Dreaming of financial freedom!

kaycastle

Congratulations on new job and merry Christmas, that is great news to get

I went through the same thing with a new job in the past 6 weeks, I joined and it was so toxic - they made my really lovely manager redundant 2 weeks in and then gave all her work to me...and it just kept getting more ridiculous from there. I thought of your experience though and found another job and left. Only having a weeks notice was so strange as have never left anywhere so quickly. I dont start other new job until half way through jan.

It's been so tiring, I hope i dont have to change jobs for ages.

Kittenkirst

Wahoo, well done on the new job Charley super pleased for you!
Your New York deal sounds awesome too- I love NYC and we’re considering going towards the end of the year as gf loves it too!
Hope you had a good new year and the new job starts well

ch4rly2002

Thank you for the lovely messages Kay and Kirsty
Kay, I'm sorry you went through that, it's awful isn't it?! Not long until you start your new job, I hope it's wonderful for you.
Kirsty, Thank you, I am really pleased about the new job too and I am loving it so far. So good to be back with a great team and an even better manager!

Back to work, and back to reality. We had a great Christmas and New Year, although there was some family drama that put a bit of a shadow over some of the time. But, it's back to work time now, and it feels good... mostly to be earning again, but also because I like my new team a lot. I have started back on just over 10% more than I was earning before, which I feel is a really good pay rise, but there are also more expenses. I have to travel into the office two days a week, which I didn't have to before, so there is added expense there. Not much I can do about it really but I did find a website that shows where the cheapest petrol prices are in your local area (https://app.petrolprices.com/ if anyone is interested), and the parking is free as there is a car park. I am also taking my lunch in every day, rather than paying for a cooked lunch (there isn't a canteen but there is a pub and some fast food places in the vicinity that I don't want to spend my money at). It also helps with the new diet if I take my own, so win-win. So far I have been having my vitamin D tablet with an actimel when I first wake up, then I have an apple when I get into the office. I then have an orange mid-morning, soup for lunch (I have a thermal bottle so I heat my soup in the morning and it's still a good temperature at lunch), then a banana in the afternoon. My colleague recommended LIDL soup and it looks really nice, so I've been there today to get one of each flavour to see what I like and what I don't and I also got some more fruit that looked really fresh. The soup is only 39p a can and the fruit was reasonably priced too. I also take a refillable bottle to use with the water fountain and there is a free hot drink dispenser too

DH and I are going out for a meal tonight. I have a Groupon voucher that expires 13th Jan so we're making use of it now before it expires, and before we get so far into our diet that we wouldn't want to spoil it.

Sadly no win on the Premium bonds this month. I shouldn't expect it but after winning nearly every month for 7 months a bit of me kind of does now. Anyway, I'm happy we haven't had to dig into the savings so that'll do for now. There's always next month

All is quiet on the survey front too.

That's it for now, more updates coming soon

ch4rly2002

So far there isn't anything I can do at work now. My security clearance hasn't come through and my profile hasn't been loaded onto the systems yet so I can't access any of the tools, so I'm having a day working at home today. I had expected to be in every day this week to be shown the ropes of the new job, but everything has ground to a halt. My colleague, who will be showing me the ropes, is absolutely fine with it and told me to leave early yesterday and WFH today as she said there is no point being in if I can't do anything. Tomorrow morning I will chase my manager to see if my clearance is through and if it hasn't I will be at home again. If it has come through I will go into the office after I've taken mum to the hospital...

Mum has been having problems swallowing and with her stomach to the point it's stopped her eating much. she has been to the doctor for some tests and tomorrow morning she needs to go to the hospital to have a camera put down her throat to see what's going on. As she will be sedated she needs someone to escort her, so I will be doing that. I have checked at work and they're fine with it. The appointment is at 8:45 so it shouldn't take too long. Poor mum is beside herself worrying

The meal last night was wonderful and only drinks to pay for. Found free parking too so bonus! It was lovely to spend some quality alone time with him. We do get some alone time, but we normally just end up watching Netflix or Sky. This year we have made a resolution to spend more quality time alone and to go for a nice walk every day. So far we have missed one day due to my cold being too bad, but we have managed a good walk every other day.

I didn't manage to get much in the January sales this year, but bought a few things I'm pleased about. Got all the 'special' Christmas cards sorted (Mum, Mum and Dad, Brother etc), bought a lovely Champney's purple bag with toiletries inside £50 down to £25 at Boots (should make a nice birthday present for SIL as she loves purple and could do with some time alone to pamper herself while someone else looks after the nephew), picked up some birthday presents for FIL and I also bought a Ghost gift set as it's my favourite perfume and the whole set was cheaper than just the bottle.

Tried one of the LIDL soups today for lunch. It was the stilton and broccoli one, a bit strong for my liking but I'd probably have it again. I also had one of the oranges from there, and it was lovely. It's going to be handy being that close to LIDL to pick up my soups and fruit.

I checked our ESTAs today (that's the visa you need to travel to the USA). Luckily they don't expire until June so that's $14 each saved :T We won't renew them until we next travel to the USA to get the maximum 2 years from them. I also found some dollars in the safe from our last trip. It's not much but it's $39.37 we wouldn't have had so I'm pleased.

ch4rly2002

I took mum for her hospital appointment this morning. We set off ridiculously early because we knew traffic on Nottingham ring road would be a nightmare and we weren't sure on the parking situation (I couldn't think of anywhere nearby to park and walk there from as all the local roads are permit holders only to prevent just that). As it happens, setting off early really paid off, so it was worth it. The traffic was bad, as predicted, but when we did get there we got a parking space right out front of the endoscopy ward's entrance. Parking cost us £5.50, which is a lot for parking, but considering how important health is and how expensive treatment is in other parts of the world, I still think it's a bargain. We waited about an hour before mum was called through and then mum was gone for another hour or so. The procedure itself only took a few minutes but there is a bit of time to set up beforehand and write up the report afterwards. I was really impressed with the report they gave her - it had photos from the gastroscopy and a description of what was found and what the next steps and treatment are. Thankfully NO CANCER WAS FOUND! I am so happy to hear this as mum was worried sick and I would hate for mum to be struck by cancer when she is already feeling fragile and so soon after she's finally got her life back on track.

My security clearance still hasn't come through, so for now I have very little to do. I have done a Pinecone survey, although it's not showing in my survey area so I don't know if I will get credited for it or not. I am now catching up on reading diaries. I am so far behind! I haven't read Madvix's diary since I moved house! so I have almost 2 years to catch up on. I started yesterday and have made some good progress though. It kind of feels like binge watching something on Netflix!

Jessy103

Yay for your mum!!!

I have also been binge reading diaries! It really gives you that boost to get the mortgage paid off, knowing there so many like minded people

ch4rly2002

Thanks Jessy

I've just found your new diary! I thought you'd stopped keeping a diary so I am pleased to have found it. I've dropped you a little message on your diary

themadvix

So glad your mum hasn’t got cancer. Presumably the investigations will continue to find out what the problem is?

My diary: tldr!! :rotfl: :rotfl:

Moneyfordreams

Hi Charly, congrats on the new job I too have binge read diaries . I did read yours couple of years ago then had a MSE rest for a few months. You do an amazing job at looking after your family needs. Glad your mums endoscopy was reassuring for her.

ch4rly2002

MV, thank you Mum has been given some tablets to try and ease the symptoms and see if things improve. If not, further investigations will be needed. I'm enjoying catching up with your diary

MFD, thank you for the lovely comments It's nice to hear people are reading. I sometimes wonder if people have disappeared because I stopped writing for a while, so thanks for bearing with me and continuing to read

DH and I had a lovely weekend. We went up to Yorkshire for our 'Christmas' meal that we agreed to do with the in-laws rather than spending a fortune on gifts that is really just 'stuff' that people don't need. We meant to do the same last year but we had said we would do a night away and couldn't seem to make the timing work so we made sure it happened this year! We went to the Box Tree restaurant in Ilkley, and it was lovely. It was very pricey at £125 per person for the meal, drinks and tip - far more than we would normally want to pay - but as it was for a special occasion and the FIL has been waiting 40 years to go (lots of missed opportunities to go with colleagues and clients, and giving away vouchers the in-laws were meant to use, so it means it hasn't happened in 40 years!), it was definitely worth it! I was kind of wondering if it might be cheaper than last time we went as they've lost their Michelin star, but sadly not. The staff were fantastic, and very knowledgeable and talkative, and the food was very rich so even though the portions weren't massive, we left feeling stuffed! They even had Chanel number 5 perfume in the women's toilet, so I had to have a bit of a spray before we left

On Sunday we went to visit my Grandma. She's been struggling with her hearing we she'd requested a sound bar that DH and BIL fitted for her. It worked well for a bit but then she's been having difficulties with it recently (her eye sight is going and we suspect she's pressing different buttons on the sound bar remote to what she thinks she's pressing). She asked if we could remove it, so we have and she is happy just using her TV speakers now.

When we were in the car between home and Yorkshire I was looking at the Lonely Planet New York guide to get some ideas for our trip to NY in Feb. It cost me £9.99 on Am, but would have been something like £13.99 in WH Smiths so I feel like it was a little bit MS by not getting it in the shop, but I was still hesitant to buy it at all - but it is great and comes with pull out maps etc. There was a section on what to do in each month this year and it just so happens that the first half of our trip is during 'Broadway week' and 'Restaurant week' (even though it actually lasts for 2 weeks). turns out that as the first half of our trip overlaps with the offer weeks, there are BOGOF offers on Broadway tickets and cut price meals in restaurants! So, that £9.99 book saved us £150 on Broadway tickets to see Wicked :T We can't go to NY and not watch a show on Broadway, but thankfully paying half price makes it even better! Next job is to look into the restaurant week and see if I can get us a discounted meal for our anniversary.

I have to get our tax return done this week as the last month of renting out the old house, and the sale of the property, were both in April so have meant a final tax return. The deadline in the end of the month so that's a job for this evening. I'm hoping we don't end up having to pay CG tax. It depends if it's calculated on the price we paid for the house or the valuation when we started renting it out. Fingers crossed!