Preparing for the biggest move of our life

Tinkerbelle2000

Hi Bellevie

How are you doing? Hope everything is going well.

Tink xx

bellevie

Its been a long time, with no particular reason other than being side tracked!
The bed Mr T got for Christmas....he has eaten.
Tumble dryer has been working fine but after holding out for the fix I have cold feet and may just get rid of it anyway. It came in very useful in our flat, now we have the garden and lots of radiator space in winter there is very little use for it. It goes unused pretty much March - Sept.
To get rid of it though the council charge is hefty, so I will wait until I have enough to get rid of to warrant the call out charge.


DD is doing well, she is growing like no bodies business....and has developed an attitude to match!


Work is good, I am starting a qualification in the sector I opted for distance learning that I can do in the evenings. Awaiting my first assignment - I haven't written for 15+ years so I can already see me pulling my hair out, I'm sure I will get into the swing of it!


Still saving, at a depressively slow pace. Rent not increased but the landlord wanted me to resign for a year rather than continue on rolling he agreed to hold the rent for me to resign but I had to pay the contract fees - with 2 weeks notice, when I had already been 'out of contract' for 3 months?? 1% payrise but also 1% extra being deducted for company pension due to cut backs. Council tax up 5%, water bill up 4%, petrol ever increasing.


I called to get a water meter put in, only as my area is down to have meters installed during this year I cannot request one sooner. I'm hoping it is soon, every little will help to get me moving.


I had hoped to move over to the LISA account as it seems it will work better as in full amount can actually be used for a deposit, but I was saddened to see no major banks have agreed to offer it. Makes me think they must have serious doubts on it, so maybe better to steer clear.


No other news, really, rightmove is still my friend and is keeping me motivated despite the severely small amounts I am tucking away!

louby40

Hi

Just a thought. I have just sold my tumble dryer on a Facebook selling site. I've had it for 10 years but hardly used it. It was a bit scratched in places as I've moved 3 times during that time, but I sold it for £10 and it went within 5 minutes. Infact I could have sold it 4 times over.

bellevie

thank you, I never thought of that!

bellevie

I'm secretly grateful for the slightly downcast weather today. There was a local 'fair' well not fair as in fairground but a few book stalls, teddy stalls and plant stalls. DD wanted to go, but its just a further spend of money that I just do not want to waste at the minute. DD would have purchased as much as she could carry only for it never to be seen again until I order the next clear out of her room!
The rain was my saving grace and the sun came out as soon as it was over


DD started ice skating recently, it replaced her previous ballet course. We went a couple of times then I noticed how much cheaper it would be for her to sign up to weekly lessons. It runs all year round including summer holidays. Anyway, she passed her first level yesterday so is proudly moving up to level 2 next week.


She gets to skate in the public session after her lesson, sometimes I will join her but the past 4 weeks I just couldn't justify the extra cost what with school trip requests and birthday invites. I've negotiated adding skates to her birthday list if she is still skating by then, at the minute the cost of the skate hire is included in the course so no rush.


May half term holiday club booked, there has been a second camp open up that we used over christmas, over Easter it was more expensive so I stuck with my normal club (who had a £6 per day increase!!!!) however for May & Summer the new club are 'including' swimming in the main price making it £1.50 cheaper per day than the usual club. So I have booked it for May and I may again for summer if they continue the offer. I was a little shocked at the steep increase in my original holiday club, but I think its due to the new outside sports company coming in to use the leisure centre premises so rent to cover etc. Previously it was done by the leisure centre themselves.


The other club is run by a smaller independent group also hiring a different leisure centre, DD tried them out last Christmas and liked it. I will see how May goes before making any firm decisions, maybe do a mix of the two, keep things exciting for her in the long holidays.


Quick pizza for tea tonight, yesterday was cod, leek & tomato risotto, Saturday was shepherds pie - I made enough to carry some over for lunch the next day which DD was happy with.


