13 Moons part 2 - Freebird & Frugabulous

Shoe_Gal

Know what you mean Mags but think of the extra washing :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

makeup

Hey Lula

I'm back and I do read back to see what I've missed - not on all threads but sadly I'm like a ghost or something on yours - regularly haunting it!

Regarding the ski trip for your daughter, when I was at school they had a school ski trip and I was convinced I would be going. I was quite upset when it didn't happen but my parents didn't have lots of money and it was just too much for them to afford.

I can imagine the pressure and the disappointment but you don't have to send your daughter on these trips.

I was determined to go skiiing eventually so after I graduated, I did a ski season in the French alps. A truly amazing experience and you earn money and it doesn't cost you a thing for the ski boot hire, ski pass and lessons!

There are tons of great opportunities for school kids these days but there are also many opportunities afterwards as well!

Don't beat yourself up over not sending her on everything that is offered. She knows how hard you work to provide for the things that you do and so she will understand if you can't pay out big amounts for expensive trips and the like.

Souk08

Mags lovely, I have 3 words for you: Get a lodger :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Yep it would be grand to have someone to half the bills but I'm just not convinced its usually worth the hassle (You know I'm just teasing you but I speak the truth!)

Lula, you COULD clear the wretched card tonight from funds but if you need something tomorrow there would be no funds to pay for it so it would have to go on the card again and round and round we go. Your savings pots are amazing to me and you always know where you are with everything, whether its where you want to be or not! Just stick with it and all the things you wish for will one day be yours, with hard work and bugeetering of course XXX

Lula-Hula

Shoe_Gal wrote: »

Know what you mean Mags but think of the extra washing :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

See, this is where I'm going wrong; I share with DD & get all the extra washing, but she's rubbish at splitting the bills



Makeup - welcome back, do hope you had a great holibob. You're becoming something of an inspiration to me with your regular breaks & getaways. I plan to emulate your lifestyle .

I do hear you re the school trips. She's not that keen to go, says that skiiing is something to look forward to when she's grown up. Just like going to the States to marry James Maslow. I'm very lucky in that she is quite discerning about which trips she goes on. She's turned down plenty that she just doesn't like the idea of so I wont push any on her.

Mags30 - thanks for your kind words :A I agree that the cost of living has gone up & yes DD is at that age. I was very pleased when the teacher at new high school pleaded with us to only allow children to take cheap Tatco mobiles to school too. I can cut right back on some stuff, but not on other things & we all have our preferences.

Souk - it's exactly that fear of something cropping up that prevents me from clearing it in one go, especially when the car is about to have it's check up. I need it for work so that has to be a priority spend if necessary. Boring but lesson learned the hard way there. After 3 really dull years, you too can have pots like mine :rotfl:

Wordsmith - lovely to see you here :j & I really do think I might have one of those grass armchairs. Mine probably wont be made from camomile in the Chesterfield style. It's far more likely to be constructed from scraggy old leftover bits of manure, grass seed & random herbs all thrown together in haphazard manner that rather resembles one of those saggy old deckchairs .

We had a great day today. Grandmother was well & when she gets her mind cranked up she can be quite funny. She told me about a rellie who had visited recently & had a new grandchild. I asked if she had seen it & she just replied vaguely "oh no dear, I don't encourage it visiting" :rotfl:.

She loved the cakes that DD made but yet again I've had to hide all her horrible old china from the carers. I really dont see why, at her time of life she shouldn't be using her 'best' stuff. It annoys me that they seem to think she should use the nasty mis matched pieces. I've hidden it all really well this time & told Gran she should eat off her nice china. When elderly, I shall insist on using all my best stuff ... er no hang on, I don't have any .

We came home & I was very tempted to go on a bike ride but then became overwhelmed by an urge to have a bonfire. I love a good bonfire & it's been ages. I can't do any weeding because all 3 giant garden rubbish bags are full, & have been for about a year . I alerted neighbours of impending inferno & DD set about building a fire in the stone circle - I need to move this about 3 ft to the left so more bending, lifting & digging to look forward to .

