just upped the DDR to my S&S ISA by £50/ mth. Will look to increase that again within the next few months (hopefully!) Have had a couple of survey and tcb small payouts - all helps! And we are now going to be paying for our mobiles (was OH's old co) so am in process of swapping to SIM only deals @ around £13/ mth (half price for first 3 months and £20 through tcb) I pay for DS2 and DS3's mobiles anyway, so will change those as well, as that's cheaper than the deals they are on :T It's just a palaver..... Oooh - and my mum donated me several handbags (inc 3 K1pl1ng ones) for me to sell and put proceeds towards hol fund :T - she is a handbag-junkie, so has loads.... I sold some of hers last year... :T)

Final news.... we have mice (again) in the garage - they keep eating all the g-pig treats, so I've had to stash them in a tub! Can't blame them in this weather, I guess - they have an easy supply of food/ bedding in there from the g-pig. Does mean I've moved sentimental items stored in cardboard boxes to R-Useful boxes, though (and got rid of about a box worth to recycling whilst doing so :j) Traps aren't working, so I think we're going to go for poison again. And then a thorough clean and tidy of the garage in Spring. Harsh as it sounds we also won't be getting any more g-pigs after this one (we've had 2 die in the last 13 months so this one is sadly by herself but it's a never-ending cycle otherwise - they are pack animals, though, so it's a shame. She does get cuddles and handling, though - and I bring her indoors (she is in a well insulated hutch in the garage, so not totally outside) with the drop in temperatures, so she'll go in the family room (coolest room in the house so as not to go from one extreme to another) and get even more interaction whilst it's so cold. Won't stop the mice, though - I suspect they are well and truly snuggled somewhere in the depths of the garage!

Sounds like an expensive time for you greent.
Well done on getting a good deal on the hotel and parking.
Sorry about the mice.
Well done on managing to up payments to S&S ISA. :j
Good luck with selling the handbags

apple_muncher

Ooph. Hope the year gets cheaper...!

Karmacat

Gosh, lots of electrical issues - and I can't believe you managed Christmas without a dishwasher! Yikes!



The hotel deal is brilliant, good for you - it does make the first day of the holiday less tiring. And great that all yours have done DofE - I was actually in the first group in my school to do it, and I thought it was wonderful Did you do it yourself?

Suffolk_lass

Good to see you back posting. My word there are some challenges there! We also may have an electrical hiccough going on as yesterday the plug of the two-way extension that the washing machine and tumble dryer use, blew, and I replaced it. This morning the Kitchen circuit fuse had gone at about 02.00 or an hour either side, when the dishwasher was due to start (I know, because the washing machine timer still had 51 minutes left before it started - can't remember if I put 3 or 4 hours delay on the start). This fuse affects the fridge-freezer, the microwave and the radio too. All seems to be going this morning OK

Moneyfordreams

Those plug in mice detractors are useful. My sister swears by them. We bought them for our last house and they seemed to stay away. We did throw a bit of poison down in the kitchen. But they stopped the scratching upstairs.

Hope the repairs go smoothly for you

greent

Ah, Suffolk lass you are clearly waaay more practical at these matters than me! :T

No, Karma - sadly I didn't do DoE - they didn't offer it at school when I was there - although, tbh, I went through a very rebellious phase in my last few years at school due to stuff going on in personal life so probably wouldn't have got involved anyway. (Nowadays that there are systems in place in school to pick up on such things - back then I was just dismissed as being naughty) I do like it, though - it's a fun thing for the greent brood to get involved in

Will investigate the plug in repellants, Mfd - thanks - just want to make sure they are ok for the g-pig


Still waiting for the ceiling chap to get back to me with a quote/ availability. In the meantime we are living with dangling/ non working lights - it's slightly industrial looking When I've got that I can go back to electrician and coordinate them - I have a feeling there may be a day or two without any ceiling lights in the kitchen..... we do have some under wall cupboard ones and one in the extractor hood, so that and a couple of camping lamps should mean we can survive fine - we'll just move to eating in the dining room as opposed to the kitchen whilst it's all done (and the kitchen table and chairs can temporarily reside in the family room - but the legs will need to come off the table to get through doors, so won't be usable whilst in there)

Small flebay sale this morning (was a freebie, so all profit) I've got a decent sized pile to list on there but am waiting for a FVF offer for most of it - after all, why pay 10% when I can usually get an offer every few weeks capped at £1? Will be nice to get the things gone (and associated packaging from garage) and money in. If they don't sell I am more than happy to donate to CS (2 large boxes of items dropped off there this morning :T) but (obviously!) would prefer the money for us/ the kids (they get the money from any of their (non-clothing) items that I may sell)

Have sorted mobile tariff for DS2. (DS3 has a PAYG old-old phone which I put £10 on back in Sept - currently still has £9.70 on it - he has it primarily to join in the family what5app group) I have phoned 0h2 to swap my tariff from bus to personal and am awaiting the changeover. Am waiting to do OH's until I see how smoothly mine has gone! (fingers crossed!)

Ordered 15 leather handbags online last night...…! Am expecting to keep max 1, as they are all the same colour, just different makes/ styles. I'm not a major handbag person, but my old faithful (soft leather 0sprey brand, bought on sale in a clerance outlet store) is looking decidedly tatty (DD pointed out that I used to carry nappies for DS3 - almost 11 - in it.... so it's had a long life!) I don't use one every day (my preferred option is to leave the house with a phone, car keys and a purse or just a debit and credit card (always 2, just in case systems are playing up!)) but would like another. I figure someone can buy it for me for my bday (March), as I can't think of anything at all that I want/ need (and it's a significant number, so ppl are looking to buy 'things'... I'm not a fan of getting something for the sake of it, but understand ppl feel the need to do so. I usually ask ppl to buy kitchen items/ garden centre vouchers/ 'posher' smellies etc - all stuff which will definitely get used.)
x