Bricks Not Books

VintageHistorian

Have been bad about spending money this week. Bought some garden bulbs for £10 that I saw on the MSE newsletter, and spent some money stocking up on toiletries in Boots as I had a triple points voucher Then checked my bank account this evening and realised I had even less money than I thought I should have. Eventually realised, after scrolling through my transaction history, that I've double OP-ed our standard £30 this month! I forgot I sent it at the start of the month, and sent it again last week.

So on the plus side we've OPed over £80 this month but on the other hand my account is looking a bit sorry for itself.

Went to the garden centre yesterday and bought some garden bits; two violas for the hanging baskets and four terracotta pots to start planting the bulbs in. Got some of it started yesterday afternoon but ran out of compost so need to buy some of that before I plant out more. Also realised that the lavender I managed to keep alive last year is now waterlogged and I can't work out how to drain it, so I think that may end up a winter casualty Not to self - buy proper terracotta pots with proper drainage next year!

The gardening spends yesterday came to just over £10 so I used some of my "Miscellaneous" cash fund for that.

Today me and DH had lunch out with the in-laws. Had a lovely Sunday roast in a nice pub, roast beef for me, with 3/4s of my MIL's Yorkshire Pudding (she gets full up easily and can't eat much gluten) and some extra pigs in blankets on the side. Then had a chocolate brownie sundae for dessert, but DH had to finish off the last few spoonfuls as I was stuffed. Lovely meal though, need to remember to leave them some positive feedback on Facebook later.

This week I need to be strict about my spending. Cash only, if I don't want to part with the cash then I don't want to buy whatever I'm looking at. Will try to walk around the shops on my lunch break without actually walking in to them.

Oh and despite my hopes this week was not great for traffic, almost every journey was delayed or diverted by an accident or a breakdown (other people's) so that I only really had one good journey in to work and one good journey home. Bit of a waste of a half term really.

Have a lovely week everyone!

muddywhitechicken

VintageHistorian wrote: »

Oh and despite my hopes this week was not great for traffic, almost every journey was delayed or diverted by an accident or a breakdown (other people's) so that I only really had one good journey in to work and one good journey home. Bit of a waste of a half term really.

Bummer! I must have struck lucky <35 minutes every day instead of 50-60 minutes

VintageHistorian

muddywhitechicken wrote: »

Bummer! I must have struck lucky <35 minutes every day instead of 50-60 minutes

I have traffic envy MWC :rotfl: I was quite unlucky on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday) as my journey in included a bad accident on the A120 near Great Dunmow, which is the first proper accident I've been caught in the congestion for on that road.

On the plus side my journeys home are a bit lighter so I'm getting some nice sunsets over the Essex countryside when I take my "M11 is !!!!!!ed" route.

savingwannabe

You lot and your traffic envy you're making me laugh. lol. Well done on new plants. I wonder if you have the time to repot the lavender? I too have non holey pots and think I am going to risk leaving it. I am sure the weather will sort itself out eventually.

A double overpayment. Maybe you wont have to make one next month? That dinner sounds sublime.

Have a good week.

Fortune_Smiles

Move to The Shire, no traffic here ...... I mean, no, don't move to The Shire, what am I saying :rotfl:

Fortune x

muddywhitechicken

:rotfl:

My commute takes me through two shires... and the traffic is terrible in both of them!

VintageHistorian

I think mine technically takes me through three shires (well, two that end in Shire plus Essex) and there's generally bad traffic in at least one of them :rotfl:

Realised how little of this month's to-do list I've actually done, so I got my backside in gear this morning and photographed some of the wedding china. Namely the cake stands, milk jugs, sugar bowls, and a teapot. Listed them on Facebook but no bites so far, will also pop them up on the local forum this evening. Would really like to sell them and a get a bit of cash, either for the maternity fund, OPing, or maybe to splash out on a desk. Or a combination of all three.

DH had a tidy up of the food cupboard the other night so I did some stocking up when food shopping yesterday. Several extra tins of soup, plus some gravy packets, some more pasta, some extra tins of chopped tomatoes, and some passata. I also tidied up the freezer and realised just how many yellow sticker frozen ready meals I've got in it for DH, so April may involved one "freezer dive" night a week.

I also realised that we're out of cooked meatballs in tomato sauce. Only had 5 Ikea meatballs left in the bag so bought some Waitrose pork meatballs as well. Four of them fell apart as soon as I started cooking them :mad: Really not impressed with Waitrose at the moment, half the time they can't keep the shelves stocked properly, they've changed the pick your own offers, and now I can't even trust them to not stuff their food with water. Will stick to Ikea meatballs in the future, just need to actually get down there at some point.

Dinner tonight is gammon, egg and homemade potato wedges, tomorrow will be toad in the hole with crispy cubed spuds!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

VintageHistorian

I've spent most of this week working from home because of the snow. Went in on Monday and kept a close eye on the reports as my bit of Essex was on the edge of the amber alert for snow. It then got upgraded in the afternoon to amber, so I warned my boss that I might have to work from home Tuesday.

Got up at my normal time on Tuesday and looked out the window, it had snowed a bit and I watched my neighbour's partner struggle to get out of the road before I decided to go back to bed and work from home. But getting up a few hours later and seeing the snow in the daylight made me wonder if I should have gone in as it didn't look that bad. Halfway through the morning though it started snowing heavily and just didn't stop! Was so glad I'd stayed after all as I might have struggled to get home in it otherwise!

On Wednesday me and DH had annual leave anyway as we'd booked tickets to go to the Winnie the Pooh exhibition at the V&A Museum. I didn't want to drive to the station so we walked through the snow, had several delayed trains but got in to London in the end. Had a nice walk around the exhibit, which was really well designed, and bought a few bits in the gift shop before heading home. We'd planned on having dinner out but obviously that wasn't really a good idea, so we got takeaway on our walk back home. My legs were aching once we got in as going uphill in snow was hard on the old muscles.

Thursday I managed to drive in to work but the roads were very slippery, and the road I take to get out of the village was down to one lane due to drifting snow. It turned out that the main road in was blocked completely by huge drifts and a delivery lorry had got stuck! People were also saying that it was snowing again, so I ended up doing everything that needed me in the office and then went back home at lunchtime, got back close to 3 and then worked late at home to make up the hours. It carried on snowing again in the afternoon so again I was glad I'd decided to come home. Think my boss was getting a bit annoyed as Cambridge hasn't had nearly as much snow as Essex, but there's not a lot I can do about that.

Friday is my normal working from home day so stayed indoors. Risked going out in the evening to get some fresh food. Didn't need much but spends still came to my usual weekly amount because we needed to restock teabags, laundry tabs, and some cleaning bits for DH. DH's work closed early yesterday and his bosses sent him home 45 minutes before closing as the trains were getting worse, I met him at the top of the hill when he walked up as it was snowing again last night and I didn't want to get down the hill only to find I couldn't get back up! Think we'll spend most of the weekend indoors, I should go for a walk but I'm feeling headachy and had a sore throat last night so a few days staying warm might be the better idea.

Dinner tonight is roast pork loin chops with potatoes and greens! Nice hot dinner after the chilly week. OP for February was £84.04 thanks to me duplicating an OP XD Nevermind, it all helps. Handed in my February expenses form on Thursday which was over £20, we'll see what March brings in terms of getting some extra pennies.

savingwannabe

What a snowy week it has been. Rest as much as possible and hopefully your cold will go. I'm in the same state. It isn't supposed to snow here today but we have snow clouds again. I am staying in too. We are so fortunate we get paid for not going in.

Well done on the OP. Think nice things about the summer to stay happy. Have a good weekend my friend.

selloptape

Lovely positive diary how were the frozen potato wedges? Such a good idea!