Second Time Lucky

amycool

It's been a busy week so I've just spent some time looking at the account and seeing how much I'll be able to overpay. I'm 99% sure we'll have £500 so I decided just to overpay it today as I have another busy week next week.

The only big expenses this month were £360 on the roof work and £142 for tyres, so we should have some money for the savings account.

We managed to put the shed up last weekend and it's now all painted and looking beautiful. It was a bit of an eyesore before we painted it. I'm planning to put a brick edge around the old garage platform and fill with gravel so we can have somewhere to sit. I also need to get some nice big planters.

I've failed hugely so far this month on organising quotes for the bedroom and the gates. I keep changing my mind about how the gates should be. I'm now thinking it would be wiser to have fencing but with a small gate within, as then the garden would be more private.

I've had 3 driving lessons now. I'm not very good so I imagine it will cost a fair bit once I've passed. At least I'm still saying "once I've passed" and not "If I pass".

I came home from my friend's house with a whole bootload of plants. Lots of strawberries, so I hope they all fruit, and a fair few plants and shrubs so I can fill some of the many gaps in our borders. I haven't actually managed to plant them all out yet.

I sowed some courgettes today. The radishes are growing well (apart from where the badger dug them up) and I've put out my leeks. The spinach had turned into giant leaves so we used them all up in a curry last night. The lettuce looks similar. It's amazing how quickly it grows! I'll need the space for other things soon so we need to keep eating it. The peas and beans also look good.

I can't imagine the fruit bushes being big enough to fruit this year when I look at them now, but I guess they have a while yet.

I'm going to need a hell of a lot of compost in the near future so I need to start looking online for cheap bulk compost. The problem is that bulk is often far more than I could ever use.

Let's see how I did for my April list (I know it's only the 24th but I have no time free this week):
Sort out terrible roof - done
Put up shed (when it arrives) - done
Get quotes for the gate and possibly railing for old garage platform edge - FAIL
Get quotes for woodworking in bedroom - FAIL
Get new tyres for the car - done
Go to the dentist - done
Start driving lessons - done
Keep sowing seeds - done
Hope the badger doesn't destroy any more of the garden - FAIL :rotfl:

debtfreeoneday

I had to smile at your MSE not having a shower today ploy!

All sounds very active in your end of the world, so well done for all you have achieved this month and £500 OP is fab!

NorthernMonkey1

I've had a quick read through your diary, and I can't believe how much electricity you don't use! My energy use is consistently around 9 to 11 units per day, and has been for years.


You used 14 units in a week

Luckyinlife

well done on the overpayment great job :]

amycool

NorthernMonkey1 wrote: »

I've had a quick read through your diary, and I can't believe how much electricity you don't use! My energy use is consistently around 9 to 11 units per day, and has been for years.


You used 14 units in a week

I think 12 is probably the lowest we've managed, although I suspect it was even less at the last house! It's funny because it doesn't feel like we're that careful with electric. There's always a computer or tablet charging, the TV is often on and my OH is constantly boiling a kettle.

It would be interesting to hear what other people are doing to use so much more energy. There are only two of us of course, and I'm pretty strict when it comes to not leaving things on that we're not using. Our TV is quite small too, but I can't imagine that would make much difference. We also have a gas oven and hob and a handmower as our lawn is tiny.

amycool

Oops, forgot that OH had to pay £120 for membership to a professional organisation this month.

A very busy weekend as my sister has had an operation so we've been babysitting. The only costs were flowers and petrol. I did treat myself at aldi though to a plastic tray for potting up things. I could have come home with about 8 things if we'd had room in the car. I'm a sucker for gardening stuff.

Cut my hair on Friday as it was getting too long (I have awfully thin hair). Cutting my own hair is more of a "I feel uncomfortable at hairdressers" thing than an MSE thing but it does save me a fair bit of money. I cut my Mum's on Sunday too (hers tends to end up looking better than mine as I can actually see the back :rotfl:) and was paid in a packet of Malteser bunnies. Mmmmm.

Got a call from the opticians to say my new frames (they broke last week) are ready. Unfortunately, I can't get there easily on public transport so they'll just have to wait until I can get a lift. Both times they phoned were really inconvenient and they sounded really p'd off with me (all hell was breaking loose in the background). I would say they should make their glasses frames tougher and then they wouldn't need to replace them.

