Moving forward and upwards

Skint_yet_Again

You are very organised MF. I can only just manage 4 accounts, my isa for my emergency fund, my current account for direct debits / food/ petrol, my savings account for £300 a month savings is 1% interest and an account for all the other pots (car, annual bills, dog food, Xmas/ birthday fund) which I keep a separate spreadsheet for to keep a record of what’s in each pot. 

If anyone can think of an easier way I would be grateful! 

savingwannabe

I have four, one for mortgage, one for savings, one for xmas fund and the current account. I cannot believe how organised MF is. If she moved to my house she would do wonders with my garden.

MovingForwards

Thank you ladies.

I can't take all the credit for the gardens, my OH is merely putting my visions into reality.
-- Poor thing is in it, every day he isn't working and has just been given another permanent day at work, which has bumped him up quite nicely.
-- He is also emptying and cleaning the old flat so I don't have to go back.
-- I've not seen him as happy as this since we first got together. He has the view that the man should 'provide' and he would prefer it if I wasn't working or only did PT. Reluctantly, he accepts I work due to having the bigger 'earning' power.

After my previous life, I never wanted to be in that situation again and have become quite obsessive about having 'pots' for different things. I never want to be in a position where I can't afford to have something fixed or replaced, or where it's a choice between heating or eating. I've been through that and it's not nice.

I could happily max my CCs on buying furniture, getting things upgraded, replacing carpets, but the fun is doing it a bit at a time.

The communal costs I need to get saved quickly, but I don't expect any costs for at least a few years.

When everything settles I will be back to my plans for the internal communal areas. For now:
-- I'm just going to be cleaning everything down, getting rid of cobwebs etc.
-- if I have paint left over from my flat, will do the white wall / ceiling sections (ones I contribute to)
-- if I do my woodwork, I will use the leftover paint on the communal windows (ones I contribute to)

I have been very lucky since starting over, but it's because I micromanage my life; plan everything, budget near enough to the last penny
-- I don't worry about employment as I can go from job to job due to my previous career (obviously not at the moment but would go straight for supermarket work).
-- I've done a vast range of roles over the years, pre / post former career choice.
-- My outgoings mean I can work PT in the future.
-- Changing employment location with my company would save me £60pm as my commute costs are train / bus pass (no point in driving as I would get stuck in traffic both ways), aside from the walking the train / bus is about 35 minutes each way.

MovingForwards

Today was a half day, this afternoon has been spent in the garden; vest top / leggings although I think shorts may have been a better choice!

I've tidied up the seating area in the secret garden, just more sweeping, pulling fine roots up and evicting a load of bugs. 

OH made a walled rose garden, put a load of old garden waste in the bottom, then filled it with compost. My pink and red roses have been planted, the single tulip has been moved into it and some other little bulbs. I will be buying tulips to add to it and dot around the secret garden.

The old boundary wall between our plots and the building / garden next door (not flat neighbours, but the actual next door) had some of the rocks fall off over the years. Enjoyed trying to put them back on top / in position. Looks ok and a consistent height across the section by my plot. The wall by two neighbours plots after mine need a lot more work doing, but that's up to them. 
-- Found two worms, they were relocated to my rose garden 🤭

Discussed the shared path with my OH. He doesn't want to do that until the trees are down. That way we can see how much work / time needs to go into it. Probably going to get membrane to put down before putting the slabs / crazy paving down.
-- I've nudged the surgeon under the guise of wanting to know how he is to be paid. Hope he doesn't let me down this week.

Need to buy weed killer or painstakingly scrape all the moss / grass / weeds up and out of the communal path.

I've my feet up, the sun is shining into my living room and bacon soup is cooking.

Have a good evening!

MovingForwards

The surgeon is coming Saturday 🤗🤗

I have to mark the trees to show which bits I want to keep, my OH wants some of the logs, don't ask!
-- I haven't managed to convince him to get checked for how far into the spectrum he is. 

He has knocked the price down a bit too, so tomorrow I need to locate the cash points around here.

I've been back on the website where I got my greenhouse etc and they've had their herb delivery, been trying for a few weeks to time it right as they sell out so quick. 

I digress, as always. I picked out a selection of herbs (£1.85 each), tomato plants (£1.20 each) and peppers (£2.40 each), 2x compost (£12) and 3x grow bags (£7), then threw in some weedkiller (£4.99). 
--The money saved from the trees covered this lot 🤗

I've gone for several different types of tomato and peppers to see which I prefer, then next year I can try a few more while growing the ones we liked.
-- The secret garden, green house, herb garden and rose garden are my projects. 
-- The growing garden, compost and general maintenance are OHs projects as he is more agile / mobile / healthier than me, but also tries to hide when something hurts.

I think the secret garden will be finished this weekend, aside from furniture. That means the growing garden should be on track for being finished by the end of next month 😀

Forgot to say earlier, my allotment book arrived today.

savingwannabe

OMG. This is wonderful. You are really achieving so much in all areas the tree surgeon, buying herbs and the secret garden and the roses sound beautiful.

MovingForwards

SW, now it feels like it's coming together.

My order was processed last night, apparently it's ready to collect today. Will be sending my OH for it as I'm working. I've just remembered the one thing I meant to order, canes, but I will order them when I place my next order. Will write a list so I don't forget things.
-- if my order is collected today, I will be spraying the weeds on the communal path and shared path later.

Going to let the neighbours know the surgeon is going to be here Saturday and to not go anywhere near my plot. It's only the downstairs neighbours who use their gardens, the other three plots are looking a little wild at the moment.

Once the trees are down, the shared path can get remade, bulk compost and bulk aggregate purchased. 

Due to booking time off, I've quickly adjusted to not working full-time, the full days are hard. I may have to do just one half day a week as I think I'm going to struggle returning to the office knowing it's a full day / week I will be doing. No signs yet as to when I will be back in, as it appears my area/ type of work will be the last batch as others are urgent. Must do my flexi working application.

It's already a warm one today!

My thanks button has vanished. I'm not ignoring comments made within your diaries and here, I just cannot let you know I've read them unless I comment.

Have a good day, whatever you are up to 🤗

savingwannabe

This pandemic has meant we can work from home and we have done so much. Your garden will be wonderful. It took me years to get mine presentable and you are doing it immediately. Just think you will have the whole of summer to enjoy it. 

savingholmes

Sounds like you are doing really well. Great to reduce your tree bill too. My thanks button also gone.

MovingForwards

I'm rushing as it won't get done when I'm back in the office and I've gone without outside space for too long!

Bit of a mess up with my order, 9 herbs and veg are missing. Unfortunately, my OH never checked the order before bringing it home, even though I said to because of the amount I had ordered 😐
-- left a voicemail and sent an email to them, but potentially that's about £15 I've lost.

An animal bounced off my car while bringing my garden order home, breaking the mirror / housing off, apparently there's no other damage. I've yet to go look.
-- that's potentially £50 to replace the whole thing.

I may not be in a happy place at the moment.

I've sprayed the shared path, my section of the communal path and half of the section by my neighbours garden, with weedkiller. Run out of weedkiller, but it's a start.
-- had to use it all as it leaked when spraying, didn't want to risk having it inside with my cat around.

Have a good evening everyone!