Pay Off Before Lay Off!

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Your stashbusting challenge is going great guns! Well done you! What did you decide to knit?

Habibiboo

:wave:

A mixed day all around.

Lots of work, which is all to the good. Still playing catch-up from poorliness though!

Today's MF actions:
* Packed up first box of CDs for M*M, should be £35 according to their system but have never used them before so don't know if they're picky about cases having shelf-wear etc. All CDs play fine - I checked as I loaded each one onto hard drive!
* £10 Amazon voucher earned as well.
* Dug out the dogs' insurance paperwork as one of them is due for renewal at the end of this month. This time around I won't just renew without checking about first with the aim of either making a saving or grabbing an incentive which will save a bit in the coffers (or preferably both)! This will be work in progress over next few evenings.

Today's grey cloud:

I'm almost too embarrassed to share this one, to be honest, but ... to cut a long story short found out yesterday that the £150 payment to HMRC was not to HMRC at all but a scam site that my tax return went through. I can only think that because I have been so struggling with this lurgy that I failed to spot that I was in a very wrong lookie-likie site... Tax Return Gateway - avoid like the plague!

After being on hold forever to HMRC I've mailed them this evening to check that they actually do have my return as I don't want a £100 fine from them as well. Lesson learned the hard way, feeling very stupid and grotty again today, stress-related shame as much as the lurgy. Came clean to OH when he came home tonight and thought he'd be cross, but ...

Today's silver lining:

... He was very kind, told me to just put it behind me and not be so hard on myself. He gently pointed out that I did all of this last week, the same week in which I also turned up for my neurology appointment three days early (which I then had to cancel due to being so grot this week) so he's put it down to me not being myself, as opposed to myself being a muppet!

Today's happy thought:

My OH's a bit of a diamond on the quiet and there are worse things than being a muppet (albeit a skint one)!

Perla*Merle, yes, you're right, stash busting is going good! I try to stay off the computer in the evenings (after about 8pm) otherwise I end up working, so I knit and crochet instead (also stops me snacking as hands are too busy and chocolate makes a mess on the yarn)!

Balls used up so far went on making 6 hot water bottle cosies for friends at Xmas. I bought the bottles when they were on sale in the summer (just £2 each) and made a cover for each using different shades of Sirdar Crofter Chunky (love that yarn). Used it last year to make hat and wristlet sets for about 13 family females and still had lots left!

Rest of balls in progress are going on crochet doggy draught excluder for the door between the garage and our kitchen. I've got a thick velvet curtain on the inside of the door (garage side) but need a dutiful doggie to cut the draught that still comes under the door on our side on a windy day! I used to have one but when our boy dog was a bit of an enthusiastic pup, he took rather a shine to my home-made excluder and, well, it just wasn't fit for purpose by the time he's finished!

After that's done, I have to have a stash sort and organise what presents I need to make for upcoming birthdays and match up with what I have.

Using it up isn't really a problem, it's not buying any more that I'm not so good at. Although am being amazingly good at mo, despite sale mails from favourite site. At the moment, I haven't got it (hmmm, I know, not catching the eye of the pretend-HMRC-type elephant in the room), so I can't spend it!

So, what's your weapon of choice, P*M, knitting needles, crochet hook or both?

Phew, sorry for the long one, lots to share / 'fess up to! Hope everyone's OK!

:wave:

Habibiboo

:wave:
Happy Friday everyone!

Continuing good works on all fronts ... well, mostly!

Today's MFW actions: NSD and tally up of the books. OP of £200 made to mortgage so feeling pretty happy about that after a bit of a pants week!

Today's grey cloud: HMRC have confirmed that they don't have my tax return and have advised me to get in touch with evil scam co to sort :eek: Scam site claim they have submitted it so have mailed HMRC again ... I can see this one running all the way up to HMRC's 31st Jan deadline.

Today's silver lining: it's Friday, the fire's lit, a bottle of left-over Xmas red found in the bowels of the garage is open and we're having a quiet night in with homemade oven chips and organic omelet courtesy of our feathered females.
Have given OH an I.O.U for a hot date as it was my turn to do date night but I'm still feeling grot (did make him chips though and unearth the red when I finished work)!

Today's happy thought: £200 OP on mortgage should take us to below £112K by the end of the month!

