Pay Off Before Lay Off!

ljaneyr

Hi again Hbbb

I'm just reading about all your bites. OH and I both got bitten on holiday but he had more than twice the number I got and his were extremely itchy, whereas mine don't itch at all. Now he always gets bitten more than me but as for the itching, the only explanation is that I was taking my daily hayfever tablet (cheap version of cetirizine). I forgot to take one yesterday and a couple of them were really itchy last night.

I know it won't stop them biting but it may help with the itching if taken daily? I don't get any drowsiness with cetirizine or loratadine but some of the old-style antihistamines the Drs prescribe for bites are like taking tranquilizers!

Hopefully you're over the worst of it now. I'm going to investigate that avon stuff for OH because he's been quite miserable with it.

Janey x

Habibiboo

ljaneyr wrote: »

Hi Hbbb :wave:

Just popping in to say hi I hope all is well with you?

I've got 7 pages of your diary to catch up on so I'd better get started :eek:

Janey x

:wave:

Janey! You're back! All 7 pages? A virtual medal is duly awarded m'dear!

Yes, bites are healing nicely although despite going to pains not to scratch the huge one on my face, the scar is still very noticeable (well to me anyway). I've had to FaceTime a couple of clients this week and I'm very aware of it as you end up looking at yourself how others see you :eek: Hopefully it will fade in time. Legs still look pretty pox like, but thank goodness for last summer's maxi dresses and my over-long winter skirts!

Poor Mr. Janey ... I do feel for him. The eucalyptus oil was also a bit of a life saver (will be equally useful for snorting during winter snuffles so a good investment of a couple of quid made there) thanks to the good advice of helpful friends Watty, Goldie and Boultdj, I think it was.

Thanks for stopping by ... must catch up with your thread too! x

Habibiboo

:wave:

Hope all's well in these post-Bertha days! Weird weather today, more April than August!

MFW actions:

* NSD
* Fed up with madness of pet insurance co, despite the hour that I spent sorting it all out the other weekend. For some reason they claim they haven't received the direct debit form so I'm just throwing up my hands and forgetting it. In fact though, it's helped us to make a decision because it's made us think about how we'd manage a vet bill if we just don't bother with insurance (rough calculation, we've paid approx £2,200 over the last 8 years in insurance for the pets and claimed approx £300 back). So all things considered alongside the fact that ...

Progress towards emergency fund is pants because I've been throwing everything at the morgage, but now that we've dropped our facility to £106,000 to get below 50% LTV, the interest rate is as low as it's going to get for us (the only way is, literally, up from here). So, we've decided that there's no point in reducing our facility further for a minute, what we'll do instead is keep a £2,500 buffer between our facility and what we actually owe on the mortgage and this buffer can be the emergency fund. We're still only paying interest on what we owe and we'll still drop the facility down periodically but keep that buffer, eg: when we hit £100 k we'll keep a facility of £102,500 ... which is eerily roughly the balance of what we owe today).

So, the emergency fund is now taken care of and the £33 each month can stay in the mortgage account and off-set said mortgage and if the pooches need attention we have the means to do so without the expensive hassle of the insurance. So £33 MOP for this month gives a tantalising new SMASH day 74 / 100 total of = £2,994 / £3,000

Hmmm, with luck tomorrow's money in and spreadsheet shuffle will round off that number nicely!

Grey Clouds:

Nope, not today, ticking along OK.

Silver Linings:

The people I did the new job for on Monday have been in touch. The visually impaired person has another exam next month and has asked for me to be the one to deliver the access arrangements, so I've been called back! Hopefully this is the start of something useful for both of us!

Daily declutter:

Several defunct items of Mr. Hbbb's may have hit the rubbish and recycling whilst he wasn't looking. Can't think how this may have happened. Counting 2 so total = 272 / 365.

Simple pleasures:

* Butterfly sunning itself on the path, between showers.
* Russian student talking to us animatedly now, since Monday's gathering, he's far less aloof and far more at ease ... shame there's less than a week to go now!
* Acting my shoe size and not my age for, ooooh at least 10 minutes today (but in a good way, not like in a four-year-old's-tantrum kinda way)!

Goldiegirl

I agree what you are saying about the pet insurance. We've paid out each year on a washing machine insurance policy, for about 8 years, and have called out the engineer just once.

So we could have paid for the repair, and have been better off.

But the washing machine sometimes makes odd noises, and there's random leaks from time to time, so we are bound to make another claim soon, so I daren't cancel it.

The SMASH has been a complete smash, you should be at the target very very soon. That's a fantastic achievement.

ljaneyr

Wahoo - Finally caught up Hbbb :wave:

Fantastic progress on the SMASH and great news with new clients and caring for students! I actually backed out of a French exchange trip when I was about 13 because I was afraid of staying with a family I didn't know, so it must be wonderful for these boys to be so welcome in your house!

Hope you have a productive and happy day today Hbbb

Janey x

Habibiboo

:wave:

Aww thanks Janey, for getting through my burbling and for your kind words!

It has been good having the students and it's certainly helped the SMASH target but when these ones leave next week we'll be having the "how was it for you ...?" talk with each other to see whether it's sustainable in the long, mid or even short term.

Lots to think about indeed. Would be nice to have something else to think about for a bit, to be honest ... other people's wedding plans, perhaps?

ljaneyr

Wedding plans indeed... need to get started on those.

Unfortunately there have been a few comments about who we 'have to' invite. OH told me he had to politely but very firmly point out that it's our wedding, we're paying for it, so we choose who we invite! Thing is, we're trying to do things as cheaply as possible with the venue we've selected, we're only having family at the meal because there are so many of them which means even our close friends can only come to the evening do, so we don't want to be forced to invite extra people that we don't even know/like!

I've also heard a lot of complaints and gossip about another family wedding that we're going to later in the year which makes me wonder what they say behind my back :eek:

Sorry to hijack your diary with a moan Hbbb! I'd better shut up until I've got more positive wedding news

Habibiboo

ljaneyr wrote: »

Wedding plans indeed... need to get started on those.

Unfortunately there have been a few comments about who we 'have to' invite. OH told me he had to politely but very firmly point out that it's our wedding, we're paying for it, so we choose who we invite! Thing is, we're trying to do things as cheaply as possible with the venue we've selected, we're only having family at the meal because there are so many of them which means even our close friends can only come to the evening do, so we don't want to be forced to invite extra people that we don't even know/like!

I've also heard a lot of complaints and gossip about another family wedding that we're going to later in the year which makes me wonder what they say behind my back :eek:

Sorry to hijack your diary with a moan Hbbb! I'd better shut up until I've got more positive wedding news

:wave:

Oooh no, the biggest day of your life is too special to have to be shared with the "do we have to?" guests. Just put the word out there that the budget's tight and you can't invite everyone. Those who you'd like to invite but can't afford to will understand if they're not invited (and will probably end up doing something special with you / for you at another point in time) whilst those who don't understand and moan behind your back (in the manner of the other wedding) ... well, that says more about them than it does you! Your. Special. Day. (well, and Mr. Janey, I suppose we'd better let him have a bit of a say in the matter, especially as it sounds like he's well onside with making the day all about you two :rotfl:).

No worries about coming over here for a moan, always happy to listen (especially when I should be working and am looking for any chance to procrastinate that doesn't involve online shopping)! x

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Quite agree about the wedding. Invite who you want and nobody else!

BookWorm

Hi Habibiboo :wave:

I've been reading your diary over the last few days but wanted to wait until I had finished to post. I've enjoyed all the student tales and chicken adventures as well as the money/mortgage parts.

You seem to be well on track and I wish you well for the rest of your journey

BW