On one of her days out with lovely childminder, DD spent a day in the forest learning how to make shelters & fires & is actually very good at it. She's a bit safety conscious but as I singed all the hairs on one harm by getting too close, she does have a point. I tend to make sure it's not too near a tree, have a couple of watering cans nearby in case of emergency & then light it, the higher the flames the better for dancing naked around. Just kidding - to see if you're still reading .

So, we burned & burned & burned; 3 giant bags of old brambles, fir branches, leaves & twigs. 2 barrow loads of dead dry old fir under the trees, all the manky old cardboard that something was once wrapped in & best of all ...

... about 5 years worth of bank statements, utility & mobile bills, CC bills & statements, CC cheques etc etc etc. Basically every single item of stealable identity :j.

I am somewhat overjoyed at this.

TBC ...

Lula-Hula

...

Thought I'd better break this epic into separate posts otherwise I take so long that my tinternet gets bored & goes to sleep & I lose yet another riveting episode.

So, there I was watching old Capital One bills bearing balances of over £2,500 go up in flames & it felt good. I did actually rescue a couple of Barclaycard bits for posterity; the first being my initial attempt to reclaim PPI on an old Monument CC - I may have another go.

I also rescued some lovely missives with the heading " Credit where it's due". I kept these just so I could pass on the contents as a warning to others:


July 2008 - Credit limit increased from £4,000 to £5,000 without my asking for it.

April 2009 - Credit limit increased from £5,000 to £6,900 without my asking for it.

December 2009 - Credit limit increased from £6,900 to £8,800 :eek:without my asking for it.


So, in less than 18 months, my credit limit more than doubled & at no point did anyone ask whether my salary had doubled to ensure I could manage the repayments on that amount of credit.

Elaine Mockler, Customer Service Director you have a lot to answer for & had I not already been a member of MSE by then & on my (admittedly somewhat meandering) Quest, I could well have found myself in serious trouble. I didn't even have a full time job back then.

I'm rather glad I did re read these letters just so I remember how easy it is to fall into the trap. It's only recently that I was eyeing up Barclaycards latest long term 0% deal & wondering ... .

No way. I'll keep my custard yellow co op CC that at least has some ethics behind it & offers a bit of cashback for using it.

Enough reminiscing & pondering for now. It has been NSD 6 :j.

It has also been CB payday so I have totted up the shameful amount of spending this week ( too shameful to share I'm afraid ) & paid a frightening amount to the Custard Yellow one which now wields a balance of £1200.

It's certainly nothing to be proud of yet, but I'm on it & it is going down. To clear it by September 1st, would necessitate weekly payments of £171 :rotfl:. Yeh, right, that's gonna happen.

In order to clear it before the 0% runs out, I need to pay £75 a week. Still a bit fierce, but manageable. If I can manage to pay £100 a week for the next 5 weeks, then I only need to find £500 in order to clear it by September 1st.

Broken down like that, it appears far more achievable

No one dare to say 'ebay' at me. No one at all :silenced:.

Eeek look at the time :eek:

G'night
xx

Karmacat

Oh my word, how powerful are these postings! In all sorts of ways - funny, thoughtful, painful, happy, determined ... all sorts of things.

The Loveliness of Lula! :kisses3:

Lula-Hula

Bonsoir,

I've news to tell but spent time in the garden de-weeding the veg patch & attempting to rig up a new frame for the netting. Not entirely succesful & I think saws, drills & possibly a male might be useful to make it perfect.

I know how I want it to work, I just need to find the right method.

So, another Monday over & done with & just one more before our hol. Highly Annoying was back to deal with the hassle but I may well have to change his name to Highly Apathetic, he was suffering from post holiday blues. Gropey seemd to have it in for him as well, which is very wearing & not at all conducive to getting motivated.

Had a text from home-job boss to say no work today & I'm not ashamed to say I was delighted :j. I was also a bit naughty & asked not to have too much tomorrow as I'll be out in the evening at DDs perfomance & DD1 is coming over to watch too .

