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Pink_Butterfly

I’m so sorry MeandO. What an awful situation for you. I hope your mum gets better soon - I’m sure she is being well looked after. Thinking of you x

enthusiasticsaver

I am sorry things are so hard for you and your family especially your mum. I live a 4 hour drive away from my mum too but thankfully she is not ill or I would be tempted to go anyway. Such a difficult situation. 

I think getting out somewhere everyday for a walk alleviates the boredom and brings some structure to your day so although it is hard to motivate yourself to do it I would do it anyway for the exercise, endorphins and break from monotony. 

I hope your mum is well enough to go home soon. I feel so sorry for your dad too.

Honeysucklelou2

So sorry to read about your mum. Thinking of you...

crazy_cat_lady

Just wanted to send you a load of love and let you know that I'm thinking about you MeandO. Hope that there is some good news very soon

MeandO

Thank you for your kinds words everyone xx

MeandO

Still here, taking one day at a time.
It's payday today, (thankfully - things were getting a bit brassic), so YNAB has been updated and I've sent an overpayment of £99.99 to the mortgage to round it down to £98,900. The help to save payment has gone to that account; the other two savers (3 including DS's) will be sent to the appropriate accounts soon too. I should also be able to send, hopefully around £200, to the premium bonds once the child tax credit and child benefit have been paid. There is also £200 in both my car maintenance pot and Christmas pot but I don't count this as savings as this gets used in dribs and drabs throughout the year and, if I'm short in the main account, gets transferred to the grocery pot etc as it did this month. I'm trying to stop 'borrowing' from these pots, but with the cost of groceries now I'm finding it difficult some months. I have paid back the £50 I borrowed from the car pot though, on top of the £100 I put there every month. There are quite a few birthdays to cover this month so the gifts pot may take a hit, but I'll try and keep costs low. 

In other news, I viewed another empty property yesterday. I didn't fall in love with it but it is a safe option with no problems forseeable as has been completely re-roofed, insulated, rewired, new boiler, new bathroom, kitchen and upper extension by someone reputable. It would be fine for DS and I and is £50K less than the lower achievable level on my current house.  Not that I can do much about it at the moment anyway, other than sit and wait until viewings are allowed on my house again.

Sayschezza

Local estate agent here are selling by asking the seller to video their house and garden.

MeandO

Sayschezza said:

Local estate agent here are selling by asking the seller to video their house and garden.

Yes, they are doing that here too Sayschezza and I have done the virtual video tour to send to the agents, but I think most people are reluctant to actually buy without seeing the house themselves, which I can understand. I don't think I would buy without actually viewing in person either. Just have to be patient I guess, not much longer now hopefully...

MeandO

Another £25 swept to the premium bonds account bringing the total savings across all accounts now at £3800 (£4200 with the Christmas & car savings). I'm going to try and throw as much as I can from the tax credits and child benefit when they hit the account in a few weeks and concentrate on trying to get the savings first up to £5K and then £10K. I may have a look at my budget later and see if there's any wiggle room to up the premium bond direct debit to £50 per month rather than £25. 

I braved Lidl yesterday afternoon as DS likes their own brand ice cream cones from there, up until now I've only gone to shops either very early in the morning or mostly very late at night. It wasn't too bad, most were keeping their distance but some still too close for comfort and limited hand sanitizer/trolley wipe supplies - I won't be going again. It only dawned on me when stood in front of the empty freezer that shopping for a specific ice cream on the hottest day of the year was probably a bad idea. Still, I got most of the other things on my list and some lovely flowers for my friend who is having a tough time of it atm, and then popped to tesco, which thankfully was also quiet, for the bits I couldn't get in Lidl. I spent almost £60 on shopping yesterday, I'm still shocked at the increased prices every time I go shopping.

I sorted out a couple of cupboards and drawers upstairs this week and got rid of two items of furniture I no longer needed, selling those for £10. It's also two less things to move and find space in our new home. I have also sorted another couple of bags for the charity shop and have 6 or 7 items to sell somehow at some point. Not sure it's worth doing so at the moment with social distancing in place.

I was hoping to cut the grass today but it's raining here after a thunderstorm overnight. I'm actually quite thankful as the heat yesterday was way too much for me. I wouldn't mind if I could melt some of this extra weight off, it doesn't seem to work like that though! 

crazy_cat_lady

I avoid the German supermarkets altogether at the moment if I'm honest. They seem to be the worst places for maintaining social distancing and just allowing a free for all. I thought that being off work I'd save a fortune but feeding the three of us has been SO expensive.