Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Spending for 8th May:
Medical (Dentist) £126.00 (paid on CC but immediately paid it off - it's just that I get a few loyalty points for using the card).
Book £2.50
Housekeeping £4.84
MS
Dinner mostly made from leftovers
Made a start on patching my favourite jeans
10th coin savings 30p
Today I'm thankful for a new recipe book, a completed basket of ironing and an extra day off tomorrow.

Cherryfudge

I've just transferred the rest of DH's last month's pay to savings - there wasn't enough to top up the holiday account as well, partly because we had to pay the decorator, but it was just generally an expensive month with two of the children having birthdays.

The decorating needed to be done but I'm really glad DH felt up to doing the painting or it would have used up most of last month's surplus. The aim is to get it done by the time we have friends to stay in two weeks' time, and J and L have offered to help us with the ceiling so I'm going to okay that with DH as L has time off and I'm hoping he can get it done (it's easiest for him as he's a lot taller than the rest of us!) The room still 'needs' new carpet, curtains and sofas... but that might have to wait! I would like to have very plain blinds over the windows as well as the curtains, partly to stop it being so open (not very overlooked, just not private) and partly to stop glare on the TV screen.

Today my job is to finish going through the books from the lounge bookcase and tidy up anything else of mine in that room. If I'm organised I might do the landing as well as things are starting to creep back there. It's so hard, this decluttering business! I think I accidentally inherited a genetic fault that leads me to think things are part of me or of other people! My Dad was certainly like that: every last thing was saved and labelled in case it came in useful.

Cherryfudge

I think it's finally stopped raining! Enough for me to have a wander through town this afternoon and get some groceries, bumping into DS1 in Sainsbugs which was nice as we've both been away so I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks. I haven't got a huge amount done at home: the lounge is nearly as untidy as it was this morning but I have found a few books that belong there and were scattered, and I've rehomed a few too.
I was quite creative at lunchtime and finished the rest of the pastry from yesterday by making a sort of Swiss roll, spreading it with red pesto, fried onion and sweet pepper, sliced olives and cheese. It was quite tasty but not the healthiest so I was a bit low in energy later. I also cleared the top of the freezer and cleaned it - I suspect this was a displacement activity but at least it's done.
This evening I made a big pasta dish and gave some to J for her lunch tomorrow as well as having a portion left over which might be tea for me tomorrow night at work. Just one day back at work then I have the weekend off! Taking today off turned out to be a good thing even if I've spent too long on the computer. Finally, I've been sewing this evening. Yesterday I reinforced the knee of my jeans - I tend to go through them in the same place. This evening I've been embroidering it, having spent some time wondering what to do and how to do it. It's easier than I thought (I used to do freehand embroidery so I'm dusting off old skills). I've yet to try them on and it may not be comfortable but we'll see.
Spending:
Gifts £3.80
Housekeeping £10.74
MS:
Lunch from leftovers
Resisted buying a rabbit from the pet shop - though it was beautiful and I miss having rabbits.
10th coin savings 20p
Had to go searching for my preferred coffee but the leg work was worth it: £3 off a large jar at the other end of town!
Decluttering:
Out of date cereal and eggs, 2 greetings cards, a piece of paper, 2 containers of handcream (emptied), 2 very old eyeshadows, 8 books, a catalogue.

I'm thankful today because I can have these accasional days off, I've had company in the house most of the day as L was at home, I met A in the supermarket and had a chat and J likes my pasta very much.

Cherryfudge

I had a bit of a green moment this morning: I have 2 plastic boxes of laundry capsules (supermarket own brand) and, needing space, decided to transfer from the opened one to any spare space in the brand new one. Long story short - there was room in the new box for another 12 capsules, i.e. a quarter more product. That's without much rearranging. I think I could have got two more in with a little rejigging. So, a waste of my space, a waste of resources (more packaging) and a good reason to look elsewhere. Oddly, before I'd even googled, Facebook sent me an ad for Smor capsules and what struck me is how much more efficiently they're packaged. So a bit of exploration and I've paid £2 postage for samples of their laundry and dishwasher products. I don't really know much about them so if any of you does, I'd be glad of the info.
I also did some washing up by hand and the scouring pad is getting manky, so I've investigated and my local eco shop is selling loofah scouring pads which cost more but apparently last longer and don't sit in landfill forever, which the bright plastic ones will do. So I'm off to try those.
All of that reminds me that I never sent off to 'Who gives a !!!!' (MSE edited this - apparently their editorial tools can see through my feeble attempts to make it look more polite ) to try the toilet rolls so I may as well get that done. Will probably try the kitchen towels too... oh, I am definitely having a bit of an eco-day. Maybe not a cheap day, but initially there are some good offers which I'll use if I can, and I'm all for saving the planet - or at least minimising my footprint.

