From debt to freedom...

janb5

Hi HSL It will be worth ringing your broker as they will put you in touch with the claims department . They will to advise you further as to what to do  Also a plumber should check the repair  is complete so you can use the bathroon again?

savingholmes

Glad the lurcher is on the mend. The paddling pool sounds fab.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Jan and SH.

The last 2 days have been quite work focussed in terms of sending work to children who aren’t returning on the 1st and getting the classroom ready for those that are. I feel quite upbeat about going back at the moment. DS1 went back to work this week so it feels like we are halfway back to normal. The older DDs will still be home based which is just as well as DS3’s nursery shows no sign of reopening. 
 
It has been a glorious day here today. I have snatched moments in the garden between work tasks but not had a full day at the allotment☹️. The elderly lurcher would struggle to get down the narrow pathways with his cone shaped collar on, so I will go later to do the watering.

The older DDs have resisted the beach, until today. Although I longed to go with them, and the beach is dog friendly, I decided that sand near the elderly lurcher, in his convalescing condition was the last thing we needed, so the younger children and I have stayed home . DS3 has enjoyed blowing bubbles in the garden and it has given me time to go through figures for May and check against the tracker and notebook and I’ll be planning carefully for June in a jiffy. 

Sunshine_girl2

Hi HSL I know you have a lot going on but just want to mention a leakage allowance that a lot of water  companies offer. When you get your bill if it is quite high , the water company will give you some money back. They only allow it once but they don't advertise it much, well worth checking. 

Love hearing about your walks, baking and gardening . 

janb5

I wish I`d known about that when I had a slow leak about two years ago when my bill shot up...grrrrr!  Useful piece of information- bet Thames Water don`t subscribe to it!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Sunshine_girl2 and Janb5- I’d not heard about the leakage allowance. I’ve had a water bill come ( we are on a meter)  but it’s an estimated bill rather than an actual one. The meter is somewhere in the hedgerow outside. I’ll have to take shears to cut my way to it! I’m sure that’s why I only get actual bills in winter😉.

I had a bit of a shock when I completed the tracker for May. I spent a huge amount on food 😲😳. It came to over £700 which is appalling. I think it felt less as I’d had to split the shop between Mr T and Mr A, because Mr T had lots of restrictions on how many of certain items you could buy. I wasn’t stockpiling at all, just buying the normal amount we would get through but we get through more than an average sized household. That does include dog food and cleaning materials and catering for 8 of us, including teenage boys! I need to claw this back a bit as it’s not sustainable in the long term. I’d used the diesel money I’d saved and put it to the food budget but now that I’m back at work I’ll need to use the diesel budget.

I’ve had a quieter day today, caught up on a couple of online services and had a couple of Zoom chats. I’m trying to make sure that someone is always at home with the elderly lurcher, so the older DDs went out together this afternoon to the beach, while I stayed at home with the younger ones. I did squeeze in a walk this evening...it really was squeezing it in as it was virtually dark when we got home , but it was refreshing to walk in the cool of the late evening, see the last hues of colour in the sunset sky and breathe in the fragrance of the honeysuckle flowers as we walked past them.

janb5

Hi...I think you can operate your water bill online and I dont read my own meter.  It might be worth ringing them to discuss the bill and leakage.
Lovely to have the reference to honeysuckle in your post!
Last month was particularly hard food wise and you had the leak plus concerns about the elderly lurcher so be kind to yourself!

Drawingaline

We were the same with food! Am totally reeling it in now. Was quite eye opening though.

Mumoffourkids

And I was the same with food last month. I am normally very good with my budget but I think at the start of the month, I was going to different shops than I was used to and spending more money. That’s not going to happen this month! I’m with you on reining in the food budget this month!

janb5

Just a thought....I usually have theatre guests and also someone else who stays here Monday to Thursday but obviously not at the moment.  Some are in and out of the shower while some are there for an eternity!  
Could it be that some of your children spend longer than average in the shower which would increase the costs?  Maybe suggest that everyone spends no longer than 10 minutes in the shower...would that work?