Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

You are both right. It's a disaster. I'm just watching the Covid briefing now. Our town is now Tier 2, so we are now under the same restrictions as the North East. What I don't understand, is why our most local city has been made a Tier 2, despite having more covid infections than anywhere else in the country......even more than Liverpool, which has been made a Tier 3.
I am not wanting to watch or read any more news tonight. It's all getting rather unremitting.
F x

foxgloves

And onto today's post, which will be Covid/politics free.....
Was awake at 5.10 & was up & dressed for 6, which was useful as the electricians arrived at 8. There was a long list of jobs for them to do, & the power was switched off all afternoon, so I was a bit limited with what I could do. So I baked bread, made a curry, did some post-weekend budget updates, sorted out an October birthday card & progressed my recipe project. Thankfully (fingers crossed, as the full safety testing hasn't yet been done) no further examples of Mr DIY Numpty's shoddy work reared its head, so no upward adjustments were required on the bill.
Am looking forward to a more solitary day tomorrow in which I can be more in my usual routines. I could also do with cutting out some more face masks. I wonder if I'll get around to that - I'll see. The piano removal people are bringing my piano tomorrow, so I may find I get side tracked with a sneaky little prelude or two! 
Chat tomorrow, 
F x

foxgloves

Morning m'dears,
Am so excited about imminent arrival of piano that I think I need to set some targets for this morning. I think I will just keep looking out of the window for the removal people otherwise. So I'm just finishing my coffee, then I am aiming to do a minimum of 10 jobs before it arrives.
Mr F has just left for work, there are no workmen in the house today...... so in theory I can crack on. 
Talk later. Please keep yourselves safe as the current covid situation is deeply worrying.
F x

Pixiehouse55

Hello Foxgloves and gang... Haven't been on for ages, sorry. Our male service user has been in and out of hospital since 18th September. Actually felt like complaining about the ward he has been on and doctors and nurses. Sending home oh no he's not being sick. That evening can't keep food down. Phone his GP he gets him admitted to hospital and yes withi in a day sent home. Next day gp  gets him back in hospital etc etc. Our lady hasn't been in because no heating/hot water at centre she goes too. Hey ho..... I've managed to get my flu jab. My 2 people get theirs done in November as they've run out of flu vaccine... but on a happy note I only have just under a £1000  to clear my C. Card, it will be cleared by December. Next account now cleared. Yeahhhh. Anyways will catch up soon. Hope you are all OK and keeping safe? Time to catch a few hours sleep before my lady wakes up. Feeling exhausted 😴  Bye for now take care and keep safe x 

carrielovesfanta

foxgloves said:

Am looking forward to a more solitary day tomorrow in which I can be more in my usual routines. I could also do with cutting out some more face masks. 
Chat tomorrow, 
F x

If you haven't cut them yet... nt sure how you got on with your pleated ones but my OH hated his and so I made some "Mortal Kombat" style ones using this pattern
https://dhuratadavies.com/blogs/things-i-make-and-do/free-face-mask-pattern-and-tutorial
It was very easy to follow and OH prefers the fit. They are less trying on the ears, but I find that they steam my glasses up much worse though. 

Sayschezza

I use breast pads as an inner filter. They have sticky tape so stay in place and they absorb moisture so my glasses don't steam up.

foxgloves

Pixiehouse55 - Hello, nice to hear from you. It sounds like you have been busy with one of your people being poorly. Very frustrating to be discharged from hospital too early & then to go straight back in again. Hope things are settling down now & that the poor man is feeling better. 
I'm glad you got your flu jab. I talked to my sister on Skype today & she'd also managed to get one at a little pharmacy she said she didn't even know was there, but her partner had walked by & noticed they were taking bookings, so he quickly booked her in & she had it this morning. 
Great to hear the debts are coming down. It's such a good feeling to see those numbers dropping, & then entire debts/cards dropping off, as they get paid. Honestly, I look back now at how I used to be & I simply can't see why I ever thought any of my overspending was worth it! I so much prefer being debt-free to buying tons of stuff.
Keep it up, m'dear!
F x

foxgloves

CLF - Yes, we are getting on well with the pleated masks I made. I did also buy a couple of shaped ones, sewn by a local charity & I get on well with those too, but I think they have one less layer than mine, as I did the version with a pocket for inserting a third layer of cotton or whatever. Mr F gets on really well with my pleated cotton ones, so I am just intending to make more of those, despite them being desperately tedious to sew. He finds he can wear them pretty much all day at work without them getting uncomfortable. I experimented with all sorts of different materials as the 3rd layer (though admittedly not a breast pad, SaysChezza.....that is very innovative!).....we trialled coffee filter papers, kitchen roll, sheets of plastic freezer bag, etc, but Mr F pronounced all these to be rubbish & increased the steaming up of glasses. We settled on little rectangles of cotton pillowcase, which I can launder at the same time as the masks & he is well-satisfied with those. I'll have a look at your link, CLF, & see if I think it's worth me making a few for me. Basically, if I make another 10 of anything, he can have all of the pleated ones. 
F x

