Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

Suffolk_lass

Your garden work is really going to pay dividends the longer this distancing goes on. Well done, such a great saving over what you were expecting to spend. I especially like that you realised the place to sit was already the right place for sun and a bit of shelter. I think it proved the point that we should all live in a new place for more than a year before we start doing anything other than decorating. I remember our friends moved in July and it was warm. They ripped out the aga the next week and then froze for the next three winters. In fact, ten years on their gas fire has proved a disastrous installation and they are having to spend thousands...

XSpender

I have always had to wait when I moved anywhere to make improvements SL as I have never had the money to jump straight in and I agree you need to live somewhere first to see what fits.  What you thought you wanted before you move in may not suit or the way you expect to use a room may change once you have lived there a while.

The skip came this morning and was completely filled 4 hours later.  DH and I are wrecked, I feel like I used to do after a long marathon training run.  All the garden waste has been removed as planned  

I rang the skip people yesterday asking if they could supply a bigger skip which they agreed but the original smaller size turned up.  We were unable to fit in the small amount of stuff from the garage, the shed cupboards (they are still in the shed and I hadn’t realised one had old paint left by the previous owners in which you cant put in the skip anyway), 2 tall freestanding speakers and a big cardboard TV box or the contents of our 2 green wheelie bins.  DH is tempted to hire another much smaller skip and I will check out the price when I ring to ask them to collect this one.  Otherwise, there is a local waste person emptying wheelie bins for a fiver each but has a long waiting list and as we never fill our normal household waste bin I could get rid of some stuff in there every 2 weeks and the cardboard could go in the recycling.  The speakers and cupboards could just stay where they were until the tip re opens.

Even the next door neighbour made a point of telling DH twice what a good job we had done and how nice the garden looked.  It wasn’t that bad before, honest.  I don’t what you imagining half a rusty old car or 6ft weeds!  We still have the cleared area to level and turf and the borders to do.  It will be tough keeping DH out of B&Q now they have reopened and can sell plants but it nice to see him getting his gardening mojo back.  

The new blind for the utility room also arrived but it is wafer thin so I have ordered a replacement black out blind in a different pattern and at a slightly higher cost and will return the other one tomorrow.  I also have finally parcelled up my DMs chocs and will post these too.

It feels like spend, spend, spend at the moment with paying for the skip, the blind, DS birthday presents, a 16KG bag of GF flour, DH prescriptions and a top up shop at Sains  who appear to have seriously condensed their free from range and replaced it with protein supplements!

A letter arrived from the mortgage company today agreeing our mortgage holiday which was a very quick response to our request.  Just need to find out what our furloughed pay will be next week and we can sort out the budget for the next 3 months.

We have a hotel and concert tickets booked for June and it appears likely that this will be cancelled if social distancing is going to last all year.  I wonder what will happen to our December holiday?  We are still expecting to go and will resume payments towards it next month.

I had a wellbeing call from HR today but no update on whether we can ‘furlough’ our company cars.

I have tidied the bedroom where the rest of the carpet needs treated and will do it this weekend.  There are some cases and a few bits to go in the loft and I need to find a home for my summer clothes as I will be wearing them a lot the next few months.

Because of the garden work and restarting home schooling the housework has taken a back seat since Tuesday so will catch up tomorrow as we will be leaving the garden until Saturday as we need a rest.

Tonight we are treating ourselves to fish and chips and a couple of cold beers after the shift we have put in this week.

brizzlegirl

Sounds blooming brilliant XS. Fantastic. Well done to you both. Did you rope the wee boy in to help too?!  

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, sounds amazing XSpender. What a good idea to get a skip to remove rubbish. I was thinking today, that it’s a shame local tips can’t open to let 2 at a time in, but a skip is an excellent alternative.

XSpender

brizzlegirl said:

Sounds blooming brilliant XS. Fantastic. Well done to you both. Did you rope the wee boy in to help too?!  

He enjoyed smashing up the old broken arbour to go in but a lot of it was too heavy for him to lift.

I have been for a short run this morning.  Over a mile without stopping.  I have lost my confidence with running since we moved here as it is so hilly which is tough when you haven’t been for a while.  I will go again tomorrow morning but a bit further.  It was cool and much quieter.  It was like Piccadilly Circus past our house yesterday with the number of people walking and running in the sunshine.

We are due another warm day today so have promised DS a pool party and BBQ for completing all his school work.  It will be the last chance for a while as it is supposed to rain all next week.  The garden could do with it and it will give us chance to focus on some indoor jobs.

I treated the bedroom yesterday with the wee stuff and all the marks have come out and it smells much fresher.  We will clean the carpet next week as you can put the solution into the machine too. The dog wasn’t impressed with being banned from that room last night but settled OK in the kitchen in front of the radiator in his nice clean bed.