Last of the 4 day weeks for a while, meetings galore, and my first tutorial via phone for my course that I am starting. I am guessing that's when my first assignment will be set, there isn't much time for the first one, I will have little over 1 week to do it....I suspect if I am honest they made a mistake. I chased them last week to find out why I hadn't been contacted weeks ago all of a sudden I received a message to book in a telephone tutorial. All of my other assignments I have 6 weeks to complete, this one just a week! I will not be happy if I'm put at a disadvantage due to a mistake their end. The tutor who contacted me was not the one I was told would be my tutor, so perhaps overbooking.
I may try to get some information from others doing my course, see if I can at least start reading up, they are not based in my office, but all together in one of the northern office so they are having a tutor coming in every month, I contemplated it but the travel would have been a struggle on a good day its an OK 2 hour journey, my worst though took 4 hours not one I wish to repeat.


I discovered through my manager that the company will allow staff to go much further than the level I am doing, so its something I will seriously consider if I can get back into the swing of studying.


Im going to have another look over the course website see if I can get a rough idea of the first assignment!

bellevie

Tutor call went fine, and the panic was my own mind going into overdrive.


The first task due in 6 days is not an assignment, but a presentation which should be doable.
The second task is my first full assignment which I have weeks to do and reportedly the biggest of all of them so the tutor is of the opinion if we get through the first assignment the rest will be a breeze.....we shall see


I had an unexpected bonus in the post last week £50 co-op vouchers! I took out my car insurance with them, then a month or two later my contents insurance. I didn't link the two until I was clearing out my paperdraw that they had sent me a promotion - vouchers if I took out house insurance. I had completely missed that and only took it out because it had the best price, so I couldn't believe my eyes to see those vouchers!

They couldn't have come at a better time I have been squeezed to the maximum through April and May is going to be the same according to Excel.

So todays shop of £20.23, cost me 23p! My spreadsheet will look a little healthier.

I did grumble a little in my head however when I got home and realised that one of the mini pizza's I picked up for DD (occasional after school snack if dinner will be late) ran out of date yesterday. So I had it for lunch today, I'm sure my stomach is stronger than DD's. It tasted fine perhaps just over cautious dating because of the cheese? Well I hope that's all.


Im trying out a solution of rice & bicarb soda in a kitchen cupboard. It has always smelt musty since the day we moved in. I put in one of those £ store tubs and it filled it completely with water within about 3 months. I cant work out where the moisture is coming from, the cupboard is next to the sink and also backs onto an uncovered brick wall from what I can see. Sink pipe works looks fine no dripping anywhere.


Im sure when the landlord eventually replaces the kitchen it will be evident, but kitchen is from 1970s (no joke!) and I am certain if I raise the fault and he has to pay out for work I will be hit with a rent increase which I will seriously struggle to afford.


So....testing out this rice & bicarb see how that works, if not back to the £ store to stock up on those little tubs.


The morning has flown by with that tutoring and starting my presentation, now I need to get ready for work!

bellevie

I woke this morning to find Mr T had eaten a huge chunk off my work shoes. Im convinced I jinxed myself.
I have had them around 2 years and I was just admiring how 'unworn' they look and questioning if I would get another 2 years out of them only last night! I must have left them by the sofa - despite my constant moaning at DD to put her shoes on the rack. And yep completely destroyed. I suppose I should be pleased I got some use of out them......its been an expensive year for shoes though I think that's 3 pairs of mine now, 4 of DD's plus 3 of her winter coats.
I've never been so thankful that I do not spend insane amounts on brands.....


I'm told its a common trait but he should grow out of it around 2 years. Counting down the days.....151 to go!!


Another busy day at work, two occasions tugged at my heart strings in a not so nice way, making me feel so powerless in this bonkers messed up world. The feeling eased when I was finally able to resolve one of the above. The other I'm afraid is just going to be a long drawn out process that will require me to grit my teeth and push through. I have some ideas for the interim, it wont solve the issue but if I can get my message through another way it may make a difference....which in the end is all I want to do.