Off to try and get bit more sausage dog draught excluder done tonight, there's a right wind coming through the door!

Hope everyone else is warm and dry ~ happy weekend! :wave:

Habibiboo

:wave:

Quiet day today ... just how we like 'em at the moment, after all those Xmas and birthday type celebrations!

Today's MFW actions: NSD and signed up to cashback site.
I also checked that OP has gone into mortgage account & found that since my MF focus, the interest is already dropping down - this month's was £11 less than last month, which is effectively another £11 OP as that £11 is counted in the overall balance! Very happy with that and motivated to keep the faith!

Today's grey cloud: still snotty and grotty but hey-ho!

Today's silver lining: OH put up two radiator shelves ... one in study and one in hall, both using brackets and wood which surfaced in his big clear up of the [STRIKE]garage[/STRIKE] man-cave. OK, they probably won't make a chic-style feature in Country Living but they cost us nothing and we like them! :T

Today's happy moment: my eldest bought me some goodies from Lush for Xmas and I've put the large wedge of soap in the bathroom, where it's serving as one of the most fragrant bathroom air fresheners ever (if must be if even I can smell it at the moment)! I've banned OH from using it for its intended purpose at the moment so that we can enjoy the extra benefits of a nicely scented bathroom!

Am now building up to the happy moment of playing with my mortgage OP spreadsheet to show the OP from the reduced interest (sad, but true) It'll keep me out of mischief until The Bridge comes onto iPlayer!

Hope everyone's OK and drying out a bit (although didn't it pour last night again)!

Habibiboo

:wave:

A dry day at last! Fantastic!

Today's MF actions: teeny tiny tilly tidy and a NSD.
Also, continuing to eat out of the cupboards - just a small spend on veg at the weekend so we're saving on the food bill this month which will all go onto the mortgage OP later on.

Today's grey cloud: HMRC have sent me a very confusing email reply largely still saying they don't have my tax return and that I should refer to the website or ring them. Tried all evening to call but after going through the automated system each time, I then get the delightfully automated "we're too busy to take your call right now, goodbye!" Gotta laugh!

Today's silver lining: quick romp around the park with my four-legged ones! Seamus's arch nemesis, the albino squirrel was just flaunting himself in full frilly tailed fashion, so Seamus ran miles - trotting on the walk through the park but periodically racing back to the tree he'd chased the saucy squirrel up, just to check on him! Fun times and cheap as chips! Tried to get a photo of said squirrel but I was on a poo bag job when we all spotted him and Seamus chased him up t'tree before I could get organised!

Today's simple pleasures: two bags of various clutter now picked up by two lots of nice Freegle people, so less clutter in the man-cave and in the land-fill!
I'm thinking about setting myself a declutter challenge for Feb, number of bags or items out, that kind of thing, will have to think about that. Would stuff successfully FleaBayed count as declutter fodder, do you think?

Hope everyone's had a happy Monday!

greent

Habibiboo wrote: »

:wave:
I'm thinking about setting myself a declutter challenge for Feb, number of bags or items out, that kind of thing, will have to think about that. Would stuff successfully FleaBayed count as declutter fodder, do you think?

Hope everyone's had a happy Monday!

Definitely - if it's gone - however it's gone (ebay, amazon, friend, freegle, bin) it's gone - and therefore is successfully de-cluttered!

Habibiboo

:wave:

Thanks for your thoughts Greent, as you say, if it's gone by whatever means then it's still decluttered! I shall carry that thought onto the challenge for February!

Meanwhile, back to today's shenanigans ...

Today's MF actions: Another NSD - that's about it for today, but all looking calm on the mortgage front!

Today's grey cloud: Despite all the good efforts to be throwing every penny at the mortgage, it looks like we're definitely going to have to get a new front door. I took the dogs out during my lunch break earlier today and it took me nearly 10 minutes to get back into the house via the front door! OH says he gave it some attention yesterday - oiling the lock and other technical faff and said that I was lucky my key didn't break off. If it was just the lock, we'd replace that, but as the whole things swells up so much in the wet and becomes impossible to open then too, it looks like it's a case of replacing it all as a longer term saving rather than a short term fix / saving. So, extra OPs for this month and next may have to be diverted a bit, I think!

