Giving every £ a job

Blackcats

@PennysIntoPounds - I love Eltham Palace and particularly the beautiful Art Deco extension (wonder how long it took to get planning permission to add that to a Tudor building?)  Ginny Courtauld was an incredibly interesting woman and very risqué for the time.  I love her gold mosaic bathroom, the state of the art (for the time) sound system and hoover.  With her full leg snake tattoo and pet lemur who had his own bedroom she must have shocked high society.  But the very best thing about her life was that she had fresh bed linen TWICE a day.  Once when she got up and then again after her post lunch lie down and rest.  

Back to reality - cashed out £28 from £co which is the last of the big cash backs for a while.  Added that to the vinted £15 and sent across to savings.

we've managed to co-ordinate 6 of the grandchildren for a Friday afternoon meet up at the park.  Looking forward to seeing them all.

PennysIntoPounds

It's such an interesting place, I'm a fan of the Courtauld bits too, and Mah-Jongg the lemur! I must go back sometime and see if they've uncovered any more of the 'recently' discovered secret wall map...

Great cashout and vinted quids to be able to send to savings. 
Hope the weather is acceptable for the park

Blackcats

@PennysIntoPounds - Mah-Jongg sounds like he was a cheeky monkey - biting dinner guests he didn't like!
weather was ok for the park and there was lots of energetic running around and tackling (From the grandchildren not from me).  Why are boys so boisterous?

had a nice e afternoon with my dad today.  He hadn't realised it was Father's Day so was very pleased to get a card and present.  I used moon 🐷 for a personalised card using a photo of my dad and mum with me when I was a baby which epitomises all the love I have had all my life from them.  

We made him Sunday lunch of meat pie, jersey royals, carrot mash, peas and broccoli, followed by strawberries and fancy strawberry macaron ice cream.  Despite saying he wasn't very hungry he certainly tucked in.

Did some admin this morning plus associated shredding and have joined up another row of 7 crochet squares for the blanket.  My granddaughter saw the progress to date on Friday and chose some colour combinations for the next batch of squares.  Not quite to my taste 😳 but it's her blanket so I'll follow her instructions.  The 12 year old granddaughter has made a fabulous crochet crop top for herself based on something she saw on YouTube.  It really does like nice over a summer t shirt.  Very proud of her effort.

EssexHebridean

That sounds like a lovely meal for your Dad - glad he tucked in with gusto! In fairness, I probably would have done too as it sounds delicious! 

Eltham Palace also sounds like a fabulous place. I have just been reminded that I planned to add Kew to our places to visit so will have to give thought to when that can be slotted in. 

Blackcats

@EssexHebridean - Eltham Palace is really interesting with lovely grounds.  I highly recommend.
we visited Kew a few years ago for the Christmas lights event which was impressive.  A couple of years ago we joined RHS and visited Hyde Hall in your county but mostly Wisley in our county.  Unfortunately wisely is now slap bang in the middle of the massive and never ending roadworks on the M25 so we decided to let our membership lapse.  Might rejoin I when the roadworks are finally complete.

saved 5p a litre on petrol today by driving a few hundred yards from one petrol station to another.  Seems ridiculous that garages on the same road almost within sight of each other would have such a big price difference.

had a nice swim today.  We are swimming about 3 times a week plus I do my Monday morning dance fitness class so our membership feels like reasonable value for money.  

My Sant an der bank switch has happened so I need to pay in £500 and then fingers crossed I'll qualify for the switching bonus.  MrBC has finally agreed to switch his dormant bank account to his active nationwide account which should then qualify him for a switching bonus too.  It all adds up!

savingholmes

Well done on the free £. 

You sound very knowledgeable on the history. I don't tend to retain that kind of info. I think it looks beautiful or not and if not I have little interest.

Blackcats

@savingholmes - I think a lot depends on good tour guides who can enhance a visit massively.  When I went to Pompei the guide was amazing and I still remember so much of what he said about the place.

a nice few days since I last updated.  Our friend visited for the day on Wednesday.  By his own admission he is a complete tight wad and very, very greedy so it's a fun challenge to feed him well, feed him sufficiently and not spend a fortune!  I made a chocolate chip cake for elevenses (and pudding), lunch was home made mackerel pate using mackerel that was lurking in the freezer, free bread from Lidls.  Dinner was Tamil chicken, sag and potato curry, loads of spicy veg rice and turmeric yoghurt dip.  Cake and custard for pudding.

we went to a concert last night which we really enjoyed.  A thoroughly professional tribute act at a fairly local venue.  It was still a bit light when we were driving home after 10 pm which was a bit surreal.

we did some exploring today using MrBC's "footpath" app and discovered a fab ancient woodland and lakes.  Will definitely visit again for a more thorough look round.

played around with finances today and paid off this month's credit card balance.  Will send some money to savings pots tomorrow.  Still slowly building up prolific earnings - I have caught up on last week's target and have £4.27 towards this week's £10 target.  In the words of @beanielou I will keep plodding.

savingholmes

Well done on the footpath. That sounds fun. 

Good job on clearing the CC.

lucielle

The walk and concert sound great. Well done for feeding your friend. I need to clear my card which is looking a tad bit scary. 

L

Blackcats

Thank you @lucielle and @savingholmes.
we have been for Sunday lunch with some of MrBC's family - the lovely part of the family I hasten to add!  Lunch was in a character pub in the New Forest so we had the joy of driving past the ponies and adorable foals as well as plenty of cows ambling along.  It's such a magical place.

I've made the final payment into my Skipton regular saver which will mature in July.  The money is earmarked for our garden project and I'd like to say that was always part of the plan but in truth it's probably more luck than judgement.  The work is scheduled to start in 2 weeks and we are both super excited to see the transformation.  

I'll start another regular saver next month and perhaps earmark the proceeds of that to a holiday next year.  I've shifted my attitude about going on a cruise from "I never, ever want to do that" to "it could possibly be something I might contemplate".  A year of saving up for a holiday should help to see if the pendulum swings further towards going on a cruise.