Coffee and chocolate

miggy

My two hour meeting this morning finally finished after three and a half hours, so taking more of my day (and energy) than I expected but it was productive. I couldn't get out of it as I took the minutes but I was quite chuffed that an idea I put forward about a tricky situation was well received and could end up being a way forward. I'm just hoping it doesn't backfire in any way!

I then went to do the shopping, and by planning carefully I got enough to use one of those £3 off a £20 spend vouchers which will help stretch this week's money.

DS2 had his first day of work experience today, which seems to have gone down well. No hands in pockets, shirt tucked in - amazing what they'll do for an employer but scoff at when suggested by parents!

Two loads of washing done and at least four to go! I can only wash as much as I can dry so tonight the house is, as so often, draped with things that didn't quite get dry outside.

I think I had better go to bed - piano lesson tomorrow, and for once I've practiced.

miggy

My pay has arrived - it's our second income but this month I had lots of overtime so there was more than usual and... (drum roll!)

... I have just transferred some to savings!

:eek::eek::eek:

It may not stay there long as the search for another car continues, and the vet's bill is due, but it's nice to have it. Dh gets paid later than I do so my income has always been a bit of a bridge between main income payments, IYSWIM, but this time we hadn't gone OD so the remainder of his previous pay goes into savings.

Today is warm and sunny despite being late September so an ideal day to tackle the laundry avalanche, which is merrily whirling away in the machine as I type. It's also a good day to tidy the garden though that has a good start on me and won't get into shape in one day (even if I was actually gardening instead of sitting at the computer). The bad shoulder is just about fully usable again so no heavy work as I want to be able to work tomorrow and the following two nights. One of the implications of yesterday's meeting was that I may have my shifts in a bigger clump (same hourss just arranged differently) which would suit me as long as I can get enough rest in between, but what the implications for overtime are I don't know yet. It will depend on sickness levels elsewhere.

I was thinking about why we are now in credit and have come up with three things, given that DH's basic wages are down from a couple of years ago and I'm into another year of pay freeze. I came up with three things:

• we aren't spending so much on travel to see sick parents as DH's Dad is now thoroughly back on his feet and my Mum is in a care home near here,
• I have had two months of overtime which has speeded up financial recovery but won't happen regularly
• we have been strict at keeping to our budgetted limits instead of spending as we thought we 'needed' to. Even DS2, who loves his fizzy pop and sweets, knows now that if we only have so much till the end of the week, we mean it. Actually it suits him because he's very good at spotting bargains, though what constitutes a bargain varies between different people. (I have trained myself away from believing that cheap cake etc. is a 'must have', it's not. It's empty calories and does us more harm than good).

Our housekeeping budget is down by about a sixth on a few months ago - we reckoned we spent £120 a week for five of us on average and from reading here I knew it could go a lot lower, so we tried with £100 a week and we can do that though it means trimming our sails a bit. I know lots of people do much less than that and we could if we had to (and it may come to that) so I think the next stage is to begin to cut back further, even say £5 a week less would amount to freeing up £260 a year!

Not so long now till our friends come to visit and the place hardly looks any beter than it did a month ago. Time to get off the computer, I think!

P.S. HL, lovely to have you visiting my thread! Look after yourself. x

miggy

I have just come back to add: my record-breaking run of breaking things continues!
2 mugs lost their handles and the potato peeler has disappeared - probably in the bin with the peel, in which case it would be Not My Doing as if I did I that, it would be the compost and easier to find!

Hovel_lady

Hello :hello:

Money into savings? Well done you :T

Bad_Weather

Ohh bless Miggy im a bit late but im so so so sorry to hear about your GP!!!

But on a positive note congratulations on the savings x

Lemon_Tree

very sorry to read about your piggies as well, hope the other one is ok and not missing it's friend too much

miggy

Hovel_lady wrote: »

Hello :hello:

Money into savings? Well done you :T

Thanks! Not sure how long it will last so I'm making the most of it!

Bad_Weather wrote: »

Ohh bless Miggy im a bit late but im so so so sorry to hear about your GP!!!

But on a positive note congratulations on the savings x

He will be missed

Lemon_Tree wrote: »

very sorry to read about your piggies as well, hope the other one is ok and not missing it's friend too much

The other Small Furry (SF for future reference) is a Lionhead Dwarf rabbit - I thought she would pine as the two were bonded and she went downhill after losing a previous companion, but so far she actually seems to be doing well, helped by lots of attention from me!

miggy

An NSD.

Spent ages in the garden to the point where you can now tell what is lawn and what is border - mostly, anyway. And did you know you can do stripes with a Flymo?! Admittedly I whiled away some of the time talking to lovely neighbours.

I also filled in the remnants of holes made by Small Furry, while she looked on, unimpressed. Probably just supervising to be sure I prepare the ground properly for future excavations. I trampled the earth and watered it in but didn't bother sowing grass seed - I reckon it will soon spread from the rest of the lawn and what's more will match what we already have (moss, clover, dandelions etc.) How MS am I?

In an attempt to make SF happy (happier - she was basking and there's not a lot more contented-looking than a sunny bunny ) I fed her on all sorts of things that were getting trimmed from the garden and discovered she likes asparagus with her brambles and windfall apples.

Chicken casserole for us today, using up the roast and various things from the fridge. Not the smoked mackerel, though. Didn't think that would go, somehow.

miggy

DD just called me through to have a look at an email she'd received from HMRC about her taxes. She's had ongoing problems with being overtaxed but this had gone into her spam box and she was suspicious.
I had a read through and in most ways it seemed legit but it was asking her to fill in an online form and in addition stateed that their phone line would be unable to help with this.
I suggested she ring the tax office to check, and I'm glad she did. A very polished scam.
She's forwarded the email for the real tax people to deal with.

Hovel_lady

Very glad DD didn't fall for that. These people make me so cross :mad: