Bricks Not Books

VintageHistorian

October's OP total was £36.75, mostly Tilly Tidies. So far this month I'm at £17.66, with another £13.82 from Prolific sitting in my Paypal waiting to be transferred. They had an 8 week study that involved installing a browser add-on for shopping on Tesco, £10 for the first 4 weeks and £10 for the second as long as I order every week (which I do anyway). I think the second £10 will come in December so that will kick off that month's OPs nicely.

I have had my birthday. I am now one year away from 40. I'm sure I should be having some deep, philosophical thoughts about where I want my life to go over the next 12 months and then the next decade, but having a toddler is a nice distraction from contemplating one's mortality.

A nice birthday was had. I have a new pile of books from my family, a box of Guylians from Mr VH which is so big it won't fit in the fridge, and we had a trip to London on Thursday with a meal out at a burger restaurant and then a lovely long walk down to Westminster and then up south bank. It's my favourite walk as there's plenty to see, and it always reminds me that central London is quite navigable on foot if you have good legs and a sturdy pair of shoes.

I have also spent a lot and unfortunately will need to spend more. Two very old fillings (I had fillings quite young as I had a sweet tooth and hated toothbrushing) are reaching the end of their usability so will need to be replaced. I'm with a private dentist that I joined as an NHS patient and then swapped to private when I left the area (seemed rather unfair to take up an NHS position when I was no long living there), so they will be over £100 each. But they're white amalgam and the dentist takes her time and is good with nervous patients, so I'll pay the money and be glad that 1. I don't need anything worse than a filling, and 2. That I have the money to pay for them.

That said the teeth won't be getting any better now that I have claimed my free birthday treat from Greggs and my £5 off chocolate from Hotel Chocolat, and will be getting a free piece of cake from Costa Coffee tomorrow I swear I don't actually eat that much sweet stuff nowadays, Mr VH's Guylians should last me until close to Christmas.

I did my last WI talk of the year the night before my birthday, a lovely group who said they'd like me back in the future so we'll see if they become a 2026 booking. I've got 6 booked for 2025 at the moment. This years money has been going into my S&S ISA for retirement, I'm wondering whether to do the same next year or use it to start my Disneyland Paris fund XD

Yesterday me and DS went out and had a little charity shop wander. I got a few glass baubles, but mostly books for him, including two I'm saving for his birthday. I decided not to get any from The Works in the end and have just kept him at the 9 gifts he already has, which includes 3 books anyway. So he's all done and £40 will go in his JISA.

He is full of cold at the moment so we'll see how this afternoon goes. I tried taking him to the shop earlier and he kept sitting down on the pavement so I would carry him Daddy carries him on his shoulders but Mummy doesn't have the upper body strength for that.

There is a beef stew in the slowcooker, dumplings will be popped in it later, and I'm just making apple and blackberry crumble filling for Mr VH, I'll bake the crumble topping later and then add it to the crumble before serving. He's got a carton of custard in the cupboard so that will make him happy for a few days, especially as he's starting to feel like he's got DS's germs. The beef and the blackberries were both out of the freezer so that's a tiny bit of space made, some of which will be filled by a few leftover portions of stew.

Have a good weekend everyone!

f0xh0les

Happy birthday! 🎉 🎂 🎈  🎈
I was 50 this year, and feel no different from 20, apart from I have suddenly learnt that more than 2 drinks = drunk and a headache. I have become a lightweight (or just a very cheap night out!). 
 I don't think contemplating mortality is an essential skill, it is just borrowing trouble...
 well ...... unless you are likely to be inheriting a farm, or millions of family money? 
Bad luck with the dentist, but as you said, you can afford it and you can have the white fillings that look so much nicer. 

South_coast

I don't think £100+ is too bad for a white filling. I had one recently and it was £231 😱 It does focus one's mind on looking after one's teeth, though like you this was a replacement so I tried not to feel too guilty about needing it!

Belated happy birthday wishes, too. I'm a couple of years ahead of you and pleased to offer reassurance that everything still works for now 🤣!

VintageHistorian

Thank you both! Growing old really should be considered a blessing, at least while the body still works.

Mr VH was feeling a bit cold-y yesterday, he even came to be before 11pm!! Normally he wanders up around 1am. Despite the early night he woke up looking awful and feeling dizzy. So DS has had a second Mummy Morning (normally Sunday is my day for a lie-in), and thankfully he's been better than he was yesterday. DH was ordered to stay in bed, where he's mostly been snoozing.

Me and DS popped out this morning, first to get my free birthday treat from Costa Coffee (I got a chocolate brownie cheesecake slice) and then to Waitrose. Picked up orange juice and lemons for Mr VH, and some ready to roast potatoes and yellowstickered Yorkshire puddings (a large chicken is in the slowcooker), to make cooking dinner during toddler bedtime easier this evening.

Not sure what the plan is this afternoon. I really need a shower but can squeeze it in tomorrow morning if Mr VH still feels dizzy later. He hasn't come down for lunch yet which is a sure sign he's poorly, normally he has hollow legs. I'm going to stuff him with roast chicken and green veggies this evening and then probably send him back to bed. Might take DS to the park for a brief go on the swings, and then it will probably be another afternoon of Mr Tumble.

VintageHistorian

OPs for November finished at £34.80

December will be a good month as I currently have £14.05 sitting there (some of it pending). I have a feeling PA have a Christmas closure so I might try to remember to cash it out by Friday so it can be used for December OPs.

After my last post we all ended up with DS's cold. Luckily it didn't affect me as badly it did DH, he had the whole headache and sore throat shebang. I had a bit of a sore throat and a very runny nose, and DS had a cough and a runny but no temperature. Still took about 2 weeks for us all to shake it off though, and DH recovered quicker than me and DS.

We've had an early not-actually-Christmas celebration my in-laws, who do not do Christmas. DS got some lovely gifts and we had a very nice lunch with them, a lovely way to kick-start the season (for me at least XD).

Christmas shopping is almost done. I've got 2 books for my parents (which I've ordered from a local bookshop and can collect this week) and some pens for one of my sisters (which I might get Mr VH to order through Prime so I don't have to pay for postage). And then I'm done. I should really start wrapping this week, at least for DS's things, but the wrapping is the part I enjoy least.

A few months ago one of the teams at work was having a clear out and gave away various paper bags of different sizes. I got some nice large black ones which I've kept in my desk drawer since getting them, I'm going to use one for Mr VH and one for my brother as they have lots of small things. May not be able to fit everything in DH's one but whatever's left can go in a small box or in a different bag if I can find others.

I think I'm fairly prepared for Christmas. I don't have an emergency turkey breast in the freezer this year as there's no room for it. We have chocolate, we don't have a tree (no space) but I have decorated the bookcases with lights and will dig out the Christmas-themed tins and mugs soon, I have a partial meal plan for the last half of the month (and ideas to fill the gaps), and we'll be at my parents house for Chrismas lunch etc. I finish work on Friday and then I'm off for 2 weeks and can't wait, lots of job uncertainty (although not necessarily for me) so taking a break from the place will be nice.

Although judging by the amount of noise coming from next door (our usual noisy neighbours) just today, I may actually be glad to go back to work come January I wish we could move but that's not on the cards. And I doubt they'll be moving any time soon either.

I have buggered up tonight's dinner. It was meant to be roast chicken in the slowcooker. But I forgot to ask Mr VH to get the slowcooker off the shelf last night, which meant I forgot to start the chicken this morning. I finally remembered at 12 but it's a large chicken and I wasn't certain it would be fully cooked even if left on high for 6 hours. So tomorrow night's dinner will be roast chicken, and Wednesday's dinner of quiche and chips will instead be served tonight.

Have a good week everyone!

VintageHistorian

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you've all had a day that you have enjoyed! DS has run around like a tiny hurricane, giggled like a loon, eaten a lovely Christmas dinner (including a Yorkshire pudding), and now has his own tiny shopping trolley which he has loved pushing around the grandparent's hallway 

VintageHistorian

Ended up cashing out £17.09 from PA so that went to the mortgage with a TT of £1.65. I did a top-up food shop this morning, so when I go to move the food money into my account I'll do another TT and that will be it for overpayments for 2024.

I've got another week off work which I'm feeling quite grateful for as I feel like I have too much to think about at the moment. Feeling stressed out about whether DS will get a place at the nursery at my work. He's down to start in March but so far we haven't heard anything, and we don't have a back-up as all the other nurseries are too expensive (I get a discount for being a staff member).

I need to apply to drop down to 4 days a week, with the ensuing fight if that request gets rejected. We can't afford for DS to be in nursery more than 3 days a week, my parents will have him on one day, but I need to take the 5th day myself. Partly because I want to spend time with my own child, and partly because we don't have another childcare option. DS's parents have offered but MIL isn't in great health, and DS is going to get so many colds and illnesses in the first few months that I'll be needing to take time off to look after him, and we can't risk MIL catching something off him.

I'm looking at my budget and fretting about how much tighter things will be on a reduced wage and with nursery fees coming out. I want to maintain my £200 a month towards a 2nd lot of maternity leave in case we choose to have another child. But my other regular savings will have to be cut back significantly. Some of that is fine, such as stopping payments into the future house move fund. But I am at a disadvantage with my pension as I started full time work later than my peers (the joys of graduating in 2008), so I want to keep up some payments into my S&S ISA and my Lifetime ISA.

And on top of all this I'm not the best at numbers so I don't know if my calculations for what a part-time wage will bring in is wholly accurate, and online calculators aren't too helpful either as I think I'm getting my pension contributions wrong.

Overall, feeling a touch stressed out and a little overwhelmed. But writing it down will help, so I've put it here. And reminding myself that my savings level so far is a privilege, and nursery fees are not going to be forever.

The feeling is not helped by next door, who are being as noisy as expected. Visitors every day, which sets the dogs off barking, which makes the children screech and scream. We also had some loud music being played the other day but I think it was for some kind of workout as it was only for 20 minutes. DS was napping at the time, if they woke him up then I was fully prepared to send DH out with him for a bit while I played loud heavy metal in response.

I think I need to come up with a 5 year plan to get us out of this house. We're outgrowing it, and I need to tell myself there will be a point where I don't have to put up with the noise anymore.

Dinner tonight is spaghetti with homemade bolognese sauce out of the freezer. I got some good yellowstickers today, including a large pack of beef mince in Tesco and a pork belly joint in Waitrose. Took some Tetris attempts to get it all to fit but it's there, so I need to amend the meal plan accordingly.

Have a good weekend everyone!

LadyWithAPlan

It’s good you are paying such close attention to your budget and looking towards next years expenses - I am sure you will find a way ! 

I am also impressed by your OPs ! 

VintageHistorian

Happy New Year everyone! A touch belated but we're not in February yet XD

OPs for December ended up at £45.69. Total for the whole of 2024 is (brace yourself @LadyWithAPlan)....£898.36! Will I ever learn to calculate the total a few days before the end of the year so I can give myself a tiny mental boost by rounding up? £900 exactly would have been lovely to look back on. But never mind.

And we're just over £20 for January so far. I got a payout from a print on demand company of just over £30 but I need to check with DH if he wants it towards the mortgage or for spends for our upcoming holiday. Some of the designs use things he created so although it's one of my side hustles I like to make sure the money from it benefits both of us.

Speaking of side hustles I also totted up my 2024 ones which came out as:

Talks - £331.65

Cashback - £109.08

Selling - £79.34

Surveys - £72.29

Other - £19.52

Grand total - £611.88

"Other" is small things that don't crop up that often, such as print on demand sources, or that tend to come in the form of Amazon vouchers. That total is definitely more than in previous years, which I think stems from the fact that I spent a bit more time focusing on Prolific through the year. Must try to maintain that this year too. Some of it gets paid to the mortgage, some goes into my S&S ISA, and some gets split between holiday funds and future house move fund.

January has been a good side hustle month too as I've had 2 talks, with mileage I've had £90 in total from them. But it's also been very spendy. We've booked a few activities for our holiday, we've bought a new blackout blind and blackout curtains as we're moving DS's bedroom (away from the noisy neighbours), my sister's birthday is next week, and I've had to bulk buy some large letter stamps for my shop (I'll get the money back when people buy things but it's the upfront cost that's shocking). DS has also had a growth spurt so I've been back on Vinted, although some of that cost has been offset by me finally selling some of his clothing to other parents at work.

And speaking of DS - we finally have his nursery place confirmed! They couldn't do one of the days we'd requested as it's simply too booked up, but luckily my parents had already said they can do that day if we needed so we'll just swap the day of the week when they have him. So he's in nursery 3 days a week, with my parents one day, and I just need to fill out the forms at work to change my hours. AND on top of that, DH decided to extend his career break for 6 months. Partly because I was getting so stressed about the nursery space, and partly because DS is going to catch every germ going when he first gets there, so DH can be ready at home and I won't need to take unpaid days off, or hand a vomiting toddler to my parents.

There's still a few months before he starts so I can fill up my savings pots a bit more before then. Or at least I can if I can stop spending so much money so quickly! At least I can tell myself it's mostly going on things we need rather than just frivilous bits, but then sometimes it's nice to have a bit of frivolity too XD And given that I'm still working my way through my Christmas gift chocolate and my new books I think I should keep a lid on frivolous for at least another month or two.

I have written my plans for 2025 down in my planner so I'll see if I can get them into a coherent post for here in the future. It did include a 5 year plan for moving house but part of it simply involves "move house" so it's hardly detailed.

Dinner tonight is toad in the hole. Have a good weekend everyone!

VintageHistorian

January OPs finished at £20.08 as the month just went on too long and I just checked online banking to make sure I wasn't in my overdraft

February is just over £50 at the moment. I finally transferred the print-on-demand business money I got in January from Paypal but did it too late for January OPs so it fell into Feb instead.

We have been on our holiday! Breakfasts and lunches in the lodge, dinners out in the restaurants. DS enjoyed the swimming pool, pointed at deer and going "woof" because he thought they were dogs, and enjoyed his first tastes of garlic bread, strawberry ice cream, and french toast. He slept remarkably well which was a relief. I, on the other hand, caught a nasty cold halfway through which took the shine off a bit. But the worst day was the Saturday after we were home, when I came very close to being sick, so at least I wasn't that bad while we were away.

Ended up taking Monday off sick but returned to work on Tuesday, full of a bunged up nose and a cough. Probably should have had Tuesday off too but we're so low on resource that no one is covering other work so if I'd left it longer there would have been a bigger pile of things to come back to.

We'll probably book the same place again for next year but I want my next pay day before I put a deposit down. And we'll go in April, this was just a bit too cold for enjoyable woodland walks.

No real MSE activity this month except a few yellowsticker buys, and I got a free cold coffee drink for Mr VH from a cashback app, which he said was very nice. I've got £3 sitting in PA waiting to be confirmed so I need to focus on that a bit this week if I want to cashout at the end of the month.

Dinner tonight is, in theory, pork belly slices in BBQ sauce, but the pork was yellowstickered and put straight in the freezer so will need the sniff test before it's cooked (if it's off I'll be dashing up the road for an alternative). We're having it with homemade potato wedges, baked beans, and Mr VH will have corn cobs in the airfryer.

Have a good weekend everyone!