Light the fire...

lucielle

It sounds lovely!  Enjoy the markets. 

L

woodfired

Good Afternoon!

Just popping by for a quick catch up.  We are almost 3 weeks into our new job/new hours and we are loving it.  It's so nice to have set hours and be able to plan ahead without worrying about last minute urgent orders turning things on their head.  DH and I are working well together - although we have worked together in his business for a number of years so it's nothing new, its just lovely and we have every afternoon free to sort the house/shop/other jobs.

Last week I found the early starts a bit hard and was falling asleep by 9pm but this week, despite feeling a bit under the weather, I feel I'm getting used to it.  We have spent our free time these past weeks getting the shop in order as it has been a bit neglected.  Its got a new sign, new outside lights and open sign, the kitchen has been re-arranged, the till updated with new special offers, we've introduced a new range of homemade salads that are selling like hotcakes and I've got a new switch machine en-route too.  It's been busy but in a good way, we've felt very productive and have had some lovely feedback from our customers.

At home I've gone a bit mad buying self closers for internal doors, the kids/dog/cat drive me mad leaving doors open and letting all the heat escape from the living room or family room so I've bought some closers that DH had to fit and also some cheap 'stick-on' versions that have a wire that retracts that I've fit myself and they have made such a difference.  Especially as our large porch is unheated and very poorly insulated, the door to the porch from the hall was always left open but now its closes by itself and we are so much warmer as a result. A great result for £19.

Meals have been cheap and cheerful, so much easier in this cold weather to cook cheaply I always feel.  Last night was soup made with on-the-turn broccoli and stilton that I had over-ordered.  Lots left for lunches too.  Tonight it's last-day chicken, stuffing and veg and I think I have a pack of pigs in blankets that I may liberate from the freezer to go with.  I got a huge block of puff pastry from the wholesalers on clearance recently and I've ordered a bag of sausage meat from our butcher to make a big batch of sausage rolls to freeze, I'll do a few variations with apple and cranberry sauces, they're handy to have in the freezer for parties over Christmas.
Finally a big joint of beef last week made hot beef sandwiches with chips the first night, a stew the following day and then a big meat & potato pie that fed us for 2 further nights.  Not bad and the animals enjoyed the fatty leftover bits too.

Financially, all ticking along.  Some shares that had been very down are slowly making their way back up on the back of some positive news, these are in my ISA that I sort of ignore in any totals as I view it as super long term savings but it's nice to see a punt from years ago seeming like it might finally come good.  I did invest a lot more than I should have done at the time but I've left them alone whilst keeping track of the company and it may pay off eventually.
The rent from the flat arrived, albeit a week late, and I swept it straight into the personal tax savings pot bringing that up to just over £5500 which should be a good start although, I've yet to hear off the accountants regarding the actual figure I'm aiming for. 
Most of our Christmas presents are bought and paid for, certainly the more expensive ones anyway, I just have a few bits to finish and that hasn't felt too painful this year for some reason.
New switch machine at the shop should save me £100 per month and has come at a good time as my current machine has been having some 'funny dos' lately! 

woodfired

Good afternoon and happy new year diary.

We had a lovely Christmas followed by a quiet new year, all back at work & school and back to normal now which is actually quite nice.

We had a visit from the accountant/SIL who kindly brought some enormous tax bills.  I have paid my tax and the company's corporation tax but still have to tackle the £12.5k owed by DH.  I have a good chunk of it saved up but will leave it 'til the end of Jan before I transfer to make the most of the interest in the savings account.  I hate owing tax but I imagine this will be the last year we owe so much, our income will reduce and so will our tax liability along with it.

Elsewhere the heating has been on a lot with the holidays and then the sold snap, we are sinking into debit but will hopefully pull that back before it goes too far, I've upped the DD amount to £275 per month so that should help - it's a big house and it takes some keeping warm.  I am super happy with the self closers for the downstairs internal doors though, they have made such a difference and I love that the stick on version can be unhooked when needed - for carrying in the shopping for example - they're great and were as cheap as chips.

woodfired

Lounging by the fire after a lovely long walk in the frosty snow this morning, it was so beautiful and I feel so lucky to live in this part of the world.  
DH wants to go out to eat tonight as we haven't done much since Christmas but I'm enjoying hibernating at home by the fire!  I've already marinaded some chicken that I am planning to turn into HM chicken kebabs for dinner, much cheaper and healthier than going out or getting a take away.  I'll try to persuade him to stay put.

lucielle

Enjoy, whatever you decide to do. 

L

woodfired

It is finally starting to warm up round here, there is still plenty of ice around but it is certainly warmer this morning thank goodness.  We have lit the fire and are having an early morning coffee.  The washing machine is running and I have plans to tackle the house today whilst DH goes for a walk with his friends. 

