Balancing not just the budget

RosaBernicia

ZTD wrote: »

I think I missed that - have you knackered yourself?

Not drastically, just a niggle I wanted to sort out before I get onto doing more exercise. I got a recommendation from a friend for this practitioner and very happy as it should be sorted in a couple of appointments.

ZTD wrote: »

And the magistrates fine for eating the staff was a touch stiff?

More a problem with the amount of Booja hazelnut truffles that threw themselves into my trolley . What's worse is I have a pick your own offer on them, but after clearing out my purse in a fit of minimalism all the supermarket cards now live in the car... and I couldn't be faffed walking back out there to fetch it . Which is very naughty of me because it would have saved me £2.40. Must remember to pick up the card next time.

Rosa xx

doingitanyway

RosaBernicia wrote: »

More a problem with the amount of Booja hazelnut truffles that threw themselves into my trolley . What's worse is I have a pick your own offer on them, but after clearing out my purse in a fit of minimalism all the supermarket cards now live in the car... and I couldn't be faffed walking back out there to fetch it . Which is very naughty of me because it would have saved me £2.40. Must remember to pick up the card next time.

Rosa xx

OMG, you can use pick your own offers for those truffles. I am both delighted and terrified to be the owner of that information :eek:

RosaBernicia

Well balances all checked and YNAB updated and transfers made... and it looks OK :j. The laptop has fallen on the next credit card statement - just! - so it can be paid either from August's paycheque or from the new work income (and given that I'm still waiting on the contract, I'm not holding my breath for the new work income. I'll remind them later in the week when I can point out I've done their training). I've put money in the holiday pot for going away in August, so that will be covered without the need for credit. I debated adding a 'selling stuff' category to allow for postage etc on online sales, but have decided that I don't really need to track that so it can stay under the Stuff I Forgot to Budget For mishmash category.

I've also put money in the buffer fund, the laptop replacement fund (only a fiver as obviously I shouldn't need one yet :rotfl:) and the car replacement fund. Which all feels good . The house fund will be next, as once the laptop is covered I have no more major expenses coming up (well assuming the car is OK at MOT etc, which it should be, and I do have some extra in the car pot for eg tyres).

Non salary income this month is probably about £50, as I've had some energy switch cashback, the T5B account bonus and some 3bay and 4mazon sales. I've got more stuff to sell so hopefully that will bring in a little more next month too. And I need to switch a direct debit to Holyfx as what I've got on there doesn't seem to be sufficient for the reward. Will sort that this week.

Really pleased to be so close to being able to sock money away in savings... it felt so far away for so long. I will have professional registration fees to pay for the new work, as well as a conference, so that will have to come out of September's money - but there will be progress on the savings too.

First steps on new part of the journey


Rosa xx

moneyonmymindsam

Hi Rosa,


All sounds very organised and roll on August for your Holiday - Really well done on the sales.. I too have had a few fleabay sales but well and truly run out of things to sell .... going to have one last look in the wardrobe and that's it total declutter done and dusted.

Sam x

RosaBernicia

Thanks Sam

In awe of total declutteredness... feels a very long way from here lol


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

doingitanyway wrote: »

OMG, you can use pick your own offers for those truffles. I am both delighted and terrified to be the owner of that information :eek:

It was my excuse for trying them, particularly as I am finding it very difficult to find definitely gluten free milk chocolate. I'm very cross with Green & Blacks as their organic non Fairtrade is listed in the Coeliac UK app as OK, but the organic and Fairtrade shows up as not suitable :mad: the packaging is the same and it never occurred to me to check again just because of the Fairtrade logo. But this explains why I was having occasional reactions. Some other manufacturers list 'may contain traces' which can mean anything from 'not a problem but we don't want the hassle of confirming it's GF' to 'has a load of wheat starch in the milk powder we just don't want to say so' and I'm reluctant to take a risk now.

So I have gone back to the method of eating a lot less but high quality chocolate. It is a good idea anyway as it reduces my sugar intake, and I have got used to it. I had one truffle today and put the packet away which is unheard of! :rotfl: Moneywise, it works out about the same as yes I am buying expensive chocs but I'm only buying them at the same time as I would otherwise have bought three bars of mid range - and I can't get the expensive stuff on a whim because I'd have to drive to Wa1trose :rotfl:

However, I've just googled Hotel Chocolat as they used to refuse to confirm whether their products were gluten free or not, and they have finally listed some as GF... so now there are some more options again

Anyway, I feel it's a very good use of a PYO option as it makes a real treat a little bit less expensive. I'm probably not helping here am I? :rotfl:


Rosa xx

doingitanyway

I so agree about the small amounts of very good chocolate. They are almost impossible to binge on. I eat milk chocolate but I prefer a higher cocoa content. I'm more of a dark chocolate fan and they tend to be gluten free anyway.

You reminded me of PYO. I need to update mine. I will be inspired by you and go for chocolate instead of my current very dull choices that even include eggs!

Hope you had a good day x

RosaBernicia

I have had a good day thank you

Today's decluttering was a very messy and spidery box full of ancient techie stuff. I can't see any reason I would need a pager, an analogue TV card, three ancient broadband routers or endless spare internet cables in the near future so they are all heading for the recycling centre where they will probably cause great hilarity to teenage supergeeks. I have kept the CDs with the intention of transferring stuff over to the archive external hard drive - not that there will be anything useful on there, but I want to check over them in case there is anything I want to keep. Pleased this is done as it was the last thing from the living room and I can now start on the kitchen. The garden didn't get done on the weekend and will have to wait.

My other jobs for this evening are to send off my second reference form for my new professional association and sign my contract for the extra work, which arrived today. Technically I should wait until my main work have agreed but I can't see it will be a problem and the person I need to see is away, so am going to sign and can cancel if there is an issue. Hopefully that will enable payment soon, as apparently they usually pay in August, so maybe it will be possible to put some more money in the buffer fund soon after all :T.

I checked up on TCB yesterday as I suddenly remembered that there should be cashback coming for the new laptop. It's currently tracked wrongly as there should be another £30, but the claims guidance says to wait in case it changes during tracking, so will leave it for a while.

The other :money: related thing I ought to get on with is getting some pensions advice :eek: which makes me feel terribly old ... but it might potentially interact with mortgage plans, so I guess I should sort it.

So still plodding :beer:

Rosa xx

ZTD

RosaBernicia wrote: »

The other :money: related thing I ought to get on with is getting some pensions advice :eek: which makes me feel terribly old ...

Why? I took pension advice when I got my first job...

You're only old when you're dead. And that includes people who are still alive and breathing.

RosaBernicia

ZTD wrote: »

Why? I took pension advice when I got my first job...

You're only old when you're dead. And that includes people who are still alive and breathing.

Oh I did too... should clarify, I have a pension in place, it's advice on transferring it that's the question. We have some info from my employer but it's getting complex and I think it's probably worth paying the fee for advice to be sure of what I'm doing. And I am very grateful that this has happened now, when I have the option of paying for advice, instead of when that would have been a financial issue in itself. If this had happened 3 years ago I would have worried so much about increasing my debt to pay for advice I would probably have just muddled as best I could, and potentially have missed out later on. I'm finding it to be true that the more money you have the easier it is to both earn and keep more money.

I'm intending to join a union who should have links with recommended advisors familiar with the field. I'll look into it some more tomorrow.


Rosa xx