misscousinitt's MF Diary

misscousinitt

Good news. Was talking to DH the other night about OPing and moving etc... (we saw a bargain of a house for £140k on the internet that would be ideal for us - but its selling ours at the moment...none of the houses down our street that are up for sale have moved an inch!)

Anyway, the good news is that DH is prepared to put more towards the OP when the fixed rate comes to an end - he has seen the impact our relatively small OPs have done to the mortgage total and it will be the best way to put us in a really good position to move once houses start to sell.

There are some little gems out there, but you need to be in a strong position to move.

Considering we are at the bottom end of the market (ie Terraced 2 up 2 down style) you would think there would be more movement, however, thinking about it logically they are ideal BTL or first time buyer homes and first time buyers are still having a very hard time getting on the property ladder.

Wonder if Wynnvegas fancies a BTL in the Midlands...lol....only joking.

Maybe we will let ours out when we become mortggage free? It would be a nice pot of investment sitting there and give us a monthly lump towards any new mortgage.

Anyway, we should be seeing our mortgage free date come down alot more towards the end of the year. (Something to be said for looking at new properties!)

MCI

misscousinitt

Grocery spends are up to £172.08 and that includes all the bits and pieces to make a special 3 course dinner for me and DH tomorrow night.

One week of grocery shopping left to go and nearly 28 quid in the pot - should do it easily.

Just submitted our monthly gas and electric readings as the bills are going to be calculated shortly - in credit with the gas and only owe the electric about 30 quid. I think the split between the gas and the electic are just slightly off to keep them balanced; but it will all be reviewed in May and I think they will alter the payments accordingly - I don't think we will be paying any more, just adjusted amounts.

Was invited to the house of our family friend who died last month to see if there was anything that we wanted out of the kitchen stuff. It felt really wierd and almost wrong, but I know that he wouldn't want his things to go to waste if there was someone who can use them.

With the situation the way it is, anything that hasn't been specifically left to someone will probably get skipped - so in true money saving fashion I picked a few bits and pieces that will be useful to both me and my charity work (loads of jam pot covers and recipes for his delicious HM Marmalade being two things).

Trying not to feel bad about it...it feels different because its a friend and not a relative. I know I will get past it.

Still no sign of the dividend cheque - really not sure what is happening now - going to have to check it out.

Hope everyone had good weekends.

MCI

misscousinitt

Put a few things we 'inherited' away last night and the rest has gone in the loft for now. Going to wash out all the beautiful cannisters at the weekend and try to decide where I should put them and what to put in them. Need some new seals for some of them, so going to hunt about to see if there is anywhere that does replacements - lake land perhaps??

Tonights 3 course dinner will be made almost entirely from stores and freezer stuff - but sounds really expensive (having king prawn starter and sea bass main etc...! The only thing I bought really was the pud plus a lime and some coriander.

Paid the money MIL gave me back in the bank yesterday and the OP virtual pot for this month is currently standing at £130 - think I'll have about £10 extra from groceries and I'm sure I can sweep the bank account to make it up to the £150.

MCI

misscousinitt

Going to take a leaf out of DawnW's book and run the freezer down. It really needs defrosting and the it always seems to be full!

Want to do an inventory before I do the big shop next week so that I don't buy what I don't need. This should bring next months food bill down considerably (I hope!) and therefore more money for OPing! Yay!

Tonight we are having Roast Chicken with all the trimmings - the chicken has come out of the upstairs freezer and not the one I need to defrost! So I think I not only need an inventory, but a bit of move round too.

Just waiting once more for the first of the month and the next OP...how sad am I??

MCI

misscousinitt

Looks like the dividend might be paid this month instead. Reason being cash flow - the company paid the VAT etc...last month and we have some big orders on at the moment that the suppliers need payng for quickly. Fingers crossed for the end of the month.

