I don't need another skinny Latte

Skinnylatte

Lock down day 38. I didn't sleep well last night so sat nursing another coffee after my morning Skype call with a pal. It's payday, and I'm deliberating what to pay off the CC, DS suggested I paid off half, which makes sense as will still leave me a £2.5k security net. Update, I've actually just done this, so my outstanding CC bill is now £1491. It seems very ironic that I am now making bigger overpayments on 80% of my salary than I was before. However I'm not paying into any savings pots or spending on anything that isn't pretty essential.
Rent received of £145 each from both DS & DD so that covers a months bills for the Airbnb. Although I'm not sure that amount barely covers what they eat!! I know so many people who don't charge their kids any rent though, so I'm quite happy that I do expect even a token payment, as I think the concept is important.
Jobs for today:

1. Get creative with whats in the fridge. Yesterday I made pulled pork from a half price pork shoulder I got at Aldi (£2.02) I was hoping it would last 2 meals, but noooo not when my 2 get at it. I still have half a big bag of potatoes and I;ve got some chicken and peas in the freezer. I have the ingredients for some bread, and could also make potato soup!
2. I need to investigate some cheaper card terminal options, as world pay is just soooo expensive. 
3. My VAT return quarter is now up so I need to get my books up to date
4. I'm in the middle of a business bank switch to starling as they don't charge any fees, and I need to activate the credit card
5. I need to pay the nice kitchen man who's removed a piece of work top in the flat* for me. I'm 'investing' in a small fridge freezer, as currently there is only a fridge in there. I'll be able to do batch cooking, so in a way it's a frugal investment, although the payback time might be rather long.

* Normally I live in my flat, but since my Airbnb is empty and my daughter is home, we've temporarily moved to the Airbnb as there's more space and a garden.
I saw a lovely post on a friends face book last night from her mother, which I'm going to use. It said

"Stay safe and wash your hands"

Skinnylatte

So I ended up with home made bread and cheese and potato soup, very nice it was too. Books are all up to date and credit card activated. I also paid the nice kitchen man.
I phoned my covid phone buddy. An 85 year old man who is on his own and really lonely, but boy can he talk for England, and his stories are amazing. He was brought up on a farm when they used to farm with horses. He had to milk the cows before he cycled 4 miles to school, then had to milk them again after tea. He worked 7 days a week all his life, and only had his first holiday when he was 70. Awesome man.
A few zoom calls with friends and a bit of cleaning, cleaned out the fridge and got the laundry up to date. 
Take care and stay safe xx

Skinnylatte

So it is May already. Saturday didn't seem any different from the rest of the week really. DD and I went for a walk, we dropped a socially distanced birthday card round to my phone buddy, it was nice to meet him and put a face to the voice. The weekly shop was done yesterday, £78 in total which hopefully will take the 3 of use through another week. A 1 pot pasta thing tonight which was very tasty. I haven't done any more cleaning and not much else to report.
Stay safe and wash your hands!

Skinnylatte

Good day every one, it's a beautiful day here in Yorkshire, I'm going out for a cycle shortly. Well it looks like this little bubble that I have guiltily enjoyed is coming to an end. It has been a pleasure to stay at home and look after my 2 wonderful children while they went out to work as keyworkers. I've been doing all the comms and social media for our local scrubs group, which has been lovely, and I met a wonderful old man who I will stay in contact with afterwards. I'm being unfurloughed as from Monday. I'm going to work virtually for 3 weeks, and then back to normal duties.
I've started doing a spring clean at the flat, a proper declutter and clean. It's taken me 2 days to do the kitchen cupboards so far and it s a VERY small kitchen!! I've also made some VE bunting out of Aldi plastic bags, seeing the country has sold out of bunting, it looks great. 
Where DD works as a carer, they are short staffed due to illness, so she's scheduled for 94 hours this week, thank fully 30 hours of that is sleeping, but still it's a flipping hard work. I'm baking and cooking and helping out as much as I can so she gets as much rest as possible when she's home.
Last nights tea was a risotto with some rice I found at the back of the cupboard along with a tin of pink salmon I found in the same place. At the start of lock down I bought a large bag of potatoes, there's about a quarter of the bag left, but they're starting to sprout so I need to use that up.
I've got £59 of topcashback outstanding, £31 of that is confirmed. 
My switch to Starling bank went without a hitch, very easy and I much prefer the Starling app and there's no fees either. Jobs for today

