Hurdler's Race to be Mortgage-Free

Hurdler

I do have loads of plastic clip-lock ones - I think I might have to freeze one (freezer pretty full) and have one for lunch or dinner next day then - ta Lois

Hurdler

Ooof NSd went for a burton as I was out of butter and cordial - so had to meander to the shop for replacements - I knew I'd forgotten summat on Sunday.
Then my Amex bill arrived ... with the charges for the new smartphone I had to buy when mine committed suicide.
Poor Vernon will be pressed into service to cover the bulk of that... sigh, but that is what these emergency pots are there for.

Hurdler

Cracks me up when I list something on freegle and ring back someone to offer the item to them, they sound totally suspicious like they have no idea who might be calling them!

Hurdler

OK -so almost did all my to-dos...

No NSD today - £63 for the dentist and hygeniest
Didn't pay for parking and made sure I was back to the car from the gym by 8:15 this morning (up to 8:30 free)
Had to buy a small bottle of red wine for cooking on the way back from the dentist.

Today's To-Do's:

• Veggies into Stay Fresh Bags
• [STRIKE]Into town to pay in money[/STRIKE]
• Sort out business expenses and draft my expense form to speed up paying myself on the 6th
• Draft invoice for Feb so it can go off first thing on Sat
• Declutter one shelf in the study
• Clean down halogen heater going out to someone today on Freegle
• Sort out personal finances
• Try out the Hairy Dieter's Skinny Beef Lasagne for tea tonight and freeze at least 2 portions (Halving the recipe which is for 6 ppl).

Hurdler

The lovely gardeners did a quick once over around my fences in their first visit of the year and reckoned if I hadn't had concrete posts, I would have lost a fence or too. But better yet they unbolted my parcel box from the wall so finally the brickwork has a chance to dry out now...

I didn't get very much done on my To Do list - apart from sleep!

I tried the Hairy Dieter's Skinny Beef Lasagne - how those two ever lost weight I do not know - I halved the recipe from 6 to 3... and have put three portions away - one to have tomorrow and the other two in the freezer! And that was with a massively loaded plate last night too!

Also stupidly opened a large can of tomatos instead of a small one so will try out the Paprika Chicken for tonight and freeze the rest of the pack of mini-fillets.

On the freegle front - I always seem to get total idiots - the guy I contacted was supposed to come and pick it up, and then emailed to say he couldn't make it, so I told him he could pick it up today... I got no answer so rang and again had that suspcious "helllllo?" and asked if he was coming today - he seemed a bit spacey... if he doesn't come I am seriously questioning why I bother as I always get people who then disappear off the face of the earth.

Hurdler

Laid low yesterday by some chronic idiocy from the accountants I use -
Rude and impatient note by senior accountant made me see red so I complained to my account manager who said he'd sort it out.
I also tweeted their account to let them know I was really not happy and got an email from him ... telling me he was going to admonish the account manager who has been nothing but helpful!!!

So I sent him (well the standard support email ID) a long note spelling out the reasons why I thought his senior accountant had the interpersonal skills of a grumpy Neanderthal.

I await his call.

ETA: Well he rang back and agreed that the accountant was very terse, and apologised profusely for my mistake. He pulled up my accounts and found out the issue - they should have picked up that I owed myself more in my first year of paying myself and so admitted it was very much their issue - and he is intervening now to try and understand where the discussions are with HMRC and whether the money will be refunded to me personally or to my company and eventually will filter through the system as being available for a director's withdrawal. He did say that the time I had put into gettig all caught up was time well spent - means they will be able to file my accounts nice and quickly.

But what a faff!

Alchemilla

Sounds very complicated.

Hurdler

Alchemilla wrote: »

Sounds very complicated.

I am completely certain they make it wayyyyyyyyyyy more .,complex than it needs to be to earn their keep!!!

Anyway the upshot is the money will come to my limited company so it will be quite a while before I see it.
HMRC have to agree that snotty accountant is right and that is the correct amount due to my company.
Then I have to pay a cheque in (because lord knows they won't pay it to me or via a bank transfer!)
THEN I might be able to include it in a forthcoming dividend! At this rate it will be into the NEXT tax year!!!!

But I really the most important thing was that the customer service dude agreed that the accountant had been extremely rude...

Hurdler

Ohhhh the trials of a hurdler!

Today has been a bit of a day already!

I am on the 5-midnight shift so I wanted to start work maybe around 2pm with some admin before flat out previews etc... but my boss got all excited about the prospect of a Federer/Djokovic semi-final and now wnats a million pieces of content...

I lost my pet builder - he has now moved to Stevenage and so a weekend commute to earn pennies doing my wall is just not cost effective with 4 hours driving so I have had to look through check-a-trade to find a new guy.
It looks like it will be May before I can get anything done, but that's OK because I think it gives me time to get the quotes in and put money aside. The first guy has offered to repoint the damaged brickwork and water-seal the area, as well as check to see if the gutters need cleaning out (and if they do he's said he'll do that too) plus he'll bolt my secure parcel box to the path.

So if the next quoters can also put in quotes for all that - that will be marvellous - if I get a "mmm will cost you" then I know who I will go with.

So... Vernon will not just be my Virtual Mortgage Money pig but also my Renovate Hurdler's House fund it would appear!

Hurdler

Used the mould spray that gallygirl and Alchemilla recommended after builder came - and hey presto the bulk of the staining and mould has gone - just have the unsightly lumps under the lining but that will be dealt with in summer.

Now just have the dehumidier going to help dry it out... but OF COURSE it raineth muchly outside. Grr!