Had to put the heating on yesterday!!

amycool

I'm a fool sometimes. I've been procrastinating over transferring my ISA for ages and today realised that I literally just had to click a few buttons. Basically, we have £10,000 in an ISA earning 1% interest. By locking it in for 2 years, we'll get 2% interest.

I did a lot of umming and ahhing though because we're earning the equivalent of 2.4% interest in the 123 account. We're still a fair way away from maxing out the full £20,000 but I'm aware that over 2 years we might end up over the £20,000 limit (redundancy pay may be on the cards soon) and I can't be bothered with setting up another account. I could have sat and worked it all out, but essentially, I'm getting twice as much as I was before, and that can't be bad.

There's also a very small possibility that I may have a small inheritance coming, as a family member told another family member that I and my siblings were named in deceased person's will. However, no news probably means that they were lying. I'm morally against the idea of inheriting money unless one is desperately in need, so this will at least take that problem away if there were lying!

4th driving lesson today. Did some busier roads. Brain was in a constant state of overheating but I'm definitely improving. Slowly (very slowly) but surely. :rotfl:

I've e-mailed a chap about the woodworking so we'll see if he can fit me in for a quote. He appears to also do fencing and gates but I'm not sure if he'd put the gate posts in too.

amycool

After a very busy, unwell and tiring week, I have taken a little time to myself whilst OH watches a film to do a nice monthly round-up. This month has flown by and I don't feel like I've made as much progress as usual with everything.

1. Overpaid £500 and put £555 in the savings. Technically I'm supposed to put half in OPs and half in savings but the savings are being rapidly depleted so the extra £55 won't hurt.

2. We have now knocked 1 year and 2 months off the final repayment date, which is nice. I think that equates to almost £2000 saved in interest.

3. We have knocked 50p off our daily interest since we started the mortgage.

4. Made an extra £15 interest on the ISA this month.

5. OH was paid an extra £12 this month (I made an extra £1 - you can tell I work in the public sector )

6. The roof work was all completed.

7. Used lots of free lettuce and spinach this month, which more veg growing away.

8. Spent £285 on driving lessons, although this should take me through May.

Okay, so a plan for May:

1. Get quotes for woodwork
2. Get quotes for gate/fence
3. Get horrible dental work done
4. Complete all the adoption paperwork for stage two
5. Fit water butt
6. Plant out remaining plants that are in pots
7. Gloss woodwork in bedroom once work is complete
8. Get rid of sofabed
9. Start work on back garden

amycool

I had quite a spendy day yesterday. We went to Buxton for the day to treat my friends as they have done us a huge favour recently. We ate at a fancy cafe and then had a trip to Scrivener's, the best book shop ever. I could have spent a small fortune, but we ended up getting a first edition Sigmund Freud for my OH (from his birthday money), an illustrated Little Women as a 1st birthday gift for my niece, a 1995 Dennis the Menace annual for my nephew, and I bought a lovely copy of Gulliver's Travels for our future child. I could have spent a few more hours there really.

We also finally got round to buying a water butt, which will hopefully placate our next door neighbour (one of our gutters flows into her garden!) and reduce our water bill.

Managed to get to the opticians and the frames were the wrong ones so they have said they'll post them to me. However, my new Glasses Direct ones arrived so I'm actually okay for glasses for a while.

I've been a bit lax on the meter readings front this month (too busy) so I need to get back on it really so we don't lose track. Our total for April (for both) was £38.90, which is 27p a day for electricity and 58p a day for gas apparently. Similar numbers to last month but slightly lower on gas. According to the statement, we could change tariff and save a small amount over the year, but it hardly seems worth it. We pay quite a bit extra for a green tariff, which I'm happy with.

I have a man booked in for Tuesday to look at the work we need doing, and my dentist is on Wednesday so hopefully I won't need any more work after that.

I've had 5 driving lessons now and had my first horribly embarrassing moment where the instructor had to use her pedals. I was hoping to start practising with my OH but now I wonder if it might be safer to wait a little while longer. I'm making progress, but it's painfully slow in coming and with every new thing I get a bit anxious. My spatial awareness has always been appalling, which doesn't help. I still get a little enjoyment from them though, which is better than lots of people, so I'll just keep plugging away.

giblet1979

Hey amy,
Gosh it sounds like you've been really busy! You're doing great thought - fantastic overpayments and savings, whilst still getting a million things done. I need to take a leaf out of your book
Hope you feel better soon xx