...A new door opens

blackste

Evening all.

Well been a busy old week. House move is nearly complete, just some paperwork to collect, a few box, some tools, and a christmas tree.

Its been fairly tough moving out of my home for over 12 years, but life goes on, and i have much to be thankful for, and lots to look forward to.

The finances have taken a rather tough beating this week. Ex "renegotiated" part of out agreement, and is now only giving me £1000 towards the debts rather than the agreed £2000. I cant say im happy about it, but in the grand scheme of things im not losing sleep over £1k.
In other news, my back tyres are worn out, so i will be replacing them, at a cost of about £340. i have done really well out of them though, nearly 19000 miles.
Lastly, my keyboard got damaged in the move. Im a gamer, and decent keyboards are not cheap these days. On the positive, my mums internet is so terrible, i cant play much at all, so the keyboard can wait for a month or three.

Financial positives.....Ex has now taken over the bills, so i should be about to put away at least £1200 this month. We shall see in around 3 weeks.
I tested L1dl for the first time ever. There is a shiney new purpose built one in the next town (4 miles), and i must say, im very impressed. Dropped my work spend for meals to about £14, although i still had to get a few items from T3sco.
Pr0lific is doing quite nicely. Paid out £20, with just over £30 in the account.

In life type news, i spoke to the site agent about my new house this week, and he believes they are going to complete early, as early as mid September in fact (from mid october). Im really excited about the move, so that was great to hear, plus being back with my mum and dad is tough.
I also got back to training this week (brazillian jiu jitsu) after a few months off sorting life out. It was great to get back, and while everything hurts right now, mentally i feel great. I have managed to drop about 7kgs while i was not training, just through good diet, so being back training should get me further towards my target. (95kg so 8kg to go). I got an amazing welcome back from all of my team mates at the club, which was a huge pick-me-up. Such a great bunch.

Hope you are all well.

Kittenkirst

Glad to hear the moves gone smoothly.

Well done on the weight loss with diet alone, it's something I'm struggling with at the moment so reading other people's gives me hope that it can happen and I can do it

Lidl are great for some things- I love meal planning around what's on their special fruit and veg offers as it keeps things interesting.

Mid Sept will come round so quickly, I was in the same boat this time last year and must say it's all been worth the wait.

Keep up with the positivity

blackste

Hey Kitten,
Thanks for dropping in. Sadly i think im a miracle of science, and my body can draw calories from air. Im pretty pleased with myself if im honest, but its been a bit tough dropping dairy, bread, pasta and potatoes from my diet. (i still eat the odd potato and slice of bread, maybe monthly). I seem to have gotten used to it though, and meal planning for work has helped a lot. Im back training again as of last Wednesday ( took some time out to feel sorry for myself haha), and feel way better for the weightloss. However, every muscle and joint in my body is killing me right now, as i get used to the level of exertion again haha.

"Mid Sept will come round so quickly, I was in the same boat this time last year and must say it's all been worth the wait."
Yeah i cant wait. One of the things that got me hooked on your diary was your move last year. Similar situations and all. I very nearly bought a barratt house, but the sales lady was being very awkward about actually selling me one.??? I ended up with redrow, so will be reporting on the experience in full.

Hope you are well.

blackste

Evening all.

I have a request if anyone can help.

Im trying to find a fairly easy to use mortgage spreadsheet, which includes random overpayments, and daily interest paid, as well as regular overpayments.

I have searched online a bit and cant find something "at my level" (thick).

Thanks all.

blackste

Good evening all.

Well, overall its been a quiet few days (or cheapish for me).

I worked nights friday and saturday, which is always low cost. However, it was my turn to take cakes in. 2 pack of muffins at £2 last both nights, so not too terrible. That was my only spend in work. Filled up the car after the last night, at a grand total of £50. That was 8 days fuel useage, including a trip from manchester to pontyfract and back. Not bad for me tbh.
In money news....still chipping away at prolif1c. I have £17.25 confirmed, and £33.45 still waiting to confirm. (including a £16.50 one to complete in chatroom tomorrow). Its been a bit hit and miss, largely due to getting my account randomly locked twice, for several days each.
Did a little bit on sw4gbucks, and 1-say, but im not feeling the love there tbh.
tidied a few ponds over to the savings.

on the spendy side. 2 new tyres being fitted tomorrow, at a cost of £340. Cant wait to be rid of this stupid car next year. Lessons learned on changing circumstances.
Likely going to 1kea tomorrow, as they have sales in store atm. Only spending if the savings are quite significant though, as anything i buy has to be stored somewhere until september or october.

