Onwards & Upwards!

sashybo

Went out in the afternoon yesterday after OH finished work and got him some clothes. We had a late lunch at Handmade Burger Co which was really tasty and filling, so we didn't need any dinner.

We were looking at wedding photographers online last night and it's so expensive. :eek: Seemed to be at least £1200+ for the packages with high res copies on DVD of all your photos etc. Thinking of getting a professional in for the pictures and asking my uncle to do a video for part of the day. Not my favourite subject as hate having my picture taken - will no doubt be a photographer's worst nightmare - the bride who doesn't want pictures taken.

Have cashed in at another survey site, so should be getting another £10 to my Paypal account soon which can go into the wedding fund. :T

sashybo

Counted up my 10ps and other loose change I've been saving and had £43 in total. :j OH took it to the bank today and it's now in the wedding fund. :T

Nothing much to report atm, thinking of going to a wedding fayre next weekend but not sure if it would be worth it - you have to pay to get in and it might not even be any use to us. :cool:

Have a week's annual leave in March so might use that to go and try on wedding dresses to make sure the type I would like suits me. Also need to meet up with potential photographers and possibly celebrants as well as they are the next most important things to get booked.

sashybo

Just been working away - last shift tomorrow then five days off. :j Have agreed to work some overtime in two weeks just before my annual leave as need the money for the wedding fund.

Heading out to the greyhound racing on Friday night with the people from work so that should be something different and quite fun. Have never been before so have no idea what to expect.

Have managed to redeem a bit more survey money so will have just under £50 to go into the wedding fund once it's transferred to my bank a/c.

Checked OH's cc & we will only have around £40 left on it to pay off the new printer. OH is still to sell the old ones so we should be able to use that money to go straight into the wedding fund as well. :j The other thing we have on the cc at the moment is the wedding venue payment but we have the money in the wedding fund to pay it off as soon as we get the bill.

My aunt got me some tickets to the wedding fayre (free from a girl at her work) so will probably be heading there at the weekend to have a quick look about. My mum is coming with me and probably OH, although he doesn't seem all that keen.

Payday tomorrow :j and as it's a council tax free month, the money we would normally use for that is going into the wedding fund. :T I wonder how many times I've typed "wedding fund" in this post. :rotfl:

Went to the library after work today and staggered back with a few books. Have been using Goodreads for the past year or so to keep track of what I'm reading - 94 books last year and 7 so far this year. :eek: I spend a lot of my time reading.

Haven't heard back from the insurance company on their final verdict on our dodgy window. :mad: Also nothing from factors either.:mad:

sashybo

Back to work today - where does the time go?:eek:

Enjoyed the greyhound racing on Friday night although I only won £3.50. Was only placing £1 bets as I don't have any luck with any type of gambling.

Went to the wedding fayre at the weekend and it just freaked me out and had to get out of there. I really don't enjoy all the girlie stuff you're apparently meant to when planning your wedding. Plus the prices of some things were ridiculous. :eek:

Have booked one appointment at a dress shop which specialises in vintage and custom wedding dresses to try on some different styles. Fingers crossed it's not too expensive for the vintage stuff but even if it is it will give me an idea of what shapes/styles suit me. Taking my mum along with me so sure she'll be honest with me.

Provisionally meeting one set of photographers next week, just depends on OH's shifts which are wonky atm as he is still training.

Got a letter from the insurance company about our window - surprise, surprise they're not paying out. No idea what we are going to do now or how much fixing it will cost. :mad: Honestly don't see the point in paying insurance when they never pay out when you need them.

The wedding fund is looking quite good for the moment, even after paying the venue hire off the cc. :j

sashybo

Have got some cashback money through so that's another £20 to the wedding fund. :j Paid another £10 off the cc, so only £20 left until the new printer is paid off. OH has been reminded to sell the old ones. :cool:

Not much going on atm, just working and looking forward to my annual leave next week. Only have one day off in the next eight days as doing two overtime shifts but then on annual leave for nine days. :T

Need to start looking into people who can come and look at/fix our dodgy window though. Definitely need quotes so we can work out how to pay for it. :eek:

Hoping to get wedding photographer booked soon and will be able to pay the deposit for that out of the wedding fund. Can also use this money if I need to pay a dress deposit but don't want to spend much at all on a dress I'll wear for one day.

We're hoping to have enough wedding fund money left over from that to buy the wedding rings soonish as well so that'll be one less expense to worry about. Will need to put them in a safe place though - and not the safe place that you then forget where you put things. :eek:

sashybo

Have been rubbish at updating recently - was working hard and did some overtime before my annual leave started on Monday.

Had a couple of lazy days but did do some boring jobs like clearing and cleaning out kitchen drawers and cupboards. Threw some stuff out and tidied the rest so they're looking a lot better (and I know what's in there now!:o).

Met up with the wedding photographers we were looking at and have decided to book as they were lovely and put us at ease, plus their work is very good. So we have to pay a deposit of £200 to secure our date plus £50 album deposit which means we can get an album made up any time after the wedding. We get a high res dvd with approx 300 images, a license to print them off and an online gallery. We have the money in the wedding fund for this already, so don't need to worry about finding it. :j

Also had an appointment at a vintage shop yesterday to try on wedding dresses. Was quite disappointed with it to be honest as the woman who ran it wasn't very friendly and was asking loads of questions - it was like the Spanish Inquistion. :eek: I really wasn't sure what type or shape of dress I wanted - I thought it was her job to help me with that??

