Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I took annual leave today and we had a lift with A, H and baby N to go to a family meal for DH's auntie's birthday. It's over two hours by car. Part way there I had a phone call from someone I was working with yesterday to say she has Covid! Well, I have red eyes and a sore throat so of course I was a bit wary, but tonight I've tested negative.

Anyway I told the others what the phone call was about. A and H had spent a week with H's parents who then tested positive and no one else caught it so they aren't too worried now. I really hope they're okay as they are off on a big holiday soon.

We arrived at the venue in good time (picturesque canal-side pub with the Liverpool Derby playing in the downstairs bar) and met those of the family who were able to be there. A great niece and her fiancé had travelled from the southwest. The other great niece - very pregnant - with her fiancé and their son were there too. Of 'our lot', only J couldn't make it as she's in Sicily with a friend. L had stayed over at auntie's and brought her to the meal, and a lovely time was had by all.

DH paid, which made him happy! (Oh, and we've also paid for another night of our holiday due to a mystery gap in the booking so it's been an expensive couple of days).

We all followed the meal with a woodland walk which was supposed to take us twenty minutes but lasted the rest of the afternoon and gave plenty of time to chat and catch up with people. DS2 showed me a photo of his new girlfriend (she's lovely and is the person A, H, DH and I all suspected he was going out with ).

We didn't get home till about seven, having stopped at the services to grab snacks to keep us going. I don't think any of us expected to be out so long. Of course motorway snacks are very expensive so mental note to self to come better supplied next time we travel! I spent about £7.50 on a sandwich and a pumpkin spice latte - okay I could have got a bottle of water but the latte was delicious so I'm not going to regret it. Poor baby N got very fed up with being in the car and was only pacified with the classic gift of a set of keys to jangle, despite her mum providing a range of toys and snacks. I need to look out old keys for emergencies!

Back at home, I had a text from work to say a second person is down with Covid and it might be an idea for me to test before work tomorrow. At least I could say I'm negative today.

I'm not at all sure what the spending has come to. I had to add data to my phone which was another £6.

Lots to be thankful for: auntie enjoying her birthday meal and seeing so many of the family, niece's little boy who doesn't know me at all grabbing my hand so I could help swing him, other niece looking happier than I've seen her for ages (possibly because her wedding plans are under way), safe journeys and a lift with H and A, pumpkin spice latte.

Cherryfudge

The outbreak at work is official but I'm still testing negative. Last I heard a third person is positive and there are two others feeling unwell. As for me, my throat is still a bit rough but perhaps that's from reflux. The eyes are dry but perhaps it's because I'm tired? Who knows?! Probably ending social distancing is just exposing people to more germs.

I have three days off now. We had rain on Saturday then light rain yesterday and torrential rain last night. I hear down south had more massive thunderstorms. the sun is out now and I have a lot of washing on the line. I've run the cleaner and updated some things on the computer, DH is negotiating for a long ladder on Marketplace, some friends have fixed a problem with his emails and I've managed to get pink stains over a favourite top.

There is a very large pile of ironing then I suppose I ought to think ahead about packing for our holiday which is coming up soon. I want to learn the lessons of Saturday's trip and not get stung for motorway food! (Oh, but that pumpkin spice latte was nice!) There's also dinner to plan which will have to have plenty of veggies as there is a surfeit.

I'm trying to decide to give up my finances spreadsheet. It's hard to delete something that I've been doing for a good while, but it's never complete, which makes it useless. DH and I have our finances in common and he tends to forget receipts. Do I really need to account for everything if we have enough? We are getting better with energy conservation, which is the biggie at the moment. Food prices are going up but I think my campaign to add veg is (if you'll excuse the pun) somewhat bearing fruit. We do use the car more than absolutely necessary but that isn't generally much and while there's enough daylight DH can go to work by bike. (I walk as mine is nearer).

I've got as far as recycling a bunch of receipts (mostly supermarket) that never made it to the spreadsheet. Further M/S steps to take include pre-preparing a meal for work on Frantic Friday: I could save most of the £2.17 I've been spending recently! We are getting better at eating from the freezer too, but I need to go back through cupboards and see what needs to be used up, as well as continuing to put a few items in the 'war chest' against possible power cuts.

The Credit Card is paid off for now, so no charges due. Also - amazingly! - after an hour in the sunshine, the pink stains are fading from the top! I've spread it so the sun gets to the remaining marks, and it's inspired me to try the lemon juice and salt trick to get a rust stain from some old fabric from Mum's house. This is now spread on the lawn and looking white by the minute.  

badmemory

Does the spreadsheet make you feel more in control of what YOU are spending?  If it does then keep it.  It may not be the full picture but it may be enough to help you keep focused.  All that matters is how does it make you feel - better (keep)/ worse (delete).

Cherryfudge

badmemory said:

Does the spreadsheet make you feel more in control of what YOU are spending?  If it does then keep it.  It may not be the full picture but it may be enough to help you keep focused.  All that matters is how does it make you feel - better (keep)/ worse (delete).

I think I need to think about that one! Um...

