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

themadvix

Morning All!

Bread update: The bread did not come out well.... at all... I think it was probably my fault as I needed to allow the grain to fully defrost and I didn't. I'll try again. DH did take a couple of bits to work, but the middle is very soggy and will probably end up in the bin.

Yesterday was my birthday and a bit of an odd one - I had an appointment at the hospital for an echocardiogram in the middle of the day! Fortunately it was quick, painless and the technician seemed to think all was okay. DH and I went out for lunch afterwards to one of our favourite pubs - the food was lovely, as ever, but we were stuck in a corner and service was terribly slow. Between this, the appointment and DH receiving a call from the cc company because there had been fraudulent activity on the account, we didn't get a walk in, which was such a pity as it was a gorgeous day. Never mind.... next weekend, we've promised ourselves a proper walk!

I was completely spoilt in terms of presents - apart from where I'd requested specific items, everyone gave me cash, which I need to spend on clothes! Dad gave me cash as 'cinema vouchers' - as DH can get them with a discount and use Meerkats, cash seemed sensible. I'll keep this to one side for cinema trips. I'm sure some of the money will end up going into the treat fund, which needs topping up, and on sensible house items, like loft boards (we need another pack) - exciting stuff!

MS things:
* DH dropped me and picked me up from hospital - no parking charges
* SBs doing
* VB poll and survey done - 35p
* OP at £10.25
* It's freezing here this morning, but cat warming lap, so haven't put heating on yet!
* Road tax renewal and income tax bills paid
* Two items sold on ebay - will post today. Only small amounts but every little helps and it's all out of the house!

NY resolutions:
* Shockingly only 6k steps yesterday - events conspired against me, as I'd wanted to do 10k. Was very tired in the evening too.
* Kitty playtime - done
* Brief yoga yesterday, but full 20 mins this am
* Podcast - done

Gratitudes:
* I was a bit overwhelmed by the generosity of my relatives yesterday - I seem to have had an awful lot of presents!
* Gorgeous sunshine yesterday (very grey today in comparison)
* Lovely lunch yesterday
* Kitty cuddles (making typing quite difficult though!)

'Proper' work (i.e. I can get my teeth into) has arrived, so must get on. Happy Monday all!

ETA: Can't believe I forgot this (it's the point of the diary after all....) but DH made an OP of £490 on Saturday from savings from his payrise. (He's also cashed in ~£1800 of share options, as his company is doing quite well at the moment). Only minor things to forget!

Jessy103

Happy Belated Birthday! x

ch4rly2002

Happy birthday for yesterday

Well done on the OP and the resolutions. Sounds like you're off to a great start for 2018!

Karmacat

From me too - happy birthday for yesterday!

Have a cake :bdaycake: or at least some coffee :coffee:


Birthday sounded pretty up and down, actually - but lots of nice ups there, in the main. And fantastic overpayments to celebrate!

themadvix

Thanks folks

No work this morning, so no excuse not to get on with some wallpaper stripping shortly. Am currently running through the money stuff though. SB going in background and on tablet. Have closed a savings account too this morning - 22p interest had credited but because it was less than £1 I couldn't withdraw it. Promotional rate had expired on the account, so I've closed it and sent the money to somewhere it'll earn me more.

Steps got derailed yesterday - had planned to go to IKEA in the evening, so figured I'd do plenty there, but in the end we didn't bother so didn't quite make 10k, despite my best 'TV marching' efforts! It's very grey here today, but I will make a point of going for a walk. Mum might pop round for lunch, so I'll suggest it to her, and I need to pop to WR anyway (I have a £2.50 voucher to use anyway).

MS things:
* SBs ongoing. Exceeded target yesterday in the end as there was a late survey. Swago on now, so hope to get a good bonus from that and the spins.
* PA - waiting for a couple of surveys to clear and then I'll be at pay out. Need to focus on this more this year I think - like Kittenkirst said on her diary, there's definitely money to be made there.
* VB poll done
* A bid on an item on ebay and other items dispatched yesterday
* Have bumped the item still on FB and the bits I'm selling on FB for Brownies - would like them gone!
* Cinema voucher sorted for tomorrow night - ~£6 for both of us to go. Sis gave me a bag of popcorn for Christmas (as part of a hamper), so we'll be treating ourselves with that (rather than hm popcorn, obviously!)

NY resolutions:
* 8898 steps yesterday.
* Podcast and yoga done
* Kitty playtime half done - DH began clicker training with the less food obsessive cat (it just doesn't work with the other one). I was meant to play with t'other one, but this didn't happen - he did get enrichment treat/play though. DH is out tonight, so I'll make sure they have a good play before I go to evening class

Gratitudes:
* Walk today won't be as horrible as yesterday - in the damp, dark gloom at 4pm!
* Replacement soda bread came out well - and used up some elderly wholemeal flour
* Nice phone catch-up with friend yesterday

themadvix

Hey All,

Bit later this morning as I've been focusing on getting the work received overnight done. It makes up a bit for the sorry state of affairs yesterday and I've got another item coming later that I'll need to get done today. Am going to my Aunt's dad's funeral tomorrow - 12pm, so I won't get much done around that.