Cherryfudge

I got a £5 discount on my first toilet roll order, but did get a lot more than I'd usually get in one go which will mess up my accounting no end. I also got kitchen roll - I hope they arrive when DH isn't around so I don't have to put up with him complaining (justifiably ) about the difficulties of storing bulk buys. I didn't have time to go into town so I haven't got any washing up loofahs yet.
I remember reading someone's very well thought-out diary (whose?) where they have a longer term spending budget and a shorter term one, but I can't remember how they divided it up and generally kept track of it. This is effectively spending over a week's housekeeping in one go, but means I won't have to get more for many months - late Autumn I think their calculator said. Of course I regularly overrun my housekeeping budget and one day I will be realistic and face up to it, though if those TV programmes about thrifty spending are to be believed, we are anything but minimal.

I now have two days off! Again! My senior manager asked me if I could come in on a day off in a few weeks for a special event and I agreed but asked my line manager later if I could take another day of in lieu as I've got yet more training coming up. The line manager said he didn't know why I'd been asked as there are plenty of staff that day, so I'm back to my usual hours. As yesterday was the remains of last year's annual leave combined with time in lieu, and today I was rota'd for the morning but worked the late, I'm now close to saying 'just ring me to let me know when I'm expected'.

I remembered that the chap never came to fix the tile on the roof - so many promises! He did actually turn up and did the other part of the job but the weather was foul and he had his little kids with him so I told him not to go on the roof at that point. He's promised and apologised charmingly often enough. If he doesn't turn up tomorrow (following me messaging him to ask if we should get a roofer and send him the bill as he caused the damage), I will seriously consider going onto his facebook page and making the whole mess public, which I've avoided as I don't want to do damage to his business and 99% of the work has been really good. Sigh.

Not much else to report, here are today's lists:
Spending:
Housekeeping £45.00 (toilet rolls and kitchen rolls) + £2 (postage on laundry and dishwasher sample tablets) = 1 smashed budget. Good job I never set out to be an accountant.
MS:
£5 saved with introductory offer. (Postage is probably about what I'd have paid for the laundry capsules as part of a big pack, so I'm not counting those).
10th coin savings 10p.
No decluttering.

Today I'm glad of a straightforward shift followed by more time off.

Cherryfudge

I am wondering if today marks a sea change? I went to the car boot sale and bought absolutely nothing! There were some bits and pieces that were vaguely appealing but not worth exchanging either cash or space for, and certainly nothing I really wanted. I came away vaguely dissatisfied but, as I said to DH, maybe I've got to the stage where instead of buying things from car boot sales, I ought to be taking them back! (I'm not sure I could cope with early morning professional shoppers, though).
We were quite restrained at lunch time, too: we hadn't bought any fish in but had a look in the freezer and found a portion of scampi and some fish fingers, so had those with our chips, thus saving the price of chippie fish and making a bit of freezer space.
This afternoon it absolutely poured down again. DH had to take DFiL to the optician so I pottered about at home making banana bread and moving old photos out of their albums. Apparently those albums with the plastic film to hold the photos in place don't actually do the pictures any good. I've worked through about half of them, packing and labelling the photos as I went on, and sending copies to friends which was fun. On the downside, our photocopier/scanner is refusing to scan despite being reinstalled. I'll unplug it overnight and give it another go in the morning but it's not looking entirely hopeful. It was working in the autumn but I don't think we've used it since.
So: it's been a productive day but not a huge amount to show for it. I'd intended to garden but it's been too wet. DH gave me the rest of his share of housekeeping and I've spent it on a meal for tomorrow but it turns out it's the two of us and one of our children so it's not going to be a big event. I think I am just about in budget but I have lost track as I didn't get it out in cash. One not-so-good thing was I put lots of bedding to wash as it was nice in the morning, then had to tumble dry it all.
Spending:
Housekeeping £15.14 (loofah washing up sponge was £3, I finally got to the eco shop between showers).
MS:
Nothing bought at car boot
made banana bread
Noted I have £1.01 worth of loyalty points from using my CC for larger purchases... sort of worth it but requires me to be on the ball so I'm not using it for everyday spending.
Did one of those customer quizzes mentioned on the till receipt so there should be 25p's worth of loyalty points soon to be added to my account. (If I remembered to do this once a month it would be worth £3 a year... but I don't).
Decluttering:
The contents of 140 pages of photograph albums have been rehomed and the albums recycled/binned. The photos are now in labelled packets. A few baking items finished by being innovative with the banana recipe.

My happy list for today: sunshine between downpours, having an eco-friendly shop in town and time spent with DH even though it was spent wandering unproductively round a field. Oh, and old photos that make people smile.