I don't think it really does. The idea was that I'd total up everything in a certain category - say 'gifts' or 'housekeeping' - and that would give me an idea of what I could budget for the future. Of course that's not the case with inflation rising like a bubble out of the murky depths, that idea is a child of another past.

'In control' happens when I see something I fancy buying but it's an indulgence in some way and I put it back! That said, I do allow myself treats (you only have to look at the fun I have at car boot sales to see that). Perhaps DH and I need to go back to cash in hand for food spending and I could get a set amount for personal spending each week or month.

The difficulty is the expensive things: we don't have particularly expensive tastes in most ways - happy to buy second hand, drive a cheap car, don't do designer stuff - but we do seem to spend when on holiday and on repairs for the house. It's hard to factor in those things without much clue what we might need if, say, we had to replace the roof (might need doing in a few years) or the car (it just keeps going) or one or both of us couldn't work any more.

Cherryfudge

Some grocery shopping done today, and a big pile of ironing while watching Panic-rama and wondering how much doing the ironing was costing us...

The pink stains on my top were caused by an interaction between bleach and sun cream but (isn't this wonderful?), once the shirt was hung on the washing line to dry, they faded away! I'm very happy to have that top back, it's done me well this summer. I've also emptied the washing basket. The old napkin with the rust stain has come up nice and white but sadly still has a brown mark. Maybe I'll give myself that one if ever I get round to using them!

A late night, last night, meant I dozed off after tea, but I needed it. My own fault for playing computer games and trying to delete unwanted items from my Kindle at stupid o'clock. Does anyone know how to get rid of unwanted electronic books permanently? They went from the computer but showed up again on the actual e-reader. Perhaps I will just put them all in a file labelled 'rubbish books'.

We also had a mini wildlife adventure, less dramatic than the hedgehog in the kitchen cupboard. We'd left the back door open and DH saw what he thought was a lizard heading for the shoe rack in the hall. It was a newt, so I caught it and put it back out of doors: it must have been wakened by last night's rain. I wonder how it's survived the drought? They are exquisite little things.

So there have been a few bits of progress today: getting rid of receipts; paying off the CC; clearing out OOD medication and taking it to the pharmacy for destruction straight away instead of leaving it several months; and conquering most of the ironing.

MS things today:
Using up meat and veg from the freezer for a corned beef hash with extra veg (1 portion left for another day).
Paying off CC before it's due.
Ironing as fast as possible so I'm not heating the iron longer than necessary - but it must be making the meter spin round.
Cooking on the hob not in the oven.
Rescuing the stained top.
£1.69 saved through using vouchers.
Trying a different packet cappuccino

Spending:
Housekeeping 15.23
Medical £7.19
Toiletries £0.69

And things I'm thankful for: proper rain last night and the prospect of more tonight, DH kindly asking for seconds from my invented use-it-up meal, finding I had a voucher for an item I planned to buy anyway, a slightly clearer space around the computer.

CRANKY40

Given the way that prices are rising I would at least keep the spreadsheet for regular bill payments. I like knowing the amount that I absolutely have to have in my bank account each month which then gives me an idea of what I have left to use for anything else. The normal grocery shop has an allowance that goes in that total too but if I use my own money to buy extra it's not the end of the world (well most of the time it isn't).  I correct the total left in my account according to receipts if I have them or as it comes from my bank account (online banking) if I don't have a receipt. I just like knowing how much I have left in my current account, what I can put in my savings acoount etc at any one time. 

Cherryfudge

CRANKY40 said:

Given the way that prices are rising I would at least keep the spreadsheet for regular bill payments. I like knowing the amount that I absolutely have to have in my bank account each month which then gives me an idea of what I have left to use for anything else. The normal grocery shop has an allowance that goes in that total too but if I use my own money to buy extra it's not the end of the world (well most of the time it isn't).  I correct the total left in my account according to receipts if I have them or as it comes from my bank account (online banking) if I don't have a receipt. I just like knowing how much I have left in my current account, what I can put in my savings acoount etc at any one time. 

That makes good sense for regular bills but I can check those against bank statements (more accurate than me updating). Everything goes out by direct debit or standing order close to the beginning of the month because if we have to remember to pay anything, it may not happen.

You've reminded me I ought to look into a better savings account, the ones we have really aren't doing much apart from slowing the rate of depreciation. Mind you that's probably true across the board.

Talking of boards, we are sorting through tins of paint this morning as our kitchen units on one side of the room have sliding doors (narrow kitchen) which DH has done some work on and which now require paint. I was going to go round the lounge improving battered paint too, but that tin has vanished.

Seasidegal58

Cherry - I too have tried deleting unwanted books from my kindle without success!  Hopefully someone will drop by with a solution!  In the meantime your idea of a folder titled 'rubbish books' isn't a bad idea!

badmemory

I would love to know how too.  It isn't so much about deleting books I didn't like but just making some room so that I can find stuff I haven't read.  I have had to resort to a spreadsheet with all the books I've bought with their designation, as in read, unread & don't buy this author again.

greenbee

I go into my library on the kindle and sort by 'Read' (there's a burger menu on the left below the search bar that allows you to filter) - touch the 3 dots in the bottom right hand corner of the book image and it gives you options including 'remove download'.