Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

shangaijimmy

There I go returning to my diary and then vanishing again for 6 days...oops.

Currently in the mid month financial slump. All bills paid, payday still a week away which means shuffling is a week away. And no matter how many times I look the numbers on my spreadsheet don't appear to change.

Last weeks roundup pot from card purchases was £3.56 and this OP's yesterday. I've also kept on with TT's everyday to keep momentum going. Several days I TT'd a whole £1 as the account was already tidy.

Ventured out with a couple of friends for our first pub visit yesterday afternoon. A lovely little sun trap in the garden of our local for 3 hours. Thankfully our local is a little pub that doesn't do food so no queue's, no booking needed, no time limit at the table. Place was 60% full I would say.

I have a filling scheduled in for Thursday which will bring an end to my broken tooth from the last 9 months! Thankfully I have had no pain, other than when a nut got stuck in the broken bit, but I know I've been on borrowed time so I'll be relieved to have it done. I was expecting to it need taking out but dentists reckons its salvageable so if I get another 5 years out of it I'll take that.

Then next week I have a hayfever injection. I really do suffer badly for about 6 weeks during May and June. Tablets do very little. A herbal one helps in the normal season but not when I get a flare up. Last year I reckon every night for about 3 weeks I had to go to sleep with a wet flannel over my face, and wake up like I've had a reaction to being in a room with a cat. Always wary about my chest and an asthma flare up. So this year I've booked the jab at a private clinic. I'm hoping its the best £95 I spend this year...And if not, at least I have a supply of flannels ready!

Suffolk_lass

I wonder if you are having the Kenalog injection (containing the steroid triamcinolone)? - I had that for a few years - then switched to prescription fluticasone propionate (brand name flixonase) with sodium chromoglicate eye drops which I use every morning (and top up as needed) which works better than tablets

shangaijimmy

It is Kenalog. I had it the years I sat my GCSE's, A Level and then degree exams. Hopefully it's still effective for me... We'll see. Today was the first day of hayfever for me of the year. I've had full build up with tablets and herbal tablets, yet still spent 7-10.30 sneezing incessantly. Fortunately it died down today.

Anyway this is a financial diary so onto more pertinent matters. Current account is in extremely good health this month and £240 left 3 days before payday. So I made a quick decision to throw £140 into my ISA so logged into account to start the faster payment.

However that's where my plans all went array...

My fingers, eyes and unconscious brain kicked in and my daily habit of TT's took over... Before I was really aware of what I was actually doing my eyes/brain focused on the confirmation screen for a 'manual overpayment' of £140  Oops!

At least it gave me an opportunity to fiddle with my spreadsheet during the mid month slump!

Suffolk_lass

Ooh! £140 - impressive stuff.

One last word on antihistamines - we are both taking tablets because of the bees we keep - DH got stung about half a dozen times on Sunday and is currently sporting a black eye from the last one (after his bee-suit was off)!

debtfreeoneday

Ouch to all those stings!!  

Hope the jab helps the hay fever SJ. 

shangaijimmy

Bit of a slow week. Quite a few annoying fiddly things that seem to take far more time than I expected in work. As a result it feels like I haven't really achieved anything and I've still got some ends to tie up tomorrow. I did realise the benefits of working from home though with a couple of e-mails that popped up, and rather than rant to someone I simply took the dog for a walk!

Month end is on us tomorrow. I made a little start this morning looking at accounts ready to post tomorrow. 

In other news since I last posted I've been the dentist for a filling, had my 2nd covid jab and had a hayfever jab! And I finally gave a haircut to our bushes and shrubs which had crept up on me and were significantly hanging over the path. I may have made a bit of a mess with one of them, but if it doesn't sort itself out I'll dig it up!

shangaijimmy

Monthly MFW & Mortgage Neutral Quest 

Month 74, April 2021 - Summary

• Closing Balance - £68,677.03

• OP's - £178.81
• Cumulative OP's - £33,645.89
• Cumulative Net Reduction - £67,322.86

• Neutral Pot - £13,469.61
• Neutral Deficit - £55,207.42

• Net Reduction + Neutral Pot - £80,782.47

And for Mrs SJ its an other brick coloured in on our house, and daily interest is down to £3.74 from a high point of £16.41.

debtfreeoneday

Great progress SJ. 

shangaijimmy

Up and at it this morning. Intense day in work ahead of me today, as all Saturdays are with my 'Covid recovery' program. 

May's mortgage & retirement assault is up and running with a whole £1 TT! Payday was yesterday but with the bank holiday paying out day gets delayed till Tuesday.

Suffolk_lass

I loved watching the interest rate drop on our mortgage (it was the part I resented most as it meant my savings had to exceed that to make them worth keeping versus paying down debt (not everyone agrees)

You are almost at 50% cumulative pay-down - just over £1.350 to go.

Your bricks always make me smile. Have a great bank holiday weekend!