Paying the car tax via EBay, and other shenanigans.

mfmaybe

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

that's the great thing about pets. no matter how much you cant be bothered, you can't penalise them and you always feel better for having done something

That's true, and I love them for it :A

It's been a not bad weekend so far. Weather yesterday was a lot better than expected, so after riding in the morning I did a fair bunch of garden stuff. I was putting off the shopping until today but OH insisted he wanted it done, so he went. Again managed to spend more than budget, £70. Mainly because the gin bottle was empty :eek: but hopefully that will last a while. There were things appearing that weren't on the list, crisps, smoked salmon (really?!) and other bits and bobs. I'm annoyed as I really didn't want him to do the shopping as I knew he'd overspend :mad: Lesson for me is that next time he goes, I meal plan beans on toast all week

Have ridden again this morning, now sitting down so need to get going again. I've remembered that my insurance for my flat has some kind of boiler cover so need to phone them. Can't imagine for a second it will pay to replace the boiler though, but worth the phone call I'd say. I'm going to have to put diesel in the car today so need to do some spends but hopefully nothing else. Might try and get some things on fleabay again later.

Bit of a non-update that one, sorry!

mfmaybe

Been staring at the Worlds Biggest Spreadsheet ™ for ages today. Trying to figure out where all my money goes. Despite a financial qualification and it being my job, I keep getting confused by how much money I have "left", the issue being that I'm trying to pay off my overdraft and the negatives confuse me! But here's good news. 11 days after payday and I'm still in credit. I don't remember the last time that happened, which is shocking in itself. I then get my rental money for my flat on Thursday. At that point, I transfer the monthly payment to our joint account. The hay cheque is still outstanding so depending on when that clears, I'll be nearly out of money at that point. Except my OH is due me £800 (this was on the card that I BT'd to the 0%) so if he sends that across on or about the 1st, I should be able to stay out of OD till very nearly the end of the month. That gives me some kind of focus at least. From then on it should be easier as I *should* be in positive balances.

I rejigged my balances because at the start I wasn't including things like the balance on the monthly spends credit card (paid off in full), which I am now. At the moment then, I have paid off £1427 in 3 months. I was hoping for a lot more but I have to keep remembering the money spent on Tree Felling, medical expenses, tax bill and the new horse (which in my defence was mostly paid for out of an insurance cheque, and I've bought him no more than a £4 leadrope since I bought him 2 months ago!). These expenses come to about £1700, all of which would have been off my bottom line, so it's not looking too bad.

What I need to do now is figure out why I have so many one-offs, or rather which ones are one-offs vs which are bad planning, and deal with that accordingly. Prime example, the £500+ tax bill should very much have been planned for. Same with the tree felling, our old house needs lots of maintenance and we can't just keep our fingers crossed. And see below re the boiler.

Today I've managed a NSD. I remembered milk, so made tea this morning rather than buying a coffee. I took lunch in with me, using up the leftover veg from last night's roast chicken, and in my haste I just pulled off the chicken wings, (which are hard to strip for the next meal, paella), so they were my protein. Luckily Monday is our team baking day so there were cookies to take care of the sweet tooth requirement. My evening activity with my horse was cancelled, I had already paid for it but that can be carried forward to next month and I don't use any expensive diesel. Not even any DDs so today was a proper NSD. These have slipped recently, and make a huge difference.

So the only good-news-that-is-really-bad-news is the boiler. My alarming £4k quote was way off the mark as I hoped, and I've received a considerably better one at about £1500. Hooray. Unfortunately I don't have this money, which means it is basically going to increase the overdraft again. It's tax deductible, but that just means I don't pay tax for this tax year on the flat, not that I actually get any money back. I shouldn't really complain too much as in 10 years renting it out, it's the first major expense I've had, but that means I got lazy and haven't set any of the income aside. This is part of the Not Planning debacle.

I read on another diary about a household management account that they run. In theory I've done this, but never taken it quite far enough. We sort of do it with our joint accounts, and in the last couple of months I've been a lot more rigorous about this. Hopefully it means our big insurance bill will be covered next year, same for our LPG fills. In theory I also do this for my own expenses, but the reality is I don't. So once the O/D is properly paid off, that's what I need to start. I always budget for the monthly DDs but not anything that I have to pay by any other means. This includes car expenses, house expenses, horse expenses etc. Technically they are in my budget, but then if a bill doesn't come in, I just consider that money not needed. Duh.

HOMD was a very well behaved baby horse

mfmaybe

Well I have lied to you. Monday was not a NSD at all, as I stopped in for horse feed (and bird food) on the way home from work. Hopefully this will be the last big spend for summer, I always cut the hard feed right down when they are getting good grass.

Yesterday however was a NSD, although I do feel a bit guilty as one of the Grads in my team bought me a coffee But I'd paid last time! The hay cheque did clear yesterday though, so bank balance dropped by £200, but it's nice to know that it's already factored into my Worlds Biggest Spreadsheet.

Today again should be a NSD as I'm at home, except the boiler is being fitted today. So technically that's a new debt But trying to look on the bright side, they did it very quickly (so happy tenant) and for a very fair price. And I'll have no tax to pay on the property for the next couple of years!