Today's silver lining: Approached by a new client today, with a small job but extra £50 before the end of the week, if I can get it done! OH is out two evenings this week so will fit it in then so that he won't miss the pleasure of my company :rotfl:

Today's simple pleasures: no road-kill for the sealed pot but plenty of snowdrops in the little park today! Think I managed to get a some kind of photo of the super-squirrel (who gave Seamus a complete runaround today) so will see if I can upload it once my phone starts talking to the computer ~ some kind of computer / phone stand off going on at the moment!

Hope everyone's well and warm!

Habibiboo

:wave:

Today's MF actions: another NSD and teeny peep at the account and tilly tidy!

Today's grey cloud: only the rainclouds, which made us miss our lunchtime walk!

Today's silver lining: finally got to through to speak to HMRC who were actually amazingly helpful and reassuring about the predicament with my tax return. It's not resolved as apparently there's a "block" on my tax return arriving with them (even though it's been submitted). It'll take 3 weeks to unblock it, which of course goes past the 31st January deadline, but the lady I spoke to was really reassuring that I won't be fined because they can tell I've tried to submit it ~ even to the extent of being scammed in doing so!:o

Today's simple pleasures: lighting the woodstove in my workroom at noon as it was so cold, wet and miserable. Very MSE as it saved putting heating on in the whole house and very cosy too, as next thing you know, there were two dogs toasting themselves on the hearth and not missing their lunchtime walk at all!

Hope everyone else is staying warm and dry!

Habibiboo

:wave:

Wow, chilly one or what?

Today's MF action: Decided to try my hand at a gently stooze type activity to off-set costs for next Christmas and use the cash instead for the mortgage.
Plan is this:
* Got me an interest free Mr. T credit card, which gives bags of extra points for using it for their supermarket shopping.
* I often get Mr. T deliveries, so will use the CC for that each time and pay off in full at the end of each month = no CC debt but lots of extra Mt. T points to use for gifts or food next Christmas.
* To make it interesting I'll set a target figure to reach, but I'll do that next month, once I've had a chance to use it and see what kind of points reward I get for an average shop. Also need to hold off as they seem to have given me a different clubcard number to my usual one, so need to get that sorted as I have £9.50 currently and should get £10 worth of points for getting the CC, so I want to have those together rather than in two different pots.
* Then I'll create an OP target for an extra OP in December, based on cash I'll save by using the clubcard points for Christmas food shopping instead.

I know this isn't hard core stoozing but I don't usually have credit cards and want to start off gently

Today's grey cloud: Finished doggy draught excluder but he's a bit too thin to be overly effective! Will need a bit of unstitching and extra stuffing before he's fully operational!

Today's silver lining: It's Friday! New client was happy with my work and has promised more orders!

Today's simple pleasures: Had to pop out this pm. When I got back I sat on the bottom stair to take my boots off and largest four legged friend sat on my lap, just like that! Stair -> me -> dog for about 15 seconds like some bizarre circus act, then heap comprising me and dog (stair didn't move, thankfully)! I swear, there's nothing like the genuine joy with which a pooch will greet your homecoming!

Hope everyone's on for a great, restful weekend!

Habibiboo

:wave:

Well, today's been all about decluttering as well as trying to have a frugal weekend!

Today's MF action: sorted another batch of CDs for MM to go next week, money will go towards MOP. Don't know how long they take to cash out for them ... the box I already sent in (last Mon) is still showing as not yet received at warehouse!

Today's grey cloud: didn't manage to squeeze a long weekend dog walk in as we had unexpected visitors. This puts the pressure on for tomorrow ... although the weather forecast is grim!

Today's silver lining: one lot of visitors were friends who are giving us greenhouse. Today they brought the frame down, plus a late birthday present for me - lovely snuggly snood and new gloves which convert into mittens, a lovely treat as all my gloves have become dog walking gloves and are very wash-worn due to holding on to and throwing a dog-slobber ball (can't use those throws things because Boo likes to put the ball into your hand, rather than let it drop)!

Today's simple pleasures: step daughter out to a party so quiet night in by fireside with OH, two snoring hounds, little bit of music, little bit of garden planning and the bridge on the Iplayer later! Trying to think of three reasons not to raid left over Xmas choc stash (just to get rid of it, of course).

Daily declutter: 7 things put onto freecycle, lots of Fleabay items ending tomorrow too. Will keep a tally of items out from now on!