museumworker's quest to consign mortgage to history!

museumworker

Thanks for the comments. I am due to renew home insurance, that covers building and contents for our London home, plus i pay a bit extra to cover OH's bike and things we carry with us, like laptops etc. Was with Morethan, got £90 cashback, although won't get that this year. I did do a lot of comparisons last year, and that was the best. Will be comparing again though in the next week or so before renew.
Drinking and eating out - this is for a joint meal for the two of us - we don't do it every month but now and again, probably about 4-5 times a year we will. Drinking - that would be one joint pub visit a month, which we don't always do. I think they probably do end up being cancelled out by our pocket money, which we don't spend all of. Will keep an eye on that.
OH travels daily from London to deepest Hertfordshire, definitely too far for a pushbike - although it would combine moneysaving and exercise :rotfl:!

The boiler cover is a new offer I just got through the post, was impressed too - is for water pipes as well.

Ways to cut back - want to change OH's life insurance, have sourced one that comes in at £12pm, would save £23pm. Just waiting for mine to go through first. Is a one off £70 charge for arranging, but savings well outweigh that. Apart from that I'm scratching my head a little as we have been MSE types for over a year now, so already made large savings on utilities etc.

Keep the comments coming!

museumworker

Had my first acupuncture session today - assessment and treatment. Liked the student practicioner, who seemed very down to earth, and the atmosphere at the clinic itself. Don't quite understand how it works - something about my liver and energy blockages. Managed to deal with the needles :eek:, most were fine, apart from one in my right arm which hurt the whole time, which indicates a blockage apparently. Feel a little odd now, have ache around right eye. Didn't realise they would put them over the body, which meant had to take tights off for some in my feet - was wearing a dress too. Next time will put jeans on!

Have booked one a week for the next four weeks - overall have been recommended for a course of 10 treatments, which I will do. They do block booking discount of 6 lessons for the price of 5, a session is £17 so good value anyway. I am a bit cynical about the whole thing, as don't understand how it works - but am going to give it a go.

OH gave me a lift which means only took 25 mins to get there - public transport will take about 1 1/2 hours, but don't think I'll get driven every week! Am taking it easy at home for a few hours - OH at allotment, DD watching telly, I'm catching up on diaries. We are meeting some friends and their DDs over from Italy for the weekend in a few hours in a museum. Having lunch at home first and I have put some banana yoghurt choc chip muffins in the oven - had two black bananas which froze the other day, and am hoping if take them and flask of tea/coffee, can get away with spending very little.

Trying to have a relaxing weekend. Yesterday took DD swimming, is now £1.50 for a swim, but if register for a membership card for her for £1 will only be a quid, or free Mon-Fri half term and before 10 on a Sat. The pool was nice and quiet if a little chilly! She really enjoyed it, especially as dive boards were open - what a dare devil! Came home and made puppies/rabbits from pairs of gloves - good to do something crafty together, although I am a bit rubbish at things like that and get stressed when can't work it out! Just finished sewing the head to the body of hers - she is rightly proud of it. Need to finish the puppy. Idea was to make some for great nephews for Xmas, although don't know if can face another one!!

Did our weekly shop at Lidl on Fri eve - stocked up with loads of store cupboard stuff, and enough dishwasher tablets to see us through about 9 months as was 100% free. Was still a bit shocked when bill came to £68, didn't know COULD spend that much there! We only spent £18 on food the week before, but stores were very depleted as a result.

Is blinking cold here - have been reading the preparing for winter thread over on OS which has been very useful, have picked up some ideas I'll pass on next time I post.

[Deleted User]

Hey mw
well done for posting the SOA all looks good- dont have much to add in terms of tips to cut it down other than looking for cheaper insurances and maybe having some of the food/drink out coming out of spends? ..
glad the accupuncture was okay, I know when I first went I thought it was all a bit airy fairy but it has helped me so much and does things that drs and medicine cant seem to get a handle on... it is supposed to be really good for chronic pain conditions, and chronic anything really.. wish there was a cheaper way of doing it where I am as its at least £40 a session (need to budget this in really when am back earning!) but I dont go weekly by any means and to me it it money well spent
gosh..i didnt know you coudl spend £60 in Lidl either???! :rotfl: ... our nearest is about a half hour drive but I must get there at some point .. it must be getting towards winter as I did a mass store cupboard and freezer stock up the other day (not much food budget left till end of oct now- oops!) and we put the heating on the other night ..thats sad for still september ... I think I missed july and august somehow- last I remember it was too hot inside even with all the windows open.. i love xmas etc but hate this dreary dark weather ....

hope you guys have a good time, mmmm on the muffins...has made me want to do some baking this afternoon

tyo

CathT

Hi MW

Hope the accupuncture continues to go well, i think complimentary therapies can be a huge benefit for chronic conditions and medics are realising the importance of them now and using it alongside their prescriptive treatments.

How much in Lidl! Did you have a trolley each!

