Journey to happy skinflintedness

saraih

Babysat, weird enough hours but all I have to do is give them breakfast so it's the easiest crate of fruit & veg ever :j I'll chop it up later and freeze what can be frozen.

No news, no shopping, all the bills have gone out for this month. Need to get out with the wheelchair before we have to give it back, so maybe a long walk tomorrow if I put some soup in flasks (no picnic type stuff in).

There's some serious number crunching to be done for payday to see if this bill can get paid from OH's wages and make sure the normal bills won't be left hanging. I'd hate to bounce a DD just to pay something that doesn't really need paying.

Right! off to clean the grout in the kitchen, what a rock n roller :rotfl:

ailz95

saraih wrote: »

Thanks! I got a small sack of seed potatoes off the market, but also chucked whatever grew sprouts in there. Every time they grow a few inches I stick more soil on. A whole bunch at the front look nearly ready now but a few have been edible for a while. No idea which did better so I'll have to be more on top of things next time

I want tomatoes and onions next time as well. Can't wait.

The wheelchair turned out really well, aside that OH doesn't think much of it. It's a lot easier to push that round than to stop every five minutes and have a rest. Pretty sure it's giving me a workout too

Hi,

I'm following your diary with interest. You amaze me - your positivity and general good humour in a situation that would have sent many people under. I'm definitely subscribing.

I'm a wheelchair user, I have a motorised scooter, but prefer a manual wheelchair as I can get out and push it if I feel up to it, and get back in when I'm tired. It's also useful for carrying shopping in - either all over me :rotfl: and the handles or on the seat with me pushing. The only problem is conversation my hubby can't (or won't) hear me most of the time.

Keep it up - you really are a wonderful role model - perhaps you should be giving talks to the local WI

Ailz

ailz95

saraih wrote: »

Plodding along, seriously bored as both lads are out all day now and my house has never been so clean. Taken to sorting out drawers and looking for bits to throw out

I did look into renting this wheelchair for another few weeks but it's just not going to happen so we'll have to manage until I can squeeze one out of the budget. It won't be too long and we can get this weekend out of it before it gets returned.

Son & heir managed his first full week at college so I'll give it another week or so and order his books and study guides. I kept the money back but didn't get them in case he changed his mind. He's been managing his cash well so I'm less bothered about how that will go.

No news from the agency since I turned those bad hours down but I did hear that the cleaning might pick up next week so that's good.

I did order OH's birthday present from the Amazon vouchers, superduper expensive slippers! I swear we aren't even that old :rotfl: but he complains about his current pair and this pair are very nice. Son & heir will pay for a cake from his earnings as his usual contribution.

Look at places other than ebay for wheelchairs. I bought one from one of the mobility companies - free delivery - and it was £69. It's a small wheeled one but it doesn't sound like your hubby will want to self-propel.

Ailz

saraih

Thanks very much ailz95! Yes it's a small wheel one we need, he can't push himself and it's mostly for his tiredness anyway. I'll definitely have a look in the mobility sites, they seem a lot cheaper than their own ebay stores for some reason.

It's been great for shopping, he could never carry much and I can pile it on the handles and his lap and get a lot more :rotfl:

saraih

Well one day to payday and hopefully paying off this stupid bill. Took a long walk on Sunday as I have to drop the chair off tomorrow so wanted to get some use out of it, it was really quiet for some reason and all the wildlife was out. Lovely.

No other news, nothing comes out just before payday so it always feels like the eye of the storm.

Son & heir's class was cancelled this afternoon because four out of fourteen showed up to it! People don't half take a free education for granted, I hope they don't cancel the course as he seems to be enjoying it aside from the awkward ice breaker sessions last week.

Cleaning tomorrow morning, then down to the Red Cross and then pay some bills. The electric has really gone down recently, at one point a year or so ago I was paying £70+ a month, down to a regular £55. I won't hold out any hope for the gas this winter.

OH needs to top up his coffee money this week but it's heavily subsidised at work so a fiver will do for the month. He isn't supposed to drink it at all but I have to pick my battles with his diet, no biscuits or snacks nearly kills him as it is. He says you can barely call it coffee anyway :rotfl:

Back to veg curry and rice tonight, there's piles of basics in but I'm really struggling to be inventive when the usuals are so easy. Need to get on and look up some new recipes, especially for the slow cooker.

saraih

Well I paid everything and there's a whole £37 left over from my cleaning, OH's wages, DLA and child benefit for the month.

At least it's left over and not owed

Now I just need to earn something to make up for it. There's tax credits weekly as well so we won't starve and the regular bills will still be paid. Still, it's a bit much for this happy skinflint because it involved borrowing a bit from the travel money until I can replace it. As long as they reimburse OH in a sort of reasonable timeframe it'll be fine.

For the statute barred debts this gets rid of 9.5k and there's another 6k to various places left. It's still a lot but when we're in a better place I reckon most of them will take 5-10% to shut up.

It should look like an improvement to the security clearance people anyway, so it's in the positive pile for this month.

This £37 though! I'm tempted to see what's on at the theatre and see if everyone fancies it. Cheap tickets and taxi fare and we could be down to a whole zero :rotfl: or I could be sensible and shuffle it off to the credit union before I can hit 'buy'.

saraih

Aww, well I put it in the credit union anyway. I'll see if we can do the theatre at the end of this month instead

ailz95

Well done in putting it in the credit union. Why not look now at what is coming up over the next few weeks at the theatre - as hubby is in a wheelchair one of you should get in free as a carer - it would give you all something to look forward, but don't forget to book a wheelchair seat they are usually at the front or down the end of aisles

Ailz

saraih

Thanks, I didn't want to do it though :rotfl:

OH isn't comfortable enough in a chair to use it for a night out, maybe in the future but he very grumpily allows it for shopping and days out as it is. If we get taxis he can do shorter distances no problem so it's probably a conversation for later on in his wheelchair adventures.

I didn't know that a users +1 got in cheaper though, that's a great tip! thanks very much!

saraih

Managed to get in a bit of cleaning this morning, kept three quid back for milk and bread and shoved the rest in the bank in case of surprises.

OH definitely has his eye on a tablet. It could be annoying but his goals aren't the same as my goals and he doesn't have a clue how close to the edge we sail. I'm just going to try to get him one next pay day and view it as an investment in not arguing about money. He doesn't make many demands and it isn't worth the conflict.

Between that, a wheelchair and some winter proofing that's the plans for an emergency fund this month out the window

October - accounted for
November - son & heir birthday
December - christmas

On the bright side son & heir is never very demanding either, so some cash can definitely be saved from those wages. Even brighter, the next big cash layout isn't until March for new specs for everyone.

So not so bad of an outlook in the short-ish term although I'd love to get to the stage where I save for these things every month instead of blowing out a whole month on them at a time.

Now the management org. have decided to give us 24 hrs notice that they're inspecting the electrics in the house! great, so I can't take any work if it's offered and have to wait in all day in case they actually show up. I know from experience that trying to re-arrange never works, it just confuses the poor dears and loses me more days in the long run.

I won't complain about the electrics though, on balance it's probably better to be massively inconvenienced than massively electrocuted

Cashed out another £15 for surveys so Amazon isn't looking so pathetic any more :j