Tales from The Shire

Cheery_Daff

Eek, how did I forget the Premium Bonds!! 😮😮 Must go and check now! 

Sorry to hear about the younger Fortunate. I do hope they're not too bad with it and recover soon. What a scary time 😕

Suffolk_lass

Ooh, PBs - off to look... I cleared all the indoor decs (mostly tree and lights) while DH did the outdoor ones - just got to find a sensible dry place to store them. It is too cold here in the east to tidy the cart-lodge yet, and the extension roof-space still has mice so can't be stuffed to the gunnels (yet)

ruby_eskimo

Oh no, hope the younger Fortunate feels better soon!  Didn't win on the PB's this time but it was only our first month with some invested.

Fortune_Smiles

badmemory said:

The PB results were out this morning.  You don't have to go into your account to check if you have your holder number.  The results appear on there usually the day before & it tells you how soon they are due out. It's nsandi/prize checker.

Your holder number is either 8 numbers followed by a letter or 9 numbers.

Thanks for this BM - I hadn't realised I had a holder number in addition to the bond numbers and my id number 😁  That's going to be very useful.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Eek, how did I forget the Premium Bonds!! 😮😮 Must go and check now! 

Sorry to hear about the younger Fortunate. I do hope they're not too bad with it and recover soon. What a scary time 😕

Suffolk_lass said:

Ooh, PBs - off to look... I cleared all the indoor decs (mostly tree and lights) while DH did the outdoor ones - just got to find a sensible dry place to store them. It is too cold here in the east to tidy the cart-lodge yet, and the extension roof-space still has mice so can't be stuffed to the gunnels (yet)

ruby_eskimo said:

Oh no, hope the younger Fortunate feels better soon!  Didn't win on the PB's this time but it was only our first month with some invested.

Thanks guys.  The Younger Fortunate is ok and feeling 'bored' so that has to be a good sign 😆  I did not win on the PBs which I am grumpy about 😠 We've won something every month since May (bar September) so I feel very deprived not to win this month - particularly as it's January the very longest month of the year 😆  Fingers cross for next month 🤞

Fortune x

savingholmes

Glad your relative is recovering.

Fortune_Smiles

Dull

It's been a very dull day.  Bitterly cold, grey and wet and the day I planned to tackle the washing and ironing piles that have been gradually mounting since before Christmas 😆  Mount Ironing has been slain but Mount Washing is a work in progress as there is only so much I can hang and dry in the house at one time.  I do have a tumble dryer but I only use it for sheets, towels and drying emergencies 🚑

I cashed in some PBs this morning to overpay the remainder of the 10% of the mortgage we're allowed. Mr F and I have PBs in both our names and I firstly tried to cash out some in his name.  Sadly, I failed the security questions and had to request a new password... which will be sent out in the post 😲 Keep up N$&I - it's 2020 not 1920 😆  A bit weird too as the question I failed I wouldn't have chosen for a security check as there is no answer to it 🤔 I cashed out some of the ones in my name in the end so as not to cause any further delay but apparently it's going to take until next week until it arrives in my account.  Maybe they are sending it over by horse and carriage 😂  I'll be logging into my bank account every day now to see if it's arrived - I don't want to pay a penny more in interest than I have to.

The grocery shop arrived.  I think I've said before that I buy flowers for the house each week or two.  Just some cheap ones for a vase in the dining room.  They brighten the house enormously and bring me joy each time I look at them, particularly at this time of year.  In the spring and summer I can usually find some from the garden.  Anyhoo, this week I ordered two bunches - one mixed and one of carnations.  T£$co bought me two bunches of carnations.  Not a problem.  However, they were still charging me the cost of the mixed bunch for one of those.  I queried it with the delivery driver and he said he couldn't give me a refund for the erroneous bunch as he didn't know which of the two it was.  So back they both went and I have no flowers 😢  Mr F said I'd cut my nose off to spite my face but 50p is 50p 😂  I might pick some up if I go out before the next delivery.  A couple of the eggs in my box were broken too but I did get to keep those and get a refund for them.  Actually - if I'd kept the flowers I'd still have been better off than expected - doh! 🙄

We had Christmas leftover cheese, biscuits and fruit cheese for lunch today with fresh fruit to follow.  The fresh fruit made it seem healthy even though it wasn't 😆 Supper was chilli and rice from last night.  There's another portion of chilli left but I'll freeze that.  I ran down my general freezer supplies to make room for Christmas food but I'd like to get some healthy meals back in there in case I get the dreaded virus at some stage.

I forgot to mention earlier that I've started the 1p challenge.  Just from my own personal spends (Mr F likes to keep his change to himself 😆).  £668 is a good amount to have at the end of the year if I can keep it up.  I shall use it for a new winter coat and boots.  I've had my existing ones from before we moved here and they've really only lasted because I haven't been out much for the last two winters 😂

And that's it for today.  As I said, a dull day.  Although I've managed to make quite a long post out of it 😂 Oi! Wake up you lot! 🤣🤣🤣🥱

Fortune x

badmemory

I keep telling myself I should try having my groceries delivered, just in case!  But then I read about people who have & wonder if I really should.  I am not very good at coping with stuff going wrong.  Then I think that people only write about their delivery if something is wrong & I'm over reacting.  So I will keep thinking about it & probably land up with the virus & absolutely no groceries, which sounds just about right for a major procrastinator.

ruby_eskimo

Shame about the lack of PB win this month, that was a very good run you were on though.  You've got me hoping that I picked some sensible security questions for my account now though 😆  I started the 1p challenge last year and basically have been using to to treat myself to the things that have been on my wish list for a very long time like the new Le Crueset pan I bought in the pre-Christmas sale.  Currently saving for a necklace that I've wanted again for a very long time and then next it's on to a new handbag.  It's little bits of money that you don't really notice have gone from your account but it really does add up quickly.

Fortune_Smiles

badmemory said:

I keep telling myself I should try having my groceries delivered, just in case!  But then I read about people who have & wonder if I really should.  I am not very good at coping with stuff going wrong.  Then I think that people only write about their delivery if something is wrong & I'm over reacting.  So I will keep thinking about it & probably land up with the virus & absolutely no groceries, which sounds just about right for a major procrastinator.

Usually everything is fine BM.  I might get one or two substitutions a week but that's not bad when I generally order over 50 items.  And, considering recent supply issues, T£$co have done really well.  I now get an email on the day of delivery so I can see if I have any substitutions/out of stock items and make a decision before the van arrives.  Usually the substitutions are fine but once in a while they are a bit odd.  You can send them back on the doorstep and get a refund and, if you end up missing items you need, you can still pop to the shops for them.  It means a trip but a much shorter one.  If there's a problem after the driver has left, a quick call to the help line sorts things out.

I've had my groceries delivered for about 16 years and it has saved me so much time and stress.  I wouldn't go back to in-store shopping now.  If you decide to give T£$co a go and have any questions, just pm me.

Fortune x