The refund for our holiday has arrived in our account.  We have spent a little of it on 2 prints for the conservatory with 20% off and 2 prints for the downstairs loo with 10% off.  All framed and mounted.  I couldn’t resist the 2 for the loo as they will give a much needed pop of colour in there.  I had sent a pic of the room to my DM who thought we had fitted a new loo, it’s amazing what a cheap can of spray paint can achieve 

We have accepted a 25% discount off our annual membership renewal at the Nat Trust.  I did feel bad taking it but as DH said we could have cancelled it and rejoined next year so they have at least got 75% of our membership fee.

We still haven't started the DR Financial Uni sessions and will have a fair few to squeeze in before the trial expires.

I don’t think we will have saved much at all from this month’s income as the surplus from being at home has been taken up by the higher food costs, the garden makeover, a few bits for the house like the prints and the blind and DS birthday gifts.  Next month we won’t have anything to spend our money on 

The concert we were attending in June has been postponed until next year and we have to decide if we want to go on a Thursday night which isn’t ideal but they are a band we would like to see.  If the hotel is still closed this year we may get our money back as we will drive instead.

XSpender

After spending another £65 in the local c0-op I am banning supermarket shopping until 7th May when I will need to buy some items for DS birthday tea and a card etc.  This will be a visit to Asd@ to last 2 weeks.  We should not be shopping this often either for our bank balance or social distancing.  Food spends are now over £700 and we are well stocked up.

I will have to enter the c0-op once next week to return a parcel but that is it.  Finally got DMs chocs sent off in the post.

Had a short end-of-drive visit from a friend yesterday who was on a walk with her family.  It was lovely to see them and, even though we have being messaging each other, it felt different to actually see them in the flesh.

Yesterdays pool party was without a pool as DH had lent our pump to a colleague and not got it back before he, the colleague not DH, was sacked for stealing but we still had the BBQ and used the archery set.  I have a massive bruise on my arm from the bow string!

Today’s plan is to take the dog for a long walk and potter about at home, no jobs planned.  DH and DS may also go on a bike ride around the village.  Chicken pie for tea with YS mash and YS green veg followed by homemade lemon cake. Lunch will be using up the defrosted but uncooked leftovers from yesterday’s BBQ.

Suffolk_lass

I hate it when stuff I lend is not returned. It is like an ear-worm. Our collection of audio books for a book series is missing one book, and my Erin Brockovitch DVD - to name two (probably 15 years ago for the latter). So annoying!

brizzlegirl

Like the sound of the party but boo to no pool pump!!! 

We are also spending too much on groceries, need to calm it down this month!

X

XSpender

Suffolk_lass said:

I hate it when stuff I lend is not returned. It is like an ear-worm. Our collection of audio books for a book series is missing one book, and my Erin Brockovitch DVD - to name two (probably 15 years ago for the latter). So annoying!

I still remember not having a book returned (my brother had bought me it for my birthday and it was a really thoughtful gift for a teenage boy to choose) by a friend at college over 30 years ago and it still annoys me now.

XSpender

We haven't done any ‘jobs’ in the house and garden over the last couple of days except Monday’s housework tasks and have been focussing on fitness.  I have been for another run (up to 20 mins now) and we have had an hours walk on Sunday and an hour and a half on Monday.  DH has been doing a daily work out in the garden.  I am having a day off running today but we will be going for a long walk.  Without the dog though as he is worn out, the old boy.

DH was paid today (furlough pay) and it was about £250 more than my rough calculations.  My payslip isn’t showing yet so I don’t know what I will receive due to tax code so will wait until the 30th to do the budget.  

I have ordered some t-shirts from H&M for DS as he requested for his birthday and got a discount with my membership.  1 more gift to source and we should be under budget.  He has also requested a HM birthday cake so at least I will get to eat some!

I will have to enter a shop today to return a parcel but don’t need to buy anything.

Today I will change the beds and clean the bedrooms.  We still have a load of stuff to go in the loft so will do that too. 

It looks like we will have saved about £1040 this month, the majority of which is our holiday refund, to add to the savings from refunds in March.  We have cash flowed DS birthday gifts, a £500 budget for the garden (still £128 left in the pot for the rest of the turf and a few plants or some solar lights) and £270 of other home improvements/maintenance including, paint brushes, 4 prints, curtain hooks, a roller blind, a door curtain rail and nearly £100 on the wee treatment.  We went massively over budget on food or our savings would have been much higher.

This month we are planning to save a minimum of £1000 and pay last months and this months holiday instalments to bring us back in line with our payment schedule.  We have a small budget for spending money and a much smaller budget for food which we need to stick to if we are going to achieve our savings rate.