Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

It may make more sense for him not to go in than to go in and maybe work below par.

This is true INOD but sadly our workforce penalises sickness absence to stop people abusing it. More than a couple of absences in 12 months and pay is affected.

Cherryfudge

Another day off.

Yesterday morning felt like a day off, actually, after a heavy week. (That's shift-worker speak for a roughly seven-day period that started and finished around the same day of the week - so my 'Friday' is other people's Monday). I didn't get much done then, and I haven't today. A quick trip for some food (the essentials - bread and chocolate) then off to work for a fairly quiet shift.

21/10/19 Spending
Housekeeping £4.20
MS
£2 coin into savings
10th coin = 20p into savings
Decluttering
Added all the 100+ pieces of paper and other oddments decluttered from Mum's, and a couple of bits from here and have now hit my year's target! (2,019 items in 2019). In fact I'm now up to 2,041 but I daren't stop now. Mum's house is progressing though there's still a away to go, but this one needs a lot of work.

Jobs to do today:
Look into new savings account
Work on DD's old room: I need it in better order so I can store Christmas presents in there and I want to do a shopping day tomorrow.
Do more laundry (one load already on line)
Ironing
Do some sort of work on kitchen storage areas which are a jumble at the moment

Cherryfudge

Some progress made, but not things I had listed (of course).

Since the weather's gone cold and DH is poorly, he's really feeling the chill and I remembered that we'd returned a jumper I got him last Christmas but never found another to replace it. I've therefore ordered him what looks like a nice warm one... and added a top and trousers to the order for myself. I was supposed to be looking for 'nice' things to wear if I go out and I think they sort of qualify but aren't very dressy. Still, black trousers: it's hard to go wrong.

I've paid off the rail fare from my CC and reclaimed it from Mum's estate, so we're all straight there. Also £1.50 for some pansies for the hanging baskets to make the house look occupied.

Second load of laundry has just finished spinning so I shall get that on the line (first load is actually drying, rather to my surprise0 and get down to the shops. I don't think I'll get much useful indoor work done till I've blown the cobwebs away.

Cherryfudge

More progress made, as usual not in the intended direction but never mind.

The washing got more dry than wet on the line. The tumble-dryer got used for the things that won't shrink or spoil. The rest is draped around the house and will be ready for tomorrow.

Dh offered to put my case into the loft and I sent a bundle of summer clothing up too. I also bought a cheap tote bag to store my yarn stash which has overflowed. There is already a box of wools. Anyway, between putting the summer things away, ditto the case, and corralling the yarn, DD's old room is slightly more accessible.

Tomorrow was going to be a shopping trip but I've decided against it. Nobody has even started on their Christmas lists yet and I'd forgotten to get a cheaper advance ticket for the train so I'm shelving those plans and hoping to do some cooking tomorrow instead. We are low on soups and need to go through the freezer yet again to find out what's actually in there. There is still all that ironing too.

No progress on a savings account either.

Good news for DS2 - he starts his new job officially tomorrow! He collected his uniform today.

Spending
Housekeeping 10.47 (I absentmindedly got far more cashew nuts than is wise - first world problem).
Clothes (Mine and DH's) £67.99 online + £12.00 supermarket = 79.99
Hobbies £0.55
Gift £1.00
MS
Discovered that lactose free cream cheese is a lot cheaper than vegan cream cheese - useful bit of knowledge as DH is cutting his dairy intake while his health is rocky. He doesn't tolerate it well at the best of times.
Wombled 8p.
Mended a couple of pairs of thermal socks - nice that they won't be in landfill for a while, and postpones me having to buy more.
10th coins saved £1.40
Decluttering:
two spiders feather-dustered out of the window, two containers to the eco shop.

Today I'm thankful for DH's health being not-too-bad, for a day off for me and for DS2's job starting at last. I'm also thankful for creating a bit of space in the spare room.

Cherryfudge

It's been a very full, positive couple of days.

Yesterday was a bit chilly in the house but in the morning I spent time at my neglected piano which was well worth it. I also spent time mooching around free courses online and signed myself up for two work-related ones: I'm not sure how I'll find time to do them as they overlap with one I'd already signed up for, but they are both areas in which I have a grounding so I hope I won't have to allow myself too much processing time.

In the afternoon, I eventually got my act together and mowed the grass as a warm up exercise, then went for a run. Of course the warm up took ages: it was just a beautiful autumn day, with the leaves finally getting proper autumn colour and plenty of sunshine and a breeze. The grass was so long after such a prolonged mild spell and all the rain that it didn't dry in some areas and I spent a lot of time cleaning out the mower so it could go on working. After the mowing I unplugged the mower and actually hosed it down, though I did try to avoid the electrics. At least it's gone away clean (and dry) and the garden looks a lot tidier.

I had a super run - despite not having been at all this month! 3K in 25 minutes is not exactly a threat to Hussain Bolt but it's okay for me, especially considering how unfit I am. And conditions were perfect.

In the evening DH and I talked about his job and health: a really useful talk as I think he's starting to address some of the issues instead of just trying to plough on. There's a possibility of him either going sick (possible but not likely and not much of a solution,) or retiring early if that can be done. There are a few other possibilities (another job, no job, part time) but it's clear things are not improving in his current post and it's taking his health with it. He said he felt better for talking and my feeling was that it was productive.

