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

greenbee

I've done the ironing and left the ironing board up for tomorrow. I meant to strip and remake my bed today, but that's not happening. However, I'll wash the sheets tomorrow, so might as well have another fun evening ironing... Lots of clothes are still on the heated airer, and should be dry by the morning, when the next lot will be ready to come out of the machine (on delay) just before I go to Pilates. 
Having put off running last week due to my cold, I need to start again this week. In fact any exercise would be good - my step count has been shocking this year. And I've had two weeks off my diet, which would be OK if I hadn't been eating rubbish which is making me bloated and giving me tummy ache. So I need to get back on track this week. Let's see how well willpower works... back to weighing and measuring (the food as well as me!).

greenbee

Well no running this week - I had a dental implant removed on Tuesday afternoon so exercise is off the agenda for a bit to avoid causing problems with blood clotting/healing. I'd started back on the Fast 800 before I went, and hadn't been warned about what they were going to do so had only had lunch (HUGE salad with left over salmon from Monday) and was at about 300 calories. When I got back I was definitely on water only. Wednesday I managed lukewarm milky coffee, lukewarm soup and a fruit/protein powder/yogurt smoothie. Thursday was the same with the addition of a chocolate pancake with ice cream. So calories have been VERY low, and fasting periods have been long - and by Thursday morning I'd shifted all the weight/fat and was back to my lowest. This morning the weight was the same, but body fat is down. So it's been one way of getting back on track!
I look terrible (bruised and swollen) and struggled today as I went out for the first time, just a short walk to the village shop and had to have a rest when I got there. So I'm going to attempt to get the calories up today - I've had my coffee/soup/smoothie and am going to try some scrambled eggs with cream shortly. 
I'm hoping to cashflow the dental bills (which are eyewatering, but thankfully the next appointment is two months ago) while continuing to save for my pension and S&S ISA top-ups at the end of March (actually, i should do the ISA this weekend), and the kitchen (which will be three payments to the manufacturer over the next few months once I place the order, plus electrician and fitter and anything else that comes up. I really need to finalise all the details so I have a complete budget.
I'm feeling a bit more in control, but need to be brave and work out what I'm doing with the S&S ISA now I've moved it, and also make some decisions about where to move the pensions and how to consolidate. I need to remember that H&L charges are over £30/month - £360 a year (and probably more than that) so a low-cost platform should save me a lot of money. If Aviva works out cheaper, the easiest thing is to put them together there. If not, then it looks like I need to move them both elsewhere. I know I keep going over the same ground, but although I know what I'm doing in theory, in practice it's a bit nerve wracking as these are my biggest investments (other than the house) and in some ways i'd probably be happier if I had no clue about them! 
ETA - OK, I've done some maths but not sure what to make of it. Aviva only shows the total charges over three years, which work out at around £64/month. There's more in there than there is in HL, but not twice as much. There are 10 funds. I thought HL had 15, but some of them I seem to have two different classes of investment in so it's more like 20. Cleary I need to do more research, but I think if I move to a low cost platform and consolidate the funds I should save quite a bit. It's just scary 

Karmacat

Good luck with the pension research - and especially with the swelling and bruising, you poor thing!  Hope it heals soon - are you taking arnica or anything like that?

greenbee

Karmacat said:

Good luck with the pension research - and especially with the swelling and bruising, you poor thing!  Hope it heals soon - are you taking arnica or anything like that?

Nope, just the odd ibuprofen and feeling sorry for myself! I did use an icepack the first night, but should probably have been more diligent with it. 

greenbee

One of the benefits of this liquid diet (in addition to the kick-start to my weight loss) has been that I've used up quite a bit of the frozen fruit that I don't usually use. I'm out of yogurt now, but will order some for Monday (if I remember). There are still a few strawberries, some watermelon and loads of blueberries left. 
Logs and kindling are in, but I haven't managed to refill the log baskets in the garage as I left it a bit late. I need to write myself a list for today and try to clear some of my backlog.

greenbee

I don’t like the wind 😔 and I have a feeling the odd slate might be damaged so i’ll need to locate a roofer (it was on the list anyway). I expect they’ll be busy over the next few weeks - what annoys me is that I thought someone was going to come and deal with that (and other stuff) last year.