Looks like your SOA is pretty much on track so come on with those OP'S!!

Queen-Bee_2

museumworker wrote: »

Just wondering how you manage to take 15 min breaks from the computer, as sometimes I need to be on it for long periods for work. Do you set a timer or something? And how long a break do you take/what do you do to give yourself a proper break?

It's about giving my eyes a quick break (quick, cos otherwise I'd never get any work done!!).

No, I don't use a timer, but I usually have a cup of tea/liquid an hour, maybe 15-20 minutes later, will need a quick comfort-break, and will find other desk rather than screen stuff to do for a couple of minutes.
QB

museumworker

CathT wrote: »

How much in Lidl! Did you have a trolley each!

No - only one which wasn't completely full :eek: :rotfl:!!! I did check the receipt before leaving, but all seemed to be in order...

CathT wrote: »

Looks like your SOA is pretty much on track so come on with those OP'S!!

Thanks - OPs will come, just need to get the small matter of a major house conversion done first! Had architect over on Sat morning - work is due to start Mon 18 October :j. We showed him the fittings we were thinking of for the new ensuite and he thought all should be ok for the space. It is approx £520 for everything (toilet, sink, taps, shower and cubicle) from victoria plumb - less than half the cost of bath$tore which i'm now convinced is a total con of a place! We can get it delivered end of the month too, which means won't be falling over it either. Planning to order this week once OH has booked a day off work (during half term, so will save £30 on a day's childcare too :money:).

OH moved a lot of the boxes in the loft to under the stairs, so only a few more boxes to sort through and the space will be ready for the builders :T.

Can't wait to get the job done and paid for so can actually make some real OP's though!

CathT

OOOh, not long now till it starts! Is it going to be a new Master suite? It's so hard to do everything at once isn't it but you saved the money for this work so well!

Yay to saving on childcare, i'm all for that!!

museumworker

We're going to have a double room with ensuite, and a smaller double as a storage room/guest room. We're also replacing all of our rotten single glazed windows at the back of the house with new wooden double glazed sash windows, and the drafty single glazed back door with a double glazed one too. And the two radiators in the living/dining room downstairs which are rubbish are going to be replaced with some new convection ones :j. As this house has never really been insulated in the roof, I'm hoping we should really notice the difference heatwise, as well as space wise!

What we will do with the room is a little less certain - we will probably rent it out for a year, as we've run down our savings to do this project which is a dangerous place to be at the minute. Then, if we do have another mini-museumworker on the way we will probably keep it empty so that OH can sleep there in the first few months. DD has her eyes on it in the longer run - we actually love our room at the minute, and our kingsize bed, but once we've finished up there we may feel differently and claim it as our own!

I have to say a big thank you to a reader of my diary (who shall remain nameless, unless they want to come and claim some glory ) for sending me a book on mindfulness, along with a cd. It looks brilliant, just the sort of thing I had in mind, and I am really looking forward to reading it. You are an :A! I will let you know how I get on with it. The kindness of strangers is a heart-warming thing, and reminds me how many good people there are in the world.

On the not so good news front, yesterday afternoon I did start to get a sore head, so took painkillers - and today I got a proper migraine attack, double vision and all, on the way home from DD's school. Took a load of co-codomal, so managed to get DD to swimming but was so spaced out I couldn't string a sentence together! OH picking up a supermarket pizza on way home as couldn't think straight enough to decide what to cook! I really hope this acupuncture works, I cannot keep going on like this .

[Deleted User]

mw
conversion sounds lovley!! ..like having a whole new house probably! I have decluttered a bit the last week (ok a lot not just a bit) and even having a tidy/ rearranged kitchen and sitting room made me feel like I had a whole new house for about a day! I say you paid for it all you get claim over DD over which room ya want! and the possibilty of another mini mw sounds exiting too...
sorry about the migraines, Ive never suffered from migranes but they sound horribly debilitating .. i have however had a lot of chronic health things go on, which have made it really hard to carry on with "normal life" and accupuncture has been one of the only things that seems to have touched it, after trying all medical things possible...so I have only good things to say about it... I really hope it gives you some relief from the migraines I know how frustrating it is to have your body just not *work* like its supposed to , it inteferes with so many things and then theres that cycle of "what if it happens again" (easy to say I know try not to get into that) .. the thing I liked most about accupuncture was the whole mind/body link...it doesnt just focus on one, and I think chronic conditions can take such a toll on emotional wellbeing somtimes... so keep at it and see how ya go

hope the pizza and some rest this evening have you feeling better soon

ps glad the book looks good, would be interested to hear your thoughts on it

tootallulah

MW really sorry to hear about the migraine, have you kept a diary of eating and drinking as that will give you either a pattern or a trigger? They are really awful and debilitating it takes over your life. Only good thing I can say about the menopause? cut down migraines hugely. I am struggling with an SOA for two properties but am not yet beaten. The work has begun o my house upgrade it is V V Exciting.