The Four D's

FootyFanDan

How is it Monday again already...well that was a super quick day although coz I was out of the office mr McDonald’s and the chip shop took some money today 🤣. I feel like I’ve pretty much settled into a routine now, my sleep is miles better although I’m not liking my body waking me up at 06:30 on a weekend.

The kitten has now had her op and recovering well so she will want to venture out at some point. 

Money wise things are looking good through til the the end of the month, I have just booked MOT and service for next week so that should be fun (said no car owner ever). I do have some funds held back for this so hopefully should be less painful.

I had an okay weekend, worked a few hours as I’m been handed over another project. Also took little one out and avoided the rain...just about. Weekend ended a bit crappy as we found out my grandad passed away, he hadn’t been well at all and was 91 so was expected but still not nice. I wouldn’t say we were very close but still. He was always a fighter though he battles cancer twice and beat so he’s had a good innings and lived a good life. I do feel bad that I didn’t go in and see him now on our visit but I guess you never know what tomorrow brings. 

Stay safe everyone 

mark55man

sorry to hear about your grandad, Dan - always a blow.  don't beat yourself up about not seeing him - you had plenty of times together previously, and he would not have been at his best - maybe even he would prefer you to remember him from when you and he were both younger

FootyFanDan

mark55man said:

sorry to hear about your grandad, Dan - always a blow.  don't beat yourself up about not seeing him - you had plenty of times together previously, and he would not have been at his best - maybe even he would prefer you to remember him from when you and he were both younger

Thank You Mark, I think your right,I would much rather remember the version that wasn’t really ill, given everything he has been through it’s a miracle he got as far as he did.

FootyFanDan

Hump day..nearly the weekend haha. Hope everyone having a good week, today is COVID vaccination day. I wasn’t sure I would be in the list yet but both me and partner have our first dose booked so that will be a relief to get done.

Tonight I plan to review my budget and see where things need either relaxing a bit to make it more realistic to the circumstances of country opening up again. I am hoping I can avoid the mistakes of my past and still stick to budget, but I’m aware my budgeting skills are going to be tested. MOT & Service is booked for Monday so hopefully car gets through fine although for the first time I’m not actually worried about a huge bill as my savings will soak up the vast majority of it. The fee for service and MOT is already accounted for as well so in a good place.

Hope everyone has a good day

FootyFanDan

Ah another bright morning....which I am sure will be ruined by rain at some point haha. I need some sun to appear so I can cut the grass, I keep expecting to find wild animals in there when I leave for work!!! Covid jab one was successful and so far no real side effects of note, arm a little tender but nothing major...here's hoping I can avoid the feeling rubbish feeling, although I guess it is for the greater good in the long run. A lot of work colleagues have had it and had tiredness and aching but nothing major.

I am starting to feel the benefit now of a settled work pattern and routine, my body has adjusted really well now. I am in bed by 10pm most nights and wake around 5am - 5:30am which is before my alarm of course ha, but maybe a sign my body is coping ok. I have stopped feeling tired and now I seem to be eating a little better...not perfect but getting there. I now seem to be able to get up, shower and then have breakfast and a coffee whilst been able to check in here. I am thinking of possibly getting back into the gym routine but unsure whether pre work or after work is the better idea. If i did before work it would be better in a way as I can avoid of the rush hour traffic (gym is a five min drive from work) by getting to gym about 7ish but then it means getting changed for work at gym and not sure that would work...one to ponder...



I am also re-thinking how best to budget o, YNAB as worked brilliant so far and while I was micro managing things and carefully watching the budget and checking every penny it worked well, however as I loosen up a bit I don't seem to be tracking it properly which surely just ruins the point of having it? The other side of me thinks well I got to the position I am now due to YNAB and to stick with it and fully commit again.

My nan sent me the funeral arrangements for my Grandad, is it wrong that I feel like I shouldn't go?? I am not one for funerals anyway (I guess noone is) but we weren't close, plus with the restrictions in place I would rather that place went to a close family friend/ or someone close to him but don't want to come across as I am not bothered...any advice on handling this one is very much welcome.

