Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Day 4 at the Plague House - Hello outside world........
Both of us still feeling grim. I have had one small improvement in that I am not coughing as much. Am hoping that's a good sign of something, at least, as I really have had the most horrendous hacking chesty cough, which would set off at the slightest tickle....thank goodness my pelvic floor's held up to the strain is all I can say to that! New symptoms as of today - no sense of smell whatsoever, weird ears & my mouth tastes as though I've spent all morning sucking an old 10p piece (I haven't, just in case anyone was wondering if life at Foxgloves Manor has now plummeted new depths of tragedy).....
I have very slowly (with a long break in between sessions) managed to do my Big Budget Day today. I hope I haven't made any fuggy-brained errors. I have double-checked all my calculations just in case. I have updated Spreadsheet 1 (regular bills/DDs) as I've cancelled a subscription that would normally be paid in Oct & I also had an email from the Tentacled Ones today confirming that they will be collecting £67 less for the next 6 months to cover the government energy bill help. I considered leaving our DD the same to build up more credit, but we already have a sizeable credit balance & I think I can currently find a better use for that sum elsewhere, as the cost of living crisis bites into other budget areas. I've also factored in the maths for some planned cash withdrawals - both for paying a workman & also for nephews' Christmas cash. We barely touched our buffer zone during September, so one nephew's share will be covered from some of that. I've also done a little bit of redistribution between our Savings Pots. Our car maintenance pot is now at capacity. We put a cap on how much we think we need in each one when we have our annual New Year Money Summit, so I shan't need to pay anything else into that one until it is raided for new tyres or whatever. It's a bit like 'snowballing' - once one or two are full, I can concentrate on building up others.
I'm just going to do 5 mins of filing, then I am calling it a day because I feel too grotty to do anything else. I am genuinely pleased I've got the budget stuff sorted though, as I did wonder halfway through this morning if I would have to give up & try again another day. 
Oh my days, & I learned this morning that in Mr F "I'm never ill" world, he'd actually been thinking of going back to work tomorrow!!! So he wasn't best pleased when he did an LFT test first thing to see another great big positive line appear! He also still feels rotten & his boss has been in touch to say he absolutely must not come back too soon. I honestly think if he'd tried it, he'd have got halfway up the A1 before having to turn the car round & come home to re-collapse on the sofa. 
Well, I am so hoping the reduced hacking cough might mean I am starting to turn a corner.....I feel vile in every other respect, so I don't want to be overly optimistic.....but if I could concentrate on reading more than two pages of my book or on following a knitting chart tomorrow or even feel up to a little stroll to the bottom of the garden with my coffee, it would be an improvement.
Dr's surgery texted me earlier to arrange my flu jab, so I will be doing that as soon as I am more sure of when I will be recovered from Covid.
Take care all of you, keep your mitts on your pence,
F xx

EssexHebridean

I know with the Covid jabs they say they want you to be 28 days clear of a positive test before attending - not sure whether it might be the same for the regular flu jab as well? 

Glad you have signs of at least starting to turn a corner anyway, although not that the sense of smell has gone - that was one of the things I was dreading and I considered myself very fortunate to have avoided it!  (By the way, I get the nasty taste in the mouth and the funny ears when I get tonsillitis - not nice!)  

Makingabobor2

Hope you feel better soon. I have picked up a cold from GS4, but 2 negative tests, so it obviously just some other horrid virus. Keep wearing the masks, that's my tip

marionmgcars

hi, just catching up after a week away.  Sorry to hear you have the dreaded virus.  Hope you are on the road to recovery now.  I had my flu and covid booster jab this week and was poorly for two days, but rather that, than have the full blown version.  Feeling well enough to balance the books today too.  Take care x

foxgloves

Thanks all. I didn't know about being well clear of a negative test for Covid booster shots @EH, so must enquire about that when I book, rather than end up potentially wasting my time & an appointment slot.
Day 5 - slightly better night apart from two big coughing fits. Mr F has brought me coffee & toast in bed which is kind. He still feels poorly but is a day ahead of me. I'm so completely bunged up, I think I might wrap up mid-morning & go & have my coffee outside on the coffee bench to see if the fresh air helps. 
Only 2 tasks planned for today - one is to bake bread -the KitchenAid does the energetic bit of that ......& I need to deal with a very large bowl of ripe tomatoes. My two tomato-ripening stations have continued to deliver & I can't let such a good resource go to waste, esp as I've just read about tinned tomato inflation in the economic news. Mr F has suggested changing tonight's meal for tomato soup & crusty bread so that would use some & I will skin & blitz the rest for freezing on a "1 container = 1 tin" basis. I won't be able to do any more than that & am thankful I managed to get Budget Day sorted out yesterday. 
Mouse update - No further signs of visitation after the two that were caught last week. I have strewn the corners of the pantry with rosemary sprigs, also the corners of our lounge (they've been known to enter through our wooden floor in the past). I read that mice hate strong smells like mint, rosemary, clove oil, etc, & I have plenty of herbs so I'm trialling rosemary atm. 
I hope we both properly turn the Covid recovery corner very soon - I want to feel.joy in simple things again, instead of the overwhelming feeling that my entire system is 'under attack', which of course it is. Yesterday, it took me an unbelievable 20 mins to put my pants, tights & socks on!! Maybe today will be the day I start really to notice an improvement. Hope so.
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Morning foxgloves
Good to hear your updates, even though you are proper poorly you still write so well. I hope you manage to get outside and it helps a little
love Deni 

foxgloves

Thanks @Deni_debt-free_dreamer - I can't tell you how much the positive well-wishes on here are helping. I do indeed feel proper poorly & my mood is low & rubbish. I'm up & dressed though & the bread dough's churning. 🍅 🍅 🍅 next.
F x

maggiem

Oh dear Foxglove, you have had a nasty dose of this. Essex Hebridean is correct, when attending a vaccination centre you are asked if you have had covid or a positive test in the last four weeks and I think are then advised to return then. 

Hope you get through your chores today and wake up tomorrow feeling a lot better.

ladyholly

Rest between doing things and hopefully you will start to feel better soon.

Humdinger1

Hope the twilight of the Tories is cheering you up @foxgloves though the damage they are causing is appalling.   I can't call it Gotterdammerung as that's the Twilight of the Gods from memory and they really don't qualify... unless we include Gods of incompetence and malice? Get well soon; onwards and upwards love Humdinger xxx