Cherry takes the reins

Floss

And will it be a straight like-for-like swap, or will there be any extra installation work required?

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

do both prices include VAT?

Very good point - I'll check but I doubt the cheaper one does.

Thanks for the reminder!

Cherryfudge

Floss said:

And will it be a straight like-for-like swap, or will there be any extra installation work required?

I think it's fairly straightforward - both companies know the location, and details like how the vent is located. I think the proposed new boiler is slightly more powerful but there's room if it's bigger. It won't be relocated because there's no need.

Cherryfudge

Both quotations include VAT (thank you for the prompt, @in_need_of_direction).

Cherryfudge

We're going for the cheaper quotation (no surprises there) as the product and service are the same. I nearly clicked on the order then noticed we have to make a decision whether to opt to pay the extra for a smart thermostat. Does anyone have any experience of them? Do they really help reduce bills?

I've done half my homework for yesterday's course - just form filling so it's not too difficult but I had to change a PDF into something I could write on, so that's a new skill learned. I've had to ask the tutor to resend the other as I couldn't change some aspects of it.

This afternoon I went to the shops and met A on his way back from work so we had a quick chat. I've bought quite a few small gifts, spending just over £20 so that's not too bad at all. I've even made a start on wrapping, but that always takes me ages.

DH has been very busy as he was on the cleaning team after work, popped home to eat then went out to the Christmas choir rehearsal. He had a great time there, though, so not a problem. Dinner was salmon and veg from the freezer with pasta and sauce from stores, but I did buy hot chocolate and cappuccinos alongside the Christmas shopping. Lunch, incidentally, was cauliflower cheese again, with additional broccoli, so that made a bit more freezer space.

Our hall is up to 14 degrees tonight, by the way! Thankfully the main living areas are a lot warmer than that.

Expenditure:
Gifts: £19.75
Household £2 (I succumbed to a very small spring form cake tin with the idea of making Auntie her own Christmas cake. If I do, I'll mature it in the freezer, apparently that's very effective).
Housekeeping: £4.55

MS stuff:
I mended a pair of socks for DH and resisted some storage baskets that would have been quite handy but we just have more than enough already.

Floss

@Cherryfudge I have a Hive thermostat & use the app on my phone but I don't have any Hive radiator valves (yet). I find it good for setting different schedules for different days, remote on / off & general ease of control.

Cherryfudge

It sounds as if your system is similar to my daughter's and they find it's easy to use which is always a bonus.

We've still not managed to make progress on the heating but it's up to 9 degrees outside so I'm not having to wear so many layers! In fact I've not really thought about staying warm today, despite us forgetting we'd left the bedroom window open. Fresh air is just so lovely, though. I wonder when I became a fresh air fiend? I never used to be.

The morning was absolutely saturated again - the rain was almost as bad as Thursday's, but it cleared up after lunch and we've had some sun. DH and I both went shopping and he's posted some calendars for people. He also got out the box of Christmas cards but unfortunately they smelled a bit musty so he's had to buy more. I was fed up of being indoors so I walked into town for some stickers to label gifts, and came home having spent over £30.

The spending was a few groceries and a rather a lot of small presents. I was in a shop that sells just about everything so I've topped up the 'silly' gifts for DS2's imminent new house. One of the things was a pair of screwdrivers that do electrical tests which I thought might be a good idea - then I realised that's a good gift for a number of people on my list, and bought four packs.

I've also spent about a fiver on DD's dog. Is that silly? I know she won't expect anything, but I'm sure her owners like her to be included, and I have somewhere an incredibly cute video of her waiting to be allowed to see her stocking fillers last year. She could probably smell dog treats but she was like a child waiting to see what came out! I know it also takes a little bit off L and J's costs, too.

I forgot to take my phone and wanted some bits from L!dl, but I remembered that if you give your phone number, they can add the receipt and points remotely, so I did that.

Other costs today will be £2.50 to return a shirt I bought DH that didn't fit - I suppose they just take that off the refund, so effectively a £19.50 refund. I can't process that till I know what it looks like in real life. There was also a donation of £2.35 to Wikipedia, which I use fairly often so I like to help them out occasionally. 

I'm behind on all things financial - I've not squared the bank statements for November yet. I think I got about half way. 

Expenditure (not counting sundries spent by DH which will have to show up on the bank statement before I can be sure of them all):
Housekeeping £12.61
Postage ??
Gifts bought by DH ??
Gifts £28.65
Donation £2.35

Cherryfudge

I have to admit I'm putting gifts on the credit card at the moment. Other things go out of current, but I'm intending to pay the cc off when the money owed by my previous job for holidays comes through. It should be here this month, but I more than suspect the department is overwhelmed at the moment and I won't be top of their priorities because I'm appealing against a decision on last year's money.

If it doesn't come through in time I'll just transfer the money from savings, but I'd rather not as it's earning interest there.

Cherryfudge

I've made a little bit more progress this evening: a couple of small mending jobs and checked my savings accounts (which are doing nothing: I couldn't remember which has interest paid annually and which was monthly: turns out both are annual but at least the money is untouched even if I can't watch it creep up.

I've done a tiny bit of decluttering: just some oddments of paper but at least it's something. Then I discovered some more that I want to read...

The hall has reached 14.5 degrees which is the warmest for days. The electric heaters have been on downstairs and I've moved the airing rack into the dining room as things had been trying to dry for ages. The things I felt okay to tumble dry got an hour is the dryer and came out lovely and warm. Those are put away but the rest are still airing... 

At the moment I'm resisting having some supper as my reflux has been bad the last few weeks and I've got a sore throat most of the time. It was a lot better most of the year as I cut wheat out almost completely. Goodness knows why but it really seemed to help. I was puzzling about why it was worse until I remembered I'd been using up some over-the-counter aspirin - only a quarter of a tablet a day as that's equivalent to the prescribed aspirin, but now I realised these aren't coated tablets so I need to get back on the prescription ones. I don't know if I have any left but if not, better to miss tomorrow's dose (I take it as a mild blood thinner) and start the coated form on Monday, then see if my symptoms abate. I've made an appointment to discuss it with the doctor and I should keep that as something isn't right.

I realise I'm putting off a big job - updating the online form that I use when applying for anything else within my current employer. The form still reflects how things were a month ago but since then I've left one job and started actually working at another, but the form doesn't allow you to add a new current post at the top. As far as I can make out, the whole lot has to be deleted and re-entered so that the new current job appears first, followed by everything else. When there are forty years' worth to enter, that's just so frustrating!

Keedie

Glad to see that it's not so cold, but sorry to hear about the reflux, hopefully that gets better soon. 

I think you're doing so well xx