Cherryfudge

Nothing spent today; we went to church in the morning then DS1 came for lunch which was a good catch-up time. In the afternoon the police came to put security etchings on various bits and pieces following the theft from our shed a few weeks ago, and as the weather was gorgeous, I spent time gardening. You can't tell I've done anything, honestly, but I'm trying to get some trim edges and remove more obvious weeds! It's just that everything is growing so quickly, and it wasn't in brilliant shape to begin with.
DH and I then had a lovely walk from home out to the countryside: we used to walk a lot but it's harder to fit it in during the week as he has to drive a lot for work so a weekend of activities together is very welcome.
I also found a new home for the grate from the old fireplace which is satisfying, and adds a bit to the decluttering total.
It's going to be quite a busy week this week, starting with work tomorrow morning, and I checked my emails just now (as there might not be the opportunity at work) to find my manager has offered me some extra hours to do the work garden! I could hardly believe my eyes, as the staffing budget is tight, but I think there may have been a separate budget for the garden. Oddly, tomorrow is the one bit of my rota where I actually am quite likely to get an hour or so that I can't use elsewhere, so I will take gardening gloves, shears, notebook, trowel. I know there's equipment there but I don't think it's in the best condition. I don't know until I give it a try how many hours I can do / how many they will allow so I don't know what's in it for me financially - but it may be useful.

And I'm thankful for this new extra little job, the lovely weather and progress in the garden, time with DH, a good talk at church this morning and a good talk with DH later.

Honeysucklelou2

What a great extra job! Enjoy!

Hurray for good talks! Have a good week.

HairyHandofDartmoor

That's great news to get paid for doing some gardening at work .

Well done on not spending at the car boot sale. I have to watch myself in charity shops as they can have good items but do I need them, do I have room for them and do I want to spend money on them or would I rather keep my money in my purse?

Cherryfudge

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

do I need them, do I have room for them and do I want to spend money on them or would I rather keep my money in my purse?

Exactly.

Well, it's been a super day - I got a lot of gardening time which is a story in itself, and the weather has been gorgeous. It reminded me of holidays in the sun so I splashed out slightly over dinner and made Moroccan chicken which was pretty yummy.

The gardening was really enjoyable, if complicated. I had a busy start to my shift but after breakfast everything went quiet so I pulled out the lawn mower in an attempt to make maximum impact before getting down to the slower jobs like weeding. The grass was a tad long so I soon went to empty some clippings into the compost (the first of about 6 trips).

Bin 1 was full of twiggy stuff so that will have to be bagged up to go to the tip. Bin 2 was actually compost of sorts, though mostly grass clippings, as was bin 3, I thought, dodging a bee or so. Then it occurred to me there were several bees... so I looked further and got stung! My own fault but at least I'm not too bothered by bees or stings. There followed a saga of talking to the manager, taking antihistamines and contacting a beekeeper but at the close of play the score was bees 1: humans 0. Apparently they quite like compost heaps and sometimes burrow into them to make a home for themselves.

Eventually I got the lawn done - after trying to make the stripes go round trees and getting the extension cable in a twist: who knew it could be complicated? - and pulled all the stuff out of the little shed to see what there was. To my surprise someone had obviously spent out back in the dim and distant past and there were some good quality garden tools, though one or two beyond use. Then I got distracted by the need to have lunch and help a colleague in the building so that was another hour gone.

After that it was back into the garden to tidy up and make a start on the weeds, of which some are easier than others and definitely not a quick win. I did discover that one area has the potential to be a Mediterranean or Alpine garden but I need to investigate further.

So I spent about four and a half hours, of which one was extra time, and I have had a wonderful time and a free bee sting, which is a good thing because if I'd paid for it I'd be a) rather daft and b) disappointed as it's not very effective.

Then this evening I had an idea about tidying at home a little bit so I picked up the papers nearest me which turned out to be last year's mortgage statement. I know, I need to put them straight in the file next time. Anyway I have rediscovered that we pay daily interest so I checked my bank statement and paid off £200 now rather than at the end of the month. This is great because it brings us under another thousand as well as saving us a little in interest.

I'm really quite tired now: all that gardening was fantastic exercise and a lot cheaper than the gym, but I will ache tomorrow. (I've done 17,000 steps and a lot of bending, pushing and pulling). I will also be sitting in a course all day so I will stiffen up, but never mind: I have Wednesday and Thursday off.

Spending:
Mortgage £200.00
Housekeeping £10.87
MS:
Making my mortgage OP early saves a bit of interest.
Wombled 17p.
An extra hour's pay through gardening.
Decluttering:
The remains of a banana cake and some cous cous

Today I'm thankful for happy weather and the freedom of gardening