Cherry takes the reins

Honeysucklelou2

That's a really interesting way if putting it...paying a share of the bills rather than rent. Discussions about contributing are still ongoing here but I like that slant

Cherryfudge

Today has been mostly notable for a mammoth 68 pieces of laundry put away - most of them freshly ironed. Yes, the backlog has been tackled! The washing dried surprisingly well outside, too.

I didn't get to the shops, so nothing spent... in a way. I was annoyed to notice a cheque I wrote a few weeks ago has only just been cashed, pushing my account into overdraft so I lose the £2 reward for staying in credit. I suppose I have only myself to blame: I should have made sure I'd accounted for it.

November's money should be in now.

Spending:
None
MS:
Finished up bits from the freezer for lunch and had left a meal at work which I had for tea.
Found a pair of trousers I'd completely forgotten!
Decluttering:
One massive pile of ironing; some blueberries, ham and a fish finger from the freezer (now I want fish finger sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch).

I'm thankful for lots of lovely fresh clothes all neatly put away, a nice day and a good shift at work.

Cherryfudge

Another NSD. I didn't do much housework and it's been too wet to put washing out, but I did spend some time emailing my manager about a situation at work. When I actually arrived for the afternoon shift he was there but I didn't get time to talk to him as it was full-on from the start. Amazingly I'm not tired yet, but a bit wound up. Yesterday a piece of equipment went wrong and someone pulled a muscle and is now going to struggle to work normally. Today a different piece of equipment wasn't functioning and it turns out it was known about but the message was never passed on. We found a way round it but it wasn't good. Everyone is just so overstretched that I can't blame earlier shifts for not thinking this far ahead though. I doubt I would have thought of it in the same circumstance.

Yesterday's injury to staff was going to cause problems with effective cover so a couple of us have swapped around and for me that means I go on shift tomorrow afternoon followed immediately by the sleep in then the early shift on Sunday. It's a good job I have Sunday afternoon off, so I'll try to take it easy and have some family time before spending a couple of days working on Mum's old house. I had been fretting about having to come back early for the staff meeting but now I can see it will actually work to my benefit. After the meeting I have the rest of that day and the two days following to myself.

Spending:
None
MS:
Still eating from stores: today it was cauliflower cheese for lunch and oats for tea. I think I might be buying chocolate tomorrow though. I got £20 out at the beginning of the week and still have £15.15 left! I won't spend it all on chocolate... also, DH has had to buy food so he may need more.
10th coins saved = £1.70
Decluttering:
None (haven't finished any freezer stuff up, though I've used bits).

Today I'm grateful for milder weather which is good for the heating bills, and for spotting some lovely Christmas presents to order for family which won't break the bank or cause clutter.

in_need_of_direction

So good that you’ll have a few days just for you

Cherryfudge

Me too, INOD - I'm ready for them!

I did a bit of shopping yesterday and DH did too so there's about £2.50 left of the £70. My cappuccinos and large hot chocolates are suddenly both on offer so I got a couple of each.

Work was tiring but we pulled together and at times had a really good laugh. Another colleague came to grief yesterday and ended up in A&E: one of those domestic accidents that are hard to legislate against and she has stitches but should be well on the road to recovery soon. Everyone feels very over-stretched, though, and we are all mentally taking work home with us.

I didn't feel how tired I am till I got home. I spent 99p on a novel yesterday which I'll take to the house-decluttering session tomorrow to give me down time. It's one of those annoying ones which are just interesting enough to have me wanting to know what happens but the writing has more potential than polish. Still, that sort of book gets better, generally speaking, because authors somehow never get less experienced as they go along.

Well, the gang are coming round for dinner tonight which I'm looking forward to. DH is making spaghetti bolognese and I need to clear the table. We had lunch with J and L yesterday, too (and I sent an item back via a shop near them so should be getting a refund eventually) so we'll get to see them twice in a weekend.

Cherryfudge

Quickly, as I need sleep:

Spending:
2nd - housekeeping £11.83
e-book £0.99
3rd Nil
4th Household (roofer) £650.00

I've also reclaimed the cost of tomorrow's train ticket from Mum's estate and paid off most of my CC - it will show a shortfall as here is a £40 refund due that from past experience may take some weeks to process and when all that's taken into account I think there's still one more payment to account for. I'll have to have a proper look when I get home again.

I've put in my timesheet for October and the oddments that were in dispute from September. I have the email from Human Resources to confirm I was right to make the claim (my manager thought the extras would be credited automatically but he was wrong). I think it will net me £1.96

It was nice to have all the children and respective other halves around this evening but sad because it doesn't look as though our Christmas will look the same this year. J and L will be at A and H's for dinner as will we, but I don't think they're coming to ours at all, and DS2 still doesn't have his Christmas rota (neither do I but Christmas Day falls on what is usually my day off).

