misscousinitt's MF Diary

Karmacat

I wish I could meal plan, it seems like the Holy Grail to me! Though, to be truthful, I just have four or five proteins, five or six veg, a few carbs and different dried fruits or jams ... and then I just ring the changes I spent about £110 a month on food, so its not really out of control - I could do a lot more with spices and sauces, though, and that might take it back down to £100 ... it's a plan for the future (another one!) I've got a bit much on my plate right now to take it on ...:o

Good for you for getting on top of where your money is - and for having your New Year meal

misscousinitt

I was in a bad mood yesterday! For reasons I won't go into in case there is anyone watching!

Bit better this morning...but still not entirely happy.

We stuck to the meal plan last night (even though it was very tempting to go out); but the crab and prawn pasta was delicious and I am glad we didn't spend any money.

We decided to count the change pots last night and we were both pleasantly surprised.

And although I forgot to bring my rucksack with all the change in to pay in....we have the following:

- Enough £1s and £2s to book a weekend away without dipping into our joint account and still some £2s and a few £1s left over!
- Enough 1ps, 2ps, 5ps, 10ps and 20ps to pay a good chunk towards our New Year Meal tomorrow (if not all) - and a bit left over to start us off for this year!
- Enough 50ps in Penguin Pot to pay £20 in and pay £20 off the CC - and £10 left towards the next deposit. Every little helps as they say!

This cheered me up no end as we can afford to have the treats we planned without dipping into much of our own money - the coins were saved without being missed!

Our meal is booked at our second choice posh pub (the other is being refurbished) - we went there last year for our New Year Meal and it was delicious...really looking forward to our night out and I have promised DH I will be in a good mood

A bit of SE planning also done last night, which also improved my mood...

Venison Sausage and Mash tonight - lovely comforting meal in the middle of a bad week when the weather is just starting to drop colder - just what the doctor ordered.

Happy Hump Day everyone!

MCI

misscousinitt

Bit of SE employment homework had to be done last night for an official reason - so that was done and e-mailed off.

Just as I was finishing DH came in with a glass of wine and told me that he had started dinner. I love my DH! He is an :A He's being so supportive of my SE venture.

Shopping later at Herr A and my first massage of 2017! Feel like I need it as my shoulder stiffened right up last night to the point of pain

Really looking forward to our meal tonight - still won't have been down the bank - but we have money in the joint account to pay. :j

MCI

misscousinitt

Had a bit of a firm look at my personal finances at lunch time. I would really like to squeeze another £50 a month into the savings and I have made some decisions:

I donate regularly to 3 charities (apart from our own local one) - all are deserving causes and have had my support for a good few years (over 20 years in the case of WWF) - I don't want to withdraw my support - but I am going to cut each one down to £1 a month - this will save me £84 in a year. I am also going to reduce my Payc&re level down one after I have got my new glasses (I am sure that I need some...) and that should save me £75 a year (wish I could go lower but my dental charges are quite high because of private hygienist).

I have decided to withdraw £100 when I get paid and this will pay for yoga and bits and bobs of personal stuff and going out for meals etc... I intend to just top this back up to £100 each month; so if I spend less in the month, then I withdraw less.

I reckon that from February payday I should be squeezing that extra £50 into my savings (or near as damn it) It will only be for a while...all will become clear...promise.

In the meantime, I have regular saves for car expenses, birthdays, haircuts etc... which goes into my other current account - and now I have found the card I can use it to purchase those items. (Still no sign of the joint account card - going to have a proper, sensible ie not manic throwing things everywhere, look at home at the weekend).

Once I have sorted myself out, I am going to look at the joint expenses. I have already started really by monthly meal planning again - more to follow.

MCI

misscousinitt

It's Friday folks!

Absolutely beautiful meal out last night...really enjoyed it and we only spent £10 more than the £50 we had from all the coins - so win win!

