Paying the car tax via EBay, and other shenanigans.

mfmaybe

I know I said I was going to bed, but....

Did some more spreadsheet-y stuff. Predicted overspend now down at £127. Going in the right direction.

Also now have my difference on my monthly credit card bill down to £60. That's the card I put all the monthly living expenses on. Always pay it off in full but it's always been "in arrears". Trying to set aside the money every time I spend on it.

mfmaybe

So I can't do the tax return as it's too soon, but have tried to draft a calculation. It's hard as the rules are changing regarding mortgage interest and not sure exactly how it will all work out. On the face of it, looks like I might be due a small repayment; but actually more realistically it will be roughly net neutral. That's ok though as it technically gives me £50 free out of my budget for the next 9 months or so. Realistically though I am going to have to find ways to overpay this mortgage now, which will be hard considering its earning me no rent.

Yesterday wasn't a bad spend day, the usual coffee and although I didn't have lunch with me I kept it very frugal - bought a YS sandwich and a bag of popcorn for £2. Unfortunately spent another £1.50 on cakes for RND. WFH today though which should be a NSD, albeit DS went to the shops. Our grocery budget just is not under control. It's not horrific; but we are doing top up shops all the time.

mfmaybe

DS about to go down for a nap so I need a plan. We are changing agents and they will take some new photos including a high mast outdoor one. So I need to prioritise outside I think. Clear up any obvious rubbish or very weedy bits. Tidy up gardening things. Hang washing on line. (It's sunny, yay!). And I would really like to clean out my car.

Better crack on!

mfmaybe

Weird weekend. Weather was lovely. We had some brilliant moments, all of us outside, me mucking out stables, DH doing some work on one of his bikes; DS pottering between us trying to decide if sweeping or spray bottles were more fun . And lovely mothers day gifts (perfectly low cost - a mug to replace one that got broken and some chocolate). But was feeling very meh and not quite sure why, I think the continued limbo of not selling our house.

Still, in much much MUCH better news, DH has a job :j:j:T:beer::T:j:j. It's on the same salary as his last one, he has a month or so before it starts so hopefully he can have a bit of downtime and also get the bits and bobs done in the house. We might even squeeze in a holiday.

Otherwise, things ticking along. Had to spend a bit over budget on hay and bedding for the horses but this is offset by not having to start paying livery for them yet. So am hoping budget will be ok. Oh yes I did however order cat litter and lightbulbs; the latter is just as well as a second one has just gone in the same room. Weather has been milder so been good about keeping heating off as much as possible and using stove.

WFH day tomorrow so hopefully not too much needing spent. Today I only bought coffee, 79p bag of popcorn (I'm obsessed!) and £1 on milk. Beginning to wonder if I could make an aeropress work in the office though. It's a very large office, so can't just leave things in the kitchen and we hot desk so everything would have to live in my locker.

Oh yes and also the 5 year goal is being worked on, so trying to be as good as possible with money in this respect too!

Right, horses then bed.

mfmaybe

I'm dwelling on a strategy for our LPG. If or when we have an offer on the house, we won't want to leave a nearly-full tank.The tank is 2000L but they only fill it to about 1900. In a horrific shock recently we used about half that much in 6 weeks but that was Very Very Bad. But going by that as worst case scenario, a full tank would be 12 weeks, at the very least. Whereas an offer on the house, whenever it comes, is most likely to be 6-8 weeks to completion. So we'd be giving away some gas for free. I'm therefore thinking we could ask them to only top up to a lower amount, say 1200L. As we are coming into the warmer weather now, this should work. The slight issue is that they stop the regular top ups soon - in the summer we only get one top-up half way through - so we would need to be sure we still had enough gas to last the longer break without a fill. (Assuming we haven't sold by then, which at this rate is entirely possible).

This is also in part triggered by the fact the price is going up again.

mfmaybe

Tonight's musing is on whether we should have found the money early on in this house to get the extension done. Our sale is being hampered by the number of bedrooms even though the house is relatively big. Once we started to feel uncertain about our future here, due to the lack of land for the horses, we put off and put off making a decision on the extension. By the time we were ready to sell, doing the extension made no sense. 9 years ago it would have though. We'd have enjoyed living here so much more as it would have warmed up the house, given us a lovely kitchen, spare room for guests once DS arrived etc. But we are where we are and the trick now is to learn the lesson. Whatever that is.

mfmaybe

Well I mused for too long on the LPG as we had a delivery yesterday. On the plus side, it was waaay less than the last time - about 570L instead of 870L. So a big win for trying to keep the heating off where possible etc. I'ts still a huge amount though, over £200 in 6 weeks. I think DS bath is probably a big culprit though. Still, it's a reduction and that's the main thing, hopefully it will be on a downward trajectory now as I feel like our account must be a fair bit behind.

Was hoping today would be a NSD but don't think it will as have a coffee morning thing at nursery and think it's a fundraiser. Hopefully for charity rather than the nursery, as I'm not inclined to donate generously to a nursery we pay £46/day for

Anyway better crack on - oh yes car windscreen is being replaced today so I will have to pay the excess, so definitely not a NSD sadly.

mfmaybe

Been a busy few days with a DS slightly off colour. Feeling a bit tired after some disturbed nights, which we've not had for months.

In car news, 3rd and final vehicle through its MOT. I've also got it being serviced as that was well overdue. So including that, and the excess on the replacement windscreen, it will probably be around £250 I've spent. It needs a brake disc and pad replacing, but my friendly father will do that. So all in, none of the vehicles needed huge amounts of work but it still adds up. Luckily it was all saved up for which is great :T.

Horses have also moved to their summer home. They seem happy and the cost isn't too bad, but likely to be some increased fuel costs. Will try to make journeys do double duty where possible.

And house should be going live with a new agent this week or maybe next, so fingers massively crossed for that.

mfmaybe

Ooh coffee loyalty card was full. I wonder if I could manage a NSD. Have soup with me.

mfmaybe

Managed a NSD, yippee :j. I don't get many of them. And it really was a genuine one. The coffee was free, and I had the chunky soup with me. But despite also having a slice of homemade cake I was feeling a bit peckish and nearly splurged on something in the afternoon. Resisted, and seem to have magically not wasted away into thin air. :cool:

One thing I set myself a mini target of at the beginning of the year, was no takeaway coffees in takeaway mugs. I use a Keepcup in the office (10p less per drink too); and am proud to say that so far this year I've used the grand total of 1 throwaway cup, when I bought a coffee just before my hairdresser appointment last month. I'm actually really proud of that, and it's helped with cost cutting too as I feel like saying no to a coffee is saving the planet so I don't feel deprived

I am thinking I might need to be a bit more rigid about meal planning soon as DH will start work again and we'll be up against it, time wise. My basic starting point will be to make one pan of soup for lunches, and one stew or roast or something that can do a few nights. Homemade pizza, a pasta dish one night, fish 2 nights and maybe something like scampi or pies or something lazy one night too.