Cheery's country living adventure

themadvix

Both your plans, the roof and stopping MB, have quality of life and practical reasons: it sounds like both would help you to actually get the kitchen done, which sounds like a very wise move! And if working full time and having the pension income mean you don’t need to do the MBing, then it’s OK to stop - you’ve got to have some time to relax/decorate!

 So I don’t think you need to worry about going off the rails with all the extra money! 🤣

PurpleFairy26

Sounds very logical cheery and given your underlying frugal ways I’m sure you’ll stay on the wagon! Balance and quality is so very important in this thing called life and if getting the stables done allows me c to make your own kitchen and that be completed -  that would just be amazing 😃 and the stables would be usable for ever. 

It’s not like you couldn’t ever go back to mb if you ever needed to raise a bit of extra cash. But in the meantime you could sew, play flute, tend to veggies on your patch, decorate.....

I know what I’d choose 😉😊

Karmacat

Thirding here if you want another reason - a leaking roof will eventually cause a lot of problems in your lovely stable block, and power and water might have to be renewed.  Its a solid use of money to weatherproof such a good building, and also to use it to save you further money by doing woodwork, as opposed to storing wood in the garage/taking over the house and being uncomfortable.  The MB - you said it yourself, an hour or even two, when you don't need that money and you have another source to invest in the property - yes!  Take back your evening  

Cheery_Daff

Aw, thank you lovely people xxx you're all right of course. I keep forgetting that there will be a monthly amount to the pension too which we can build up as well so that will be good. Playing with YNAB will get even more fun!

Having a nice lazy one this morning. Had a couple of drinks last night and I don't know whether I was just a bit heavy handed with the amaretto but I felt quite tipsy very quickly and had to go to sleep, and this morning I feel proper rough! Got up to let the chickens out and have been curled up on the sofa ever since, even refusing a breakfast cafe trip, oh dear!! 

Going to have to get a move on shortly though as I'm meeting a friend for lunch (er, in a cafe... probably a good thing I refused breakfast...) 

I did manage to put the washing on, but don"t congratulate me - it's actually the second time I've washed it as it had been sat there soggy in the machine for 3 days without being hung up... I'm actually tempted to hang it outside - it's really quite windy today and for once not raining, although I don't know what the forecast is...

rtandon27

Cheery_Daff said:

...I did manage to put the washing on, but don"t congratulate me - it's actually the second time I've washed it as it had been sat there soggy in the machine for 3 days without being hung up... I'm actually tempted to hang it outside - it's really quite windy today and for once not raining, although I don't know what the forecast is...

How about congratulations for remembering it was in the machine

OH 'forgot' to hang up few shirts I'd spot treated for him & they have been there since Monday! So now before doing any laundry, the machine needs a run through with vinegar to get rid of the smell!!! (where is the blue shrieking smiley when you need him?)

Jessy103

Oh dear cheery, I hope you're all recovered soon

Cheery_Daff

Thanks all. Washing did get hung up eventually, thank goodness - it basically had ALL the socks in the house in except the ones we were wearing at the time... 

Had a nice lunch (although we had to go to the pub as the cafe was closed and they didn't do sandwiches so it ended up rather expensive). Got quite cold playing in the adventure playground with friend's small children too so an evening of cosiness now! 

I have been productive this evening though!! Sorted out the giant pile of admin and paperwork that's been accumulating under my chair as my study is in disarray so my normal paperwork system is NOT working. Still, tis all filed now, and in the process I've also done some sorting out of accounts... 

* TSB regular saver has expired, and I was going to close both that and the linked current account until I noticed they have a new regular saver at 2% - not much but better than the main PO savings account (1.3%) so closed the 'easy saver' that the old one had turned into, opened the new regular saver, and changed the old standing order to aim at that instead.

* NW regular saver has also come to an end, and they didn't appear to have anything paying above the PO's 1.3%, so I've emptied the savings account and transferred the bulk of the money from the linked current back to our main joint account. Only keeping that current open now as I use it for MB (leaving my options open) and it does the monthly payment dance with the current TSB account (which requires a certain amount paying in each month)

* Opened a Coventry regular saver for me at 2.5% (and you can pay in £500 a month). We're also going to open one for Mr Cheery - might wait til my paperwork has come through (not for any good reason other than that I'm a bit sick of online banking shenanigans now, and also can't be bothered to find his NI number right now!

So altogether this is good, and we'll be nice and prepared when the pension dosh lands. We'll be able to put everything into the PO account at 1.3%, then each month drip feed £1000 in total to the Coventry savers (2.5%), plus £250 to the TSB one (which I stupidly opened as a joint account so we only have one). Not tooooooo bad. 

Busy doing what someone said the other day and checking the banking app repeatedly now to see if the pension money has landed... Sent the forms 'signed for' first class on Thursday so they should have got there today at least - do you reckon they'll open the post on Monday morning and transfer it straight away?? No, neither do I but they've been pretty efficient with sending post within a day or two so far, so... 

Cheery_Daff

Right, just popping in to declare my intention to have an internet-free day tomorrow, eek! 

Used to do these now and then but not had one for years I don't think. Feeling a bit daunted at the prospect which goes to show how much it's needed... from my memory of last time, it felt like the day was REALLY long... so we'll see. Mr Cheery plans to join me too! 

I don't have much planned for tomorrow - just a band practice early evening - so I'll either get out in the garden if it's not freezing, or make a start on the plastering. Will report back (but not til Monday). If you catch me here do give me a boot!

Karmacat

That's great financial admin, Cheery - well done!  A day off the internet is a very good idea too, and it might be easier after all that admin.  You've got me thinking now.

Cheery_Daff

Afternoon cheerful MSE chums  

Been on an adventurous trip out in the snow today (fortunately not much on the roads past the end of our drive, and most of it has even gone from the fields now). Arrived back to an avalanche (ha!) of letters though - SIX identical ones relating to the opening of the new building society account! SIX! One welcome letter, one telephone pin, one 'grid card', one request for a signature, and two identical copies of the letter with my web pin in. 

Not sure of the security benefit when they all arrived in identical envelopes in the same post...