Jazee's Diary

Jazee

A bit of an update.  DH still doesn't seem to grasp needs not wants but he'll get there.  Unexpected vet bill today but currently still within budgeting and someone has just signed up to bulb energy using my code so that will be £50 credit in early August.

Narc0lepsy

Glad you're still persevering and planning, suddenly noticed your thread popping up again!  I hope it works well for Mr J now he's under less stress; just hope it doesn't place more stress on you though. Take care of yourself. 

Jazee

Thanks Narco.  DH has presented a business plan for going self employed so we're off to York today to do some initial research to see if his plan could work.  An unexpected twist.

Jazee

Woohoo, I am now off work for four weeks and we will (covid permitting) be having our holiday which was booked and paid for 6 months ago.  Still just within our budgets to end of August, helps by a small tax refund for me.  After that we will need to dip into our savings.  DHs business is set up and running but of course it's all been expenditure so far.  Exciting times but every penny is a prisoner!  Today (within planned budgets) I am having my hair cut for the first time in four months.  I'm having a cut and blow dry as it's been so long.  In future I will just go with dry cuts.  Am keeping it fairly long as it's easier to manage if I can't afford even dry cuts for a while.  Will also be having my regular foot treatment in a couple of weeks as that is a necessity for keeping me on my feet in comfort!  
LittleyDog has not been well again, so there may be some more vet bills going forward in addition to the dogs' regular grooming bill but I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.  Also need to have the brakes looked at on DHs car, but there is an emergency fund for that.

Thinks that's all for now folks.

juliejim

Have a great holiday Jazee

Jazee

Oh gosh, I've not posted since July!

Well, a lot has happened.  We did get our holiday but not everyone could come due to restrictions.  DHs business was not a success.  He made a few sales but not enough for a sustainable income.  He hasn't worked since July as he was waiting for an op which eventually happened in November and has been recovering ever since.  He's hoping to start a temp job in February.  

We've used about £6k of savings which isn't ideal but I'm not going to stress over it.  The rest of the immediate family are doing ok and I'm going to be a grandmother in the spring.

Dog wise - Littleydog is just Littleydog and plods along but Poppet was diagnosed with cancer in October which was a shock but she is still with us at the moment.

Today will be a day of dog walking and bathing and grooming and continuing to knit a baby blanket.

Hopefully I'll get in the habit again of updating this diary as I need to if we're to stay on track financially.

Jazee

Well, I didn't get into the habit of posting on my own thread again, so here is a quick summary of the past year.

DH has been working in temporary roles for a year now. The current contract is due to end soon so he's applying for permanent roles too.  His operation was not a success and had to be redone in the autumn but all is now good health wise after more than two years of worry.

We are now grandparents to two gorgeous girls so a lot of time is spent with them Because we both only work part time, we're able to help with childcare.

Poppet is still with us.  I think she may have been misdiagnosed, so have now changed vets.  Another £9k has been spent from savings but a lot of this has been on expensive vet bills for Littleydog.

We now have a budget in place and are beginning to squirrel money to savings again.  I refuse to worry too much about the future or price hikes as it will be what it will be, but it was nice to get £25 on premium bonds for second month in a row and I have turned down the temperature of the water boiler thingy.

This week, I have an art class(£3), lunch out with friends (max £10) and a haircut (£10) which is within my weekly allowance.

Jazee

Another two months have flown by and we had another £25 win on premium bonds.
DH is still doing temporary assignments and has work until the end of May currently.
We're both on leave for the Easter holidays but have been badly struck down by Covid so all our plans have been cancelled.  I have never been more grateful for DHs emergency stores of food and medicine.
 I asked for and got a pay rise at work so that is a plus with all the bills going up.
My car failed it's MOT and was not worth repairing so has been scrapped.  We are going to see if we can manage with one car again as we did in the past.

Jazee

Today I have spent £20.  DH is now Covid negative so he popped to the outdoor farm shop for compost, fruit, veg and eggs.

Jazee

The post came.  Cheque from DVLA for partial refund of road tax for my dead car.  A cheque....in this day and age when their email said it would go into the bank account it came out of.