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The Road to Financial Security

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  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    hmm three updates have just returned time out errors but the test message I did worked fine - so touch wood this one works - such scintillating stuff :j

    Pretty easy day really so am surprised how tired I feel, wondering if its just getting older, a sign I am coming down with something or my unhealthy diet of late catching up with me.

    My diet is worrying me and I do need to improve it - but saying and doing are very different and it just doesn't seem to be within my grasp right now.

    I have just made a big fruit salad - much more healthy than a cornetto :D

    Have also made onion tart for dinner - vegetarian Monday.

    Went £10 over estimate on today's supermarket shop but did a really big stock up and bought DS some pjs for £12.50 so I'll factor that in and claim I'm really within budget.

    Didn't get round to the batch cooking cottage pies though so will aim for that tomorrow.

    I did contact JL regarding the sofa with the rip and they are giving us £180 money back which ain't too shabby.
  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    Am feeling very contented today, amazing how how satisfied I feel just pottering around - i.e not being at work.

    Made 2 cottage pies and 2 bolognese sauces - we'll have spag bol for dinner this evening and the others will all go in the freezer.

    This afternoon went to the cinema with a friend and her kids. One of them is injured so we couldn't do anything too active. Film wasn't as bad as I was expecting and although cinema tickets & refreshments aren't cheap I did budget £100 for half term week to do stuff so it can come out of that.

    Compensation cheque of £30 from BG arrived today (DH got this for complaining) - letter was to both of us but cheque just in his name so I don't suppose I'll get my paws on that.
  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    Yesterday was busy and expensive - I should also add enjoyable into the mix!

    Took DS up to London to watch Wicked and as DH is working up there we met him after work and went out for some dinner.

    Not exactly stress free given the theatre finished at 5.20 so rush hour was in full swing and we struggle to find one another at the station - what did we all do pre mobile phones!

    Had intended to go for dinner in Richmond where the car was parked but after failing to get on 2 trains there we walked down to South Bank and went to the BFI restaurant - pretty good but very frantic and they also did that annoying thing of adding 12.5% service charge. I really resent paying it but always do as I don't want to have a go at the poor waitress and can never think of a nice way to say I'm not paying.

    Anyway DS enjoyed the show and although meeting DH wasn't the exciting experience I envisaged it was good and he is now off work until Monday.

    Spends not good and I always forget how expensive London is:

    £45 on train tickets
    £7 on theatre programme
    £6 - 2 mocha coffees at st@rbucks - thats more expensive than Reading!
    £3 on 2 bottles diet coke at WH Sm1ths after show
    £55 on dinner - hmm - 2 burgers one with chips, one coleslaw & 1 fish & chips - 3 diet cokes!

    And the thing I most resented having to pay for !!!

    £0.30 to to go to the loo at Victoria Station - the term 'spend a penny' seems somewhat out of date.

    I shouldn't go like this - we had a lovely day out, don't do it very often and can afford it - I just forget how expensive London is - I really am an old grouch these days!

    Today will be much more low key although unlikely no spend as I think we'll pop to the DIY store for paint etc for DS's room. Also got an electrician coming to review our wiring and discuss how best to bring it up to code and improve it - would certainly like to reduce the nests of cables we have in certain areas of the house.
  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    Hi Pushkin, sorry to butt into your thread. I find Oven Pride, the orange box which cost around £3-£4 is excellent. I've never found a good oven cleaner until I used this one. You wipe the cream on the surfaces including the glass front. Put kitchen roll or tea towel underneath to stop drips. You then put the shelves in a bag with the stuff in. Next morning it all wipes off so easily.
    I'm saying all this and you might have already tried it :o but if not, it's certainly the best stuff I've ever used.

    NiftyThriftyT33 - felt I should report back as we have now cleaned out both ovens with Oven Pride and it's AMAZING! So little effort as you just put the racks in the bag provided, pour in the solution and leave overnight. Ovens and racks look sparkling new.

    Big fly in the ointment though in that some of the lotion leaked out onto the kitchen work surface where we left them overnight and the work surface is now bleached/stained rather noticeably. Flipping annoyed to say the least and lesson learned that we should have put newspaper down - this is obviously strong stuff.

    As OH said we saved £60 paying to get the oven cleaned but will now need to replace possibly the entire work surface likely cost over £1k.
  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    The stain on the work surface looks horrible so we'll have to think about what we can do to improve it - really hope it doesn't mean replacing the whole lot - it's about 10 years old but in pretty good condition and we have quite a big kitchen so dread to think what the cost would be. :mad:

    Am itching to update my figures since it's 1st of the month but as the payments won't go out until Monday I'll hold off until then.

