22 Foxhole East

apple_muncher

My dh had a z00m video call with about 6 other people yesterday- they all wore headphones so all we heard was what dh said and he could focus on the task in hand...

greenbee

apple_muncher said:

My dh had a z00m video call with about 6 other people yesterday- they all wore headphones so all we heard was what dh said and he could focus on the task in hand...

This is one of my pet peeves. People who don't wear headsets and then you get all the background noise on the call, the people on the call are distracted by the noise, and then there are confidentiality issues too... 

kerri_gt

greenbee said:

apple_muncher said:

My dh had a z00m video call with about 6 other people yesterday- they all wore headphones so all we heard was what dh said and he could focus on the task in hand...

This is one of my pet peeves. People who don't wear headsets and then you get all the background noise on the call, the people on the call are distracted by the noise, and then there are confidentiality issues too... 

Sorry I'm one of those people - that said unless I'm actually saying something I keep myself on mute (just in case that 'thought' slips out audibly    ) and usually it's only me and the cat here, or max OH so it's not like I have a herd of marauding elephants in the background. 

f0xh0les

NUMBERS!!!!!! 

Ok, it looks like I have a daily interest of £4.14 ( aim #1 get below £4.00) it is higher because we shortened the term and raised the payment and the interest rate is a squidge higher than the last one, but it is secure for the 5 years.  I am happy with secure at the moment.

I have overpaid £80.60 which will bring me down to £93,000 - personally I would have put it at £92,999.99 but dh can see it and he already thinks I am a total nut, so I am going for 'tidy' over 'next thousand bracket down'.

We have had the hit for 2 months interest with this month's payment (we will be sub £90k by October with no o/ps) aim #2 be sub £90 long before then.

Just transferred £500 to the renovations account #3, so total of £11.5k - each of my accounts that has over £5k goes into the monthly draw to win large sums of money, so I have 2 with £5001.00 and have just started filling another one. I am going to aim for £500 to that account every month while I am basically under house arrest.

I have no fuel costs, no after school clubs, no trips, no extra fun stuff, no birthday parties, no new clothes requirements, no school uniform or shoes or lost pe kit to replace.   So really, it should be perfectly do-able to spend £50 on food a week and it will last, as we are cooking all meals from scratch and wasting nothing.

DH has made a sourdough culture - it took 3 days to be bubbly and smell yeasty, and he baked with it yesterday - day 5, and it has made a lovely tasty quite flatish loaf - like a pain de campagne style.  He thinks he should have left it another 2 days, so it (he named it Colin and announced it is his favourite and bestest child) has been fed again, and has gone back into the fridge.

I have finally lost weight again!  13.3 now,  those 10 days without a weight loss were absolutely soul destroying, hopefully my body has got the message now.  This excess is shifting.  If I cannot take this time to put a healthy eating regime in place, then when exactly will I ever have this amount of time to plan with so little outside distraction?  Seize the scales!

So, weight going down, mortgage going down, still have £60 in my purse from last week's budget, fridge is full, petrol tank is full, bank accounts filling up, credit card on 0. 

So there.

trix-a-belle

i'm also making sourdough starter F0xh0les! instructions out there seem to serve to confuse but on a Utoob video I watched this morning it seemed to suggest it lives out in a warm place most of the time & when being fed (couple of days before baking a loaf or otherwise fed weekly), and only goes in the fridge if you need to snooze it when going away (it was by Food52 if you want to poke him in the direction of it) so that might be why its a bit flat? mine is called Cuthbert & is living on the kitchen window sill, hopefully his first 'child' will be born later today or tomorrow

mark55man

well done - I think there will be some very cheap months ahead - but I'm sure there will be something that will need to be done or bought

f0xh0les

We will not use more than a loaf a week, at the moment, due to dieting, so we are being careful and making sure we do not go crazy and end up making more than we need. So Colin is resting in the fridge and will be brought out weekly for feeding and growing.  He made 2 loaves, and they do taste gorgeous.  We are pacing him. 

Am totally flummoxed by lunch - I made a (not) pesto pasta, in that it was made of 2 bags of parsley, 1 bag of watercress, I bag of rocket, half a bag of random salad leaves, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and sunflower seeds and a bit of salt.  It tasted healthy - in that kind of a slightly grassy, health-food, green smoothie, Buddhist cafe type vibe, but they all had seconds and I have a whole drinking glass full left over in the fridge for another meal. So it would quite happily feed 16 people (who ate normally) most of it was ys, and came in at about £1 + cheapo pasta. They all also had a slice of Colin, so we now only have one beautiful loaf left, but I also have pittas and wraps that need eating first - I have moved the other things into the freezer.  I had a square of leftover spannakopita and salad.

I have an 8 item shopping list - or a 7 item shopping list if I do not buy them Easter Eggs. None of the bits are essential.  I can hold off going until Monday I think. Then I can combine it with my volunteering , so no  un- necessary trips out, and will save on petrol combining the two jobs.

Rach273

I have been reading your diary over the past few days of 'lockdown', and finally made it to the present day. I'm a bit in awe of your achievements! You have such an engaging writing style, thanks for keeping me entertained

f0xh0les

Thanks Rach, you know, by the end of lockdown, some of us might actually be in a better place financially, what with budgeting, meal planning, and getting into a routine.  There is a lot to be said for this enforced 'no shopping' rule.  Sadly I think a lot of us are going to be in a worse place in relation to work, though - some places are simply not going to be able to cope with a 3 month hit with no income..  they won't be there anymore.  They do not have the 3 month buffer.  The EF is suddenly so much more relevant and completely vital.  I have heard on the radio that some banks are refusing to give the 3 month mortgage holiday to people who are not in a dire economic situation.  So if you have some savings, nope, if you are still employed  or on 80% wages, nope, you have to be overdrawn and with 0 savings or computer says no.    I hope they sort that out fast.

Just saw today's death stats.  Horrific.  I said I would re-evaluate the whole volunteering thing when the daily's hit 550.  I did not expect it to be less than 24 hours later.  I am still going in on Thurs as I am not customer facing at the moment, and if I work it right, I will only see another 2 people and they are ones who are good at the 2m distance thing and understand the need for wiping down equipment and the 'no borrowing my pen / scissors / rolls of tape / licking my face,   rule'.  

kerri_gt

f0xh0les said:

 'no borrowing my pen / scissors / rolls of tape / licking my face,   rule'.   

Its that no licking that I really keep forgetting  
Things ticking over here, I had salad for lunch to use up from iceberg lettuce that has lasted a suspiciously long time without turning into a mound of green sludge in the fridge - we either have a very effective salad draw or they treat the plants with something since I remember them as a kid, because they never lasted that long. Anyway, I balanced all that healthy out with a good dollop of mayo 

OH has put a ban on mortgage over payments here for the foreseeable until we see how things pan out - it does make sense but is also frustrating as we are close to getting down into the next £10k bracket (won't tell you the exact figure f0xh0les it will give you sleepless nights but suffice to say property in the SE is not cheap) 

Well done on the weightloss, remember the story of the hare and the tortoise, its far more likely to stay off when done gradually. One thing I do hope that stays after all this is people varying where they shop like local farms for eggs. We shall see and I fear that much behaviour will revert, perhaps I'm just a cynic.