Must ring the solicitors tomorrow as well, and find out where we are up to. Silence is really not golden where they are concerned, only their bills are.

Hope all are well.

BS

Fortune_Smiles

Hi BS

popping in to return the compliment. I hope all goes well (and quickly) with the house purchase.

Fortune x

blackste

Evening all.

I seem to have had a very busy day today, largely on other peoples behalf. Took my dad to do a job today, as he cant drive at the moment. Half way there he asked if we could "pop" and get paint. Popping anywhere in this town at rush hour is a nightmare, due to them building a new bridge at the bottom of town. 90 minutes later i got him to his job.
New tyres fittted, £338 lighter.
Quick asd4 trip set me back £21. mostly fruit and supplies for this weeks work meals. Need to pick up granola tomorrow and im set to go.
Cooked tea for my dad, as my mum was out, then babysat sisters kids for an hour.
In money news, i completed a survey on pr0lific for £16.50. I also managed to hit the daily target on SB with 1 survey, and completed one on 1-say, so i ticking along with those nicely.

House news in today as well. The builder rang to ask if they can move the date forward to 1st September, from 6th october, but honestly it doesnt suit me, so we settled on 14th september.
Also removed more of my things from the now Ex house. Its only when you have to move tools that you realise how many you have. maybe 2 more car loads of tools, and a christmas tree to go.

Im now going to play numbers on a spreadsheet that the lovely Kittenkirst shared with me. Good times.

BS

Tahlullah

Just wanted to say hello. I have been reading and not commenting, a bit of a lurker! You are doing great.

Tx

blackste

Hey Tahlullah,
I do the same with lots, yours included. thanks for the visit!!!

blackste

Good evening all.

Been a crazy few days. Work has been mad busy, which leaves me wiped out.
Still waiting to hear from the solicitors about the search results on the house. It can be painfully slow at times.

In money news, i had heart failure when i checked and updated my banking, and my previous target of £1200 to savings is out of the window. I have had one of "those" months, and managed to rack up £850 of "one offs" with mortgage fees, tyres and fathers day killing me. Several other bills hit me as part of the settling up of the old house. Savings will be a more modest £400 sadly.

In positive money news, i have withdrawn another £40 from PA (£60 for the month). However, it would seem that they have fallen out with me, as i have had 1 study in the last 4 days, and only 5 in the last 10.
Also hit £5 amazon voucher from sw4gbucks, and am very close to the same on I-s4y.
Also in excellently timed news, i have been provisionally booked for 2x8 and 2x12 hour overtime shifts for the week after next. Fingers crossed these materialize, as the rate i get is brilliant for doing them.

Moneysaving wise, i did my usual meal prep for the 4 shifts. Went to Mr T for my fav granola combination, to find the overly expensive one was on offer at half price, so bought 3. I probably should have bought the lot, but couldnt be bothered to carry it. But usual rice, vegs and fruit and made garlic and hoisin vegs, with rice. Mother being the star she is had 4 chicken fillets that needed using up, so kindly donated those, to which i added garlic and honey. Total spend for 4 days in work......£9 ish. Yay me.
Also filled up the car on the cheap at c0stc0 courtesy of a friends card.

I also broke a 10 year old pledge this week, which was to never bother with an ikea sale again. Renewed that vow. What a total waste of time. Literally the crappest sale ever. Maybe 100 totally random items in the whole store were reduced.

In super good news i have my son staying tonight, and tomorrow, so i have him all day tomorrow before work. He is staying with my mum tomorrow night. Its been tough not seeing him as much this last 2 weeks. Hope the sun is out tomorrow so we can get out and do things.

Good times. Hope you are all well.