Marginal Gains

Cornish_mum

Nice quiet weekend, though DH and DD has to go to the supermarket this morning after our prebooked groceries delivery was cancelled last night at short notice by Mr S.  Last week it was changed to click and collect, at the last minute.  Its a bit annoying as I have a delivery pass.  I guess it’s COVID-19 panic shopping related. Groceries came in at £90 mainly because DH had to buy brands of quite a lot of stuff instead of own brand because of lack of stock.  DS and I did homework while they were out.

I had 2 flat whites and bought 3 supermarket sandwiches; as I was mega busy this isn’t so bad.  My other spends were cleaner £40 and babysitter £20, DH paid for DS to have a haircut and he just booked our summer holiday AirBnb ~£900 for a week by the seaside. That means we have about £1500 left in our ‘fun budget’ which should be more than enough, as all the big items have now been purchased. 

Decluttering went well this week; DD and I took another big bag to the charity shop this morning and even better didn’t buy anything when we were there. I managed  to give a bag of baby items away (no idea why we still had them). Also sold a bulky item on gumtree for £7. This was my first gumtree sale of the year. It always surprises me what sells and what doesn’t.

I sowed sweet peas and sunflowers with the kids to replace everything that blew away during storm Ciara. DH and I did a bit of weeding and will probably try to Karcher the patio and paths next weekend. 

Did mountains of laundry today, but ran out of drying space so had to use the tumble dryer for sheets and towels twice.

Made yogurt and almond cake and yogurt and chocolate cake; to use up stuff that was going off and also a big batch of pizza dough.  DD helped to make the pizza for tea; and we had enough left overs for lunch tomorrow and I froze half the dough. I plan to batch cook bolgnaise tomorrow. 

Happy weekends all CM

Grogged

Hello Cornish, as you've not posted on a while just checking everyone is ok?
Keep safe.

Cornish_mum

Hi All,

Sorry to be quiet, it’s been very busy because of COVID like many people but we are ok. 

Financially we are doing great; work are paying us as normal, childcare fees, commute costs are suspended and we should get refunds on our Easter holiday flights and I had carrier insolvency clause in our travel insurance. I am extremely grateful for all this. Life events have rather overtaken money in the CM household since my last post. 

Week of March 16th we had suspected cases of COVID19 in my work team, including me unfortunately, so we had to start self-isolating as a family early. We are all ok and no one needed to be hospitalised, so no tests. I am still ill not seriously but I just can’t get rid of the cough/fatigue. 

Unfortunately the nature of my work didn’t allow any time off during this period so I had to juggle kids and working remotely whilst feeling rather ill. 

Also we started to run out of food for the kids and I could not get anything delivered. We ended up relying on a neighbourhood support group who managed to drop off a few bits, despite the horrific panic buying in our home town, so we managed to muddle through. On a positive note I have lost 2kg in weight in the past 3 weeks. 

Week of March 23rd I started to get NHS texts saying I should shield. To start with I thought it was an mistake but then I started getting lots of letters in post about it.  So I rang up the GPs surgery who explained that it wasn’t a mistake, I really am one of 1.5 million people who aren’t supposed to leave my house apart for medical treatment for the next 12 weeks. I suspected I might be classified as vulnerable because of the combination of medications I take but it never occurred to me that I might be in the highest risk group, so that was a bit of shock given the likelihood that I had already caught it.

I am extremely grateful 

that both DH and I can work remotely for the foreseeable future and receive full pay, 

that I can afford to pay for online delivery of groceries and have been able to book a slot finally, so don’t need to rely on the community support group for food for the children,

that we only have mortgage debt and for our EF, 

that we have a 3-bed house and garden so 12 weeks shielding as a family is feasible,

that my underlying health issues are under control and I don’t need to be in hospital much, 

that my job comes with excellent sickness and death in service benefits (life insurance) so I know the kids will always be financially safe,

that our parents are independent and don’t need our practical help currently,

that I really like being with my family and spending more time with them is a blessing,

that apart from the odd meeting I am on holiday for the next 6 days.  . 

South_coast

Wow, you've had a lot going on 😯 Great list of gratitudes, fantastic way of turning it round

Cornish_mum

Belated month end totals (March)

Mortgage £894 capital reduction - we owe £192638

Cash improvement £1041 - EF = £25,440.

AVC MrCM employer again failed to take his additional AVC so it was just the standard again this month.

CM 15% contribution on top of standard for DB. AVC fund value dropped £2832.

MrCM 21% contribution on top of standard for DB. AVC fund value dropped £3588.

Other money things 

Put in claim for Easter flights.

As I am shielding so I tried to cancel season ticket not sure if that’s going to have worked.

Cancelled nursery DD as requested by nursery.

Grocery spending is up, we are getting a MrS delivery slot every 7-10 days, this weeks is coming in at £99.  This is partly because of having to buy more brands because of own brand items lack of availability online and eating lunches at home. Previously we mainly ate weekday lunches and snacks outside of home~ £45/week plus DD nursery food. 

Frugal things

Gardening using old seeds and things we could find in the garage. We also karchered the patio, cleaned outdoor furniture, mowed lawn and have spent time time weeding and tidying. I’d really like some fresh potting compost as I’d like to try to sow a few more tender seeds but it’s not essential.

Kids have been playing with old toys and reading books we already had. But we are missing the library especially for DS. The weekend before the lockdown we spent £75 on homeschool supplies (mainly printer paper and printer ink) otherwise we are just using resources we already had. I am keen to make do as much as possible.  

Cornish_mum

Feeling great after the 4 day weekend, it was so nice to have the time off work.  This week was quite quiet work wise too so I managed to move forward projects important to our team which is very satisfying.  I am so grateful we can all work remotely, it’s delaying everything but currently we all have plenty of productive work to do and everyone can be paid. It’s exhausting but I am grateful for the work and relative security.  Long term I think there will be a significant impact on future projects but there is always uncertainty in my field so it doesn’t feel any different.

Homeschool starts again Monday, we have a new system from DS school - hopefully it will work. I am sure I’ll be feeling frazzled again next week but I intend to enjoy being relaxed for as long as possible.

Money Stuff

I had to top up the gas and electric account (£250) as we have been a bit liberal with the heating. 

My application for the season ticket refund could not be processed so I resubmitted it again.

Our outdoor sofa covers are leaking, we repaired them last year but I think we really need to replace them as soon as the lockdown is relaxed.

Frugal things

We had no sand for the sandpit and the padding pool sprung a leak, so we repurposed the sandpit for paddling and fishing for some plastic fish from DD room using homemade cane rods.

I played cuddly animal hospital with the kids a couple of times.  When I mended their cuddly toys as the “surgeon”. DS was the Doctor and DD the jr doctor who ran admissions and the recovery area.  I never thought they would go for it as a game but they loved it and finding things for me to fix.  I sneaked in mending an apron, a dress of DDs, and darned some socks. I don’t usually bother to fix socks but as I can’t get more currently so I am making the effort.

Over the Easter holiday, I washed and re-hemmed our family room curtains. This job has needed doing since we moved in 5 years ago. I also deep cleaned the bathroom including the ceiling and walls.

I planted some more old radish, beetroot, Swiss chard, lettuce, carrot and mixed salad seeds in garden and potted on some kale.  The kids helped a bit. Some of the seeds have germinated despite being 2-3 years out of date. Hoping we can grow some food to help keep our food bill and food shopping lower. I need to work out a way to protect these veg from the local pigeons, who destroyed last years efforts.

The sweetpeas and sunflowers, we planted earlier in the year have grown too, which will be nice to add colour to the garden in the summer. DD sowed some old cornflower seeds hopefully they germinate.

I used up old bread to make breadcrumbs and parsley-stalks for homemade chicken Kiev’s.  Used up some left over double cream to make butter and buttermilk soda bread. I baked cupcakes with the butter for the kids to have as puddings. 

We have delayed our next online shop till the end of the week, so we are now making do with what we have.

PurpleFairy26

All sounding very frugal and productive. 

Grogged

Glad things are starting to a new normal.
Gardening sounds encouraging. Maybe some online shopping may help against the pigeons (if you're comfortable with that).

Cornish_mum

Thanks you for popping up. Lovely to have visitors.

Cornish_mum

Month end totals (April)

Mortgage £902 capital reduction - we owe £191736.

Cash improvement £1285; Ed-fund = £26,726, EF = £50,000.

AVC

CM 15% contribution on top of standard for DB. AVC fund value up £1316.

MrCM 21% contribution on top of standard for DB. AVC fund value up £3058.

I hope next month we will be able to save more as we should have less spends related to getting used to the lock down.  I keep secretly hoping we will be able to save my take-home pay every month, we are still a long way off but it’s something to aim for.

There has been a change in tone in my work sector the past couple of weeks; people are now being furloughed and the short to medium term is looking dicey. Nothing concrete yet but I am grateful for our cash savings and that I made a change to our finances so we have a lot of choices.  

Spends

I succumbed to online shopping and bought new sofa covers as the others were leaking (£140), 

veg cover as a pigeon defence (£70), potting compost, seeds and strawberry plants (£30),

a present for DS’s birthday (£45), 

books and colouring pens to help with home-school (£25),

and a new pair of slippers for MrCM (£40 inc. del), as his old ones had totally fallen apart and were held together with masking tape.

Mr CM had to spend £75 on IT equipment for work so he can work remotely more easily. He won’t be able to claim it back. 

I had to pay £250 extra to our gas and electric account this month as we were building up a bit of a debt. 

Online groceries last week were £125, this week £105; no flour, dettol or baked beans available still.  Last week I couldn’t get cream cheese and this week I couldn’t get cocoa powder for DS birthday cake. I will have to improvise.

I am hoping to only spend on food and clothes/shoes for DD in May. She has grown out of all her shoes and boots; we are currently improvising with a pair of DSs old school plimsoles. (she mostly goes barefoot in the garden so it’s just for her occasional walks with DH). I need to investigate a good way to measure her feet while the lockdown continues. Her feet our very narrow (off the chart) so we generally just go to a shoe shop and try the different options until something fits.

Other money things

We were given vouchers instead of cash by Ryanair for our cancelled flights at Easter despite claiming for a refund. We haven’t accepted them and there seems to be no way to put the claim in again. I think I am going to have to put a section 75 claim for the flights, as I can’t see us rebooking a flight in the next 12-months.

I resubmitted by season ticket claim and will put the money aside and add to it every month so I have the money ready when the time comes to buy a new ticket. 

Frugal things 

I planted more carrots, chard, beetroot and radish seeds directly in the garden, then planted basil, runner beans, courgette (4 precious seeds) and nasturtiums indoors.  My mum sent me the courgette seeds as the ones I ordered haven’t arrived yet. All the other seeds were old ones. 

I hardened-off kale plants, and planted up 13 strawberry bare-root plants into garden soil in pots (as I haven’t much sunny space left in the garden but could make room on the patio.) Next job is to clear and cut back one of the overgrown shrub beds to repurpose for the rest of the veg.

Harvested rhubarb. Will make a crumble from it.

DH found an old Weber BBQ and a bag of charcoal in the garage which had been left by a previous owner of the house. The BBQ was pretty filthy, he pressure washed it and I am currently trying oven-pride on the grill. It’s really good quality I couldn’t believe some one would just leave it. Hopefully we can make it useable in time for DS virtual cub camp (camp out and campfire).

We have run out of espresso coffee for our machine, DH found some ground coffee he was gifted and experimented to make an improvised cafeteria so we can drink coffee this week until our next online food shop. (We are allowed one per week but I am trying to stretch that to every 8-10 days).