Hazelnutty's New Start

greent

Oooh - I'd forgotten SW was on tonight - yeay! :j

Hope you all feel better soon xx

Hazelnutty

greent - I didn't manage to stay awake. Half-way was the best I could do!

Crumpets

Hi Hazelnutty,

Your January finances look in good shape, at least you'll save money going forward using your eco lady products :cool::T

I hope you're all feeling better now. we've had a few days of feeling generally bleugh. The cold weather definitely does not help! come on spring!

I can't watch silent witness...too scary :o

[Deleted User]

Hope you're feeling better hazelnutty!

Hazelnutty

Hi everyone! It's been aaaages since I last posted.

There's just been a bit too much going on to keep on top of my diary. But it's the end of term and I have a week off next week, so it feels like I'm finally coming up for air. Plan for day 1 of leave is buying some lavender for the front garden and a trip to the dump :rotfl:

February was my birthday month so there may have been some overspending. I have definitely been over budget on my ents spending, although nothing extravagant - buying the odd set of tickets to do family things and that's it. It really adds up. I probably need to up that budget as it's precious time.

OH and I are about to book to go away for Christmas. I don't have DD this year and I just don't want to be at home 'doing Christmas' without her, if that makes sense. I've found some reasonable trips to southern Spain, where we can do some walking for £330 each or thereabouts, so am probably going to bite the bullet and book. Sanity and health wise it should be money well spent. But along with doing stuff on the house and garden to make it more of a home, I will be dipping into savings, at least temporarily. I'm feeling (mostly) OK about this as I'm someone who's quite sensitive to my environment and having that positive home environment and better work-life balance will be good for me and the family too.

MFW-wise I've only been making my standard OP of £53/month the last 2 months, just to keep everything else covered. I've realised OPing is going to have to take a backseat to home and family this year. I'd like to finish the year feeling better all round - that's the priority.

Just ticking along in terms of MSE. Renewed gas and electricity with Tonik as the best offer and 100% renewables. Also broadband with Plusnet who haven't been fantastic (and won't match new customer offer) but nothing I've found from comparison sites for my postcode blows it out of the water so from a hassle perspective I've gone with continuity. OH is looking into challenging our council tax band (we're in a newbuild and it's way overvalued) and I've just put in for a PPI claim through the MSE resolver. Black Horse themselves sent me this 20 page form that was impossible to fill out :mad: so I really hope the resolver tool does the business.

I'm going to try to check in more regularly now as it's great to keep up with you all Hope you're having a good Sunday.

Karmacat

Hello Hazelnutty! From the tickets thing, it sounds like you had a proper celebration for your birthday, thats always good and it also sounds like you're going to have a *really* good Christmas, the mountains in southern Spain are so wonderful.

Hazelnutty

Hey Karma! Yes, it's good every once in a while to loosen the purse-strings! A few purchases were for the future, like a weekend festival we go to every year in July and some tickets for international netball in October, so when those come round it's just a case of paying for transport and food.

I bit the bullet today and booked our Xmas trip - went to a local travel agent for the first time in at least 20 years! But it's good to shop local and they had the knowledge to find us the right kind of place (travel agents who actually travel!) I had to put down a hefty deposit, which made my eyes water but I'll get the points on my Partnership card (yay for guilt-free trips to John Lewis!) and have some time to recoup the savings. Although I've been clearing out the house gradually and selling stuff on, I'm sure I can ferret out some more things for a carboot sale! Now there's a date for the storage room to be painted, I have a deadline for getting the last bits done.

the_cross_rabbit

A holiday at Christmas sounds wonderful, mega jealous!
CRx

Hazelnutty

Thanks, CR. It feels like a indefensible luxury but I'm really looking forward to it. It's my first xmas without DD so being not at home will be good - should be nice warm weather too and a new place to explore. I have a LOT of saving to do in the meantime. This year is going to be tight for various reasons but I hope to be in a good place in other respects by the end of it. At a minimum I'll make the £50-odd OPs on a monthly basis - anything else is a bonus!

Been quite slack today after a week's holiday last week. Working at home is sometimes great sometimes not so great for me. With DD on hols already it's even harder. A slow start but got some things done including a reference for a brilliant student to go do teacher training - she'll be awesome. As the weather was so nice I decided today was the day to freshen up all the bedding and towels so have been running the washing machine all day then pegging out on the new rotary line. Somehow very satisfying! It's my favourite (or least unfavourite) chore. Lovely fresh-smelling bedding to slide under tonight!

Need to keep a real eye on spends the next couple of months. Food has been ok (we're at about £240/month for 3 people and 2 cats) but ents spending and things I don't have pots for not so good. With the painting being done too I'll be dipping into savings. I have some nice purses and handbags from back when I had a better paying job so I may sell those on. I never use them. Someone I know recommended Vestiare for selling brands second-hand? Anyone got any experience with them or anyone else?

Anyway, I'd best get back to work! Catch you all later...

the_cross_rabbit

ooooo clean bedding is the best especially when you come back from holiday.
CRx