My massage was hard...my shoulders are soooo bad at the moment - bruised this morning but alot better - AND the massage was £3 cheaper as they have it on special this month:D

Awoke to covering of snow and the usual chaos on the roads that go with it...same old, same old at work - got alot to do again (as usual) and I am really getting tired of it all.

Small shop at Mr T planned for tonight and we are having HM Pizzas for tea when I get back from yoga.

Busy weekend ahead. Lots of cleaning and other chores, Charity Annual Report in readiness for AGM on Monday and my tax return! Plus shopping for SE venture planned for next weekend.

Saturday's tea is Monkfish & Prawn Parcels with either Jacket Potato or HM Savoury Rice (Monkfish left over from Christmas and put in the freezer and everything else from stores...)

Happy weekend all.

MCI

CathT

Hi MCI, I've finally caught up with your diary. What a great read, will share the rest of your journey with you instead of playing catch up. Will be popping in more regularly now

misscousinitt

CathT wrote: »

Hi MCI, I've finally caught up with your diary. What a great read, will share the rest of your journey with you instead of playing catch up. Will be popping in more regularly now

Hi Cath

Nice to see you! Thanks so much for stopping by and reading.

See you soon.

MCI

misscousinitt

Such a mad weekend.

Was feeling quite off on Saturday morning, so I didn't get going with my chores etc..till a lot later than anticipated - hence a bit of a knock on effect.

Tax return is now being planned for an evening - week today (23rd) - followed by MILs and DHs (when his details arrive!).

Charity Annual Report has been started and I am just going to finish it off. Also need to do a quick Treasurers Report - though I might just be a bit ad hoc about this.

I was so glad of yoga on Friday - it did me the world of good and now the aches and pains from the massage and the yoga session have subsided I feel so much better - shoulders are looser and I have some flexibility back in my hip!

Lots of SE stuff going on this week.

Tonight's tea is Burgers with LO part baked rolls and chips. Nice, quick, easy - and at a push DH can do it!

MCI

misscousinitt

Just had what felt like a doss at work! 1 1/2hrs of fetching and preparing a lunch buffet for an important potential client and a few of my colleagues - I enjoy that sort of thing, so not work at all really!

AGM went fine - there were only 7 of us and we got through it fairly quickly - nice to be home early on meeting night!

Got a pretty critical meeting to do with SE this evening - keeping my fingers crossed and trying not to be too nervous.

Just registered DH for Self Assessment - just got to wait for the activation code to come through.

Sent my acceptance of R&ngemasters' offer of £75 compensation back yesterday and I'll probably get that by the end of next month if I'm lucky. I did also send them an e-mail telling them exactly what went wrong and that I thought their build quality and quality of spares was rubbish. Just glad to be up and running and fairly happy that £75 will be winging it's way to the CC when it arrives.

Also had to contact the Council yesterday as they had sent me a letter saying they hadn't received the Charity's Society Lottery Fee - what a load of rubbish!!! I sent them a copy of the form I sent back - a copy of the cheque and a copy of the bank statement detailing when it had been cashed (as it came out of my account!) - I got an apology - but it's half an hour of my life I won't get back!

So, that's a few things off this week's list ticked off. The rest is mainly SE stuff.

Quick and easy tea of Tarragon Chicken planned for tonight - should take just 15 minutes to cook - good thing as I don't think we will be eating till about 9.30pm (or later - depends how the meeting goes).

Must also remember to get my piece of pork shoulder out of the freezer tonight as we are having Pulled Pork tomorrow night. SC at the ready!

MCI

Karmacat

Good luck with that meeting, thats *late* for a work night! And well done on the Lottery Fee to the council - ha! Same happened to me a million years ago, I put my household goods into storage because I took a year between selling my flat and buying my house. And when I got everything out of storage, the guy on the gate tried to tell me they hadn't received my notice. I just said "rubbish, if you got my last cheque, which you did, then you got my 28 day notice!". I'm chuffed at that, when I look back on it :rotfl:

Hope it all goes well for you tonight with the tight timing and that the chicken is yummy