I was on the sleep in at work last night, and the staffing crisis lurched into gear again as we realised the afternoon shift needed more staff than we had. I ended up doing a bit of my morning shift just to cover peak activity, then coming back for the afternoon, which turned into a full-on complicated, busy time but all worked out in the end.

In between the two I started on cleaning the bathroom but managed to break the window blind. I've jury-rigged a fix but had to admit I couldn't work it all out and went online to order another. Before I pressed 'send' on the order, I realised I might be able to get free delivery if I could combine it with some early Christmas shopping, which worked amazingly well and has sorted quite a few bits and pieces. I also baked a banana cake which is a bit burnt but quite edible.

DS2 is now two days into his career. So far, so good! I didn't see him last night as he got home after I'd gone to work, but I got a text to say it had gone well. We did have to sub him for petrol, though. I hope they pay him at the end of this month!

Spending
23/10/19
Sub to DS for petrol £50
24/10/19
Household (blind for bathroom) £12.00
Gifts £37.50
MS
Extra work in the form of a sleep in, and an hour and a half extra this morning.
Remembered to complete my timesheet.
Wombled 2p while cleaning
Saved 3 bananas by baking cake.
Decluttering:
Two lawns and a patch of perennial geraniums tidied up. One receipt in recycling. 3 bananas used up not wasted.

I'm thankful for the talk with DH and progress made, for shopping done and for DS coping with his job so far, for being able to deal with a work situation today, for the beautiful weather and my run yesterday, and for having the fitness to do physical work.

Cherryfudge

I'm so glad I did the grass the other day: today has been a downpour. I am sneaking potted plants back indoors as a way of saving them but I'm running out of windowsills.

I didn't manage to get to bed at a decent time last night and was up early for work, so I'm tired now. The actual shift was okay: I picked up a bit of extra time as cover was needed but this will start to decrease soon as we have new staff starting next week.

The grocery shop was cheaper than expected due to trying out a different brand of sausages, and they turned out to be okay to taste, though a low-ish percentage of meat. I'll certainly get them again. I did treat us to a big pack of cheap onion rings too - a treat for me! I also got a couple of £1 pumpkins - one for me to turn into food (I know they aren't grown for eating but I love experimenting!) and one for DS2 to carve. I suspect he's pretty well broke and he does like to do them. He's quite good, too.

News from DH... his condition has been fairly stable for the last few days and he's looking brighter now he's decided the job has to go. He's told his boss that his illness is flaring and has so far managed to reduce the long commutes she's held him to. Not sure how much he will get away with but all the driving is telling on him. The next decision is whether to go for early retirement so he has some data from pensions and it looks as though his pension would be about the amount I currently bring home if I don't do any 'extras'. Before going into the details of his income and expenditure I'm fairly sure our standard of day to day living wouldn't be much affected but there wouldn't be a lot for savings and big items would need disciplined planning. He'd get a lump sum, if I understand rightly, but that wouldn't last us forever. There will also probably be a lump sum when I complete and sell Mum's old house, but I'm realising lump sums aren't the same as income.

I know my parents' lifestyle was affected by my Dad having to retire early, and now I'm wondering how it will affect us. Much of me is still feeling I have many years to go! It's odd when it suddenly looms close. My work is dependent on continuing health and strength so we can't rely on my continuing to retirement age.

Anyway - nothing done yet so all possibilities are still open, and when I asked DH what he'd do with himself once he retired, he said 'Get another job!' He's serious, too. For a long time he's wanted to do something that helps other people. He can't even spend a Saturday morning in the house if he could be out doing something. I think he needs some time to get his health back and refocus, but it feels more normal to hear he is thinking of carrying on in something less stressful.

Today's totals:
Spending:
Gifts £3.50
Housekeeping £5.86
MS:
Cheap sausages!
£2 coin into savings
10th coins into savings 70p

No decluttering

Things I'm thankful for: progress on DH's job front. Bits of extra time for me at work. Weekend off!

VelvetFreak

Sorry that your DH is having such a rough time
It's such a complicated decision.
Have you ever seen a financial adviser? It might be a good idea to get someone to run the numbers for you.

Honeysucklelou2

It's good that you have been able to chat through all the possibilities. Health is so very important and we often don't realise the blessing of daily good health until it is threatened or compromised. Hope your DH is feeling better for having made a decision.

Cherryfudge

We did go to a financial advisor a while back, but of course the situation is different now and DH is thinking of going again.

It's just occurred to me that the 'if anything happened to one of us' scenario is changing too: our life insurance completes any day now and as far as I can make out there's no financial benefit at the end of it apart from £13 not going out of the account each month. It's paid from DH's account so when his income goes down it will make a slight difference in that we no longer have to pay it. If one of us kicked the bucket in the next few weeks it would pay off the mortgage but we have enough in savings that we can do that anyway and are only keeping it paid on the drip because DH wants to have cash available.

I had intended that once the mortgage (paid from my wages) finishes, I'd put the extra (about £300 a month) into either savings or pension depending which worked out best, but I will have to look at what DH's actual income is and what our outgoings are before I make any decisions there.

Today's another very wet day. DH has taken DFiL out for coffee somewhere dry... I need to make progress on something or other but I haven't decided what.

Honeysucklelou2

What a blessing you have been able to make those overpayments...well done .