Anyways....enough ramblings from me...here is to another day of spreadsheets and admin...YAY ....it is the little things in life. Hope everyone has a fantastic day

mark55man

Personally, I would go - you have had the jab, and you may underestimate how fond your nan is of you and other GC if any.  My family are (literally) distant, and its always nice to meet.  I always think funerals are not so much for the dead as the living.  Even if you just reconnect with some uncle or aunt etc. 
As to offering your place, I don't really see how you can do it without a bit of a fuss, so maybe don't try too hard, just a vague mention of how difficult it must be to choose, and see how the conversation goes and whether anyone gets mentioned
That said - if you were distant and happy to remain so then a quick I'm really sorry just started a new job, and work can't spare me that day works as well as anything, mainly as its mostly true

alt80

Sounds like everything is going well for you mate (apart from losing your grandad). I don’t personally think you need to overly worry about making the same mistakes- you have got used to working with your budget, all you need to do is make sure you commit to continued review. Throw a date in your cal to review it- interim on track look once a week and a proper review once a month. Quarterly reviews for longer term goals.

Re funeral firstly sorry to hear of your loss. I’d probably go tbh think Mark’s advice above is bang on.

FootyFanDan

Hey all, not updated for a little while so wanted to post to keep active.

Its been a busy week or so. Workload slowly increasing which I am enjoying, although there's minor frustrations as I am finding things wrong that other person has done or not done properly costing the company money so I am now in a bit of a situation where I need to approach my manager to explain the situation but also without coming across as trying to stitch up the other guy!

Good news this week though as the car got through MOT and service with very little damage which I was super happy about, I paid for full service and the car needed a rear coil spring changed. The total amount came to £230 so actually felt good as it didn't impact my budget at all, I had £600 in my car maintenance so that was a win. I need to maybe reallocate that somewhere and then leave a little bit in there and start to build towards next year. Its at moments like this I realise the hard work and putting money away monthly really does work and pay off.

Budget reset tomorrow and I already have all main bills with the exception of the Rent covered, so that seems to start becoming a pattern. I have noticed that we have increased spends out slightly so that needs to be kept in check. The odd breakfast out here and the odd drink there soon builds up but we aren't in a position where we were last year before lockdown where we had to be super frugal.

All in all things are going ok. It is weird not having 4 days off but I am in a much better place with my routine now. Hopefully we can get some nice weather at some point as I want to get this jungle of a garden cut!

Hope everyone is keeping well

alt80

Is this bloke deliberately costing the company money or is it more mistakes/ lack of knowledge/ incompetence? Maybe you're not sure. You sound an absolute asset to the company though mate, just handle it sensitively if needed. 

Great news re MOT / service. Have a think about splitting reallocating a bit and keeping a bit for the maintenance from what you've written it's an old car so likely not to be as cheap come next year/ something needing to be repaired in the meantime so not sure you should be looking to reallocate much if anything. 

Rent not being covered would very much concern me though - why is this your lowest priority? Could have read this wrong but if it's not covered how are you not either a. getting into debt to pay it or b. getting into arrears? Neither a good scenario.

FootyFanDan

alt80 said:

Is this bloke deliberately costing the company money or is it more mistakes/ lack of knowledge/ incompetence? Maybe you're not sure. You sound an absolute asset to the company though mate, just handle it sensitively if needed. 

Great news re MOT / service. Have a think about splitting reallocating a bit and keeping a bit for the maintenance from what you've written it's an old car so likely not to be as cheap come next year/ something needing to be repaired in the meantime so not sure you should be looking to reallocate much if anything. 

Rent not being covered would very much concern me though - why is this your lowest priority? Could have read this wrong but if it's not covered how are you not either a. getting into debt to pay it or b. getting into arrears? Neither a good scenario.

Thanks mate, thats kind of you to say. I am unsure, I don't think it was deliberate, more of a an oversight I would think and in grand scheme of it not a massive financial issue but means works were duplicated when not needed, I have picked it up so won't be repeated this year but I need to advise my manager reasoning behind cancelling it which at that point I will need to explain its duplicated and not needed. There just seems to be a lot we contract out that might not be necessary and I personally believe that should have been noticed before now.

haha sorry I just realised that sounded way worse than I intended lol - I meant my last month wage (April) what I have remaining covers my main bills that are due on 28th May, so from my next wage (28th May) - all I have to fund from that is my Rent/food/Petrol) So I am in a position now where I have got budget to a place where the income we get through the month isn't needing to be spent so by the time it gets to pay day for myself we have a fair bit sat there already.

Re the car yes it is an old car but has very little miles for the age (Previous owner had it 12 years, changed oil every 6 months and did only 2k miles a year) its an 2002 model and has done 75k lol. Yes I plan to save the vast majority in the pot it is in, tires and brakes are all in good condition at the moment and tbh I am expecting next service to be more expensive so getting an head start would be good