Cheery's country living adventure

Cheery_Daff

Morning MSE chums :hello:

So. I am up early and have already pottered about taking photos of the garden in the early morning sunshine and written a cheery blog post :j :j All good.

Now I'm on the case with finances. Yes, I know it's not Monday Finances Day... but that's only tomorrow, and I need to pay the invoice for the builders and now seems as good a time as any.

Of course, this involves a bit of shuffling... I've already paid £1050, and now need to pay for the rest of the current building work, plus £300 upfront so they can order the new upstairs windows.

Need to take some from various different savings account, and things are going to feel shockingly depleted after that :eek: :eek:

Off to make a fortifying cuppa and then I'll be back with some workings-out...

Cheery_Daff

Ok, YNAB first. I do hope my new Finances Monday routine gets me into, well, a bit more of a routine I had to put £156 in the budget fiddling category :eek: Not because I've been fidding the budget :rotfl: but just because I hadn't entered anything into the YNAB app for weeks so various bits of cash spending (food, my spends etc) hadn't been registered :mad:

Anyway, onwards... Need to have a rejig and a sort through what's in the savings accounts, things are NOT looking as healthy as I'd like in there at the minute :eek: Off to find my notes about what I'd said I'd transfer from where to pay the builder...

Cheery_Daff

Ok, this may only make sense to me... :rotfl: :rotfl:

Step 1: Transferred £2050 from TSB saver to TSB current. Remaining balance = £200
Step 2: Transferred £2800 from TSB current to main current account. Remaining balance = £1040
Step 3: Changed standing order from TSB current to TSB saver to £25 (from £250) each month
Step 4: Transferred £1200 from NW current to main current account. Remaining balance = £300 (but this is MB account so stuff flowing in and out all the time

Not arrived in the main bank account yet (although it's gone by Faster Payments so should be there within a couple of hours). When that's done, I'll pay the invoices.

While I was in the bank account, I also cancelled three magazine subscriptions. All cheerful, and I do like them plopping through the door, but they are a bit 'samey' now after having them for a while Saved £54.35 over the year :money: Not much but I suppose it adds up. (and in fact it will be double that because I think these are 6 monthly subscriptions :money: )

Need to have a think about what else I can do. There's a professional subscription that I pay for that I do NOT need but which has provided me something a bit useful over the last few weeks - sometimes it feels like it's worth paying a fiver a week for what I've had from it, but it works out at £264 over the year and I'm not sure it's worth that :eek: (especially not when I've just deprived myself of my Country Living magazine subsciption :rotfl: :rotfl: )

Anyway, enough financial nonsense for the day. Rather vexingly, the sun is shining and I have to go to WORK! :eek: Not something I can put off either as it's an event, and I have to give a presentation, and there's only me going :rotfl: :rotfl: But why couldn't the sun have been shining YESTERDAY, and TODAY be the day full of rain???

Sigh.

Oh well. And it will DARK by the time I get home too :eek:

Never mind, no point moaning. Best get dressed and clean out the chickens first and then me and Mr Cheery might squeeze in a little trip to the cafe on the way

Karmacat

This is definitely a cafe occasion! And a cancelling-the-work-sub too hope its bearable, Cheery. I'm sure you'll make the best of it.

Busy_Mee1

Hey great job on cancelling the subscriptions Cheery.

I was just saying to Mr Mee that we have probably reduced our outgoings by a few hundred pound over the years I have been in here. I think by cancelling things and doing without for a while, you can decide whether you do in fact miss them. If you do miss your Country Life magazine, you can always reinstate it or better still get someone to buy you the subscription for a Birthday or Christmas :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Ha, excellent idea :rotfl: One of them has only just gone out too so I'll have a few months to wean myself off it before the final copy :rotfl:

We've been round and made a list of things we think the builder should have finished but hasn't yet He's coming back at the end of the week to do the lintels (a new job) and finish off the bits from the other one. Building regs are coming to look tomorrow.

Builder has already sent the invoice (on Saturday, with a 'payment due' date of Sunday - ie yesterday), and I've paid the smaller upfront invoice for the new windows he's coming to fit in a couple of weeks so he can order them - but is it normal to leave paying this invoice til building regs have seen the work and said it's ok? Builder has already texted to say he can see I've paid one, and could he check whether I've also paid the other as he needs to 'pay the lads'...

Feel like I'm being chased by a debt collector :eek:

Am I being unreasonable? I was about to pay it yesterday but Mr Cheery pointed out the work he'd had done previously which wasn't properly finished, but because he'd already paid, the bloke never came back to finish it off... Obviously these guys are coming back this week anyway...

Trying not to fret, but currently feel dreadful for not paying so far (it's only been 2 days since invoice though) but also like I don't want to pay before building regs say it's ok, just in case... :eek:

Googling is no help - mostly says we should have agreed upfront on the terms :rotfl: :rotfl:

redofromstart

All sounding good, deeply envious of the building work progress.

I may have said before but I read various magazines online for free via my library membership, its an App and you log in with your library card number and PIN. Country Living on one, Practical Smallholding on the other. The added bonus is that you can screen shot any bits you want to keep so no more piles of dusty magazines or £5 for Good Food and use one recipe.

redofromstart

Cross posted - could you go back to him to say you will pay half now, and the balance once the building regs are signed off?

Cheery_Daff

Thanks Redo - both excellent suggestions :j :j Will investigate library options, and also drop builder a text (once I've had a cup of tea to steel my nerves )

Just been out for a run :j My first one in months (possibly the first one since the 2nd ultra marathon attempt at Christmas :rotfl: ) Glorious sunshine out there, utterly beautiful :j

Because I'm so unfit I did couch to 5k week 1, day 1, and because it was so nice and I wasn't anywhere near home, I also did week 2 day 2 :rotfl: :rotfl:

So yes, in need of a nice cup of tea and a sit down now! :j

Cheery_Daff

Well I've had a cup of tea (in fact TWO) but now the milk has run out

As usual I was overcomplicating things - texted builder to say building regs bloke was coming tomorrow and I'd pay him once he'd said he was happy and he replied saying that was fine :rotfl:

Two other minor financial fiascos in the offing though :eek:

A bit more plaster-removal round one of the new windows has revealed another suspect lintel :eek: !!!!!!. Building regs bloke had already said that one was ok (when it was mostly covered with plaster...) so while it looks rough to us we genuinely can't decide whether to ask him about it tomorrow, or just keep quiet and plaster over it again... it'll likely be another £500 at least to sort out :eek:

Also, the little car that I vowed NOT to fix any more, and to replace once the building work was done, now has an oil leak :eek: I thought it was feeling a bit odd earlier... Going to nip into town and see if I can find any of that oil leak sealer stuff - but I may end up taking it back to the garage to see if it's something dead simple.

We are on the lookout for a new one - it's just all this building upheaval and expense has been rather trying and savings are looking VERY depleted right now :eek:

Certainly not in the market for an electric car any time soon! This will very likely be another cheap runaround again Not ideal but there we are