DH and I are going to the cinema tonight to see The Greatest Showman. After our recent trips to the cinema, I've kind of got into the mood for it. Speaking of recent cinema trips - checked my comping email yesterday and I've won a Paddington goody bag! I don't remember entering the competition, but am very much looking forward to it arriving in the post!

MS things:
* Remembered we need to send an engagement card to BiL and partner - found one in the box that's been lurking for ages, ~£2 saved!
* £10 Pizza Express voucher claimed from MS rewards - with DH's and a good 50% off voucher, that's a meal out sorted
* Paddington goody bag won
* £10 Z00plus voucher from SBs claimed - won a 50SB swag-up from spins, and then used claim to fill in square to claim another 50 bucks... pretty pleased with that. Am hitting first goal every day during the week (and exceeding it), so will have a good bonus come 1st Feb. At the moment I'm only using 2 video apps but am considering downloading them all and really going for it... Any thoughts? I'm never sure about electricity consumption vs points, even with the multiplier effect.
* Cats 'prescription' food is *not* prescription only - naughty vet - so will use voucher to order from Z00plus, with cashback and joined their savings club last year as it saved me money off my order then, so another 5% off I think! Just got to wait for voucher to come through. Will be a massive saving compared to buying from the vets (of course)
* PA - *still* waiting for a couple of surveys to clear!
* OP - at £10.90
* VB poll done
* MyWaitrose discount on 2 of the items bought yesterday

NY resolutions:
* Podcast - first evening class back last night and my dliligence is paying off, so will be keeping this up. Have been enjoying it too.
* Kitty playtime done
* Yoga - done this morning
* 10k steps yesterday... but I think it misunderstood wallpaper stripping as steps. I'm not too worried as wallpaper stripping is fairly active work!

Gratitudes:
* Wallpaper was fun to pull off (stripy vinyl - top layer peeled off in vertical stripes and lining paper was a dream - very satisfying and almost all done!)
* Ahem, might have used the £2.50 off voucher in WR to buy DH and I a cupcake each (I didn't get any cake for my birthday, so that's my excuse) - it was delicious!
* Good evening class
* Cinema tonight

Happy Wednesday all!

Karmacat

I thought of you doing the gratitudes ... did them myself later on last night, it was nice.

I'm with you in wondering about electricity consumption vs SB points for those videos - especially as I caught my phone "watching" one that was 11 minutes long, and needed another 14 to get two points!!! Not good. But when I've done the French accounts, I'm going to haul out the little solar array I bought last year, specifically to charge smartphones, and see what that does.

Have a lovely time with your OH watching the film and I hope tomorrow isn't too bad, at the funeral.

themadvix

Gratitudes are good! They always help to remind me how lucky I am, even on a miserable, mundane day.

I sit with the tablet next to me skipping through the videos as soon as possible - it's the long ads that get me. On the swagbucking in 2017 thread there was a link to how to add the shortest video to your favourites so you can just cycle through that. But the reddit thread for the shortest videos seemed to be a few years out of date (and it all seemed a bit beyond me!). If you can get it working with the solar power then it's got to be a winner though!

Tomorrow will be okay, although I think there may be a lot of tears from the family (especially my cousins). It's quite hard to process at the moment, as we usually only seem him once or twice a year (one of those being Christmas) and because Christmas was disrupted this year (because of his death, but it didn't seem particularly like that), I don't think it's really sunk in. He had a good life though and was very much loved, but he was suffering at the end (lung cancer), so it was time.

themadvix

Morning all!

Just a quick update today - off to funeral in a bit and have to do various things beforehand.

Didn't see The Greatest Showman last night as DH tried to book at lunchtime, but it didn't go through, so seats sold out before he realised. saw Jumanji instead (saved £1.70 booking fee too) - it was excellent - very funny and not as dark as the original. Really enjoyed it!

MS things:
* Took popcorn from Christmas present (half the bag, the other half is saved for next week - can you tell I'm counting calories?!)
* Saved £1.70 booking fee
* PA surveys done - still waiting for it to tick over to withdraw!
* OP at £11.10
* VB poll and survey done - at £4.30 now and there's a £2.40 survey to do, but I've not got time now.
* SBs doing their thing, but may not make the goal today
* Free lunch today? Is that taking it too far?! Mum is driving so saving me some petrol too
* Found something for ebay, have taken pics, so will list later

NY resolutions
* Yoga - did a much shorter video this morning as short of time, wasn't as good, will revert to normal one
* Kitty playtime was very short last night, so need to improve tonight
* Podcast going really well.
* V. poor steps yesterday - 7k - must improve today!

Gratitudes:
* Will see family today, although not under best of circumstances
* Film was great last night
* Really enjoying listening to podcasts

Have a good day all!

Jessy103

Hope the funeral goes as well as can be expected MV. We watched Jumanji as well recently and really enjoyed it, I especially liked how they paid respects to Robin Williams' character from the first film.