Busy Mee's Last Leg

Busy_Mee1

Gosh the temperature has dropped here today. I could really have done with my hat on this morning when I walked the dog. I will wrap up well for his afternoon walk.

Well I braved the scales of doom this morning and to my relief found I had only gained 1lb over Christmas and the New Year. I am not sure how I managed it, as I seem to have consumed my own body weight in chocolate.:o

I think the dog walking has helped and also the fact that antibiotics meant I couldn't drink too much. I was saved from my self :rotfl: So now I am in a good place to focus on losing 7-10 lbs and have set a goal to lose 4lb by the end Jan.

Spending has been interesting this week. I haven't spent any money since the £3.30 on hot drinks on New Years Day. I have been working and have only left the house to walk the dog. Mr Mee has spent £80 on diesel, £8.80 on his prescription, and £38 on a dental check up. So essentially we have only spent £3.30 on discretionary things.

You could argue that the spend on diesel is discretionary but it doesn't feel like it. Mr Mee's commute is too far and too tricky and would cost more by public transport. Besides a lot of our driving is because we visit our elderly parents some distance away. Our fuel costs will reduce when Mr Mee retires but we will still have thie cost of the pensioner patrols.

The medical expenses continue to bite us, I guess a sign that we are getting older. I will also have a big dentist bill later in January when I have my crown done.

A good bit of financial news is that we can finally see our energy bills on line. We haven't been able to see them since we switched supplier back in the Spring and we are £453.83 in credit. I think I will wait until winter is over to get this refunded and then any excess can go towards the holiday fund.

I think that it all. I need to start layering up for my hike with the pooch brrrrr

beanielou

Much much colder here today sadly.

Busy_Mee1

I feel like I have had a very productive weekend so far. I went to the gym for the first time this year, yesterday morning and had a really good workout - running, weights and abs. I feel so much better for it. :A

We then de- Christmased and gave the house a good clean. I was quite sad to see the Christmas decorations taken down. I really love them. We have a red and white Scandinaviian theme in one room and a white Narnia vibe in the other room. It has felt very hygge and now feels a bit bare. I have left a couple of bits out that aren't particularly Christmassy, a white ceramic tea light house and a white wooden lamp but want to look around for some more bits and pieces that make it feel cosier.

Last night we watched the Guernsey Literary and Poato Peel Pie Society film on Amazon Prime. I had the 30 day free trial through December ( fab time to do it ) and they were offering a £5 amazon voucher if you watched any programme or film. I am guessing this was to try and tempt you into sticking with it, but I will be cancelling. DD already has it really cheap through her student discount so we can just use hers. The film was quite good but I loved the book better. I think it was my favourite read of 2018.

I have finally been grocery shopping today and spent a fairly hefty £81.01 in H0mebargains, M&S and @ldi. This included a huge haul of YS items in M&S so the freezer is packed again.
I also treated myself to two pots of tete a tete for £1.69 each in @ldi to replace the two amaryllis that have been magnificent over Christmas. I got the timing just right this year :T

I spent the rest of the morning processing leftover veg. A tray of veg to roast and some sprouty potatoes that have been boiled and mashed and turned into fish cakes. I haven't made these before, but they are very frugal and made a small amount of fish go a long way.

All my accounts and financial tracking are up to date and I have done a couple of shuffles into the holiday fund of TCB and a Barclays Blue reward. The holiday fund now stands at £348.42/£4669.52 so only £4321.10 to go :eek: Having just written this I can see I need to add another £1.10 to round the outstanding figure down to £4320.00

I Hope everyone is having a good day. We actually have blue sky and some sunshine here today :T

Suffolk_lass

I'm like you - I love the Christmas decs. Ours are all packed away now. Nothing as organised as themes - just masses of lights, inside and out! We are about to have a quick drnk at the Social Club before cracking on with the next jobs - I had better tell Mr Suffolk - he is still outside up a ladder somewhere or fiddle-arsing with cables

Busy_Mee1

It shouldn't have been an expensive week - I was expecting to spend very little this week. However the universe thought differently

The first phone call was from the Dentist on Monday to let me know I should have been charged for my dental treatment before Christmas. This will eventually be taken off the cost of my crown but £38 charged on Monday.

The second phone call was from the travel company as the flights for our big retirement trip have been released and these need to be paid for now and another £1421.00 bit the dust !

Luckily for me I could put this all on my credit card but I will need to come up with a plan to pay this off in February (the silver lining being I will also get plenty of reward points on my M&S card ).

I guess both of these expenses were expected, but not quite so soon. It looks like being an Ultra Ultra Frugal February (UUFF ) unless I compromise my savings and we all know how much I don't like doing that :rotfl:

Other spends this week included yoga on Monday £6. I nearly talked myself out of going because I had such a vile day at work, but I made myself go and it really helped my stress levels :A

I did a top up shop in Sainsbreeze on Wednesday of mainly fruit and yogurts of £13 08 and used my till spit for 3x Nectar points. I must keep remembering to use these as they do bump up my points. I am up to £24 on my Nectar card now

Mr Mee is away this week so I went to the cinema with DD to see Mary Poppins and my very kind colleague gave me a Meercat Movies code, so we both got in for £10. I am going to investigate getting my travel insurance through Meercat Movies as this could be a good way of getting some cheap entertainment . I loved Mary Poppins by the way, it was very true to the original and it just made me smile all the way through:T

So more expensive than I intended, but feeling very fortunate that I am able to use free credit to manage some of these little surprises.

Suffolk_lass

How far ahead have you booked your big retirement trip? - I finish next week in the office and Mr Suffolk in July when School breaks up and apart from a camping trip we have nothing booked!

shangaijimmy

It seems that the trick maybe not to think we're going to have a frugal month, and then we won't get as many nasty surprises! Reverse psychology!

Busy_Mee1

We booked last August for this November, so about 15 months in advance.

This is a trip that Mr Mee has always wanted to take and a really good deal popped up for just after 'R Day'. It seemed perfect...we just need to pay for it now :rotfl:

I of course won't be retired so need to save my leave so that I can take 3 weeks off work.

I like your thinking Jimmy...so I pretend that I can spend what I like in February to fool the universe into not sending any 'little surprises" :T

themadvix

Ouch, that was an expensive week! Agree about the Nectar points though - carefully using the bonus vouchers definitely makes a difference to the balance. It's just deciding what to spend them on that I struggle with.

Busy_Mee1

And it is still pitch black. I am really fed up with these dark mornings...I know it should be getting lighter now but it is not just not fast enough

Yesterday was finally a NSD. I had to head into the city office but I took my lunch and resisted the opportunity to go and have a look in the JL sale :T

I have to say after a few weeks predominantly working from home if felt like quite an effort to put my makeup and suit on and return to the land of the well dressed. I seem to have got more and more slovenly at home:rotfl: Anyway work is returning to normal now and I have two days staying away next week and one day in London so I will need to start looking presentable again.

There were some additional spends on Thursday. I had my hair cut and coloured (£37) but I didn't have it blow dried which saved £11. However I forgot I was out of petrol and then ended up shivering with wet hair while I filled up The petrol cost me £29.86 to make it payable by contactless ....anyone else do this or is it just me that is so lazy :rotfl: Contactless is just so easy.

I am off to the gym this morning and then I have promised to go to the big Swedish shop with DS to get some stuff for his house. I shouldn't need to spend anything.....but we will see how that pans out :j