    Was also disappointed to see on the gas/electric usage that we used more gas in October this year than last year - this baffles me as we have a new boiler, it was a very warm October this year and I made a conscious effort not to put the heating on during the day on more than one occasion. It's only pennies more so DH is uninterested but definitely something to keep a check on.

    Am trying to do the housework which was something I really didn't do much of on my week off - feeling guilty about that now. DH is at the hardware store buying paint for DS's room - not sure letting a colour blind man go alone to choose this was the wisest option :rotfl:

    Haven't done anything on eb@y for a few weeks now and can't seem to kick start that which I know I should. Ditto the surveys - I tried a couple this week but qualified out of both and I am not being emailed that many lately either. So a list of activities for the remainder of the weekend:

    Hoover through downstairs
    Washing - do, dry and put away!
    Ironing - ds & dh shirts - dh will do at least half of this
    Put box of decluttered stuff in attic for storage
    Cook meal for Monday night - good plan as I won't feel like cooking on first day back
    Go through DS's school books with him to check all homework has been done
  • shala_moo
    shala_moo Posts: 3,272 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Pushkin wrote: »
    The stain on the work surface looks horrible so we'll have to think about what we can do to improve it - really hope it doesn't mean replacing the whole lot - it's about 10 years old but in pretty good condition and we have quite a big kitchen so dread to think what the cost would be. :mad:

    Am itching to update my figures since it's 1st of the month but as the payments won't go out until Monday I'll hold off until then.

    Sorry to hear about the stain..

    Is it in an area where you could just buy a lovely wooden chopping board to leave out on the surface?? or could you just replace that section of the work top?

    Alternatively, just drape a tea towel over it all the time :D

    It's horrible having to wait to update spreadsheets isn't it... roll on Monday - and that's something I NEVER say!!:rotfl:
    Mortgage amount at 31/12/2011 £166,050 now £0 as at Sept 21 - 15yrs 4 months early.


  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    Hi Shala-moo - have tried putting the chopping board over the worktop stain but as it's at the front edge I think it looks a bit odd. We'll live with it for a while and see what happens. My dad thinks it might fade to become un-noticeable but he is neither a kitchen nor a DIY expert!

    Your switching of bank accounts has really got me thinking and I have been researching current accounts that pay interest.

    We were at the theatre last night which was a very enjoyable evening, took my parents for their respective birthday presents. It's a theatre where you have dinner first then go and watch the play. We bought the tickets ages ago and although expensive is better value than going up to London I think.

    I was annoyed though when buying a round of drinks to actually see the 2ltr bottle of diet coke behind the bar. Pour out a glass of that and charge £2 for it - the whole bottle cost them less than that!

    Had to pop to the supermarket (again) today as we ran out of dog chews - she always has one after her pm walk and is such a creature of habit. Of course I never just buy one thing when I go to the supermarket - that was another £20 gone. Thats the 3rd supermarket trip this week - and we have eaten dinner out twice! Must do better!

    Fairly lazy day today although I did get the house in reasonable order and do the ironing while DH sanded the downstairs loo ready for re-decoration - get us preparing rooms properly - we are growing up!
  • cookie9
    cookie9 Posts: 764 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi Pushkin, did the trick with the MAC code work for you? Enjoying your diary. I have been trying out a few slow cooker recipes too in a effort to cut down on electricity costs. ( DH is the worst for leaving lights on, speakers and chargers so need to do something to offset his usage!)
    MFW 91 op 2014 £410/1000
    MFW 91 op 2015 £4051/4000
    MFW 91 op 2016 £4040/4000
    MFW 91 op 2017 £812/4500
  • amycool
    amycool Posts: 866 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Hi Pushkin!

    Just wanted to say that I love tracking my gas/electric/water! :D My neighbour probably wonders why I check my gas meter every Thursday, but I find it's good to keep us in check. If we have a particularly high week, I'm extra careful the week after. It's also really interesting comparing to the year before, although we've just moved so I've started afresh.

    Sorry to hear about the kitchen worktop - hope you find a solution that doesn't cost too much.
    Mortgage (Start Sep 2014)- £70,295/£0 - 100%
    Overpayments - £48829.37 :j:j:j
    Mortgage paid off Jan 2020
  • Pushkin
    Pushkin Posts: 795 Forumite
    Hi Amycool & Cookie 9 (practices wave emoticon) :wave:

    Lovely to 'meet' another gas/electric enthusee - I aim to try to reduce ours - we pay a silly amount - £100 a month electricity & £80 gas. I do work from home but still - its a 3 bed semi with 3 of us living here! So I'm taking this as my starting point and am pulling stats together and training the boys and yes DH needs it almost as much as DS!

    Ooh never thought about electricity usage regarding the slow cooker- missed a trick there. Am doing a ham tomorrow so will check it with my electric metre thingy.

    What is a/the 'MAC code' - I feel I should know but I don't!

    Thank you for reading!
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