The march to financial freedom

Ali-OK

Evening diary,

Today was GP 0 - 1 Osteopath - neck/shoulders have slightly improved and next appointment is in 2.5 weeks. The GP said there's been a long build up to the panic attacks - probably about 18 months worth of symptoms, combined with menopause type ones. She wants more time to go through that timeline and notes and then be ready to see me in 2 weeks time. Appointment made. The blood tests done just before I left the old surgery showed nothing wrong at all - no thyroid issue, no B12 issue, nada.

I've asked for an MRI scan and said I'll go private if needs be (£200 in north London plus £20 train fare) but need a GP referral for it - so she is looking with an angle of back related to the original operation - nothing is jumping out at her - at least she was honest.

She didn't think anti-depressants were the answer and suggested I just live on ibruprofen as an anti-inflammatory. Given I lived on Diclofenac for months and that didn't do much help to lower back, not sure something less strong will help upper back, but am giving it a go. Continuing with the Kalms pre-driving on fast roads, though she's concerned about the panic attacks, saying 10 days since having one isn't long - I said that was good for me compared to the early ones of every day :rotfl:. So she's aiming to find the root cause. Fingers crossed.

Good work day inbetween, tonight has been housework upstairs dusting and hoovering then the blasted box managed to free itself from the hoover and empty all the dust over the stairs :rotfl: So the stairs got done too!

Spends today - just the Osteopath at £40.

Financials:
- bank account checked
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nectar adpoints - up to 44 with the bonus points
- Nectar search and canvass - no advance
- Nectar card value - up to £114.36
- Inbox Pounds - up a tad to £14.42
- Qmee - another 11p, up at 88p

I put £30 in the bank from the change bucket in £1 and 50p coins. Waiting to see if there's any unexpected bills or school letters that need payments before I send it to the CC - just got a feeling something is coming this way needing money that's not currently budgeted (but don't know what). Weird, yes that's me! :rotfl:

Chilli out of the freezer for dinner tonight, work prepped for tomorrow and DS got in ok using his key.

Just 2 more work days for me to go, as billable bit on Saturday morning. Not ideal with guests due later on, but needs to be done and it boosts the coffers.

Early night coming up - need to start recording glasses of water drunk - target is 8, today I've only managed 2 so far. Not good!

Ali-OK

On Friday nights I'm usually full of energy and getting ahead with the housework, but I've only emptied the bins and done one load of washing and hung out - wanted to get the wet cleaning done...I will if I can prise myself out of the armchair :rotfl:

In the post were 2 cheques of the 5 refunds due from EE, 1 of 5 has been applied to my Or@nge business account lowering the bill this month and another 1 refunded directly into my bank account - which just leaves 1 more. Perhaps that'll be cash by carrier pigeon for further variation :rotfl:

So work was all good today and had time to do the business banking as well. I spent £10 on a luxury this afternoon though - paid for the car to be cleaned inside and out. It was really bad inside with moving stuff to the office and trips to the dump, so needed to be cleaned and ready for driving our guests on Sunday to our day out. I've enough fuel, so won't be filling up until next week.

I've moved the £3 from Paypal from P!necone and the 88p from Qmee to the bank account and have also done a 'Tilly Tidy' of £5.03 to the instant access savings account - it's only 0.75% gross interest, but better than earning nothing, as current account is above the threshold. I got £13.36 interest from that for last 2 months (4% on £5k). I'll probably do a TT each Friday, plus I've got a couple of old savings account to pull a few pounds out of and close down. One has £10.73, another £8.08. Might use this for the garden project or the holiday spends at Easter.

I've budgeted £200 into the Regular Saver this month, which will take it to £1,200 on Monday. £400 next month going in based on this month's business income.

Other financials:
- bank accounts scrutinised
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nectar adpoints checked - still 44 pts
- Nectar Search and Canvass - to look at
- Nectar card value - £114.36
- Inbox Pounds - £14.44
- Qmee - nothing today

I've got a picnic to prepare tomorrow night to take on Sunday. In the weekly food shop I bought extras, so we'll be having sandwiches (bacon, ham, cheese, egg), cucumber chunks and cherry tomatoes, mini sausage rolls, Ald! own version of mini cheddars, mini apple and orange juices, bottled water, a mix of fruits - strawbs, blackberries, blueberries and grapes, plus small choc chip cookies. I think that should be a wide enough variety - I have no idea what my guests like to eat, so am hoping! It'll still save a fortune on buying at the stalls anyway, though might give in for a nice cup of tea

That's my lot for today then and I might not get to post tomorrow, so I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll report back in when I can.

supersaver1000

Sounds like a lovely picnic. Hope the weather holds and you have a fab day. x

Ali-OK

Evening Diary,

It's been a couple of days since posting - all down to guests here, our long but excellent day out and a long day at work today.

The good - spent £30 on our day out. The not good - couldn't drive due to panic symptoms again, so someone else had to take over second part and do the return leg.

Felt ill today with shaking underneath (like adrenaline rush), but so very tired too. Going to bed shortly.

Financials:
- Apart from bank account checked this morning, have done nothing else at all.

Will do a proper catch up tomorrow night I hope when things settle down a bit.

Hope everyone is doing well.

supersaver1000

Sending hugs Ali x

Skinnylatte

Rest up and be kind to your self x

brizzledfw

Sorry to hear about the panic attacks but great news re the frugal picnic spends, surveys etc. Well done on being so careful.

Ali-OK

Tried to be good to myself today - finished work at lunchtime and came home to rest up. Ended up at the GPs as an emergency though, as after using Nurofen as an anti-inflammatory I got a headache! Not meant to happen! Along with more visual disturbances, balance off kilter, the shakey stuff underneath again and generally felt rotten. I am sleeping well though.

Upshot is getting referred for a CT scan and am back to see the GP tomorrow. I can have beta-blockers to help the panic attack symptoms too, so will decidewhen there. If they help it'll be worth it. It might not help the driving as that seems to be coming from the visual/left side of head issue.

It could be a problem from a head trauma a few years ago that is only now surfacing, exacerbated by menopause...or a number of other things. Mum has offered to go halves on private scan if it speeds it up. All getting a bit concerning how quickly it's escalating now.

Financials:
- bank account checked and I banked £28.45 of refund cheques from EE. Still £21.45 not received - need to chase that soon.

Nothing else done or looked at I did manage to write and post off a birthday card 2nd class.

I'm giving myself a day off tomorrow, meeting a friend for lunch after GP and relaxing. Need to sort out what I do about starting college (or not as the case maybe) and strip/prepare the spare room again from our weekend guests, before the next lot arrive on Saturday!

Nothing very MSE to report at the moment, just want to be well again.

supersaver1000

Poor you Ali. More hugs sent. X

Brogden

Hi Ali,

I have enjoyed reading your thread I wish you all the best in solving the issue of panic attacks. It is not at all uncommon and I am sure this will be sorted out very shortly.

On the financial side, my mortgage amount is 'spookily' similar to yours. I switched to interest only on the mortgage a while ago and it niggles me as I would really like to be doing something about getting the mortgage balance down even though I am currently working at clearing unsecured debt. Your signature shows a lovely improvement over the last year or so. What is your approach - how have you achieved this and any tips for us all?

Mostly, I wish you the absolute best with 'binning' all health concerns.

Brogden