Cherry takes the reins

in_need_of_direction

Glad to hear dfil is improving.

Cherryfudge

Thank you INOD: a little more of the same today apparently but he is so tired.

J and L came for lunch which was nice - DS2 was with us too - then I went to work. I was supposed to finish a bit earlier this shift but someone needed extra care so no one left early. I had forgotten anyway!

NSD
MS:
Extra half hour at work - more pennies.
Decluttering:
Returned a book I'd borrowed from a colleague.

I'm thankful for DFiL being able to communicate a bit more, for being able to put a colleague in the direction of something that may be of use to her, and for days off coming up.

Cherryfudge

Day off: 1 of 5, but days 2,3,and 4 are designated for DH and me to go and work on Mum's house. One of the things that I'm thinking of doing is removing a smelly old carpet as we'll have the car to take it to the tip and it's resisted attempts to clean it. That would leave the hall with bare boards, though, which might make the place colder. We'll see. I do want to make it a little more appealing to potential buyers even though I know people are going to replace carpets anyway. There are also bits to go to charity and a bookcase I'd like to bring home. It's also a bit of time for us, so if the weather's okay we'll try to fit in a walk or two and if it isn't we might go out to the cinema or some place of interest.

The plan for today is:
take down the Christmas decorations (I can't bear to take them down early)
put sticky-backed plastic on a couple of books that need protection
maybe make a little start on tidying the garden. It's very windy out, but dry
bundle up laundry to take to the machine in Mum's house
there are a couple of jumpers I can do by hand today - the wind is going to help dry them!
go through the fridge and plan a bit of using up
get bread and whatever else I need from Mr T.
take a few bits to charity.

The cloudy fish tank is looking a lot better, which reminds me I have adverts out for the one from Mum's house but no response so I need to add one to the noticeboard in a High Street shop. I'm pretty sure I'm not overcharging but take-up on these adverts can be poor.

A 'luxury' item (i.e. something for my benefit that I will probably chicken out of) is to look into a new ISA. The money saved over the last 18 months from picking out every tenth coin, saving £2 coins and more recently skimming off the end of the week's housekeeping and a one-off payment from my sister has indeed mounted up. It came out of a realisation that I could actually make more by actively saving than by putting money into an account and waiting for the interest, and that's proved true but its no good sitting in the house waiting for the perfect' account to pay it into. The difficulty is that I want to put it into a higher-risk stocks and shares account as I know DS2 did very well out of stocks and shares. I don't have enough in this pot to play the stock market as such, even if I knew anything about it, which I don't. However I'm having qualms because it's a form of gambling (and I try not to gamble because I feel I could get drawn in too much) and also because I would probably be putting money into things I disagree with ethically. However that's probably the case with even ordinary current account interest, and the mortgage. It also needs to be something I can start and leave to run as I know I'm prone to phases where I'm not mentally up to being proactive.

Right, off to do something about something.

Sun_Addict

Better to have your savings earning a bit rather than nothing. My DS has an app on his phone that saves small amounts of money into stocks and shares, it could be worth starting small until you're more confident.

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict wrote: »

Better to have your savings earning a bit rather than nothing. My DS has an app on his phone that saves small amounts of money into stocks and shares, it could be worth starting small until you're more confident.

I'll have a look for that thanks, SA. I remember seeing something along those lines once and thinking that for some reason it wasn't right for me but it may have developed since (it was a while ago). As you say, earning nothing from my savings isn't sensible.

Some of my list got done:
take down the Christmas decorations (I can't bear to take them down early) Done, and the tree is put away. Piles of shiny things all over the lounge floor still, though.
put sticky-backed plastic on a couple of books that need protection Done
maybe make a little start on tidying the garden. It's very windy out, but dry I decided to catch the last ten minutes before sunset rather than do nothing. Forty minutes later it was too dark to make good judgements, but I did enjoy myself!
bundle up laundry to take to the machine in Mum's house Done
there are a couple of jumpers I can do by hand today - the wind is going to help dry them! Discovered I'm out of hand-washing liquid and the shop was shut
go through the fridge and plan a bit of using up Dinner was a concoction of roast chicken, sausages, left over veg, freezer veg and potatoes. Semi-successful but gives us fridge space.
get bread and whatever else I need from Mr T. Done
take a few bits to charity. Done

For me, that's quite successful though I feel I wasted the morning.