I had a look at the holiday board at work, spoke to Goblin about whether it would be more helpful to work the 3 fridays or take 3 days holiday. Never one to encourage me being there more than absolutely necessary, she urged me to take the holiday :rotfl:.

I got in touch with lovely childminder to ask if she could possibly have DD for the last 2 days of August ... she said she'd love to have her ( :huh: ) so I now just have to pay £75 for childcare.

Due to the bank holiday & my not working on a friday I will have a 4 day weekend the last one in August. I then go back to work for just 2 days & then have another 6 days off followed by just another 2 day working week :j. I'm very excited about this as after 2 years, I still find paid holidays a little bit miraculous & magical. It makes me feel positively gleeful & I will get to spend the last few days of the summer hol with DD.

So, that's a big weight / dilemma off my mind. the car is booked in for a full service & MOT on wednesday & the starting price is £110 just for the labour involved. I know an MOT is about £50 & as I only have £220 saved up towards this, I'm :

1) grateful for the CC & access to other funds &

2) definitely going to increase the amount I save monthly towards this as of next month.

Checking my emails I had a friendly one from electricity company to remind me that a bill is due & perhaps I should send them a meter reding or they'll have to estimate it.

I did my readings, entered them online, which generated a bill within a couple of seconds & then paid accordingly, thereby earning myself another 2.5% discount off my next bill :cool:. How easy is that & yet I am still in control of it all. What a brilliant system so big thumbs to Southern Electric :T.

The nosy among you may wish to know that the quarterly bill for the Gas was £73.34p & the Electricity was £68.22p.

This is about what I expected it to be & leaves me with £158 still in the utilities pot . My first thought was ' That's the school uniform covered then'. My second thought was ' Ooooh I can pay a bit more off the CC' & my third thought - & where I'm resting at the moment -was ' That can go towards the service & mot if what I have doesn't cover it'. I shall wait until I know the damage & then decide.

Wandered to the library with DD & then wandered in to the co op to buy her some carbs; another £4.47 on the grocery total which is now at £110.84.

Her clubs have all finished now so I wont be going to Sainsbugs after work on a thursday for a while. Need to be very careful that spends dont creep up again over the hols. It's very clear that for the food we're eating now, Sainsbugs wins on price.

Other news is that DD is invited to a horse riding party this weekend. I am petrified as when little she always maintained she would never have a car, she would have a horse instead. The cost of it all means we have never even dabbled with lessons. I've never been horsey although I do love them ( except for when they're trying to barge through the hedge into my garden :rotfl:) & I am dreading her deciding this will be her new hobby :eek:.

At this point I am remembering makeup's point about not having to do everything . Yet another thing to add to her list of things to do when grown up .

The amazon book for 1p arrived today - excellent service & in almost perfect condition so I'll be giving the seller an excellent review.

I've made my salad for lunch tomorrow & had a refreshing bath which I think has finally banished the last of the bonfire aroma.

Neighbours all talking to me still so it can't have been that bad.

Time for sleep now

G'night
xx

Karmacat

You really are in control of it all, aren't you! Good for you!

Whats the book, btw? I like books, me

Wordsmith

Mags30 wrote: »

I always think it would help me so much if there was someone to split the bills with, the finances wouldn't be so tight if we only paid half of the gas bill, half of the car insurance, or half of the school fees.

Souk08 wrote: »

Mags lovely, I have 3 words for you: Get a lodger :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Yep it would be grand to have someone to half the bills but I'm just not convinced its usually worth the hassle (You know I'm just teasing you but I speak the truth!)

Truth indeed. You can read lots of the diaries on here where the OH isn't on board with saving money and paying the debts. It could be better with two people, but it could be a heck of a lot worse. All that extra spending and compromising and sharing space and dirty socks and underpants ... Um, I live alone, by the way. More to the point, I love living alone (with my cats and dog - couldn't live without them).

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I shall insist on using all my best stuff ... er no hang on, I don't have any.

