The Piano Diary

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julicorn wrote: »

Congratulations on your promotion and pay rise! :j

Thanks Julicorn! :beer:

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Thanks Zcrat, greent, lindez and julicorn. I really appreciate your supportive comments. This is what I have always loved about MSE, the support of the community really keeps me going! I will catch up with your diaries and subscribe and follow you all on your respective journeys.

julicorn

Thank you! And I agree, the support in this forum makes all the difference :heart2:

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Good morning diary and all,
Today the first payment has gone out for the mortgage at the higher level which is £1060 plus a regular OP of £80 I have set up so a total of £1140. This is £500 above what it used to be. Its nice to see the mortgage go down by a decent amount! Trying to stay in budget as we approach pay day.
Quite busy this week at work, luckily we have next week off so looking forward to that. Planning to visit my Mum in the early part of the week. At the end of the week we are off to the Lake District for the weekend to celebrate OH’s 50th. Two nights in a nice hotel, we planned this back in January. Hoping to fit in a mountain biking day with DS one day during the week.
Have a great day all!

greent

Oooh - Lake District sounds lovely! Hopefully the weather will be kind to you whilst you're there, but it's such a beautiful area anyway
x

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greent wrote: »

Oooh - Lake District sounds lovely! Hopefully the weather will be kind to you whilst you're there, but it's such a beautiful area anyway
x

Thanks Greent. Really looking forward to it!

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Good afternoon diary and all,
Had some friends over on Saturday night and shared a takeaway curry. Really enjoyed the evening and their company.
I planned to do some jobs around the house this Bank Holiday and this week. So far the excitement has extended to replacing a toilet valve which was making a groaning noise, and painting a radiator. Living the dream here! I am not a fanatical DIYer but I will have a go at a job if I think it is feasible. Plumbing jobs I have learned to be respectful of, there have been a few occasions of plumbers sadly surveying the results of my efforts before sorting it all out for me. On this occasion it seems I have got the job done without any major mishaps. We are off work this week so I will probably do a few more bits and pieces around the house, always seems to be something that needs doing.
Have a great evening all!

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Good morning diary and all,
I went down to visit my Mum yesterday, she is in a nursing home near my brother, its about 21/2 hours drive each way from here. It was great to see her. She unfortunately suffered from mental health problems nearly all her life and more recently has been suffering more from her illness. It was great to just sit with her for a while and chat. These days we talk more about things from many years ago. Ive decided to visit more often going forward.
Today is a free day at home, so I plan to do a few more mini jobs around the house and maybe paint the garden fence.
On the money front, I have decided to tweak my goals a little bit. I want to save an emergency fund of £10,000 and then save for a replacement car (approx. £10,000). I’m going to track these targets in my signature. I aim to get the emergency fund saved by about July 2019 and then probably the car fund will be achieved by about May 2020. This gives me a target to keep the car going for another couple of years if I can.
Looks like a nice day outside.
Have a great day all!

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Dear diary and all,
Today we are off to the Lake District for a couple of days to celebrate DH’s 50th. Staying in a nice hotel, looking forward to it. DS and his GF are cat sitting having had detailed instructions from OH on looking after him. On that subject I found out that the pet insurance has paid for his recent x-ray and treatment so that is good news. To be honest I budgeted on the assumption it wouldn’t pay out as insurance never seems to.
Yesterday I went out to paint the garden fence and whilst preparing it, scraping off moss etc I realised that it really is at the end of its life. Its about 20 years old which is the age of the house. I am going to investigate some options for replacing it. Its not too big, about 6-7 6 foot panels across the back of the garden is the section that needs replacing.
Have a great day all!

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Good morning diary and all,
Had a wonderful time in the Lakes for OHs birthday. Really was special and relaxing. Also nice to see our friends there. We did spend quite a lot but it was all budgeted. We both were back to work on Monday, so that was back to reality for us. DS goes back to University in a couple of weeks. He is off visiting his GF today. We took the cat to the Vet yesterday and we were pleased to find that he has lost a bit of weight. He is on a diet following advice from the vet and it’s the first time we have managed to get him to lose a bit.
The budget is keeping on track. Planning to spend a bit of money over the weekend on some work clothes. Ive decided to refresh my work wardrobe which is very tired. Otherwise things are fairly steady on the financial front.
Have a great day all!