Striving to save and stay solvent!

MeandO

From bad to worse seems to be the theme presently.

DS and I have been at my parent's house for much of the last week, caring my folks pre and post Mum's op which went reasonably ok. The night I left she was rushed back into hosital with a blood clot on her lung. I can't help but question why life is being so particualrly hard on her, she is the most caring, selfless person you could ever meet. All this before the results have even come back to determine whether the cancer is treatable or not.

So terribly tired and close to tears constantly presently, topped off by DS going away with his father for 4 days when his little smiling face really was the only thing keeping me going.


As for finances, the car repairs cost me £70 last week and diesel costs are already nearly 4 times the amount I normally spend a month, but that has been unavoidable due to travelling to my parents a few times.
As usual, they sent me back with a car full of food and treats, :A my freezer and cupboards are literally bursting at the seams, so I need to really focus on eating from those until they are emptied somewhat. They've also very kindly given me £50 towards buying school uniform and clothes for DS so that will really help. I need to put that and a little more cash in the bank this afternoon.

I've also acquired some big garden pots and bulbs they didn't want, so may go home and plant those later if I can pick up some cheap compost. I also want to move some of my herbs around and make one of the pots into a herb garden, so I will do that if the rain stays away, working in the garden always brightens my day a little.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to keep the credit card spend free. I have spent around £150 on it this month. Have paid off around £400, so the odds are in my favour, but I really was trying not to spend on it further. I do have quite a few bits towards Christmas presents though.

I also have one order to complete and post, hopefully a few more orders will come in over the weekend so that I can do them all at once and make a little more money to go towards the credit card.

There's a chicken from the freezer defrosting for dinner for OH and I tonight which we'll probably make stretch for at least 2-3 meals.

Lots of fruit from my parents' garden was stewed down and frozen last week too and I now have lots in the freezer as well as various fruit crumbles.

A partial refund has been received from some clothing that didn't fit DS and also for a subscription I tried to cancel but they charged me for anyway.:mad: I've completed a few surveys, none at payout yet though.

Still got everything up to date in YNAB, but aware I'm using it as a picture of what I've overspent rather than a budgeting tool to help me manage my money - need to get better with this but now is not the time.

MeandO

Oh, and have had to use the vouchers I saved up for Christmas from surveys to pay towards supports and a night brace for a painful foot condition I have that is getting really painful now.

Honeysucklelou2

So sorry to read about the damp problems, especially after all the decorating.

Good news about all the fruit and the pots for the herb garden. I always find garden work helpful and therapeutic.
Thinking of you.

MeandO

Thank you HSL.

I went home from work via the bank yesterday and paid in £60 of the £70 cash in my purse. I will buy DS's uniform this weekend and then any spare can be used towards attraction tickets for our little break DS and I (and possibly OH and his little one) are going on in ten days.

I was going to pop into Home Bargains and pick up some compost, but it looked so busy that I just couldn't face it. I went home and found half a growbag I hadn't used and utilised some soil from other pots that needed clearing, pulled up the rosemary, mint and sage I'd previously planted in some beds and transplanted them to my new herb pot my Dad gave me. It looks lovely and there's now a bit more room in the beds to plant some actual flowers.

I got two loads of washing done, attempted to line dry it but the heavens opened ten minutes later so had to use the tumble dryer. I'm popping to Wilko's tonight to pick up an airer which I can leave in the conservatory and dry stuff in there. Will save using the dryer.

I washed DS's school rucksack as he had taken it on an adventure day and it was muddy and looked worse for wear, has come up lovely though so no need to buy a new one.

I also sorted some tins of food for the food bank. I have way too much food for just DS and I, so it's nice to pass a little on to those that need it. I will drop it off over the weekend.

I had one more small business order last night of about £10 profit.
It all helps.

Have a good weekend all
xx

Honeysucklelou2

The herb pot sounds great. The mint will be better contained within a pot. I planted some at one end of a bed at the allotment and now have a half a bed of it! I've left it there as if nothing else it smells good and is a great weed suppressant!

Have a good weekend.:)

MeandO

Thanks HSL. I picked up a couple more reduced herbs and some alpines whilst in Morrisons yesterday so will be planting those this week too.