I am working at home today and sometimes lose motivation. So as well as doing work I am going to

[STRIKE]Do 2 loads of washing[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Hoover upstairs[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Clean the upstairs bathroom[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Clean out the litter trays[/STRIKE]DONE
[STRIKE]Make cereal bars[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Make our 4th meal out of Sunday's roast chicken[/STRIKE]:T DONE

I probably won't ride as it's too foggy to go out on the roads so will try to have a busy evening catching up in the house. My 3 things (before and after work) does work so long as I keep doing it. I do sometimes wish my OH was a bit better about picking up after himself though. Still it could be a lot worse, he's pretty awesome most of the time

HOMD yesterday was a lovely relaxing hack on a beautiful evening. I was a very happy bunny last night.

mfmaybe

So I did my list and some more besides :A ended up sorting under the spare bed, hoovering the whole house, blitzing kitchen, getting both bathrooms cleaned and then putting on the fire as it was such a miserable day. I also got 5 things on fleabay. Tomorrow I need to do some dusting, clean sheets on the bed and carry on with sorting stuff out. I've got to start getting rid of stuff in drawers or various hidey holes. Problem is a lot of it isn't mine

in_need_of_direction

Aren't you sickeningly industrious? Since work I've vegged and am now heading to bed. I'd be ashamed but I just can't be bothered.

mfmaybe

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Aren't you sickeningly industrious? Since work I've vegged and am now heading to bed. I'd be ashamed but I just can't be bothered.

:rotfl: If only I was. This was a guilty blitz, not normal behaviour! Haven't done anything on today's list yet. I blame the cold weather, it's freezing today _pale_

Going to go and make another cup of tea, or maybe a coffee so that I don't feel I need one when I am back in the office tomorrow.

Starting to try to plan next weeks meals, we have a few bits of fish/meat in the freezer so my aim for the weekend shopping will be no new meat, only veg/salad/staples. Perhaps I should set a low budget like £30 or something to offset the more expensive shops OH has done recently. My average target is £50/week.

So moved money to house account today, now have £625 for the next 2 weeks and £510 in direct debits. Food and fuel not included in what's left, so have £115 to cover a birthday present and any lunches etc. That's loads so I am hoping that I can pay some of my boiler off. (For my own memory, OH and I agreed I could pay for the replacement out of the joint savings to save interest charges, but I've to replace it asap. I should probably add it to my sig). Can't decide whether to commit to an amount now, or leave it to the end of the month. It is such a psychological boost to see positive figures in the OD (Or, err, bank account as it now is :T) and it'll be great to be able to start doing things like Tilly Tidies!

mfmaybe

Bank holiday weekend, yipee :j

So yesterday was a spend day, bought paint for the DIY this weekend (rather more property maintenance), and then today I did the food shop. However, managed to do it for £36 :T which offsets the £77 OH spent last weekend, so our average gets back on an even keel. I have a feeling I should have bought quite a few things that I just ignored though . Rode my horse last night and again this morning, managing to get quite a bit of that done just now. So now I'm off to start that painting. Boo. Ipod needed for that one I think.

Expenses paid, so another £12 to the car tax fund, it's at over 30% now, still £20 short of the payment I need in 2 weeks though. Fleabay stuff has a couple of watchers but nothing very positive. FLW though so I need to capitalise on that. One of my bigger DDs came out so balance on account now just over £400 to last two weeks, think about £300 is already accounted for with DDs. Need to make my own lunches, but at least we are a day down next week, so that's easier!

This weekend has quite a few things on the to-do list:
[STRIKE]Aforementioned painting[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Fleabay[/STRIKE] DONE AND SOLD :j
Choose floor for bathroom
[STRIKE]Make soup[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Defrost freezer and sort/list[/STRIKE] DONE
Weed under bird feeder
[STRIKE]Clear out drawers in dresser in dining room[/STRIKE] DONE

[STRIKE]And the usual house stuff.
[/STRIKE] DONE
Better get on with it!

in_need_of_direction

The freezer is also on my to do list but it's so cold.

mfmaybe

Well the list isn't looking good, so far only done the drawers in the dresser and they didn't yield much, or free up much space. I did however make room for my "work from home kit" - a little toiletries bag with the remote access key, my favourite mouse and a little calculator. All of which keep going missing when OH uses the laptop!

I have done some of the painting but it's not "done" yet so not off the list. I've done tons of washing but that wasn't on the list :rotfl:, and I did go and look at flooring but OH wasn't with me so it's not agreed on either. I've not been totally idle but not feeling like I'm making much progress, those are the frustrating days.

Still, I haven't spent any money today! And I do have some veg seedlings on the windowsill in the kitchen that might yet yield results. Despite being quite outdoorsy, I'm not great with veg. We don't have a plot as such and a lot of things just get chucked in, then lost to slugs or damp or pure neglect. I would love to be better at GYO.

Update - I have a fleabay bid! Only 99p on one of my 5 things. But it's one of those ideal things to sell. We didn't know what size of a product we needed so bought both, then never got round to returning the wrong size. It's been cluttering a shelf for ages, will never be used, so even 40p profit is better than nothing. And still 3 days to go on them all - I'm surprised that a couple of things don't have watchers yet, it just goes to show you never know what will sell.

mfmaybe

Ok after a bank holiday lie in, then a morning with the horses, it's time to get busy. Freezer now empty and catalogued, was delighted to find a forgotten about lasagna portion in there, and some turkey escalopes. The rest I already knew about, ooh except the unbaked pain au chocolat :T Later I'm going to put a couple of sweet treats in there. Unbaked chocolate cookies, and a crumble topping to use with the frozen fruit that's already there. We don't often have pudding but sometimes it's nice to know you could. Have also left out some stock to make soup with the veg that's just past its best.

Got one thing listed on fleabay, a BIN at £6. Could do with a couple more things to make use of the free listing weekend, but inspiration is lacking.

So of to do painting now, then when I come back and the freezer has melted all over the kitchen I can score several things of the list. :beer: