Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

No progress on the 'dreaded' list but the parcels are posted and I saved some money by ignoring the plastic envelopes at the Post Office and going to look for cheaper ones... mind you, as I went to the £ shop it was both cheaper and more expensive. Perhaps it should be called the £££ shop?

So... two packs of envelopes at £1 each instead of £3-5 each, definitely worth doing as the others would wipe out smaller 3bay profits.

Got a few other bits & bobs including a 'good' toothpaste and some sunscreen for £1 each... popped to another shop and treated myself to a couple of cans of pop to take to work... that and some chalkboard stickers which I've seen for a lot more on the net were the 'treats', other stuff is hopefully functional.

MS stuff:
One item posted as a large letter saving about £2.14
Cheaper mailing bags
Cooling mist spray about 1/4 the price I'd have paid at my usual shop.
Toothpaste as already mentioned...
luxury biscuit from some at work
A box-type folder to keep my day-to-day finance stuff in so I don't lose my scribble-in notebook yet again, and can tuck in receipts that haven't yet made it to the spreadsheet.
El cheapo sunscreen, in a tube so hopefully not so much will go out of date and be wasted and I don't have to carry a bottle round. Got some for DS too.

I am puzzling how to enter miscellaneous items onto the spreadsheet. 'Miscellaneous' ought not to be a category, ought it? Yet to me. things like a microwave splatter preventer ought not to come out of the same budget as food and cleaning stuff.

Spends:
Housekeeping 0.98
Post 6.56
Stationery 5.00
Toiletries 4.00
Ear plugs (DS doing waking nights at work!) £1
Microwave cover £0.69
Chalkboard stickers £1

You see what I mean about uncategorisables?

Anyway, I managed to keep away from the supermarket as I genuinely didn't have any need to go there. Total spend = £19.23

hex2

Maybe 'household'? - permanent household stuff rather than consumables. Washing up liquid is housekeeping, new washing up bowl is household.

Misc as a last resort. I'd sneak everything into misc!

Cherryfudge

hex2 wrote: »

Maybe 'household'? - permanent household stuff rather than consumables. QUOTE]

Perfect! Thank you Hex, that's indeed the mot juste. I couldn't get beyond 'household' on one hand and 'fixtures and fittings' on the other.

Cherryfudge

Quite an enjoyable day today despite not going to bed at a civilised time last night. DH and I went to the car boot sale for a meander, then on a run before I went to work.

We have had to sub DS a bit as his money is stuck in one account till Monday, leaving him OD in the other. I do worry rather about his finances (student income massively held up by his having done a different course once. Apparently it's on its way... has been since October. ). He earns a bit from occasional work and gets the other part of his student income termly... he did explain once but as he's an adult and sorted out the application himself, I really haven't a clue.

Spends:
(sub to DS not included as he's said when he'll pay us and it's from both of us not the account my money goes in).
2 books £1
dress and top - £2.50

If the dress and/or top don't fit, I can 3bay them but they are rather nice even if unplanned!

I've also moved money into the holiday fund but that's not a spend as we can take it out in an instant if we need it.

I'm planning a trip to do more work on Mum's old house next week and may bring back some unused files for my financial paperwork. A wise friend told me she has files for everything and our current ones are messy & incomplete so this is an MS way of getting things in order. I also need to look for other things that need to be 3bayed while I'm there. There's no way my sister and I can cope with taking on all the things Mum left!

Cherryfudge

I haven't updated in a couple of days and it's funny but things do move on a bit...

14th - had a run, not a 'proper' one but probably a couple of km. (DD meanwhile did a half marathon in under 2 hrs! ).

Picked up an extra shift in a few weeks' time.

15th Spends: £3.99 on an ebook. Yes, I buy a lot of books.

I have one of the thank you letters ready to post and can't find the lady's address for the other one.

The undelivered item from 3bay has now arrived safely - phew. Don't like it when things go awry.

DH and I are searching for the form for the insurance - it wasn't with the file. Found a few more things while looking though.

I've tried on my dress for The Wedding (now less than 2 months away) and I still need to lose weight. On a more positive note, I showed DD how I'm planning to have my hair and she says it will work.

She also likes the dress I bought on impulse at the car boot.

I have found the piece of felt I got to patch my cosy winter slippers - a small thing and I could replace them but they were a gift and I'd rather keep them another year as the tiny repair is almost nothing. Have I repaired them yet? No, but the felt is tucked into one. A step nearer .

Last of Mum's magazines is now cancelled and they aren't asking for the three unpaid-for magazines back so maybe I should stick those on 3bay as well? This was the magazine that sent an automatic reply to my message then kept sending magazines... one asks why they had that contact address on their website, but at least it's sorted now, with a nice note from Daniel at Customer Services.

I am feeling the pressure over going to sort more of Mum's house tomorrow but I need to plough on with it. I am planning to sneak home a plate warmer that my sister doesn't want and my family will certainly say is a waste of space but I prefer warm plates for warm food! LOL. There are also some paperbacks for me to chose from... and a heap of bedding to wash... may just get sheets & pillowcases done and the rest can wait for when we have a car or I can find a laundrette.

I have the voucher for vitamins to spend today and more coffee needed... my cappuccinos are on offer again.

Dentist this afternoon which is usually a bit over £50. My dentist has left the practise and I have a feeling the new one will find something that needs to be done. Not that I have any problems, it's just that a new person will be bound to see things with a fresh pair of eyes and have their own priorities.

parsniphead

I'm so impressed by your runs cherryfudge. If a couple of km is not a proper run then you must be superwoman.

Cherryfudge

parsniphead wrote: »

I'm so impressed by your runs cherryfudge. If a couple of km is not a proper run then you must be superwoman.

Aw thank you, parsniphead. I must add that I alternated with some walking! The running bit is definitely getting longer and easier though. No idea why. Running happens to other people, not me.

Actually I just logged on to say the missing insurance piece of paper has been found and the 'free' vitamins have been claimed so progress is progressing.

(Is that a thing? Progress progressing... sounds wrong!)

hex2

I'm another one who buys a lot of books

I did couch to 5k a few years ago, and its amazing how your body conditions itself to the running really quickly.

Cherryfudge

hex2 wrote: »

I'm another one who buys a lot of books

I did couch to 5k a few years ago, and its amazing how your body conditions itself to the running really quickly.

So true! Do you still run hex? I noticed that after the runs on my app, there is a 5K and a 10K link but I'm saving them for nearer the time!

Cherryfudge

A spendy day today, and no run but 14,000+ steps so I think I'll count that as exercise.

4 trips to assorted supermarkets, not because I'm super-organised but because I needed yogurt, then because I was thirsty, then we happened to be near the big out of town one and they always have something nice, then because it was on my way home and I'm nearly out of bread.

I've also paid for a trip to the dentist, for a suit for DH, for a wedding-y hairclip for me and for some postage.. I think all those will come out of the 'main' account which isn't the one my wages go into, but food is from mine apart from trip number 3 which DH paid.

The running has at last paid off: I was short of time so I jogged most of the way to the dentist and arrived 10 minutes early so I went to the Post Office. Unfortunately the postage had to include a signature due to the value so it cost a lot more than I'd expected, but still less than I'd have had to have paid if things had worked out differently (it was a thank you gift for someone who saved us a hefty train fare).

The new dentist couldn't find anything to treat but gave me a couple of xrays to see what's going on, and a (free) scale & polish. It won't be free next time and he recommended I buy an electric toothbrush at around £35. He also suggested I go on their 'plan' but having got the costings I reckon I'll give the electric toothbrush a go as the plan is £99 a year, and at present the basic checks are £52 a year. It's a gamble that I won't break any teeth in the meantime.

After this we all set off to a retail park for DH to try on a suit. He'd done his homework and found out they didn't have the right suit in the right size but he wanted to check which jacket fitted best before ordering on line. When we got there, the whole suit was available in the right size after all so he is now kitted out for the wedding! I found myself a sparkly hair clip that should complement the hairstyle I want for said wedding - and it was only £8.50, much cheaper than a hat, and most hats don't suit me. I won't have to worry about it getting squashed on the journey, either.

So all in all, we've spent rather a lot today though we knew the big spend on the suit was coming and it's a relief to have the hair clip rather than something fancy that I wouldn't feel at ease with.

I've also ordered some booklets for friends but they will pay me back - £4.98 each if I remember rightly. That won't go on my spreadsheet because last time I did something imilar I got in a huge muddle, which reminds me - that was about ordering groceries for my sister, and tomorrow and the day after when I'm at the house I will be mostly living off those orders.

Spends:

Postage £5.80 (comes from gift budget)
Hair clip £8.50
Food 1) £5.88 2) £8.64 3) £6.97

Exasperatingly, I can't find the other 2 food receipts and they aren't showing up on my account yet so I'll have to see if I can find them before I go in the morning. The other expenses weren't 'mine' so i can leave them off here.

MS stuff:
Been asked if I can do another sleep in shift.
Freebie toothpaste from dentist.
Nice decaff is back on sale and I've just taken most of the rest of the opened jar into work so I had to get some, didn't I?
Hair clip instead of hat, way haaaayyy! Lots of savings and much more 'me'.

Time for bed.