Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Suffolk_lass

We had leeks (from the garden) in a cheese sauce and I blanched the last of a Christmas cabbage that was still lurking in the veg drawer and added it to the leeks - I would actually recommend it - really surprised but it added a good texture as the leeks all soften right down - we will repeat as it meant our supper was comfortably under £1 a head

themadvix

That sounds delicious SL!

try_harder

Happy Belated Birthday from me too

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks TH!

So tax bill has been paid this morning and car tax money paid off of cc. Still waiting for DD for Mum's birthday present to leave the account and then I'll be square again.

CC @ £131. £3.65 on a cuppa for me and hospitalised friend yesterday. And 32p in Sains on 2 carrots and some ginger! :rotfl: It seemed only polite as I parked there for the hospital! (Only counting the 32p against food budget.)

Santander website is now apparently entirely down, so won't be trying to make that OP again! So frustrating! I do wonder if other financial organisations are being hit by the Travelex hackers, but are just managing to keep it quiet.

I'm out for dinner tonight - a friend's Christmas present to me, which will be lovely. DH has turkey curry and hm naan for tea (assuming he can face more curry - we had a tikka masala last night!).

MS things:
* Was much more disciplined with the heating yesterday - it didn't go on extra at all (although I was out for quite a while) and we brought the blanket down to keep us warm in the evening.
* Food from stores (apart from the ginger)
* Clicks etc.
* Several PA surveys
* Reached payout on SBs (I think) - free 25 SBs for a search (ooh and redeemed 55SB birthday swag up - nice start to the next lot)
* Picked up a new cat-sitting job next week (just as well as work has been very quiet this week)

Gratitudes:
* It was lovely to see friend, who is hoping to be moving into a care home next week (it's her daughter I'm seeing tonight, so looking forward to catching up with her too)
* Freeglers who communicate (less grateful to those who just disappear!)
* A dry day today, so should get out for all my walks!

Have a good day all!

newgirly

Hi vix and Happy belated birthday :bdaycake: I hope you had a lovely day

So exciting have a new car! I’m interested to see the charging costs , we have the main (quick) charger for the work van at home so it was coming back everyday and it was charged here for a few hours but I never noticed a big difference in costs, we used to to take £20 a month from the business to cover it but I don’t think it cost that. It was doing about 40 ish mile a day full electric, although having the heating on bumped that up a fair bit.

themadvix

Thanks NG!

I think, if DH can mainly charge at work (which should be the case), then it'll be OK. If he had to charge here all the time though, we reckon it'll cost about £40/month, based on our kWh price and the size of the battery. Hopefully that won't be the case though.

themadvix

Finally got Santander to work (used FF instead of Chrome), and have made OP of £16.98! OP allowance now stands at £5100 for the year!

As work is non-existent at the moment though, that might be it for a while!

themadvix

Morning (just) all,

Had a lovely weekend. Collected the new car on Saturday morning and then spent Saturday afternoon stripping the wallpaper in the living room. This wasn't as difficult as anticipated, so half done already. The plasterer is coming next Saturday (it was going to be two weeks' time, but sooner is fine for us, so sooner it is!). Yesterday we had lunch at the in-laws with some old friends (and much wine) and then caught up with my family at Mum's (with home-made birthday cake ).

I've just finished my work for today - things are still quiet after Christmas at the moment, but will hopefully pick up soon - there is a project I'm expecting.

MS things:
* Clicks etc. being done now
* Lots of PA surveys
* RM survey item posted

Gratitudes:
* Two really lovely social occasions over the weekend
* The new car will get to DH's work on electric only
* Wallpaper is coming off easily!

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

That sounds a really positive weekend - but please tell me you went for a drive when you got the car!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Haha, Karma, no we didn't go for a drive. DH drove it back, but it needed to charge then/I wanted to get on with the walls/there was a motorway pile up near us and the roads were a nightmare. We used it on Sunday though for our socialising (plugged it in at the in-laws ), and my new favourite phrase is 'It was a dino-juice-free journey!'.

Work is picking up again now, which is nice. Yesterday I also visited Mum and Niece, hospital-staying friend (yes, still!) and the cats I am looking after. It was a long day. Cats are lovely though and were very friendly this morning. While I was there I walked into town (town centre is a 40 min walk from home but only 10 mins from theirs - which I drove to) and paid in my birthday money and did a few jobs.

MS things:
* Baked biscuits instead of buying them (used up some naff Christmas chocolate)
* Walked into town - combining car journeys, exercise and running errands (inc RM survey posting)
* Clicks etc.
* Made big batch of minestrone soup yesterday to use up some passata. Enough for 4 portions. End of loaf turned into croutons. Delicious!
* Used up several bits in dinner last night
* Daal for dinner tonight (super cheap) with hm naan
* Still haven't been out/had takeaway for my birthday - saving that for a rainy day!

Spent 59p on mayo to add to food budget: £28.91. CC @ £142.27.

We're out for dinner tomorrow with one of DH's uni friends (DH will be paying for us, hopefully ). Then he's away with work Thursday night (work will pay for his dinner). At the weekend we're meeting some friends for a local event. Hoping to avoid an expensive meal - waffles from a street stall or a cuppa & cake are the plan (friends know we're on a budget). Sunday we're off to a 1st birthday party, so hoping we'll eat fairly well there at lunchtime and just need something light from stores when we get in. No veg box this week and I'm going to eke the milk out as far as I can. Next week DH is away 3 nights (2 work, 1 spendy 'boys' weekend), so hopefully food spending will remain low then too (again, probably no veg box).

Feeling reasonably hopeful about food budget. CC should be okay except for my day up in London with Dad for his Christmas present (Tutankhanum exhibition) - I'll have to pay for train and at least some drinks. Feeling less optimistic about petrol, but the cat sitting will impact that - so extra is justifiable and later in the month I might take the electric car to my evening class, which will help!

Gratitudes:
* Lovely new cat friends
* Elderly friend is doing well (although they keep extending her stay in hospital)
* Work is picking up, although expected project might not come off...

Have a good afternoon all!