Dreaming of financial freedom!

kirtsypoos

I know there are no words Ch4rly but I'm so sorry to hear about your Dads decline. The Doctor seems to be trying to make things as easy as possible which I'm sure is a help but it's a horrible situation for you and for your parents.

Chin up, will be thinking of you over the next few weeks xx

themadvix

Thinking of you Charly - it sounds like a really awful situation, especially at this time of year.

I think you're being very kind and patient with your tenants - I hope they don't muck you around though. Glad things are moving with your purchase.

ch4rly2002

Thank you all for your kind words.

My brother came up to visit this weekend. It was lovely to see him and he went to see my Dad too. I think it spurs Dad on when Mum tells him that my brother(s) will be visiting and he seems to perk up a little bit. He seemed quite alert when Alan visited him on Saturday. Unfortunately yesterday he was extremely tired and was pretty much asleep the whole time we were there. He didn't eat much of his lunch (maybe a quarter) and half a yoghurt. The nurse told us that his blood sugar was 2.4 (I think there is a risk of diabetic coma at 2, so we were very worried) and it's because he's not eating enough. She gave him some glucose and that probably made him more tired than he otherwise would have been. I went back in the evening with some pured stew that mum had made for him, but he said he didn't want it despite only eating a yoghurt for his evening meal. I'll ring my mum later and find out how he has been today. I'll be popping in to see him tomorrow lunchtime.

Some good news, our mortgage application for the new house has been approved! We've started planning for the new place and we bought an Amazon Echo plus in the black Friday sale. We want to have a smart home in the new house so we will have the lighting, heating etc. controlled by the Amazon Echo. It was reduced from £139.99 to £109.99 with a free smart light bulb. The best part is that I got it free using Nectar points. Mum has also bought a Tassimo drinks maker for her bedroom so she can make a drink if she wakes up in the night... £55 down to £34, with £20 of Tassimo pod vouchers inside

I have also just redeemed £6 from Pinecone and I am very close to £30 on OnePoll. Hopefully I'll start to see some more questionnaires coming out soon. We also had an unexpected win as well... today I received a letter from HSBC apologising for making errors on our mortgage application and wrongly advising what stage we were at in the process. They have credited £100 into our joint account as an apology without me even making a complaint or anything. I am very surprised and pleased with that

SWSEGirl

HI Charly,

So sorry to read about your Dad - my dad died when I was 16 and reading your posts brings it all back - their decline is horrendous to watch - when you witness their fear and distress, it is unbearable and I really feel for you, it is the worst of times.

I really admire that you are able to hold the rest of your life together so well - when I am faced with difficulty and grief I have a tendency to think 'what's the point?' - but you have such positivity, it's incredible.

xx

ch4rly2002

Hi SWSEGirl. Thank you for your lovely message. I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad, and how young you were. That truly is awful. Yes I agree, it is horrendous to watch their decline and the fear and stress it brings. I'm sorry that reading this brought it all back to you. I hope you find comfort that he is at peace - that keeps me going now that dad is so near to the end. As sad as the news is, I am hopeful that he will soon be able to rest in peace and not have to suffer any more.

ch4rly2002

Phew, OnePoll has finally ticked over £30 so I am in the last quarter. It's been quite a slog but I'm hoping the last bit goes faster. At least next time I'll only have to get to £25!

I've been doing the TopCashBack X-Mas Treats competition too (luckily mum noticed it had started and told me). I'm not very lucky with the TopCashBack competition, but I usually win 10p or 20p. After catching up on the first few days that I missed, I now have 3 out of 4 candy canes required for £20. With 20 days left there is a chance I may actually win a decent amount this time... however I'm not that lucky so I won't hold my breath!

I bought Grandma a really good quality ironing board for Christmas as her cover came off and the replacement doesn't fit so I thought I could just get her a nice new one, but she said she only irons her summer trousers now so she doesn't really need a new ironing board. I took it back to Argos and not only did they refund the £38 I paid in cash, they also gave me a £5 for the discount offer they had on when I bought it (if you spent over £40 they gave you a £5 discount). So, I still have to think of another gift to buy her for Christmas but I'm £5 up for the next item I buy from Argos I'll be taking her shopping tonight so I will try and get an idea of what she would like for Christmas when we have our cup of tea and catch up.

ch4rly2002

Well, we weren't expecting much of a turnout at Mum's place, but it was busier than expected. The panto was great (Jack and the Beanstalk) and was performed by the Northeast Producers, which is an amazing company that lets you book a performance to come out to the community for a small fee (I think it was £150, but very worth it). Mum booked them to do the panto at the independent living place where she lives so the residents could all come into the lounge and watch the performance - She's done it the last few years and it's been popular. Mum sold tea/coffee/juice and a pie (lots of difference flavours for those who don't like mince pies!) and raised £91.20 for my brother's fundraising which will go to the PSP association. I had a stall and managed to sell quite a few items that hadn't appealed to some of the younger customers I've had, so I was pleased to shift some stock. I made just over £43 (I forgot to write some of the items down as the sales came in busy spurts and I didn't have chance to stop and write it down but I don't think I missed too many). I was pricing everything very cheaply as I know the residents down have too much money and there were kids there who would be using pocket money so I marketed the stall as stocking fillers, everything under £5 and most things were priced around £1 with some pricier items on multi-buy offers, like scarves £2.50 each or 2 for £4. Considering I wasn't really expecting to sell anything much, I was really pleased with the result, and I enjoyed the panto too!

Grandma kindly gave me £40 after taking her shopping and ordering a microwave for her, which I thought was lovely of her. I told her I'd be adding it to my savings pot and she seemed really pleased with that. She's definitely an advocate of saving for a rainy day so when I told her that my savings had been started by what she'd given me, and that every time I get something from her I put it into savings, she seemed to quite pleased.

Still keeping fingers crossed for another candy cane for the £20 prize on TopCashBack... I'm not holding my breath though!

I'm going to see my Dad today, so I'm hoping he's having a good day. He's actually managed to eat quite a bit over the last couple of days so he must be feeling a little better in himself, which I'm pleased with. I hate the thought of him suffering The Co-op had Innocent smoothies half price the other day so I bought him a couple of bottles. They're about his only treat nowadays.

One last thought... Yorkshire's apparently expecting snow this weekend so I might be working my way through the tin cupboard sooner than expected!

Moominmamma89

Thinking of you and your family x

ch4rly2002

Thanks Moominmamma... and funnily enough one of our nicknames for mum in Moomin

DH is working down in Norwich this week so I get to use up some of the tin cupboard that he doesn't like, which strangely enough excites me. I also have some chicken that needs to be cooked so I will make a big batch and put some in the freezer for when he gets back.

Home insurance is due (everything seems to be hitting us this month!) and has shot up since I got my jewellery valued. The jewellery was valued quite a bit higher than I expected and as there are a few more items over £2000 I've had to add them as named items and update the existing 3, so instead of the home insurance costing £459 (before any discounts), it now comes to £559 (with discounts). I'd rather have the protection and peace of mind that they're covered if anything happens so I'll suck it up, but it's not the best feeling to part with even more money. Luckily we have a safe as my engagement ring was valued at £10,100 and as it's valued at over £10k, if I didn't have a safe I would have to have it on me AT ALL TIMES! Pretty scary to think about having to have it on if I went swimming or to the gym.

I have made my benefits selection at work today. It came to £357 per month, and as it comes out before tax they show a message at the end showing my salary has gone down by over £4k however, that includes my pension payment, my additional voluntary pension payment and an extra 10 days of holiday so it's not all bad

OnePoll and Prolific are a bit slow at the moment but I'm plodding on. However, I have had a good month for Pinecone surveys, another £3 withdrawn today. I didn't realise but you can set the frequency of surveys so I changed it from once a month to unlimited. So far I've been getting one every few days now so I'm happy I spotted that. Yesterday's survey was for a product I would really like to try so I hope I get selected to try a sample or that they bring out the product!

I've written and sent my Christmas cards too. I didn't realise how many cards I have bought (I tend to buy a pack or two after Christmas when they go in the sale) so this year I will have a strict no buying cards policy when the sales start!

Kittenkirst

Jim Charley, I’ve noticed that pinecone have sent out lots this month- I’ve had three alreadywhich is way more than usual (& I’ve always had it on the unlimited setting)

Prolific is also very slow- I’m refreshing constantly but there’s nothing there booo!

Well done on the AVC payments on the pension- being nosey so tell me to do one if you like ;P, but what % Of salary do you contribute? I’ve been looking at pensions this year and trying to understand how much to invest vs how much to stick in LISA’s