Had Roast Chicken last night and will be picking all the meat off the bones tonight to do LO chicken and something (haven't decided yet). Anyway, any LO chicken will be frozen for another meal (yes I know I'm supposed to be emptying it!) and the carcass can go in the slow cooker to make soup. Need to clear the fridge of bits and pieces of veg, so will be using them in the soup too - hopefully there won't be too much to freeze!!!

Might just have a simple meal of spag bol out the freezer tomorrow and that at least balances out what I might be putting back in tonight. Inventory to be done over the weekend in readiness for next weeks shop.

Grocery spends are up to £170.98 - bought a tub of hummous for lunches for the rest of the week.

MCI

misscousinitt

Damn...just lost my post...

So, to review:

- Chicken Rissotto last night using LOs from Roast dinner. Extra chicken and carcass in freezer.
- Make soup at the weekend using carcass and bits of veg in fridge.
- Jerk Spiced Burgers and Wedges tonight. LO mince will be cooked with some onions and frozen to chuck in with whatever.
- Freezer inventory set for Sunday.
- £4.25 spent at Herr A last night - Grocery Spends now £175.23/£200.
- Got to get Premium Bond stuff out at the weekend so I can buy my first batch off 200 (spreading out to give me a better chance of winning lol)
- Still got paperwork to file - going to make an effort to get that done tomorrow morning.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

MCI

misscousinitt

Excited!!

Another quick update - just got my gas and electric bills through online.

We owe £30.88 on the electric, but we are getting a refund of £141.87 on the gas NEXT WEEK!

So, in keeping with the lifestyle balance, I have made an executive decision that we are going to split the balance £110.99 in three. 1/3 to Mortgage OP; 1/3 to our joint savings and 1/3 for us to have a treat - and in true ITT fashion it will probabaly be to do with food! So I see a meal out on the cards in the near future!

Phew...calmed down a bit now I've got that out!

MCI

misscousinitt

What a nuts day its been...haven't had time to draw a breath!

Anyhoo, quick update while no one is looking.

- made a minestrone soup using bits of veg in the fridge - 2 portions for lunch this week (we ate the rest for a snack yesterday afternoon)
- chicken carcass can be used another day - its frozen after all!
- failed on freezer inventory - going to try again tonight (had a lazy day yesterday!)
- Grocery spends at approx £193/£200
- Did get my paperwork done on Saturday morning though! RESULT
- Premium Bond number retreived from my filing system - still got to buy first batch

Still waiting for my payment from fuel suppliers.

Payday Thursday.

Looks very much like the OP will be £185 this month.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

MCI

lincoln-potter

misscousinitt wrote: »

What a nuts day its been...haven't had time to draw a breath!

Anyhoo, quick update while no one is looking.

- made a minestrone soup using bits of veg in the fridge - 2 portions for lunch this week (we ate the rest for a snack yesterday afternoon)
- chicken carcass can be used another day - its frozen after all!
- failed on freezer inventory - going to try again tonight (had a lazy day yesterday!)
- Grocery spends at approx £193/£200
- Did get my paperwork done on Saturday morning though! RESULT
- Premium Bond number retreived from my filing system - still got to buy first batch

Still waiting for my payment from fuel suppliers.

Payday Thursday.

Looks very much like the OP will be £185 this month.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

MCI

Sounds like you had a very constructive day MCI!

OP is looking good :T

misscousinitt

Its been manic at work this week - short staffed and loads to do...

Anyway, went to the ballet last night (DHs Christmas Present to me - but I took my friend as he didn't want to go - he was just the taxi for the evening - lol); it was wonderful, really enjoyed it.

Freezer inventory still hasn't been done - I have promised myself that I will not buy any meat or fish until it has been done and I know what I've got to get!

Going to find a way to split the big shop so I can get the £5 off voucher for Mr T and the 10p off a litre of fuel voucher, so need to think about the other stuff I need to get in the 'big' shop.

Got the gas refund and paid the balance on the electric. Its a nice bonus for us and of course for the mortgage OP too.

Venison Casserole tonight with meat from the freezer!

Going to pack up at work shortly as taking Dad to the hospital for his pre op appointment for his cateract.

MCI