1. Cycle
2. Put up bunting
3. 2 hours spring clean at the flat
4. Meal plan for next couple of days and use up everything that's in the fridge
5. Read some stuff for going back to work next week

Stay safe and wash your hands xx

Seasidegal58

Hi there!  Caught up with you after neglecting the boards the last few weeks!

You're doing so well - it's lovely to read of your chats with your new elderly friends - how thoughtful of you. ⭐️  

I laughed when I read how long it took you to declutter your small kitchen - what is it with kitchens?!!!🤣
Good idea too on signing up for the cycle repair course. It makes sense as you're such a keen cyclist. 

And thanks to your two lovely children for all that they're doing as key workers!⭐️⭐️

Skinnylatte

Seasidegal58 thank you for stopping by I hope you're well x
Life continues in limbo. I did my work virtually for 3 weeks, it was exhausting!! Staring at screens all day is most definitely not good for you! I've been refurloughed now which I'm making the most of, return to work is 'imminent' although I've not yet been given a date. My friend was unfurloughed with immediate effect, so I'm managing my expectations! 
Debt payments have done pretty well during lock down. The CC will be gone by the end of the month, so that leaves the car loan and mortgages, which I can start to tackle then. 
I've been cooking a fair bit of plant based food in the last couple of weeks. It certainly reduces the food bill. Although DS had had enough by Friday and ordered him self a large kebab pizza.
For the first time since lock down, in fact the first time for a long long time. I went through the Stabucks drive through and ordered a skinny latte. £4.05!!! We're they always that expensive? I did enjoy it, but not £4.05 much. I think it'll be the last I have for a while. 
Hopefully, I should be on full pay by the end of July. I'll maintain the super lean out goings, whilst I get a emergency fund built up. Because you never know what is round the corner!!
I hope you're all OK xx

Seasidegal58

Well done on the CC!  😀 and I agree that plant based meals are certainly cheaper though my food bill  went up during lockdown as I couldn't always get the cheaper brands i usually buy. 

Wow!  That Starbucks was pricey!  I hope that's not going to be the norm.  I think I paid £2.75 last time I bought a flat white in Pret before lockdown. 

Keep going with the EF and I hope you get back onto full pay soon. 

Skinnylatte

Back to work on Monday eeeek. Actually I'm really looking forward to it. Out on the open road again, although no flights, and no overnight stays until July. That also means that the salary will return to normal in July. 
Vegan cooking still going well, and the kids are still eating it! Tonight we had veg and black bean enchiladas, with roasted broccoli and kale. 
I'm delighted to say that I've lost around 5lb during lockdown, due I would guess to the change in diet and the extra exercise. It's going to be difficult to maintain the exercise when I go back to work, but lets see how we get on.
Today I did my physio exercises (knees!) walk with DD and a lunch time yoga class.
Tomorrow I plan to cycle with a friend, but it's forecast rain so it might not happen. 

Seasidegal58

Hope all is going well with you skinny. X

Skinnylatte

Seasidegal58 said:

Hope all is going well with you skinny. X

Seasidegal58 for checking up on me. All is going very well considering the current climate.
Here's the bullet points:

1. I'm still working and being paid in full. Work has now changed, some is physical and some virtually. I'm not making the same amount of money on mileage as I was.
2. I've cleared the CC.
3. I've been over paying my residential mortgage and my car loan.
4. I have a reserve fund of £10k!
5. DD is at Uni studying nursing and social work.
6. DS is now a police officer.
7. I'm so proud of my kids.
8. I'm still single-ish!
9. I still buy things I don't need.
10. I want to keep this on track to achieve my financial goals.