misscousinitt's MF Diary

misscousinitt

Really confused!

Had a letter from the Halifax about the mortgage payments. As the SVR is going up in May my payment is changing (how I don't know as I am on fixed rate till June?!?), but get this, the payment is going DOWN by £20, not up!!

Inclined to leave it as it is and OP by an extra £20 - extra money off the capital! Not sure how they worked that one out though.

Grocery spends are at £141 and some pence that I can't remember - might be possible to keep to £170 this month - who knows!

Used up the HM Chilli out of the freezer and had it with Jackets and Salad last night.

Tonight I have a funding meeting (which hopefully shouldn't take more than an hour - and I'm doing Seafood Paella for tea (squid and prawns in the freezer with bits and pieces of veg knocking about).

Will really need to stock back up on meat and fish next month, so grocery spends will be back up; but think I have done quite a good job of using stuff up. Freezer still looks full, but think it just needs re-arranging (also stuffed a loaf in there).

Ordered bridesmaid dresses for my best friends' sons' wedding (as they can't afford to pay for them up front). I'm buying one (as its for my god-daughter) and they are going to pay me the rest back starting end of May. Purchase has tracked through Quidco - so some extra for the OP pot there (when they decide I get my next payout!)

So, with the extra £20 already budgeted for mortgage payment, £10 of my winnings from Saturday and possibly another £10 from grocery spends May OP is looking like approx £180.

MCI

Phew! That was long post!

misscousinitt

Paella was really nice last night. Managed to use up a bulb of fennel, an onion and half a courgette!

Had a nice (free) lunch today as our accounts lady is 50 tomorrow and she bought us all a buffet lunch and lovely cakes!

Tonights tea is a Mixed Meze - Lemon & cumin chicken, wholemeal pitta bread, feta salad, hummous, red pepper and tomato salsa - its a really nice pick and mix meal that I lay out on the coffee table in the front room and we munch while watching the TV - makes a nice change from a roast dinner too (and its healthy).

Not much else on the MSE front except got a £6 off £40 shop for Mr T when I got my colleagues' flowers this morning. Long date on it, so will be able to use it when I do my big shop at the end of the month.

Hope everyone else ok.

MCI

Just a thought, I wonder if the Halifax have lowered my mortgage payments because of the overpayments I have made, because punching in the new figures to the spreadsheet it puts my mortgage free date back up! Think I will go in and see them and tell them to keep it the same. What do you think?

misscousinitt

Have decided that for the purposes of my mortgage free date that I am going to ignore the decrease in mortgage payments and keep paying what I was at the very least - otherwise I'm going to be back to square one!

Tonights dinner is frozen fish thingys and wedges - yes, still using up freezer contents!

MCI

DawnW

misscousinitt wrote: »

Tonights dinner is frozen fish thingys and wedges - yes, still using up freezer contents!

Me too Still using up freezer contents that is, not the frozen fish thingies :rotfl:The mixed Mezze sounded great!

misscousinitt

DawnW wrote: »

Me too Still using up freezer contents that is, not the frozen fish thingies :rotfl:The mixed Mezze sounded great!

The Mezze is really nice, I especially like the red pepper and tomato salsa - its home made and so fresh & tasty.

The freezer contents is really at the dregs now for making whole meals, but still trying to use everything up. You just need to get more inventive don't you...

Really need to have a proper look at what is left before I go shopping on Friday.

DH has given me an extra £30 a month to sort rising bills and mortgage overpayments / savings. He lets me do it as he knows I'll make the best use of it. (And he is FINALLY getting internet banking sorted...its taken him AGES!)

Things to do:

Update grocery spends
Read gas & electric meters and submit readings
Cancel insurance on washer/dryer

MCI

misscousinitt

Managed to find 2 portions of Spag Bol hiding at the bottom of the freezer, so we had those last night.

Tonight will be prawn stirfry using up as many bits and pieces of veg I can from the fridge.

Really want to sort everything out properly but I just seem so tired when I get home and I think I am generally just fed with everything at the moment.

Need to get myself motivated and sorted.

Got 2 Mr T vouchers to use. A £6 off £40 and a £10 off £80 - so have got to co-ordinate the shopping so I get best value.