I’ve done a lot of work on kitchen plans, and am almost there, so will email the kitchen company to schedule a call so we can finalise details (and pricing). I know it’s going to be expensive. And a quick bit of maths before doing a transfer to my S&S ISA tells me that I can’t afford to top it up any further this year as well as maxing out my pension contributions (top priority) and doing the kitchen. What with the dentist, blinds/curtains and other bits of building work that i’m hoping to cash flow, things are going to be tight this year. My mum has offered to help with some stuff as apparently she gives more to my brother when the kids are taken into account - she’s suggested paying for the blinds and valance for her bedroom here, which is the first one being done. 

Once the house is done my finances will be in a lot better shape - not that houses are ever ‘done’. The windows need repainting already, there’s some redecorating to do and there is always stuff to repair!

greent

greenbee said:

I don’t like the wind 😔 and I have a feeling the odd slate might be damaged so i’ll need to locate a roofer (it was on the list anyway). I expect they’ll be busy over the next few weeks - what annoys me is that I thought someone was going to come and deal with that (and other stuff) last year.

I’ve done a lot of work on kitchen plans, and am almost there, so will email the kitchen company to schedule a call so we can finalise details (and pricing). I know it’s going to be expensive. And a quick bit of maths before doing a transfer to my S&S ISA tells me that I can’t afford to top it up any further this year as well as maxing out my pension contributions (top priority) and doing the kitchen. What with the dentist, blinds/curtains and other bits of building work that i’m hoping to cash flow, things are going to be tight this year. My mum has offered to help with some stuff as apparently she gives more to my brother when the kids are taken into account - she’s suggested paying for the blinds and valance for her bedroom here, which is the first one being done. 

Once the house is done my finances will be in a lot better shape - not that houses are ever ‘done’. The windows need repainting already, there’s some redecorating to do and there is always stuff to repair!

Totally agree that houses are never done - except maybe when you put them on the market to sell to someone else!!!  

Seems a sensible offer from your mum to pay for the window stuff in her room

greenbee

By the time I went to bed last night not only had I almost got to the bottom of the laundry basket, but I'd emailed the kitchen design to the kitchen company, emailed the electrician, and emailed the fitter. And the fitter had got back to me with an estimate, plus said he could send someone round to sort out the slipped/broken/missing slates. 

This morning I've called the landscaper who went AWOL last autumn and he answered, so is coming round tomorrow morning to confirm what needs doing (seeing as it was last summer that he last came round to do this he has obviously forgotten...) and book the work in. I need some fence posts and wire putting in along the back and across the river by my neighbour's drive, and the porch paving lifting and redoing. I think it's going to be a HUGE help just to get things off my list so I can focus.

Mind you, we have a flood alert, so I might need to fill some sandbags and build a wall round the boiler before I go to the US... 

Karmacat

Oh my.  And your river sounds close too?  Hope all's well, greenbee.

greenbee

Oops...another long gap in updates. Not that much has been going on as I've been mostly recovering from the dental work. 
Water levels still seem to be OK - I've been away for a few days, and nothing much appears to have changed. I went to see my mum (via a spa day halfway there) and had a few days of being fed (soft food) and taken for walks. We also went shopping briefly (although it was so cold and wet we went home pretty quickly!) and did some furniture moving and sewing. She'd borrowed my sewing machine ages ago to make a valance, cut out all the pieces but not made it. So we got it done between us - I've left her the sewing machine in the hope that she'll make a couple of cushions that she's apparently been planning on making for ages. I did her amazon orders, checked that her CCTV cameras/video doorbell were set up properly, and got her robot vacuum working. I've told her she'll have to work out the programmable wifi sockets herself!

I've also brought a few more books, some china and a cast iron casserole back with me. And some cot bedding which is going to a friend when her baby arrives (the cot is also going, but needs to come down from the attic, which I'll leave to my brother as I have difficulty in closing the hatch). Marmalade and old towels to go to my brother (towels are for the dog!) which he'll pick up tomorrow as I'm off again on Tuesday for a 10-day US trip (I do get a weekend with friends in the middle), possibly (but not definitely) a week at home, and then another week away... 

I've ordered a battery-powered electric toothbrush to take with me which should arrive shortly. I've been meaning to get one for ages rather than use a manual toothbrush when I'm away. 

On the money front, things are going to be a little tight, as I've paid a big dental bill this month. At least most of my expenses have been paid before I rack up yet more... And I need to work out whether I can move some shares (which have massively dropped in value since I got them as part of a work sharesave scheme) into my ISA sometime before the end of this financial year. It might help me use up my ISA allowance this year, and should be a better place to keep them - I need to find out more, as I'm hoping I can get the dividend paid into the ISA account and use it to reinvest in other funds, without having to pay tax on them, which I currently do. 

I should probably finish unpacking, do some laundry and think about what I need to pack...