However... I'm thankful we had time with them all and for a good relationship with them.

Cherryfudge

I had a quick look at the account my money goes into, and the mortgage account - the bad news is that I didn't get the £2 reward for staying in credit (due to forgetting to take account of a cheque that went through last minute), and I got charged 5p for being overdrawn. The good news is the mortgage is now just under one and a half thousand, and in the £6 range for monthly interest.

I've also paid £10.95 out of housekeeping for the milk bill.

Time I got ready for the train.

Cherryfudge

Once again I was shattered for the first day of my time away and slept massively that night ( hours 40 minutes according to my F!tbit). However I did get help from the lady who oversees the house and together we moved a hefty dresser. The wall behind it had suffered from the cold and damp before I got the new boiler put in and great chunks of plaster fell off. I guess that will save the plasterer a job eventually.

I didn't find any treasure behind the dresser and it clashes madly with the colour scheme where I now have it, but it's a step towards giving the plasterer access. The rest of the scheme for clearing stuff from the to-be-plastered areas has only made a little progress. I spent quite a lot of time going through old photo albums saving the pictures. The albums themselves are just too bulky and have those tacky plastic covers over the pages which are bad for the photos.

I didn't do my usual MS thing of bringing a flask: flasks all add to the weight to carry and I was already tired, so I treated myself to hot chocolate on the way there and coffee on the way back. £5.30 in total but I'm not going to beat myself up over it as I felt I needed to give myself some slack.

I also bought groceries on the way, having realised I'd forgotten breakfast, and some veg, milk and a timer in the next village, and I think that's it for travel spending.

Today I went on my Am@zon account to cancel a DVD I didn't order! Could I possibly have done it by accident? I don't see how as I didn't even browse DVDs, but no one has tried to open it and no other transactions have gone through, so I don't think I've been hacked. I've changed my password though, to be sure.

My CC is up to date apart from the refund for the jumper that didn't suit DH. They have acknowledged receipt so I hope the money comes through quite soon.

There were various delays with trains: the first one got in a queue of slow-running ones and arrived a bit late but the next one was running late from the start and gave up before it reached my stop. However it was sufficiently late that the train behind it came along a few minutes later and I caught that. I need to check if the lateness was enough to claim compensation, which I haven't done before and would have forgotten about were it not that today's first train was cancelled altogether and I had to wait for the next one then go searching and find an alternative that I could use my advance ticket with. I think I was about 45 minutes late with this one and DH came to the station to pick me up which was perfect as it was real November weather. By the time I'd hoisted my bags up and down flights of stairs while going for information (lifts aren't running) I could really feel the physical strain so I think I might be justified in complaining. I'm not sure if the rules vary between companies but Google can tell me that.

Spending:
4th
Housekeeping £6.45
Hot chocolate (entertainment? travel?) £2.30
5th
Housekeeping £2.03? I forgot to get a receipt.
Estate spends to reclaim £4.25
I also paid the lady who looks after the house between times but that comes straight from the estate.
6th
Coffee on station £3.00 (again, entertainment? travel?)
MS:
Went for an explore down a local lane as I realised I'd never been there and time is limited now. Found an apple tree dropping apples in the grass and obviously unpicked so I got some of the less battered ones to stew and they made a big pan full.
Decluttering:
Lots from Mum's house, mostly paper.

I'm grateful for a lift in wet weather, for being home again and for free apples and a nice conversation with the lady in the village greengrocer's.

Cherryfudge

It's been a quiet day off so far (day off as in, I have a meeting this afternoon). DS2 is starting on nights tonight so he's also having a quiet morning. I have furnished him with a copy of Masquerade which I found at my parents' house. He won't win the golden hare - he's forty years too late - but he might enjoy the puzzles.

Money-wise, I've sent £150 to savings and the same to the mortgage, and skimmed off the remains of DH's money from last month - £17.81 - into savings too. It would have been more but we paid for the roof works so instead of sending that payment from savings I sent it directly from current. So we broke even despite a hefty bill, which is good.

I was wary after forgetting that cheque at the end of last month and thus getting overdrawn, so I've left a buffer of nearly £100 in my wages, after accounting for money that I expect to have to spend. Near the end of November I can look at that again.

For the record and because it was useful a few weeks ago, I've taken £36.45 out for housekeeping this week and have £31.01 left in my purse. I'll try to have £6.45 left at the end of the week so the total spent is £30 or less. There was some small change from last week which is why the sums don't seem to add up.

A bit of money saving I forgot the other day: I've done haircuts for both DH and me. Mine's okay but I think DH's is shorter on one side than the other! Oops. I need a better light. At least it will grow out soon.

in_need_of_direction

Can you not just trim the longer side a bit?