I forgot to bring home my work laptop tonight to continue on my presentation, just as well, Im so tired an early night is in order.

bellevie

Eventful evening last night. We got home and were not greeted by Mr T. We called him, not a sound.
My heart was pounding I thought he may have been dognapped but no all doors & windows locked. Then I had flashes of him laying dead somewhere pulling out the sofa, checking under the dinning table.
It didn't even occur to me to check upstairs as our doors are shut....or so I thought.

I head upstairs, my door is shut, firm. As is DD's & the bathrooms. At that point I trying to work out if this is something I can call the police for, if he has just vanished from my house, someone must have had a key etc. Then I hear a thud....he was in my room.
How, I can not explain - I am certain I shut my door, and how he shut himself in there again I just cant work it out.


My relief turned to blood boiling anger, he had marked my bed - luckily it didn't get through my winter quilt to my less than a year old mattress, attacked another pair of shoes. The shoes I get, they must be some kind of drug to him. The bed marking Grrrrr.

He has had the run of the house for a while now as he had seemed to stop eating the sofa. Now we just have to go back to basics. The baby gate is back up and he is back in the kitchen.


I haven't budgeted for a quilt, so today started the hunt for the cheapest I could possibly find. I started in The Range, cheapest one available £11.99....ok, not as bad as I thought. I got to the till it came up as £15.99, allegedly the wrong code despite what appeared to be pretty accurate display, the label description matched to a T, brand & weight too. My stubbornness erupted and I just could not go through with the purchase. I had seen that price and that was the price I wanted....Of we went, linen & 'discount' stores that have previous season stock from the big department store (metres away from each other) started from £24+.
The next cheapest I found in a random local shop had the material that gives me electric shocks when I change the covers...no no no no.
I gave up, resigned myself to cope with the few blankets that I had found last night until my stubbornness dissolved.


Popped into the supermarket to get bread & milk - save a trip to the express shop the next day and hopefully save some pennies for the house buying fund. And there it was £7.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DD was elated that our duvet hunt was over, I was chuffed to pieces that I had beaten the previous cheap quilt quote! Sometimes stubbornness pays off


I did manage to do better in my present hunt for sister in law than I anticipated thank you to a sale in newlook, spent £2 under budget so that helps towards the unplanned spend today.


Still to buy for my niece & nephew who both have birthdays this month, and one present for DD's friend who invited her to a party next week. Budgeted for, but I will of course aim to make that budget stretch as far as possible!


I held firm on my 'no' to DD's request for McD's, home to enjoy some cheese on toast for lunch from my 0.23p spend this week! I'm not totally stingy, she had £5 to spend and chose her toy, I wasn't prepared to give her anymore!


Not so bad day for my poor little purse in the end, and hopefully Mr T's naughtiness wont have affected my expected savings for the end of the month. Well its pretty much not an option - I have calculated the exact amount I need to save over 2 months to cover the 6 weeks holiday childcare so that figure cannot change. My house buying fund will have a teeny tiny increase, but should start to see more action from August onwards, at last!!

bellevie

Presentation in! Fingers crossed.
I realised tomorrow after ice skating we are seeing my friend, Wednesday I have volunteered to help out at DD's school trip. And going by last week, I cannot guarantee I will be in the right frame of mind to concentrate on a weeknight.
So I sat and got through it. Im ok at presentations, I was just worried about covering everything that was requested within the word count. I think I've done OK. We shall see!


Sausages & mash for tea. Then I may spend some time online looking for the remaining birthday gifts I need to find!

bellevie

Yesterday turned out to be a lot better than expected. DD loved her first level 2 Ice Skating class, learnt 3 new things within 30 minutes I was truly amazed.


Our next trek turned out to be a 7 hour round trip, but it was a fantastic day, I took my friend along for company & he made me laugh until my belly hurt.


I'm paying for it now, so so so tired!


Today was busy, but productive. 2nd yearly review tomorrow, the one for my first job went fine. I'm expecting this one to be good too.....well I hope so!