Spending
Household £1.00
Housekeeping 18.74 - remaining housekeeping £14.25
50p to DS2 as it was one he hasn't got in his collection (no, not Kew Gardens yet).
Gifts 4.49
MS
A couple of Christmas novelties bought at half price (£3 & £1.50) to go in the box for gifts next Christmas.
10th coin saved £1
Decluttering
Four items to CS... one very small dent made in possessions pile!
Also 12 assorted boxes to go with us tomorrow, thus making DD's old room slightly accessible.

My thankfulnesses for today: a day off, small gifts for DS2 that made him smile, time spent in the garden.

greenbee

Cherryfudge wrote: »

However I'm having qualms because it's a form of gambling (and I try not to gamble because I feel I could get drawn in too much) and also because I would probably be putting money into things I disagree with ethically.

I invest my ISA and pensions based on strict ethical criteria, but as I don’t have time to look at individual shares in the way i’d need to if I was to manage them to that level, I invest in ethical funds. There are lots of them available now, and the criteria on which they make their ethical decisions are all explained along with performance. What you need to bear in mind is that if you do it this way, you want to pick the right platform as there is no point paying a lot of management charges if you are going to self-manage (which is why I’m in the process of moving mine...)

Cherryfudge

Thanks greenbee, that's useful to know. I did find an app which I think is the one SA referred to. There's an ethical option in there.

Cherryfudge

Quick catch-up then I'm probably not on line for a couple of days.

It's looking likely that I'll overspend on housekeeping this week as I've been getting supplies for use at Mum's old house, and might get more while there. I also treated myself to chocolate coffee beans which is more fun than sense.

Spending
Gift 4.50
Housekeeping 3.88 +5.45+2+0.50
MS
£2 coin into savings
10th coin into savings 20p
Decluttering
None so far

Grateful DH is going with me today and praying DS2 gets enough sleep in between his night shifts!

greenbee

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Thanks greenbee, that's useful to know. I did find an app which I think is the one SA referred to. There's an ethical option in there.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I've just been going through all of mine, so have a pretty long list (I need to consolidate...). I've had a subscription to Ethical Consumer for years, and they regularly publish information on ethical funds. I also used to use Triodos for savings but their website was rubbish so I gave up. I might look at them again sometime.

Cherryfudge

Thanks greenbee, I will bear that in mind. I hadn't even heard of Triodos! As I said, I need something ethical but which can run itself when I have one of my 'can't touch that' phases (I am currently having one about overpaying my mortgage which is very strange as I'm so near the end but I think I was thrown by paying off Christmas. Anyway I'm hoping to make at least a token payment tomorrow and if I'm less tired I might make progress on investing that money).

DH and I are both tired after our two days away but he has work tomorrow and I don't. He thinks it's due to our being out of our usual routine. We did sort lots of paperwork and sent a small load of bric a brac to charity. I have a list somewhere...

I've had two NSDs as DH paid at the supermarket so there is some of my housekeeping money left.

The biggest progress other than paper decluttering was having a chap from an estate agent round to give us an idea of value. We did this three years ago for probate and it sounds as though there may have been a slight shift upwards but the man admitted he needed time to consider the value as it's a larger property (not huge) in a lovely area with more land than average but needs lots doing. For me the biggest thing was that talking to him helped me to see it as a project to sell, and the things I knew in theory about presenting a house for sale have fallen more into place.

We didn't find many amazing treasures this time around, but a letter from my Dad's best friend dated 1947 was a keeper (we have nothing else directly from Miles) and two 'new' photos of my Grandfather who died some years before I was born. I've also rounded up lots of bits of Mum's jewellery into one place so now I think I have it all: costume jewellery, broken jewellery and all. Mum loved it and always wore rings and necklaces so when my sister is back we need to go through it. I'm not much of a one for jewellery though.

Tonight I'm thankful for a safe and productive journey, time with DH and safe return home.