We had a busy weekend. DS has been away with his Dad so OH and I got on with some jobs. OH was my hero and spent the best part of a day cutting down trees, hedges, bushes and ivy which had all got out of control or needed cutting right back. I made 3 trips to the local tip with garden waste but have enough in the garden for probably 5 more trips once I can cut it all down small enough! I was thinking of calling a rubbish removal company to do it, but will be free if I do it myself.

Yesterday we wallpaper a small room in OH's house, but unfortunately we used some cheap wallpaper that I have had for a while and it has dried awful - lumpy and bumpy - so we will be ripping it off and doing it again with better paper. Was worth a try to save a bit of money though.

We went blackberry picking and managed to find some apples at the same time too so I have stewed a load of apple and blackberry down to freeze for now.
We found lots of reduced fish bargains in Morrisons yesterday so now both have freezers full to the brim.

I'm tired and aching beyond belief today. Every joint and muscle is sore and I don't know why. It seems I have been bitten all around my legs (and bum! ) by something whilst blackberry picking so I will keep an eye on it. If the aching joints get worse I'll go see the doctor. I guess that bug went for the fleshiest bits...

Just completed a survey which has taken me up to another £5 Amazon voucher so I've applied that to my account. I have a few more to do but I will do them tonight, can't face any more now.

DS is back today, really can't wait to see him!

MeandO

Last night I remembered my breakdown cover was about to expire, so shopped around for that online. Got it for £27 for the year with around £4 cashback on top of that.

I've updated YNAB this morning. I need to spend nothing until payday on Friday basically. Don't need anything so is perfectly do-able.

I've brought breakfast & lunch to work, dinner is planned and from the fridge/freezer.

I've printed out an Amazon return label for the medical supports I bought last week - they're pretty useless and won't help - so at least that's money back on the card/survey vouchers back in the Amazon account. Shame they won't help my painful foot though.

Found yet more issues with the house last night on newly decorated walls. Am getting so fed up with it now. Looks like I may have to buy a dehumidifier at some point soon.

Also had to fork out for some DIY materials, over £100, but have had to go on the credit card.
One thing I know, I definitely need to cut the credit card up as soon as a few things I know I'm going to have to put on it are paid for.
I just can't 'do' credit cards.

Completely lost my Mojo for everything at the moment, in particualr, moneysaving. If anyone finds it wandering and lost, please do send it back my way...

MeandO

Returning an item paid for on the credit card today (£85) as have found it £30 cheaper. Will pick up the cheaper version at the same time.

Small wins and all that...

Honeysucklelou2

The breakdown cover looks an excellent price!
So sorry you've found more issues with the house. Did you have a survey done on the house prior to purchase? Is the damp problem something that could have been picked up? My friend has a cittage with cob walls that has recurrent damp. The dehumidifier does well at keeping the damp at bay.

Sympathies over the lost mojo...battling money worries or any worries for that matter does seem to zap one's energy, I'm finding.

MeandO

Yes I had a full survey done HSL and they did pick up on a small little bit of damp, but I never envisaged the problems I'm encountering now.

To add to the pile of stress tonight, I got home and noticed a new issue - big wet patch on a wall that wasn't there yesterday and noticeably wet to touch and getting bigger. To cut a long story short, I'm currently waiting for the home insurance to call back with an appointment for tomorrow, I think there may be roof issues of something that's now letting water in. That's another room I just redecorated, ruined.

My Mum has a neurology appointment tomorrow. We may or may not find out whether they can or can't treat her cancer, as we're still awaiting the op results, but her pain is progressing fast. ☹️

Work is just awful. I struggled through today, but morale is so low and there's stress from all angles there.

OH and his little one are probably going to have to back out of our holiday next week now as something unavoidable but extremely important has come up. (I can't go into details on here). So it's just DS and I, DS will be bitterly disappointed, but we lose all the money if I don't go.

I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the house repairs. I just don't have the money and cannot afford a loan or an increase on the mortgage on my single part time wage.

I'm so fed up.

I Just fell and hurt my arm trying to move furniture out of the way of the latest issue. I'm still sat where I fell, on my lounge floor, tears flowing, feeling utterly defeated by life at the moment tbh.