It was a cheap night last night, persuaded DH to stay home so a cheap but tasty dinner means we've had a no spend weekend (so far).  They don't happen very often around these parts!

Today I have laundry, bathrooms and general tidying on my to do list, I have slow cooked some steak and mushrooms in Guinness ready for a pie for dinner that I will serve with home made chips and some veg. 
Breakfast is going to be poached eggs on sourdough toast which is my favourite at the moment and I'll send DH with some sandwiches for his lunch so he doesn't need to buy anything.

I shall report back later.  Happy Sunday.

CrazyBee787

That sounds like an enjoyable weekend, and well done staying in instead of eating outXX

woodfired

DH is out for the day so I've cracked on with the washing, 2 loads drying and two further folded and ready to put away.  I've cleared out the fridge and made a soup with the bits that needed using, its sort of a chowder as I had some double cream and cheese to use and it's possibly the best soup I've ever made!  I have had it for lunch and there is lots more to freeze for quick lunches.
I've cleaned the kitchen and utility and set the dishwasher off but I'm now struggling for motivation to go and tackle upstairs.  I'm usually on it with the cleaning when DH leaves me to it but I just can't really be bothered today which is rubbish.  I may have a coffee and a short break and see how I feel afterwards. 

Elsewhere I have been cutting back the expenses on DH business account as it is no longer trading.  I have managed to swap my accounts package to a 'lite' version with limited transactions each month which will save me £20 and cancelled the SIM card on the wifi box in the office which was £16 per month.  We have transferred ownership of the forklift to his Dad so he will take over the HP payments of almost £400 per month.  Today we discussed the motorhome as it has just had it's MOT and the tax was due.  We decided to make use of the SORN option until April as we won't be using it until then and it is parked off the road on our drive.  This will save us over £90 jan-mar and then we simply tax in April ready to go away at easter.  It is fully insured and that has been paid upfront in Dec.
We are going to take it back off the road in autumn as it literally doesn't move over winter so seems silly to keep it taxed at over £30 per month all winter.

We are looking to do the same with the van and will probably let the insurance lapse on that too as it's value is so low.  We are likely to sell it in the next couple of months if nothing changes.  So a good bit of money saved overall and pretty much only loan payments remaining as direct debits which will be covered by the rent generated by the building once it is cleared and the machinery sold.  Hopefully some news on that side of it in the next few days as we had somebody out to look at the machine this week.

woodfired

A chilly damp morning over this way, the shop is really quiet as a result.

I've been on the computer putting through my wholesale delivery and now find I'm struggling to move away from the heater!

DD and I polished off the delicious soup for lunch yesterday so I need to find another option for today, perhaps a jacket potato?  Then it will be chilli con carne for dinner using some last-day mince from the freezer. I cleaned out the fridge for a big shop on Sunday but I'm trying to stretch out what we have in for as long as possible, having access to our shop helps immensely with this too - always out of date stock to use up.  

I got a good deal on bulk potatoes and onions from our wholesaler this weekend so they will be good to have in the garage as they are things I often forget to pick up and then I need to go to the shop as I'm making a meal, it drives me mad! I've also ordered some bulk firelighters and loo roll to replenish the stores which will arrive on Thursday, just some wine to order and we are ready to weather some storms lol!

DH has left work early and gone to start cleaning and tidying at home, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped over the weekend so it will be good to get it all straight again.  I was up super early this morning and popped a wash on which I hung to dry before leaving for work, one more load and the baskets will be empty (for approx. 10 minutes that is). 

Other than that there isn't much to report, we are just staying home, keeping warm and trying to save as much money as possible in the boring winter months so we can have lots of nice times when the weather warms up (and the tax bill is paid!). 

woodfired

Ah self assessment tax day!  The dreaded day has arrived.
I shuffled some money around yesterday, leaving the savings in the (high interest) account for as long as possible before paying DH's tax - well, most of it - yesterday.  I still have a small balance outstanding as I want to keep some cash in the savings, especially when running a business as unexpected costs do crop up.  HMRC will charge me a bit of interest on the outstanding but it wont be too painful and I'll drip feed the rest of the cash owed over the next few weeks.  
It has been a big hit has the tax but hopefully next year we should have a partial rebate as our payments on account are likely to be far too high. 

We have (hopefully) got a buyer for our machine which is good news, he is calling today to arrange the collection so we can move forward with selling the other bits and getting the unit rented out.  We have also sold the van, the tax and insurance were due and it was sat idle on the drive so a decision was made and it has gone.   

Besides that we have had a very quiet month on the whole, we have stayed in, haven't drunk much and have saved plenty of money by doing so.  I'm really embracing the 'hibernate in the winter' this year as I normally hate January but I've found it really helpful to not put pressure on myself to be out 'doing' things when really all I want to do is curl up by a roaring fire with a good book or a film, go to bed early and wait for the longer, warmer days.