"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

Cleaner didn't come today either - had to go to the doctor. By the time she gets here next week the house will be spotless already!

I cooked about 1.5kg of onions in the SC for 8 or so hours yesterday, and today made a batch into soup, which was delicious (particularly with cheese melted into it!). New glass freezer containers don't arrive until Monday, so need to slow down on the soup-making a bit (i.e. not making so many portions). Last veg box of the year has been delivered, so I know what I have to work with.

Lovely day today, so have been to the PO to return a parcel, finished the ironing (because I thought the cleaner was coming...) and am going to head out while it's nice to do a few errands and then sit inside to get some work done once it is dark.

Recycling today too, so need to make sure I've cleared out the bins. I've moved all the boxes from all the recent deliveries into the garage so they are out of the way and the house is gradually getting more pleasant. I'm hoping I can get my mum's room back to normal this week, even if it's by moving things into the spare room. Once the kids' room has been properly cleaned I can have a further sort out in there and think about what furniture it will have.

I've had a clear out of medicines (while hunting for more painkillers!) and have some to be disposed of. I've also made sure that I've been using up the part-used packs of painkillers (when I have a migraine I tend to just grab whatever I can find, so had lots of blister packs with one or two removed) which has got rid of a lot of clutter! And a bottle of bubble bath that I didn't like (mango, too sickly) has been decanted into the empty handwash bottle to be used up.

Must go and do my errands and get on with work...

greenbee

Yet another soup made and eaten. It was yummy

So far this week I have made:

Cauliflower, flageolet bean and fennel
Winter root veg (Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip & potato)
Onion (onions cooked for 10 hours in SC with turkey stock)
Mushroom
BNS
Spinach

I've also had some from the freezer - Broccoli & Taleggio, Roast tomato & Peppers with rice, Parsnip

Tomorrow should be aubergine/pepper/tomato & feta, and I also need to make a courgette soup at some point.

I should also talk to my brother about lunch on Sunday. It may be easiest if I take my own soup...

It's chilly this evening, so I've lit the fire for the first time in ages. I should think about putting some Christmas decorations up on Saturday - and I have to do my cards at some point too...

selloptape

Those soups sound delicious, I think you’ve inspired me to make soup for lunch today - just got to remember to make an extra batch for the freezer

greenbee

Thanks! Enjoy your soup. I'm glad I wrote my plans down as I'd completely forgotten what I was supposed to be doing today... veg has just gone into the oven to roast

greenbee

More onion soup made today at lunchtime with the rest of the caramelised onions, and courgette soup this evening. Must remember to make bread sauce first thing tomorrow to take with me as I'm going out to lunch.

Went shopping for the presents I need for tomorrow, and also picked up a few more cards and some holly so I can get the door decoration done. Got the decorations out and started putting some of them up - I'm trying to work out where to put them and how to organise them so it's not so obvious that I'm not here over Christmas. I think I should probably pick up some timeswitches or possibly some smart plugs. And change the batteries in the CCTV cameras if it stops raining for long enough!

Three bags of stuff have been dropped off at the collection for the night shelter - hotel/airline toiletries etc. made up into individual packs; DVDs and cutlery (both on the list online) - so more stuff I don't need out of the house and off to someone who can use it. I plan to do a CS drop off on Tuesday before I start packing up the stuff I need to take to my mum's.

greenbee

I've been making lists today... and as well as doing some bits in the garden, have started doing a review of my finances. Things are a bit up and down at work with lots of change, so I need to get my head round them.

I started this diary in October 2017 having just reduced my mortgage rate and was hoping I'd be able to start OPing. I then decided to take a new job at a much higher salary, and spent my 'big emergency fund' on getting a lot of work done on the house while I was on gardening leave.

Despite my significantly higher salary this year, I've only just got that fund back up to where it needs to be (one year's living costs). TBH I'd prefer it to be more - around 2 years' living costs - but there is still a certain amount of work to do on the house. I've done a bit this year from cashflow (which is probably why the savings haven't increased as much as they should have done), but need to try to do some prioritisation. This year I've bought wardrobes and blinds, but not had much else done on the house since January.

There isn't much room for saving on general bills - although I might save a little changing my electricity supplier, and should probably look at changing my critical illness insurance. Water is low (less than £10/month), drainage depends on whether the plant needs any repairs/parts, and I'm not using excessive amounts of oil (anyway, I work from home and need to be warm!).

I need to do some research on ISAs. I currently pay £200/month into an S&S ISA, and have done for years - I haven't increased this amount with payrises. Having spent most of my ISAs on the house over the past few years I did stick a lump sum in one earlier this year. I need to work out whether I'd be better off putting the rest of my allowance into the S&S ISA or keeping it as cash. I think it'll probably go into cash, this year, as part of my emergency fund. I see the S&S ISA as more of a long-term investment.

I have several pensions - two of which are SIPPs. One (now Aviva) was originally a personal pension, became my work pension and then went back to being a personal one when my employer changed providers - £200/month goes into here. As a result of the change, I also have a SIPP with HL. I'm wondering whether I should combine these as it should in theory cut the management costs. I also have a couple of occupational pensions that I find it difficult to get decent info about, from two separate employments with the same employer. One is a defined benefit pension and the other I think is defined contribution. There are also a few AVCs somewhere. And finally I'm also contributing 8% of my salary to my current employer's pension scheme about which I have very little detail. That's the maximum I can put in there, and it maximises their contribution.

From a tax perspective, it makes sense to save as much as possible into pensions. I just need to get my head round which provider is best, how to transfer, whether to include the occupational pensions in this, and also how much extra I can afford to put in to my SIPP each month (I'm sure there's a way to work out what the ideal amount is to minimise my tax bill!).

I also need to save up to get the last bits of the house done. Kitchen and utility room (won't be cheap), a few bits of furniture, blinds and curtains, external doors, a few repairs/snagging/maintenance and then getting the drive done (the shape needs changing as well as the hardcore/gravel sorting out).

And then there's the mortgage OPs. I'd really like to do something about this, even if it's just a small amount. But it doesn't make sense if it means I don't get the kitchen done!

Given the upheaval at work I have no idea whether I'll get a bonus this quarter, and if so how much it will be. I should, however, have a significant surplus each month so need to make some decisions as to how to split this up. If it goes into cash savings initially at least I can get at it if there is a problem.

So a few decisions to make about where to prioritise the savings and investments. And a bit of discipline to be applied to more general spending... I've got lots of soup in the freezer, so hopefully can save enough on day-to-day living costs to cover the rest of the dentist's bill :rotfl:

Karmacat

A year's emergency savings is great, greenbee, and lots of pension contributions already, brilliant news - though yes, they do sound spread out over a lot of different pots, which may need merging just for ease of admin, I don't know?

Woo hoo to gardening and gardening leave - how's it all going?

greenbee

Gardening leave was last year! Three months off and mostly spent it nagging builders...

I've just tried looking at a comparison site for critical illness insurance and frankly the questions just don't work. I can't remember dates for e.g. first symptoms, treatment etc. And as for the month/year when I last smoked... that's so long ago I have no clue! But I'm currently paying £116/month which seems a lot and would probably be better spent elsewhere. I don't need life insurance as I have no dependents, but I had just been diagnosed and was having a lot of treatment when I took out this mortgage, so it made sense to have cover in case I couldn't work. Not quite sure what to do about it now...

greenbee

Had a lovely NYE - 6.5 mile walk with friends, then stopped off with cousins on the way home for a cup of tea. Friends have done a fantastic job on their house (not to my taste, but very much theirs) and have done most of the work themselves. When they moved, the husband couldn't get a job and he's saved far more money on the build that he would have earned - both doing work himself and sourcing materials (both reclaimed and new). I've got a bit of a dilemma, as I don't like to mix friends and business, but at the same time he is clearly very talented and if I can get a good kitchen design done would be able to make something fabulous for much less that the upmarket kitchen companies that are the equivalent. Mind you, I still need to save up!

Today is being spend doing jobs in the house and garden. So far I've emptied the WM filter and put it on a drum clean programme, opened all the windows and turned off the heating, removed all the vacuum cleaner filters and washed them (some clearly haven't been done for a very, very long time), emptied and washed all the bins (wheelies need washing sometime too, but will wait for spring/summer and use the pressure washer).

All things that will have very little immediate visible impact but should improve the overall environment in the house! I've got a long list for today alternating inside and outside. Not sure I'll get through it all, but hopefully it'll kick start the NY nicely.

Next job is to go and do some more cutting back in the garden and fill a garden waste bag. After that back in to do the ironing and make a start on laundry.

Karmacat

New broom for you! Sounds great



The critical illness cover *does* sound like a lot of money - could you cope if you didn't have it, and one of the eventualities it currently insures started to happen? Or could you get a lesser cover? Good to review it.