Anyway she wasn't very happy with my indecisiveness or my low budget as apparently most of her stock was £600 and above. :eek: The website said "budget friendly" hmm, maybe not! :eek: She was showing me dresses and saying to "just tell her if I didn't like it, she wouldn't be offended" and then looking offended when I said I didn't like it. :rotfl: Nightmare! To be fair I did say one looked like a nightie - which it did! :rotfl:

Tried about ten dresses on (in a freezing cold shop) - very undignified having to stand about in your underwear and put your hands up like a small child getting dressed. :eek: Only liked two or three of the more modern ones but they were a bit small so made me look huge around the hips and stomach which she didn't hesitate to tell me! The ones I thought I would like looked awful on me.

In the end I didn't even ask any prices and just wanted to get out of there. Wouldn't go back and wouldn't recommend anyone to go there either - it was excruciating.

Headed to Debenhams to try some off the peg wedding dresses and found a lovely one for £135. It had 20% off plus I applied for the store card to get an extra 10% off (didn't think I would get it but it went through - will pay it off and close it when it all comes through). I'll need to get some straps added to it but all in all it was a total bargain. :j :j Will also need some good underwear as it's quite sheer fabric but can afford to buy decent stuff since the dress was so reasonable. :T:T:j Have ordered a protective dress bag to keep it in until next year as have bought it so far in advance.

Also got my sister her bridesmaid dress although she refused to wear the colour I wanted and tried one she picked herself. It was nice on and she liked it so let her have the colour she wanted in the end. :cool: Probably took us half an hour in Debenhams from start to finish. :T

sashybo

Oh dear, I've neglected my diary for ages this time!

Good news is we managed to get our window fixed. :j:j We actually had both back windows taken out, repositioned slightly & resealed properly for £250 altogether, so not as bad as I'd thought it might be. Still not happy the buildings insurance wouldn't cover it but at least it's done now.

OH has sold both of his old printers and made £110 which went into the wedding fund. Today I got another tax refund so will have to decide what I'm doing with that.

Currently trying to organise a date to meet up with our prospective Humanist celebrant for the wedding. Things are a bit awkward with us both working shifts and our celebrant splitting her time between two areas.

Have been looking at getting laser eye surgery before the wedding but am not sure. The only thing really putting me off is the price - went to a consultation last week and the quote I got was for £3500. :eek: Have another consultation with a different company this week so can compare prices. Also not sure I would pass a credit check for the finance plans. It would make a big difference to me though as am almost blind without my glasses. :cool:

Money is okay at the moment although not great with having to pay for the windows to get fixed. Trying to do a bit of overtime to make a bit extra but it's quite tiring when you work 7 days in a row already.

sashybo

Am so tired - had two horrendous shifts on my last two days of 7 at work - literally didn't move out of my seat from 6am-2pm as so busy both days. _pale_ Got home yesterday and just collapsed.

Off to another laser eye consultation today for a quote. Still have first company chasing me - they are calling me back after my last consultation in two weeks with yet another company. Hoping to get a good price by visiting three, comparing prices and trying to get some money off my preferred one.

Also need to buy a birthday present for my sister so will try and head out a bit earlier than I need to to have a look around.

Still haven't done any exercise, just can't face it. Have agreed to go power walking with a girl at work after one of our early shifts but that just depends on the weather and if our shift is easy or not! Really feeling fat and need to lose at least half a stone but just so tired all the time.

Haven't gotten any further with wedding stuff, just trying to build up our fund at the moment.

sashybo

Have been super rubbish at updating my diary recently.

Good news is that our DMP has officially ended. :j:j:D:D

Only have the NR loan to pay off now, so will be upping the standing order to £200 p/m instead of £150.

Also got my laser eye surgery this week - no more glasses! :j was quite sore the night of the op but was fine the morning after, just a bit gritty & uncomfortable now. Have to rest my eyes a lot which is difficult as want to read, watch tv or go on the computer, all of which are tiring for my eyes.

Managed to get a reasonable price and 0% interest over 18 months so thought why not? Will be able to manage the monthly payments fine. Paid the deposit from my second tax refund and the balance will be paid off by Christmas next year. :T

We are also doing fairly well with the Wedding fund although decided to go for a registrar in the end as it worked out about £100 cheaper. So that has been paid for, only the legal bits to pay for nearer the time.

Have been looking at wedding rings as should be able to get them ordered soon and it's one more thing crossed off the list. I will need a shaped ring though as my engagement ring is in a twist. Looking online as prices seem a lot cheaper than in the shops.

Think the next wedding related job is really to look at hiring cars but of course don't want to spend too much. Getting bored of the wedding stuff already. :eek:

Have quite a few parties coming up this month so will have to behave with money. Still trying to cut down on food spending and make myself get back into exercising regularly.

sashybo

Have mostly been relaxing the last few days and trying to rest my eyes. Feeling a lot better now though still a bit tired.

Went to a friend's Jubilee party yesterday and there was soo much cake so of course had to try quite a few different ones. :whistle: Can start doing gentle exercise (yoga & pilates) from Friday onwards - not allowed to exercise for a full seven days after the eye op. Really do need to get started again as feeling a bit chubby.

Also went to an M&S outlet shop yesterday and managed to get underwear for OH about £7 cheaper than in the normal shops. Was quite chuffed with that.

Bought some new bedding with vouchers from surveys so only need two pillowcases (didn't have the right colour to match the sheet) then can get it all washed and on my bed. I know I'm getting old when new bedding excites me.

Pay day on Friday as well. :j Will need to transfer the usual amounts out to factor fee account, car account & wedding savings. This approach seems to work well for us as then we don't miss the money so much and can't touch it. Each account then builds up until needed i.e. factor fees due, car tax etc.