foxgloves

Greetings to all on this already dark October evening!
Well, this morning I simply stood looking out of the kitchen window at what has become a gorgeous tapestry of autumn colours in the garden - purple from the michaelmas daisies, dusky pink sedums, coppers, dull brown-edged yellows, the last white frills of Cosmos 'Cupcake' fluttering, squabbling starlings getting heavy with each other over the peanuts, the occasional skein of geese flying over to the river...........
And then I decided I ought to get a wriggle on, as I didn't get much done yesterday. I got a very short notice request from the electricians to see if they could return to carry all the official testing of our full household electrics. Of course I said 'Yes' as it's in our interest to get our safety certificate & for everything to be finished so I can pay up, etc. There was no power for much of the morning, so I cracked on with my recipe project & got it all finished & filed, So today felt pretty normal. No builders or workmen of any kind, nothing being delivered, Mr F at work, so a good opportunity to start catching up. I've done two big loads of laundry & got everything partially dry on the line, I've done some more sorting out in the kitchen, I prepped the veg for tonight's meal (very little effort required as I made enough fish pie yesterday to feed us for two days), I've baked a sourdough loaf, I've done next week's meal plans & written the grocery shopping list. I skyped my sister for an hour, ate some lunch, then came upstairs to 'Foxgloves HQ' to do my mid-month budget check-in.
Oh my days, it's taken me some time. I really must get back into my regular set routines of doing budget updates every Monday morning. There were no nasty surprises - I can't help but feel grateful for that - I've lived a lot of my life being the silliest twit imaginable with money, & I don't think I'll ever lose that feeling of satisfaction tinged with relief when the figures all work out & yet again, I am struck by the fact that, yes, budgeting works, & I should have discovered it over two decades earlier than I actually did!
Today was quite complicated because I needed to get the budget I've ring-fenced for all the home improvements updated first, plus there were was a sum to transfer from our Savings Pots account, meaning that each category needed individually updating on the spreadsheet. I'd just sorted it all out in terms of what had to be done, when I got a phone call, so I had to get back into the zone after that. Never mind, it's all done now & I just have a couple of little things I want to look up on the internet, before I sign out & embark on an evening which hopefully isn't full of £££ signs! 
Take care all, especially you, OBL if you're reading,
F x

foxgloves

Evening m'dears,
Well, another day of getting back to normal routines. It's been a piano sandwich, actually. I decided that if I did the ironing & my weekly Friday cleaning this morning, I would have earned some time playing my new piano, so I did exactly that, then headed up to my cosy little HQ room to do some miscellaneous admin tasks. I printed out a couple of guarantees/safety certificates for the work we've had done recently, & sorted out a minor issue with my credit card provider. I only have one credit card & it is paid off in full every month, being primarily a means of earning points for vouchers. In fact, my autumn vouchers arrived today - I had sufficient points for £15's worth, which is worth having. Mr F also has just one credit card.....same methodology.....he has to buy fuel for the car & often uses it to pay for our groceries - it is all budgeted spending, but just ensures we get a little something back for it. I think we have both paid quite enough interest back in the Spendy Decades, thank-you very much, so it feels like time for us to earn a little bit back! 
I intend to do some proper Christmas present planning next week, which will begin with unpacking my presents stash & assessing what I have bought so far. Today I bought a present for B-i-L, which was half price & also sufficient yarn to knit a present for my best friend. I also spent half an hour getting going on a pair of socks I'm knitting for Mr F to pop in with his birthday or Christmas gifts - some rather funky self-patterning sock yarn in bright primary colours......just right for a Festival.....not that anyone's going to anything like that at the moment, that's for sure!
I've also made a list of jobs we can usefully do in town tomorrow & as one of those is 'Look at heavy duty curtain lining options', I must make sure that I go & measure my door curtain when I sign out from here. I also need to sort another item into the charity shop sack as intend to drop that off tomorrow too thus shifting another load of clutter onto a new life.
What a time this is. I think all any of us can do is aim to stay as safe & well as possible & just take one day at a time. 
It too will pass - it just won't be any time soon. 
Stay strong, 
F x