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

themadvix

Cat insurance switched... saving £2.50/month. Job done... I hate trying to understand pet insurance.

newgirly

Good plans for next year

michelle09

Looks like you have some good plans! Moving somewhere new or staying in the area?

themadvix

We don't really want to move away, but we want some more outside space - a double garage minimum and a more rural location (with safe outside access for the cats), possibly a field too. There's no way we can afford that where we are now, so unless we win the premium bonds, we're looking to move further away. DH's job could be done remotely 3 days a week (company is working on a policy for that at the moment), so as long as it's not an impossible commute the other two days, it would be okay.

Forgot to add that we should get a £45 M&S gift card from the cat insurance. Have also received final loyalty bonus from internet monitoring thing, so have cashed out and uninstalled that. I'll miss the money, but wasn't happy about the security of my data.

It's niece's 1st birthday today, so we're off shortly to see her. Unfortunately one/both of the cats isn't well (blood in urine) so we're off to the vets later too.... Worse still, because we're within the 14 days of switching cover, if it's serious we'll not be able to claim.... fingers crossed it's just an infection and some antibiotics will sort it out.

Busy_Mee1

All your MS activities have been brilliant this year and have put you in a great position for your next move. Wishing you a very Happy New Year x

newgirly

Fingers crossed for the cat being ok!

try_harder

I hope you are feeling much better now themadvix and wishing you good health in 2018 .Great targets for 2018 .Happy New Year .

Jessy103

Sounds like some good plans for 2018 and I wish you the best of luck. Fingers crossed the kitties are ok! x

ch4rly2002

If you're not already feeling better, I hope you feel better soon. Hope the cat(s) turns out to be OK.

Loved your 2017 review, and I hope 2018 is even more prosperous for you x

themadvix

Happy New Year All!

We had a quiet evening at a friends, with an Indian takeaway (and she didn't make us feel cheap for taking our leftovers home for yesterday's lunch ).

The cat saga continues. We had to get urine samples from them (only one has obliged so far). It turns out the one with the sample did have a lot of blood in it and was packed full of crystals (which can cause blockages if they turn into stones). Cue 'prescription-only' food (really expensive from the vet, have to get a prescription to buy online and packed full of rubbish tbh - we try to feed our cats a grain-free diet and this, annoyingly, is full of grains). We'll stick with it until they are better (both on it, despite the lack of sample from t'other one) and once they are stable we'll look at more holistic (and cheaper) alternatives. Am waiting to hear from the vet, but have been reading and a contributing factor could be the water - we have *very* hard water here and cats should have slightly acidic urine - whereas the sample was quite alkaline. I've bought bottled water to see if that might help. Not impressed.... both environmentally and financially this is NOT cool!

Yesterday was a NSD. We went for a walk with my mum, got soaked, came back and did some decluttering and clearing of the remaining bedroom to be decorated. It's now clear and the wallpaper stripper has been descaled, so we're ready to go! Also collected up the things to list on Ebay, so will need to get down to that very soon.

Have had a small success for the fundraising I'm doing for our Guide hut - we've been selected for the Waitrose Community Matters scheme (green coin collection), so I'm really chuffed about that - hopefully we'll get a good share of the £1,000.

MS things:
* Heating off during the day (and thermostat back down - it had crept up to 20 :eek:)
* Reduced milk bought to tide us over until milkman tomorrow... although now thinking it should last until veg box and milk on Thursday....
* SBs - waiting for a decent survey but other earners working in background
* VB poll done
* Beginning to streamline competition entering.... it was taking over and I was losing enthusiasm. They are there if I feel like entering, but otherwise I'm going to stick to a couple of easy options to minimise time required.
* Found and listened to podcast relating to evening classes - I need to improve some of my skills and this is a good way to do it. I need to justify the expenditure of the classes!
* DH claimed £10 Pizza Express voucher from MS rewards yesterday... I'm so close to cash out too.
* Today is invoicing day! :T

Gratitudes:
* Kitties both okay in themselves and very cuddly
* Lovely walks yesterday and on NYE and both local (I get very caught up in 'going out for the day', but there's so much to discover on the doorstep... I think remembering this may be key to it being a cheap but good year!)
* DH has gone back to work, and feels okay. It took him until Sunday really to be back to normal after the bug.