Cheery's buttling diary: tea in one hand, plant pot in the other, running shoes on

Cheery_Daff

Yep - carrot (and lentil) soup for lunch every day this week, and carrot cake muffins for snacks :j I'll be turning orange at this rate And there's still a bag and a half left! :eek: :rotfl:

Odd day today - strangely enough *everyone* else has been rather annoying :eek: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: But my lovely boss did give me some of her chocolate brownie earlier so that made things slightly better

And I just reached the payout on Sw@gbucks again :money: Just deciding to go with cash or vouchers... Vouchers slightly cheaper, but then I'll just end up buying books I don't need with them, whereas cash can go straight into the house fund...

Nowt much else to report. Going to an event this weekend which is £90 (but that includes all accommodation, food and classes/workshops etc) but need to book train tickets - shouldn't be more than £45 I don't think but will see if I can knock some off that. Just need to be organised with food etc so I'm not buying stuff for snacks on the way there and back

Right - hot water bottle and sofa time I think

Tescodealqueen

Yay to the SB payout. I have been using mine for M and S vouchers which I use to buy birthday presents and then put the money I would have spent in the holiday pot. M and S vouchers slightly better value than the others at the moment which I would have been tempted to spend on crafty stuff

Cheery_Daff

Good plan TDQ :j I thought about M&S this time as I could do with an underwear restock... but in the end went for @mazon as there's a book I want, amd while I'll buy underwear anyway the book is a treat

JUst trying to up it enough for another one now to cover it :j

Cheery_Daff

Got another 185 SBs today from a couple of well paying surveys :j Might try another one later if I get stuff finished :j

In the meantime... just preparing to go away for the weekend, but rapidly running out of enthusiasm So I'm here with a colourful list

9.05-9.15: tidying
* wash up
* put bread on for morning

9.15-9.30: preparing
* check instructions
* make list of stuff to take
* check directions
* check timings - what's the latest I can leave work?

9.30-9.45: pack!

9.45-10: tomorrow
* sort out lunch for tomorrow
* get work kit out of bike pannier and into something more sensible

10-10.15: extras
* download MP3s (might set this to do at work while I'm in a meeting)

Right, best get on with it I suppose!

EssexHebridean

Hope you got it all done Cheery and that your travel later goes to plan! Have a lovely weekend!

Cheery_Daff

Well I got *enough* of it done and am now on the train so it's tough

Not spent any dosh on food while travelling (although I did need a new notebook and was tempted by shiny pens... so that was £4.50 that I probably didn't need to spend on stationery...)

Shouldnt need to spend on food all weekend as it's catered and included in price, and I"ve brought snacks just in case

Only other potential costs are a book stall... maybe people selling stuff they've made, and one of Mr Cheery's pals lives just up the road so there's an outside chance I may sneak off for a cuppa with him at some point. We'll see.

Can't believe its still light! I know I left work early but even so! :j :j :j

Cheery_Daff

Evening MSE chums :hello:

Gosh, it's been a long week! :eek:

Lovely weekend :j Tasty food, cheery pals, interesting activities, a cheap nasty bed but I was so tired the second night I slept right through anyway :rotfl:

£145 in total on food, accommodation, event, trains and taxi back from station - not toooooo bad.
£4.15 on ONE DRINK in the pub :eek: :eek: This is why I mostly drink at home :rotfl:

Nothing much to report since then. Me and Mr Cheery had breakfast at work one morning, a little ritual we're falling into once a week or so, which is cheery for me and means he gets up and about much earlier than usual. Costs about £4 a time - unnecessary yes, but at £2 each we're not toooo worried

Feb is turning out to be more spendy than Uber Frugal Jan (of course) but not too bad still.

Stupid gas/electric direct debit has put itself up to £106 and I haven't had the energy to complain Doesn't really matter as I don't need them to do anything, just would have liked more warning out of courtesy!

Got £4.95 from 'everyday rewards' thing from bank :j Max is £5.50 though - it's £4 for meeting certain criteria (which I do every month), plus 5p every time you use debit card up to max of £1.50. Obviously reaping the (lack of) rewards for Uber Frugal Jan non-spending :rotfl:

Another £5 voucher cashed out on sw@gbucks tonight :j Haven't quite given it up but just doing every now and then rather than every day. Still, I had a specific book in mind which is now 'free' (including postage) so all good :j Will ignore for a while now probably

Currently grumpy and full of cold - have a cup of tea with whiskey in though so all is good Don't even like the stuff but it seems pretty unnoticeable in tea :rotfl:

Right, off to lie down til I have something more interesting to report. Possibly on payday tomorrow when I'll have an indication of how much we might aim to save by the end of the month

Hope you're all good

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Nothing much to report since then. Me and Mr Cheery had breakfast at work one morning, a little ritual we're falling into once a week or so, which is cheery for me and means he gets up and about much earlier than usual. Costs about £4 a time - unnecessary yes, but at £2 each we're not toooo worried

But Cheery I wouldn't worry about that £4 - you're actually getting tremendous value for money, as you're getting prepared food/drink and they're doing the washing up! You'd have hard time getting nice ingredients for a 'nice' brekkie for under £4 - bit of fresh juice, jar of posh marmalade, bowl of luxury muesli (even from mrAl) - you'd still have the washing up, and all the potential to linger over the papers or find other ways to while away the morning hours. £2 a head is worth it. I think even Frugalwoods would see the value of that one

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Indeed and it means I get a lift to work and I don't see Mr Cheery much in daylight :rotfl: and he used to work here too years ago so occasionally sees someone he knos bargain I reckon although it's not exactly a luxury breakfast - this week he had hash browns on toast, and I had porridge (admittedly with all kinds of sprinklings and honey which we woulsn't have at home)

Forgot to say Giffg@ff have changed their goodybag system so mine now includes 2gb of data rather than 1gb for the same price :j excellent - I went over a couple of months before Christmas :eek: although now Ive fixed house wifi and sorted access to wifi at work that's not been a problem. Good to have the extra if we're away or somethig though.

Still full of cold and having slight sense of humour failure at work today :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Today's Public Service Announcement:

If you get notification that your car insurance is about to expire, CHECK YOUR DOCUMENTS IMMEDIATELY. No, nothing has changed - except perhaps that you have a new debit card, so the payment details they have are invalid. They will email you - 2 hours before policy expires, when you are at work. They will ring you - again, when you are at work, and you will not get the message until their office has shut.

You will, sighing and grumping, check price comparison websites, and find that they are still the cheapest insurer by a LONG way. However, their website will not let you change your policy details or even buy a brand new policy, and their line doesn't open til 9am tomorrow.

You will, therefore, end up doing the very thing that you hate - checking every price comparison website - and finding that every other policy is over £50 more expensive.

You will therefore end up paying £20 for a one day insurance policy to cover you until their offices open at 9am, on the off chance that tonight is the one night that your car gets nicked.

:eek: :rotfl: