Young And Dumb

Mx_Emmin

Humdinger1 said:

@Mx_Emmin please be kind to yourself.   

l'm trying!

Humdinger1 said:

Anticlimax is a thing and at least you have a diagnosis you can wave where necessary.   It is baby steps; necessary but frustrating. 

So, so frustrating 

Humdinger1 said:

I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes and am doing my damd*st to reverse it via exercise and very low carb diet.   Away at the moment so don't know if I've lost weight (the easiest and most obvious way to achieve reversal IF it's possible as not every case can be) but I want it to happen now; NOW I say! It will be the end of the year before the picture is clear.  I keep telling myself that even that would be a quick result and how long did it take to get to this point, so I need to have just a leetle more patience. 

Good luck with all of this! Weight loss can be so hard sometimes. I'm rooting for you!

Mx_Emmin

I’ve applied for a job at the fancy tea shop I like. Fingers crossed for me!

I did go into the store and have a little chat with one of the employees before I applied. They do know me (and Sherlock) by name there so I’m pretty hopeful of an interview, but obviously beyond that it’s anyone’s game, I don’t know how much interest there has been in the role.

I found an ice lolly mold in Aldi so I’ve given tea ice lollies a try. I cold brewed some “jelly and ice cream” and then froze it. The ice lollies went well, there’s strong potential here, but I need to work on my technique a bit. And it definitely needs to cold brew overnight before freezing, I only brewed for 4 hours. I might try milk next time I think!

~*~

I had my first flat viewing yesterday. It was alright, there definitely needs to be some expectation management in terms of how “pretty” I can buy. The place I viewed wasn’t great but it seemed liveable, only two points concerned me, there was a tiiiiny patch of what might be mold, and there was a patch on the roof where they had clearly previously been a leak.

The main criteria for the property are a section 20 I need to get more info on, and whether the property allows dogs in residence. I really thought that wouldnt be an issue anymore if I owned, but apparently building management is still a thing.

If you dont know what a section 20 is (I didn’t a month ago) it means I’ll have to pay for some repairs to communal areas in the time after moving in. It’s not clear how much I need to pay or over what timescale.

I think its going to be a long slow search, which will come to an abrupt when something suddenly comes available and I need to pounce quickly.

~*~

It’s been roasting here, it got up to 31° the other day and its due to get up to 34° next week. I may die. The dog refuses all cooling mats, bandanas, etc, and I am unashamedly using them. I am draping wet towels over my fan whilst its going. I am not taking the dog out as often as I know he likes   

Mx_Emmin

Well, its starting to happen. I was told yesterday they cutting the overtime rate from 2x hourly rate to 1.5x hourly rate (2x rate still applies on Saturday)(but my days are Wednesday and Thursday)

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I swam the entire length of a pool whilst holding my breath the other day!

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I’m in one of those parts of the UK expected to hit 40°. I’m trying not to think too much about the risk to myself or my partner (we both have chronic health conditions) and I’m pouring all my worry into the dog, especially today, as I’m at work and cant keep an eye on him. Tomorrow I’m home and can watch him.

So far my ideas, sourced from various friends, are

A fan, on a timer plug so it’s not going ALL day

A cool mat, which he only figured out he’s meant to sit on last night (Weve had t a year)

A cardboard and tinfoil construction blocking the window so Sherlock doesn’t sunbathe and hopefully to reflect some heat away from the house

And a loaf tin sized ice cube to lick all day

I’m walking Sherlock very early in the mornings and later at night (like 6-7am and 8-9pm) when its cooler and theres shade and its usually below 25°

Not really sure what to do tonight when it’s still expected to be above 30° at 8pm

I’ve had a migraine flirting with me for a couple of days but it hasnt been too bad, yet, but I forgot to order my meds on time so I’m on a 1/3 dose of amitriptyline right now, hopefully it’ll be ready tonight when I try collect

Getting into work will be ok it’s the getting home I’m worried about for myself

jusferbrowsing

Hope you, your partner and Sherlock got through the past couple of days ok. I can commiserate with the migraines, the past two days have been a thudding good time even with the triptan medication.

I had to smile when you mentioned the cooling mat. We've had one for our cats for the past 5 years, always treated with suspicion and avoided at all costs until day before yesterday when suddenly one cat sat on it and like with any new box in the household, they were all vying for space on it within 5 mins. Now I've ordered another (probably for both to be ignored for another 5 years). Pets eh?

Mx_Emmin

I’m very proud that I survived the UK heatwave without a migraine or passing out or throwing up (though I may have just saved the migraine for a few days later). With my various health conditions there was definitely a non-zero chance I’d end up in the Emergency Room, but I didn’t.

My self care has come a long way the past few years

I did end up sleeping on the sofa for two nights in the room as my bedroom is a converted attic and just collects heat like nobody’s business. The first night I tried to sleep in my room, but Sherlock kept panting, so I let him out so he could sleep downstairs, but he kept coming back up to cuddle. And I wasn’t sleeping anyway so I gave up and went downstairs.

Tuesday I just spent most of the day in front of the fan. It was too hot to play computer games, even, I couldn’t think straight. I just lay there.

I was getting up at 5:30am to walk the dog but even at 9pm or 10pm it was still too hot to walk Sherlock, but he needed to go toilet, so I ended up picking him up and carrying him to a patch of grass that was safe to walk on, but even though we were only outside 10 min he was still panting but the time we got home.

I did have a slight hiccup where I ran out of standard ice cubes mush faster than expected trying to keep the dog cool, so I went Aldi at 8am on the dot to try get some, but they were out. I ended up paying £5 and deliveroo-ing a single bag of ice for Sherlock. If it had just been me I probably wouldn’t ahve paid that, but. Got to keep him cool.

~*~

My work has announced an additional 4% pay rise, on top of what they’d already announced a few months ago. I dont think it gets up to 9% still (UK inflation, by some measures)(some measures have it higher) but I appreciate the gesture. Many workplaces are doing less.

Unfortunately I got declined for the fancy tea shop job. I need to start cracking down on job hunting I think

~*~

I still haven’t got that doctors letter confirming the EDS diagnosis, I keep chasing them about it. They told me I’d have it within a week. I need to add it to my PIP file.

Mx_Emmin

jusferbrowsing said:

I had to smile when you mentioned the cooling mat. We've had one for our cats for the past 5 years, always treated with suspicion and avoided at all costs until day before yesterday when suddenly one cat sat on it and like with any new box in the household, they were all vying for space on it within 5 mins. Now I've ordered another (probably for both to be ignored for another 5 years). Pets eh?

Maybe I need to get another dog, so Sherlock can be jealous over the mat, haha

Mx_Emmin

This post is technically late, by like one day, but work has been I-N-S-A-N-E so you’ll have to forgive me haha

So here we are, (they day after) budgeting day!

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On 31st July 2022:

My Bank Accounts Net Worth was £13,248.47

£1,502.87 was in my “Next Month Income” category

£3,107.53 is in my “Emergency Fund” category

£2,615.13 was my H2B ISA (House deposit, though I’ve got a secondary category I’m trying to save a little more for the house deposit in by the end of the year)

£1000 was in my “Next Move” category

£870.44 was in my “Gym” category, waiting to see is I can get any help with that and move this money elsewhere

£870 was in my “Next Laptop” category

£719.01 was in my “Next Phone” category

£500 was in my “Canal Boat” category

And then the rest is in smaller categories

Banking Net Worth July 2022

My Investing & Pension Net Worth is £13,424.10

£12,895.69 of that is in my work pension, to which I am currently (that is, from my March Paycheque) contributing 8% and my employer is contributing 12.5%

£426.56 is in my bank’s Investment service, I put £25 a month in there and some fund managers do hopefully smart things with it. It’s telling me that over time my investment through them has gone up in value by £3.61

£74.40 is in my Freetrade Account, where I like to pretend I know how to day trade. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £71 in it so technically I’m making a profit.

£7.37 is in my Paypal Crypto account, where I like to pretend I know how Bitcoin works. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £15 in so I am making a loss at this point.

£20.08 is in a Crowdcube account. This doesn’t seem to change in value so I think it was more of a GoFundMe rather than an Investment.

I haven’t had been tracking data long to do much of a graph for Investment Net Worth, but here we are

Investment Net Worth July 2022

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The HSBC switcher offer came due for me so that was an extra £170. As result, I have £80 left over even after filling all categories. I put £40 into a category for ordering some books (I want to pick up some Tamora Pierce books I loved as a kid), and £40 into a category for some notebooks off Redbubble, but I’m not 100% committed to those yet, I have the nagging feeling I should be putting it into the house deposit.

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I did finally get that doctors letter confirming the EDS diagnosis, and emailed it to everyone who needed it (and maybe a couple who didnt lol). The physio team have given me some new exercises based off that. I’ve also had a recruiter spot me on Indeed and is talking to me about some roles, so we’ll see where that goes. Though to be honest, now I’m anxious about how I’ll get to all my doctors appointments if I’m working Mon-Fri 9-5. I’m not sure how to resolve that one.

Mx_Emmin

I decided to buy another £5 of Bitcoin. I do think it'll go up again eventually - maybe not #ToTheMoon lol, but I do think its here to stay in one form or another.

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I definitely overthink the dog's enrichment sometimes. I just shoved one of his boring old toys inside the cardboard tube of a toilet roll and he is HOOKED haha

But also, I bought him a lick mat from wilkos haha

I do distinguish between "toys" and "puzzles", in that puzzles need a human to set it up, but toys he can just play with himself, a ball or a teddy. The Lick mat really pushes that definition but I think it works for planning spending. I dont buy Sherlock toys often anymore, he has plenty.

Unfortunately (?) he didn't take to the lick mat. The question mark is there because I quickly discovered it is an absolute !!!!!! to clean, the texture they used to make it interesting to lick is a bunch of crosses, so it's basically all corners and I cannot get the peanut butter out of it. I tried it twice and he doesn't like it, and the damn thing is too much fuss to try again, but I also feel like I can't just toss it in a cupboard with peanut butter still on as it'll go mouldy. I'll try put it through my partners dishwasher but I may just have to throw it out.

~*~

The first week of the month is often taken with buying little things I've been putting off. I do need to buy a clothes airer rack, which is not ideal, but I found one in wilkos for only £15 where the Argos ones I was looking at were £25.

I bought two redbubble notebooks - one for recipes and one for taking notes in meetings for the trans charity I'm facilitating with.

I also bought some vegetable choppers from Amazon. My food processor already slices but it's very thin, and its has a grater attachment, and the puree blade minces onion and garlic fine, so I was really only looking for something that can do chunky cuts. I was originally looking at this one, but I was worried it wouldn't cut chunky enough, so I ended up getting an apple corer and a crinkle cut blade. Next week I'll be able to test them and see how they work.

I also bought some old childhood books I loved by Tamora Pierce, I bought three out of four of the Circle Of Magic books. I want them in a particular cover art style to match childhood memories so I'll dig up the third book eventually.

~*~

A recruiter spotted my CV and wants to help me find a job. Which is good, except he's calling me every. single. day.
I'm still at work! He's already lined up two interviews for me, so that's promising. Except now I actually have to do the thing I said I wanted to, lol, how rude. Kind of nervous about interviews but I'm sure it'll be fine. They're for generic Finance Admin Assistant type dealies.

daintydaisy

Hi, I found this blog a couple of days ago and have been hooked reading through your journey since. 

Your experience has actually inspired me to begin my own debt free journey and for the first time in my life I feel excited about budgeting! 

I love how you categorise everything and reading your blog has made me realise how much little spends can add up. Until reading your blog I just used to throw a £10 here and there on my CC but it’s catching up to me now and making me realise I should be more careful with money, especially as my “emergency fund” is currently sitting at £140 😬 

Thank you for making this blog, I hope you keep updating it as I’ve enjoyed keeping up with your journey. Good luck for the interviews 👍🏼

Humdinger1

@Mx_Emmin good luck for the interviews! Your tracking is looking fab; now you mention you're in finance it fits together.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx