Bricks Not Books

ruby_eskimo

Good luck on your walking challenge VH, it's for a very good cause!  I really enjoyed the Imagineering series on Disney + (goes a little bit more into the history of the company and how they developed some of the iconic rides) as well as all the Marvel series - I'm sure you can make good use of your 3 month trial!

VintageHistorian

I've been watching the Imagineering series too Ruby, it's really interesting to hear the history of the company and how much of an impact Walt's death had on the organisation.

Money shuffle has been done and the first OP of the month sent off.

I've started my step challenge, although I'm actually having a day off from it today. I'm 15,000 ahead of where I should be and I'm feeling very worn out today. I'm taking a day on the sofa to have a proper rest. Luckily I'm on annual leave this week so I've got a few plans for places to walk around, which should help me meet my target and build a buffer back up.

I've also started to get ready for winter, and Christmas. The other week I got two cans of flavoured vodka for free using the GreenJinn app, I've put them away for my youngest sister as she's the only one that really drinks that kind of thing. I also bought some teabags for both my sister and Mr VH in TK Maxx, and I've started making lists of ideas for the rest of the family.

I really want to get an M&S ready to roast turkey breast for the freezer, as I did this last year and it turned out very prescient as Christmas contact was then banned! Only problem is I don't really have any room in the freezer. This week I've made a chili with reduced mince, and a pork and chorizo casserole with reduced pork, and put it all in the freezer. I'm also going chicken stew and dumplings tomorrow and will double up the recipe so we have two portions for the freezer. Maybe this week I'll do a proper inventory of what we have, although every time I do that I then can't fit everything back in properly so I might need to time it for when we have slightly more space XD

And lastly, I did my first WI talk in over a year last week! It was lovely to be back doing them, and I now have a cheque sitting in my purse that I need to pay in. All money from talks is currently going to my New Car Fund. I have another one this week, two in October and one in November, and I've got a few 2022 bookings too (as well as one extremely forward-planning 2023 one!)

Dinner tonight is burgers from the freezer (already taken out to make space for the pork and chorizo casserole) with chips and beans. Probably the last barbequing of the season. I need to go brush the horrible cobwebs off it though, I don't think I used it all in August in the end.

Have a good week everyone!

VintageHistorian

I'm exhausted today so I'm having another Sunday on the sofa.

I've had a very nice but rather expensive week off. Monday I went into town with my youngest sister to show her all the different charity shops. I bought 4 tops to try and resell on Vinted, and treated us to lunch at Pizza Express.

On Tuesday me and Mr VH tried going to a local park for a walk but it was raining and the parking ticket machines didn't accept cash or card, you either needed an app or to text a phone number and wait for them to call back and take payment over the phone. It sounded like a right faff so instead we drove to a nearby shopping area and walked up and down every aisle in Dunelm. We came out with two lampshades (so now, 5 years after buying the house, every room has a proper working light and a lampshade!), a new front door mat, two food storage jars (one of which I need to take back as it won't fit in the cupboard), and a few other bits and bobs. I also treated us to lunch from Costa Coffee, and in the afternoon we went for a long walk along the river where we live.

Wednesday and Thursday we went to towns in our area that we hadn't visited before. Both places had nice independent bakeries so I bought us little lunch bits in them, and on Friday we drove my parents place and my Dad took us on a walk that he had calculated would cover 5000 steps to get there, and he was right, so walking back got me over the 10k for the day.

And then yesterday I had to work, so I walked to work and then walked home in the evening, and spent all day on my feet too. Got 17,000 steps yesterday which explains why I'm so exhausted today.

Overall I was nearly 2 days ahead of where I should be in my step challenge so I'm quite happy to be on the sofa today.

I need to look at the bank account damage this afternoon and hopefully find a few pennies for an OP.

Me and Mr VH picked some blackberries on Wednesday so I'm going to make him another apple and blackberry crumble. And I'm doing toad in the hole for dinner.

I'm going to try and find the energy for the crumble now, before lunch, otherwise I'm not sure I'll be able to do it later this afternoon!

Have a good week everyone!

LadyWithAPlan

I do love an apple and blackberry crumble. I have some apples from my family's trees so will be making some compote and now, inspired by you, crumble. 

VintageHistorian

Totals!

Total OPs - £63 exactly.

Total steps - 312,847

Total raised (including gift aid) - £733.62.

Mr VH decided he wanted to match what I raised and push me over my target of £500.

The boiler has been serviced today. He was very complementary about it's condition. We don't do anything with it other than get it serviced every autumn, but evidently that's enough to keep it ticking over!

I've done the money shuffle and topped up all my savings accounts. The new patio is, in theory, being started next Monday and I have enough saved for my half of the costs. However the landscaper emailed a few weeks ago saying he might have to push it back a bit as he caught Covid and had been quite ill so had fallen behind on other projects. We're not in a rush so we're happy to wait until he's ready.

My brother is going to fit a new garden gate for us as ours is virtually unusable. But he's going to wait until the patio is done lest a stray wheelbarrow knock a chunk out of the new one.

No real plans beyond the patio for this month. I have to work another Saturday towards the end of October so I'm planning for a takeaway that day. I also have three talks to do this month, two for WIs and one for a Women's Guild. First one is on Thursday afternoon so I've got Waitrose and Tesco Click and Collect orders booked to pick up on my way home, and we'll have pasta with sauce from the freezer for dinner.

I'm tempted to buy a new duvet as the stitching has come out of this one and all the stuffing is bunching up in random places. But I only got it 4 years ago and it seems a waste to get rid of it so quickly. I'll continue to have a think.

Have a good week everyone!

ruby_eskimo

Well done on the steps and fund raising!  Hope the patio gets sorted soon but sounds sensible to wait until it's done for a new gate.

VintageHistorian

Total overpayment for October was £64.20

Patio is done! It looks lovely, the garden looks a little wider now, I think because it's no longer divided up into lawn, concrete slabs and concrete path, and a small patch of grass. It's now just lawn and stones with a brick outline.

I feel like spending a bit out of control at the moment. I paid the garden landscaper as soon as he sent the invoice, we've got the large tree in our garden getting it's biennial haircut on Monday and that will be another £600 for the tree surgeons to do it. Then my brother is replacing the gate on Friday and that'll be just over £200. I'm also getting a dentist check up, my dentist is in London as I was with them when I lived there and my phobia makes me very reluctant to try and find out in my local area, but that means it's the cost of a train ticket plus the appointment. And the car is having it's MOT on Wednesday, and is really in need of a service so I should get that booked in soon too.

On top of that I've been looking at whether we could have a little holiday around February. We normally have one in April but if I'm pregnant by then neither of us will want to be too far away from a hospital in case I have another loss and it leads to another bad bleed. Centre Parcs looks like a reasonable price for February, but after all the garden costs I don't know if I want to spend more money. On the other hand I also don't want to go without a holiday at all next year.

Ho hum, things to think about over the coming week.

I'm doing a WI talk on Monday evening at a place that's around an hour's drive from home. I am still incredibly paranoid about my car breaking down. I've done several 45 minute drives since July, which were fine. But I was driving for around an hour and a half when I broke down last time and the closer I get to that mark the more anxious I get. I'm planning on packing a blanket, a jumper, thicker socks, a thermos and some food so if I do break down I can stay warm and fed while awaiting late night rescue, but the worry remains.

Silly thing about all this worrying is that I really don't need to be like this! Me and Mr VH have the money to pay for all this garden stuff, I just don't like seeing it leave my account. I have enough tucked away to pay for a holiday if we want one, I just don't like seeing it leave my account. If my car breaks down again then I will just have to accept that it needs replacing sooner than expected and will have to divert money from other sources to get a new one. I have £2000 in the new car fund and £3000 in the emergency fund, it's not as if I only have £500 and it will wipe out all my savings. I'm in a very fortunate position.

Brains are funny old things for the stuff they focus on.

Dinner tonight is pork chops from the freezer. It's over flowing and I can't justify not eating things in it any more, especially since it's reducing my ability to batch cook new bits.

Have a good week everyone!

South_coast

My brain is exactly the same with money. Partly my fault, I think, as I set money aside for certain purposes and am then completely inflexible about how it's spent. I've got some big expenses coming up which mean I'm going to have to raid pots, so I've temporarily lumped it all in together, which actually is working to make me feel better about it. Instead of logging on and thinking "Right, well that, plus that, plus that, equals that", I can just log and and see the total. Ridiculous really, as it's the same money 🙄!

ruby_eskimo

Another one here who also has problems letting money go when it comes to larger payments.  That's the whole point of saving the money in the first place but still very reluctant to part with it when the time comes.  Hope you can get a trip booked in for February, I keep looking at a little weekend break to Lisbon and yet again we have the money and the annual leave to use but I can't quite bring myself to book it!  Hope you have more luck than me.

Fortune_Smiles

It takes such a long time to build up an emergency fund/savings that it's hard to then put that money to use - even if it is for emergencies or what you've been saving for 😆  Good in a way because it makes me think carefully about what I'm withdrawing the money for.

Although I often have to remind myself that it's our money, we earned it and we can choose to save or spend it as we please.

Fortune x