You will have, you will have.

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I love a good bonfire & it's been ages. ... but as I singed all the hairs on one harm by getting too close, she does have a point. I tend to make sure it's not too near a tree, have a couple of watering cans nearby in case of emergency & then light it, the higher the flames the better for dancing naked around.

Keep this up and you won't be allowed any crockery and cutlery, let alone any good stuff.

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I'm very lucky in that she is quite discerning about which trips she goes on.

And who she wants to marry! Very nice (said in a non-creepy cradle-snatcher way ... although probably in rather a too much toy-boy-yes-please kind of way) - although I did have to look up who Master Maslow is (still don't know, got side-tracked looking at photos).

I want to know what the book is, too.

Lula-Hula

Oh wordsmith :A you are tonic; if only I could bottle your humour & sell it, we'd both be rich then .

James Maslow is 1) rather pretty & 2) a singer/actor from the Nickelodious tv series & band Big Time Rush - just you tube it . DD loves them & him in particular & these are the 4 [STRIKE]luscious young lads[/STRIKE] talented young chaps who we went to [STRIKE]ogle [/STRIKE] see in concert a couple of months ago. I actually know all the words to all the songs too :rotfl:.

The book I've just received is Holy Fools by Joanne Harris. I love all her delicious works that I've read & I'm slowly ( via charity shops, ebay & amazon) building a collection of them. I now have 4 unread ones that I'm going to indulge in later in the year. My neighbour donated a huge sack of books & I'm still working my way through those. I've been stuck on Atonement for weeks. Not because I don't enjoy it, but I just don't seem to have much reading time at the moment.

I'm with you on the living alone issue, if DD decide to leave one day, I shall buy myself a big squashy armchair & happily spend many evenings in it with a book & some wine/cider/gin/coffee/baileys.

Not that I have a booze fetish & not all at the same time either. Well, not unless it's a really boring book .

After yesterday's successes, today has revealed just how much is going on with DD that I'm only vaguely aware of . We went up to the performance only for me to realise that it was not the usual seating arrangement & that we were too late to grab good seats. It was mentioned in a newsletter but I obviously didn't take note.

It was a great production & all the children & staff have worked so hard - it was very humbling. As all who are teachers know ( Buffy) the day doesn't stop at 3.15. This didn't end until 9.30 . Last week they had the open evening which didn't finish until 8pm, they've been away on the trip, have another peformance tomorrow night, sports day on friday, a party for the leavers one evening next week etc etc etc.

To all teachers : :A

I have also apparently over looked the assembly next week at 9am still not quite sure how to get that one past the boss & my biggest Donut of the Day moment was looking at the list of dates on the newsletter & finally realising that they in fact break up a whole 24 hours before I thought they do :eek:. So, no point my feeling rather smug that I don't work on fridays & therefore end of term being at 1.30 doesn't affect me at all ... I am now caught between a rock & hard place as terms ends a full hour & a half before I finish work.

Bearing in mind I'm about to be off for 2 weeks, & have just squeezed an extra 3 days holiday out of his royal Gropeyness, I'm really going to be pushing it to ask to come in late on wednesday & then leave early on thursday _pale_. Grumpy is out all day tomorrow, Goblin has a day off & Gropey not due in til lunchtime so I'm just going to have to wear the heels again & make him laugh. It's gruesome, but it's probably the only way.

I've not eaten well today - had a huge salad at lunchtime, but then was too busy doing home-job, getting DD ready for performance & explaining to DD1 how to turn the tv on, use the cooker, not lose the keys & feed the cat to eat a meal this evening. When we got home I had a cup of liquorice tea & 2 chocolate digestives for my supper . Yummy but not really ideal diet or nutrition wise.

I've ordered some photos of the performance & that cost £6 but it's fine because I got a £2 coin in the change . Scared about the car service tomorrow - it could be expensive.

Time is whizzing by too quickly & I would very much like to just stop the world for a day or so to give me time to catch up & absorb the things I need to know about.

Bed time again,
xx