I am being upgraded from Mum to Nan - I need a plan!

beanielou

All sounding good.
Enjoy seeing your parents.

Mum2Nan

@Lu2025 - thanks for your support.  I had a read through your diary and have subscribed.

@Beanielou – thanks am hoping the weather will brighten up again by then so we can observe social distancing in the garden.

Yesterday and today have been NSDs.  I don’t include budgeted debt repayments or D / Ds.

On Monday I topped the tank up with fuel, the first time in around 2 months.  Cost for that was £35, down from £45 / £50 previously and came out of my petrol fund.  Petrol around here is currently £1 per litre.  This will last me at least a month possibly even 2 again.  I read a funny comment on FB the other day with the commenter saying he was getting 3 weeks to the gallon! 😊

I have logged into my gas & electricity account to see what the current situation is regarding debits and any credit and I am happy to see that it hasn’t been completely wiped out as previously thought but it has reduced by about £18.  Having not checked my monthly statements, I didn’t realise they were overestimating so the damage is not as bad as I had anticipated.  I must remember to check these monthly statements regularly.  I have also submitted meter readings today to keep the account up to date.

I am hoping tomorrow and Friday will be NSDs.  Saturday is shopping delivery day so tomorrow evening will work out exactly what I need for next week’s meals.  I might try and get to an Aldi or Lidl within the next few weeks as I haven’t been since the end of March and am definitely noticing the difference in costs notwithstanding the bottles of wine and other treats since the beginning of lockdown.  It’s the queues that put me off.

As I can’t do very much more debt wise until nearer the end of this month, I have set myself two small challenges to keep me focused; accumulate as many NSDs as is practical alongside minimum spending on food shopping, my biggest discretionary spending outlay at the moment.

Mum2Nan

Another weekend has arrived and what a contrast in the weather from Wednesday compared to earlier this week. 

Today has been my 4th NSD in a row but it will end here as the food delivery is arriving tomorrow.   I will start again on Sunday.

I received an e-mail yesterday from the water company to tell me they are reducing my D / D down to £11 a month.   I find this odd as I’ve been WfH home for 12 weeks and am using more than usual.   I would really like my other bills to work this way; the more you use the less you pay.

This morning I received my 6-monthly invoice from the Managing Agents.  As I still had some credit, I e-mailed them to request they start collecting from July rather than August for the rest of this year to reduce the remaining monthly payments.  I’m not quite sure what the logic was behind it because it would have been paid by the end of the year either way, but it made me feel better.  I’ve adjusted my budget for the rest of this year to reflect these changes.

I have been through the shopping delivery at least 6 times to check I have only ordered what I need plus 2 bottles of wine (although this could also be considered a need!) to cover 3 virtual catch-ups and drinks this week.  I will be pleased when the deadline passes for any more changes so I can’t tweak it any further.

Am keeping my fingers crossed the weather improves so I can see my parents in their garden on Sunday.

Mum2Nan

I've seen my parents   I didn't stay as long as I would have as the weather wasn't overly kind but it was wonderful to see them.  We are going to meet up again in two weeks.

I am setting myself a challenge of 5 NSDs this week.  I would like to beat last weeks total although not sure I will manage 5 in a row.

Today is NSD1

Lu2025

That is great that you got to see your parents. It is so good just to see other people. I cant wait until we can all hug.

Fab effort for attempting 5 NSD’s👍

Mum2Nan

A very busy day workwise so no lunch break today.  Lots of fiddly things to do which seemed to take an age to deal with.  Tomorrow is likely to be the same. 

I am stuck on 1 NSD as I bought some emulsion, sandpaper, white spirit and a tube of polyfilla.  I have decided to paint my living room as it could do with a freshen up.  I think it will probably take me 3 or 4 days and plan to start prepping in the next few days.  I already have a roller, paint brushes and a dust sheet.  I don't think I will get a better opportunity with lighter nights and no commuting and I have so much annual leave that I could book a couple of half days off next week or the week after if necessary.  This has come out of my emergency fund for the time being.  I'm not sure where this idea came from as up until lthis morning I hadn't even given it a thought. I don't think Laurel & Hardy will be too happy though, they've already been evicted from what was once my spare room, their room and once decorating starts the living room will also be out of bounds for a while.  I bet they wished I was back in the office!

Mum2Nan

Lu2025 said:

That is great that you got to see your parents. It is so good just to see other people. I cant wait until we can all hug.

Fab effort for attempting 5 NSD’s👍

Thanks @Lu2025 it was so lovely to see them after such a long time.  We adhered to social distancing so no hugging or kiss goodbye.  Hopefully when I next see them in 2 weeks the weather will have improved and I can stay longer in their garden.

I can still reach my 5 NSD goal but that means no spending from tomorrow until Friday... I could be tempted as I've decided I want to tidy up my living room.

Mum2Nan

Another busy day workwise yesterday and today wasn't much better.  I have 3 deadlines tomorrow in fairly quick succession so once they are out of the way I hope for the remainder of the week to be a bit quieter.  A high level meeting is being held next week to discuss reinstating our pre-lock down salary in September but I am not holding out much hope of anything changing before the end of the year. 

I am not going to reach my target of 5 NSDs this week.  On the upside, I can match last week's target of 4 which is still very good for me.  Yesterday was NSD2 but today I've bought a repair kit for my floor.  It was very MSE though as earlier I was looking at the cost of replacing a board and this is a much cheaper and hassle free solution if it works.   This forms part of my decorating plans over the next week or two.  I have budgeted £100 for this and am under at the moment.  Just hope I've ordered enough paint.

Work, weather and length of queue permitting I am going to try and get to Aldi on Friday.  My brother said he is happy to use my regular delivery slot this weekend so I don't lose it which I was slightly worried about and I may still need to add to that depending on what I can get in Aldi.

Looks like I have a busier weekend coming up for a change.  With the easing of lockdown restrictions, my DD has asked me round to her house late Saturday afternoon which means kisses and cuddles with my DGS and then I am seeing my BF in the evening and he's staying over and going to go to work from here Monday morning.  So pleased we are finally getting back to some kind of normality.

still_hopeful

Mum2Nan said:

Looks like I have a busier weekend coming up for a change.  With the easing of lockdown restrictions, my DD has asked me round to her house late Saturday afternoon which means kisses and cuddles with my DGS and then I am seeing my BF in the evening and he's staying over and going to go to work from here Monday morning.  So pleased we are finally getting back to some kind of normality.

I'm afraid this isn't actually allowed - you can only choose one other household to mix with, so either your daughter or friend but not both.

Even one is still an improvement for you though, so hope you have a good weekend.

greenbee

still_hopeful said:

Mum2Nan said:

Looks like I have a busier weekend coming up for a change.  With the easing of lockdown restrictions, my DD has asked me round to her house late Saturday afternoon which means kisses and cuddles with my DGS and then I am seeing my BF in the evening and he's staying over and going to go to work from here Monday morning.  So pleased we are finally getting back to some kind of normality.

I'm afraid this isn't actually allowed - you can only choose one other household to mix with, so either your daughter or friend but not both.

Even one is still an improvement for you though, so hope you have a good weekend.

My brother and I have just been having the discussion about which one of us will go and visit my mum. Probably him and the kids, as that will be the most beneficial for her. She can then visit them at some point and I can still see them (as a bubble) without the hugs and going into houses. It's a 4 hour drive from us to her each way, so day trips just haven't been an option.