Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

Mumoffourkids

Good to see you back again and posting SSG. My cleaning routine has gone out the window over the last couple of weeks but I think I might start again but slower this time. Try not to do too much at once. It also helps that my kids have gone back to school and nursery apart from my 14 year old and she doesn’t make much mess apart from when she bakes!

in_need_of_direction

I’ve never managed a cleaning routine

moving_forward

I've been missing probally longer than 2 weeks SSG so will join the slap on wrist club with you.  Boo hiss to work being tight on the reimbursement.  Hopefully as your nearly at retirement you will be allowed to continue working from home.  Especially as you have forked out so much on the equipment to do so.

doingitanyway

Well done on moving your savings. It's easy to be lazy with these things.
I love peonies too. 
I have been cleaning but not to 'the system'
It will be great if you get to stay WFH as it seems to suit you

Sun_Addict

Good to see you’re posting again. Time is flying by right now which for once I’m pleased about as this awful year can’t end soon enough for me. So many people are putting things off until next year - it’s going to be one helluva year 🎉🥂💃

Seasidegal58

Thanks for your posts everyone!😀

WORK

Will be glad when retirement is just over the horizon next year.  'Nuff said! 

SCRIMPY MSE THINGS – END OF SCRIMPY WEEK 2 -  JUNE 

Well not very scrimpy over the last few days!  Purchases were:- 

·         Box of disposable masks from Amazon - £7.90.

·         Knitted Bootee slippers from Amazon - £20.99 – normally I wouldn't be wearing these in June but since WFH and walking around on hard flooring, my feet get rather cold during the day.  My current slippers are looking rather the worse for wear and splitting at the seams.  I looked on M&S to see if they were still selling the pair I have (grey wool cable Scandi looking with faux grey fur) but lo and behold they didn't have my size!  To be fair though, those online are probably left over from last winter and M&S won't restock till autumn.  The nearest I could find that looked like them was on Amazon – darker grey with black faux fur and £2.49 dearer. 

·         And – oh dear! – expensive purchase – new bed linen.  Or rather not linen – it's made from bamboo!  Actually 100% organically grown bamboo!  I saw it on a YouTube video by Madeleine Olivia who is a blogger in the eco and vegan living space.  I originally found her videos when scrolling through YouTube looking for vegan recipes and have subscribed to her YouTube channel.  I find her really engaging and love her videos – which encompass vegan food, sustainable living and the renovation of her lovely little Cornish cottage with her fiance.  I'm not a sustainable living fanatic but enjoy her posts.  Anyhow, she had been sent this bedding from a sustainable living company called Panda and I found it interesting and had a good look on their website.  It's naturally antibacterial (suitable for those with eczema sensitive skin or hay fever caused by dust mites), warm in winter and cool in summer.  I wanted some new lightish bedding for the summer so ordered the white set – duvet cover, fitted sheet and two pillow cases.  It came today and feels lovely – all silky.  So I'll put the set on when I change the bedding on Sunday and report back and let you know what I think or whether I've been suckered in!  I hope not as it will be an expensive suckering! 

Other things to report – I forget to say that I joined the MSE Money Academy a couple of weeks ago – I've done the first session, but have to get on and complete the next.  It's quite interesting.  I've also signed up to the free Duolingo app (thank you @Sun_Addict for the tip!).  I was going to try Italian but went with French in the end as I did it many moons ago whilst at school so at least it wasn't exactly unknown to me!  I've been doing it for c.10 mins each day and it's going fairly well and should get my brain ticking over though I'm sure I would have been further ahead by now if I were younger! 

Things done – had a lovely two hour Zoom session on Sunday evening with the family – DD sporting her new 'Kill Bill' mask!  Her OH drums in a band and had a mask with Animal from The Muppets on his!  DSis had been to a local retail park near earlier on as she wanted to go to M&S, but found that the Next was open so went in and bought little nephew a few bits.  She said social distancing wise it was fine. 

Tomorrow I'm meeting my friend for a socially distanced walk.  It was her birthday today and I'm catching up to let her have her present – I'm just going to give her cash this time so she can buy something when all the shops are open – she can put it away in a drawer for 72 hours to decontaminate!

And finally – whoopee – my hairdresser rang me today – hopefully the salon wants to open up second week in July but obviously are thinking everything through re masks etc and social distancing.  So I've provisionally booked an appointment, but will have to wait and see how things turn out.

('Nuff said re Cleaning Project - though I cleared out and tidied the bedroom drawers on Saturday because they were annoying me!)😁

x

Sun_Addict

All sounding good. The Duolingo is great isn’t it? I’m 57 days into my Spanish lessons and doing quite well. Can highly recommend the Deliciously Ella app at 99p a month for lots of tasty vegan recipes, yoga and podcasts. 

I’ll be so happy to get my hair cut, I look like the Dulux dog right now. 

Seasidegal58

It's a good app SA and quite enjoyable. 

Today has been grey and miserable with teeming rain nearly all day  ☹️

My friend and I cancelled our walk, but I had to pick up some vitamin sprays today anyway so I went out at lunchtime with brolly and met her outside her flat and gave her birthday card and present. 

Negative news today:

·         My Economy 7 boiler is leaking.  I only found out last night by pulling out the box on the shelf under the boiler where I keep tools, etc, to find some batteries.  The box was soaked but I think the boiler has been leaking slowly for a while as I couldn't find where it was leaking from.  This morning I had my shower, but afterwards the shelf was still dry, though this afternoon it was a bit wet.  I phoned the guy who fitted my bathroom and he is going to come out tomorrow morning to have a socially distanced, masked look at it.  The boiler is very old and I'll replace it once things are more back to normal – thank goodness for the EF. 

Positive news:

·         My season ticket refund has finally hit my Amex account and they are going to transfer the refund back to my bank account – £1,325 – so I will put this into my workplace pension when it arrives. 

Apart from the vitamin sprays and cash for friend's present, nothing else spent today. 

Mumoffourkids

Fab news about the refund but boo to the weather. It’s been rubbish here all day as well and I got soaked on two school runs!

moving_forward

Oh dear to the boiler. Would it be better to put your season ticket refund towards the new one?