Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Thanks @beanielou x

DancingInTheRain

Since my last post, in addition to all the regular day to day chores/routines, I have got every last Book/DVD/CD down from the loft (took ages, there's loads!!!) and scanned through the different selling apps I use to get the best price. Long story short, we have 9 boxes being collected today which should generate just over £80. I've thrown quite a few broken/tatty items away and we are now left with one (very large) box in the office which I'll attempt to scan again in a few weeks or offer as a job lot on Marketplace ahead of the car boot season restarting in Spring. It's quite sickening to think of the money spent on these over the years, we're both big music/film/book lovers and back in the days before we met we both spent quite freely on these. It's like a different world looking back, I'm very thankful for the advent of the internet and streaming services for enabling us to still get our fix without the big spending outlays and having to find storage solutions! I still love reading a physical book though but have been trying to utilize our local library more for this, the boys enjoy going there too so it's a winner all round

I think I mentioned on here that my car was going in to the garage earlier this week? It turns out there's quite a few underlying problems with the car which require attention, including the clutch needing replacing (which I suspected). DH and I have decided it's not worth spending hundreds on repairs given the car is 13 years old & high mileage so we're going to scrap it and just share DH's car for the foreseeable. DH has had the car since brand new, only cost £8,000 as a result of the scrappage deal that was on the go at the time so we've definitely had our money's worth from it.
With me not working and DH working from home us sharing should work well. If DH needs the car for work then there's a bus stop 5 mins from our house which should be fine for me and the boys to get anywhere we need to if it's too far to walk.

I'm a little bit gutted that the car is going but I'll get over it   It makes good financial sense for us as a family at the moment and, all being well, once I start working again it shouldn't be too difficult to pick up another car if needed. I'm trying to focus on the financial benefits getting rid of the car will have - we should get a little money back for scrapping the car, a partial refund on the road tax and possibly the insurance? Will also mean a reduction in the amount of money we set aside each month for car maintenance/repairs/tax/mot so will help our monthly budget.

In other news daily LTF tests are still hard work with DS2 but we're all testing negative despite the increasing numbers in the boys school and our local area. Friday fakeaway here tonight is Italian themed, got some Bolognese from the freezer defrosting and will cook some spaghetti and mini pizzas/doughballs to go with it. The boys have asked to watch a film in our bed tonight so that's a little treat for them (and they'll be transferred back to their own beds when they're sound asleep ). need to think about what we'll do over the weekend as, apart from scrapping the car, we don't have any plans yet.

Hope everyone else is okay x

DancingInTheRain

Just double checked January spending as there was a definite risk of having too much month left at the end of our money 😬 and it turns out when I paid the road tax on DH's car, I didn't transfer the money from our savings! 
That is now done ✅ and the bank account is looking healthier, so glad I could get to the bottom of this as I was really confused as to where the money had gone 😕
Also had another V!nted sale this afternoon, going to try to find some new things to list next week. I'm having a couple of days of decluttering as I'm aching with carrying heavy boxes down from the loft, I'm so unfit! 😳

savingholmes

Fab result on the gold. I am planning to get mine valued. 2 rings I know where they are. But I have 2 bracelets and a necklace I have seen recently and then misplaced again.

DancingInTheRain

A day of small wins:

Car taken to scrapyard, got £210 for it ✅
Royal Ma!l sent a compensation cheque for the missing V!nted parcel ✅
Cashed out £3.50 from V!nted ✅

Also got the last couple of days washing put away & given the kitchen a good clean down while DH and the boys have tidied the living rooms.

The boys had fun watching films in our bed last night, we successfully transferred them to their own beds around 10pm. DH and I watched series 3 of Afterlife and I laughed and cried as much as I did with the first 2 series, really sad there won't be anymore...

DS1 is feeling under the weather today so we're having a fairly lazy 1. The boys will be having an early night after their late night yesterday then DH and I will settle down to watch The Masked Singer, along with our friends on the group chat 😊 

Hope everyone is well x

savingholmes

Some good wins there. Hope DS1 feels better soon. Sounds like a nice social activity. Saves on baby sitting costs but you still get the adult chat.

DancingInTheRain

Thank you SH. Masked Singer is a bit of a guilty pleasure but there was 8 of us on the group chat so we had a good laugh at each others guesses and a little bit of a gossip so good fun &  enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine too 😊

Was brought back down to earth by DS1 around 10pm when he started coughing and wheezing, he was struggling to catch his breath which in turn made him quite panicked (DH and I too 😳). Brought him downstairs and managed to calm him down enough to have some water and medicine. We've got a pretty big sofa so he snuggled up with me & got back to sleep. He's coughed a bit more through night but his wheezing has eased thankfully. I took him to get a PCR test first thing as a precaution so fingers crossed he gets a negative result 🤞

Making a slow cooker beef stew for lunch today and got some washing on but didn't get much sleep last night so not planning on doing too much more.

Also cashed out £8 from TCB so the 'free money' pot is doing really well this month, it's a fantastic start to the year but unlikely to be repeated unless there's a stash of gold jewellery hidden away that I've forgotten about 😂

sashybo

Aww poor DS1, hope he’s feeling better and test comes back negative.

My DS wasn’t feeling well last night either, I ended up sleeping in with him for most of the night so not much sleep here either.

savingholmes

Dancing and @sashybo hope your sons recover quickly. Sounds scary.

Dancing - well done on bringing the new £ in. Hard letting go of the car but it sounds like it makes sense currently and you can always revisit the decision later if you need to.

DancingInTheRain

DS1 much better, still coughing but not wheezing now so just hope he gets a negative PCR as he hates missing school. They certainly keep us on our toes don't they?

He's looking tired but has just enjoyed having a pj day. DH took DS2 to the park to have some fun and let me have a nap when he got back so I'm feeling much less tired thank goodness as I think I'll be up with DS1 at some point through night.

Letting the car is definitely a sensible decision and in a way feels like another step in the decluttering process but being honest, I have a niggling little worry it's another little bit of my independence disappearing, especially with not working at the moment - this too shall pass, but need to acknowledge the feeling I think.

Have discussed it with DH so he's reassured me. We have our moments like most couples but we are very much a team and support each other through our individual ups and downs so we're very lucky x