Not much else on the MSE front, really need to get that 'To do' list sorted.

MCI

misscousinitt

Still haven't done anything on my list

Really got to get some charity stuff done at lunchtime, but I've been so tired, I really haven't been bothered. Now the deadline is looming and I've got to get it sorted.

Got 15p yellow stickered singapore noodles picked up last night from Mt T while I was feeding my scotch egg craving! Which we had as part of the stirfry last night (the noodles, not the scotch egg lol)

Posh sausage and mash tonight. Got pork & sweet chilli sausages in the freezer and will do onion gravy and I will put some veggies from the fridge with it (got some red cabbage and some carrots).

Got £50 back for a carpet cleaner I hired on behalf of the charity - just waiting for the patients aid payment for my glasses (£140) and the money back for the charity van tax (£220) and then I'll be set to sort out savings and potential OPs as soon as our fixed rate ends.

MCI

misscousinitt

April Grocery Spends stand at £162.73 - not bad (but we were away for a few days and we have had a couple of meals out - but at least that was budgeted for seperately).

So, going to add another £5 to my OP next week - total now £185!

Out with friends from work tonight, so DH is fending for himself - then we are out again on Saturday for a friends' birthday celebrations - not a particularly good start to a MSE May!

Never mind, have some Euros to exchange today, so that will pay for tonight and probably Saturday too, so no worries there.

Payday today and I've got to check my account to see if anything has gone in from Patients Aid.

Also managed to tick things off my 'to do list':

Grocery Spends = £162.73
Gas & Electric meters read and readings submitted
Charity bid done and distributed to my colleagues for feedback
Had a quick tidy round the house last night too...

Just got, another Bid and some minutes to type up now...

Trip to the bank needed today to pay in cheque (and to pay my mum's premium bond win into her account - why does she always win!) and a trip to the post office to get Euros exchanged - thats lunchtime used up.

Better get on with some work now.

MCI

Just checked my account and the £140 from Patients Aid has gone in (any my wages! woohoo). Car insurance has been debited from my other current account, so need to move the money across.

misscousinitt

Bid completed and sent off in todays post.

Work is manic and really getting on my nerves at the moment - so customers are so stupid! (Sweeping statement I know, but some of the drawings they send through have such peculiar numbering systems, it just makes it so difficult to decipher them!!!)

Off to Mr T tonight to do the first part of my shop to gain the £6 off £40 spend - just going to get enough for the weekend and get the rest on Monday when I can use the £10 off £80 spend.

Going to get another of their knives at 70% off for a friend of mine, this means that £16.99 gets added to the bill and I get the money off without spending that much! Did this the other week and it worked a treat!

Must get back to the rat race.

Have a good weekend all.

MCI

xxx

misscousinitt

Hi all

Grocery spends are at £109 so far and I think this month will definately be pushing the £200 mark - but thats ok as thats what has been budgeted. We will see how I get on. Bought a few extra things as I knew I was getting money off my shop, but they are all things that can be stored away and nothing will get wasted. Needed to stock up and there should be plenty of variety for this long 5 week month.

Was going down the town today to do my OP of £185, but its horrible out there and I'm going to stay put for lunch. Tomorrow is another day!

Got some things to order for friends' sons' wedding and must do some notes for the next charity bid.

My new glasses are ready to collect at the opticians, they were supposed to send me a message last week and when I rang up to query it yesterday they said that the glasses has been ready a few days!!! I finally got the text message this morning!!! Trip to town on Saturday morning (early) then to collect them as the are long closed before I get home in the evenings.

Was a bit of a stressful weekend as dad was playing up and I told him where to get off this time - not taking any more insults! I would never abandon him, but I don't like him very much at the moment - very opinionated and very wrong!

Anyhow, as the weather was so bad on Sunday, we did get some of the bedroom decluttered - still alot to do, but its looking much better.

Had our new TiVo box on Saturday too along with new modem/router and a HD box for upstairs. The bonus is that there will be one less thing plugged in downstairs, so that will help with electric consumption (don't use the TV much upstairs, so will only be plugged in when needed).

MCI

DH is off work this week and has promised to get my skirting board done in the kitchen! (only been waiting about 6 years - or is it 7??!!!) LOL