The march to financial freedom

mooomin

What are you planning on using your Nectar points for? My plan was to use them for Christmas dinner, but at the rate my planning is going for Christmas (not well!) I may have to use some for presents :rotfl:

supersaver1000

Yes thank you Ali. Am hoping for another good night tonight. X

Ali-OK

mooomin wrote: »

What are you planning on using your Nectar points for? My plan was to use them for Christmas dinner, but at the rate my planning is going for Christmas (not well!) I may have to use some for presents :rotfl:

I'm getting reluctant to spend any of mine :rotfl: Never had so many points before!

It'll buy the XXL Turkey and all the trimmings for the pre-Christmas big family lunch, plus extras over Christmas. My original plan was to spend up to £60 of it on half price clothes but haven't needed to.

Probably some presents too, once I've gone through my stash and see who I still need to buy for.

Ali-OK

Evening Diary,

Busy day yesterday so 2 days worth to note down in my diary.

Lower back settled down with the heat pad underneath it again overnight - no pinching of disks thankfully. Similar today, though neck/shoulder/upper back have come back with avengeance so it's back to the ibruprofen 3 times a day. Osteo still on Monday and actually looking forward to it!

College have said they will refund on receipt of GP or hospital letter, so will scan and send off once the hospital appointment one arrives, which could be up to 2 weeks away.

I had a No Spend Day yesterday and today. :j Haven't paid myself yet or reimbursed my expenses as want to do the business banking first tomorrow morning and like to keep things orderly. Accounts need to be finished to month end and printed. DS received another birthday card and cheque, so I'll pop that in his account at the same time. He's still working on writing the remaining thank you letters!

Financials:
- bank account checked
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nectar adpoints - up at 32
- Nectar Canvass - tried and got profile questions
- Nectar card value - up at £115.72
- Inbox Pounds - up at £15.47
- Qmee - 11p added, now 33p in the pot
- P!necone - a survey came through earlier today which I tried to do tonight, but have missed the boat. Sometimes they're only available for 2-3 hours.

Friday night means the washing is on. Am thinking of moving the sheets and towels washing to during the week and just doing clothes at the weekend. Bins emptied, some tidying up done.

List of bits needed for the garden project to kick off has been made, so I'll be hunting around online for best prices and hopefully ordering some of that this weekend. The big expense is the corner shed, but that can wait until after the college refund. Some paving slabs have been acquired so they've ended up being cost free. :T

DS wants to go to town to buy books this weekend, so that's on the list to do for Sunday, unless I get back from work with enough time to spare tomorrow. I've got to take that new autumn casual coat back too - the seam has all come apart already, so I guess it was a 'pay for what you get'. I'll get a refund as still have the receipt and look for a better quality one, but that's likely to be more expensive. Hmm.

I'm still waiting for the mobile router refund having chased the fruit provider who promised a phone call or an email response after investigation, but delivered neither. :mad: The payment was set up to pay back into my account on their system, so where it went no-one seems to know at the moment.

DS had his physio appointment tonight which went well and his legs have improved with the stretches she gave him to do. We're back there in 3 weeks time.

Our usual lazy Friday night tea of a frozen pizza. Last night we had a portion of the batch bolognese, the other 2 portions went in the freezer. Need to make a batch of chilli tomorrow evening, so will get more mince out of the freezer shortly.

Think that's all the news. Everything bobbing along ok, budget for October all looking good, Christmas getting closer though :eek:

Hope everyone has a good weekend in the warm weather - been 22C here today, that's mad, but very welcome. Heating most definitely still off

Ali-OK

Morning Diary,

A couple of financials to note from last night - P!necone email came in again with the survey, so that's now done and £3 will be added to the coffers :j

I did a TT on the bank account balance to round it down - £4.01 sent to Savings - after 3 weeks its at £14.18. I still need to find the account details for the other odd amounts to bring all that into one place.

Garden project taking on a life of its own now - stump grinder and turf cutter being hired :eek: which means need to make best use of them and also take up the grass where the artificial stuff will go, which wasn't planned for this phase but is more cost effective. Think the Emergency Fund might take a little bit of a battering but if the guys can lay that themselves, that will save quite alot of money on a company installing it. Better work more weekends

Time for a quick cuppa, shoot up the bank then head to the office.

Have a good day all

supersaver1000

Hi Ali. Have a great weekend. Sounds like the garden project has a life of it's own. You are doing great! Ss

Ali-OK

Thanks SS - yes, the garden worries me as it's not been costed out, though with no labour to pay, I wouldn't get it any cheaper than this and it's been continuously sliding down the priority list for about 4 years. I'll be able to do away with the lawn mower (saving my back) and it'll look fab again and be low maintenance generally. It's been a sorry sight for far too long.

I've just done the Basics shop in Sbugs - had 110 bonus point vouchers for stuff I normally buy, so we're well stocked in tomato sauce, kidney beans and tinned toms. £5.85 spent with tea bags, chilli mix and a loaf of Danish bread that Ald! don't sell.

They've got 25% off TU at the moment, was tempted by a casual jacket for DS but he probably wouldn't wear one (same each year with refusing to wear a coat). Resisted the lovely long jumpers that go great with leggings, so that's prompted me to find my old ones out. Wasn't impressed by the ladies casual coats or I'd have used some points getting one.

Financials:
- bank account checked. Biz banking done, paid myself expenses and monthly 'salary'.
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nectar adpoints - still on 32 pts
- Nectar card value - up a tad at £115.72
- Inbox Pounds - up at £15.55
- Qmee - still 33p

Washing all dried on the line (left out overnight and today) - it's a balmy 23C here! Just a few bits for ironing. Town tomorrow, didn't have enough time today.

Tonight - dinner, measure bits of garden with one of the DIY guys, chill out in front of tv with Ald! bar of choc.

There are still work emails to do, but I've done enough for this week, so they can wait. Need some time out.

sugarpuss27

Hi Ali, glad the panic attacks are under control, beta blockers do help. Anything that helps you relax a bit is good. Not easy I know! Your garden project sounds great. We have put ours off till next year as most of our garden budget has gone on a leaky loo which led to part of the floor being replaced and so on....... That's whats been happening the last few days, I live in a mid terrace with not much room so when one room is upside down so is the rest. Thursday night and half of Friday we had no loo at all, luckily we have good neighbours and OH is like a camel:rotfl:..... where as I 'aint!!! Not easy.

Ali-OK

The beta blockers are really good, got the ones that are taken just as and when needed so no chance of chemical addiction to them - they're a lifeline for my work, though I've kept as much office based as I can.

:eek: At your loo adventures, glad that was sorted as quick as practically possible :rotfl:

Phase I of the garden project then:
- remove all of the wysteria from the pergola (keeping the tendrils low down on the trunk to start it off again against the new corner shed - shed is Phase 2 in costs given I don't have college refund yet)
- move Pergola to other corner of garden (no cost)
- paint neighbours new fence panels my side using leftover fence paint from other panels, clean up deck (that's staying)
- take all the turf up (hire cost of turf cutter is @ £80 for day)
- skip for turf and rubble - FOC
- lay large paving slabs under kitchen/utility windows for wheelie bins (free)
- 27 small edging paving blocks (to match path that's staying) - £ TBC
- 8 x 2600 sleepers to go around raised area - lower that slightly, digging out rubble and taking old log edging out, very little top soil there - £246 and now ordered
- stump grinder hire (for 2 stumps on raised area) @ £90 day
- 850kg bulk bag gravel - think I'm going with the red/white/black, but will visit a garden centre or DIY place to be sure in the flesh. Online order comes to £125 with free delivery
- honeycomb gravel stabiliser with membrane - goes down for gravel to sit in and on - £ TBC. It's alot more expensive than the weed membrane but will keep it in situ and since on a slight slope and with the dogs, will be worth it I think. Looking for best price on that at the moment.

:eek: I have paid myself alot more than normal as work has been excellent, so all costs are covered without adding to debt.

Phase II will be the corner shed, paving/more gravel for raised area
Phase III will be the artificial grass. I will get it...eventually :rotfl:

supersaver1000

Hi Ali

Just a thought, with the lawn could you advertise it for free to take away, or perhaps call a garden company? When we replaced our patio I stuck an ad in the window and two guys came and took up the patio slabs and took them away. You've probably thought of it, and I've noticed your skip is free of charge so am guessing you have another arrangement in place knowing how organised you are

Garden plans sound great. Lovely to think that next summer you can enjoy it.