Facing reality

Sarahwithlove

Ok so it's been a few weeks. Will be back later with a proper update but I am still here and just about surviving. Though if anyone has any tips on getting rid of a post covid cough that's been hanging around for 4 weeks I'd love to hear them. 

foxgloves

Bizarrely, my partner & I have both so far avoided Covid, so I haven't experienced post-Covid cough. However, I've had a fair bit of flu in the past & the only thing I found that helped soothe that horrible cough was one of the Belv*ir Cordials - it was a spiced winter berries variety which contained elderberries & I made it up with hot water. Sipped slowly, it did help soothe the cough. I think elderberry formulas are sold in health shops as sambuccol (or similar), but have never bought as expensive. As the winter berries cordial with elderberries in it has become hard to find, I intend to make some elderberry vinegar this autumn as it is just as soothing to a cough as the cordial.
F

Sarahwithlove

foxgloves said:

Bizarrely, my partner & I have both so far avoided Covid, so I haven't experienced post-Covid cough. However, I've had a fair bit of flu in the past & the only thing I found that helped soothe that horrible cough was one of the Belv*ir Cordials - it was a spiced winter berries variety which contained elderberries & I made it up with hot water. Sipped slowly, it did help soothe the cough. I think elderberry formulas are sold in health shops as sambuccol (or similar), but have never bought as expensive. As the winter berries cordial with elderberries in it has become hard to find, I intend to make some elderberry vinegar this autumn as it is just as soothing to a cough as the cordial.
F

It may be something they only bring out in winter time i know the r!bena winter spice is only available in autumn and winter for example. But I will keep an eye out for it. Maybe I will try some honey and lemon as usually have that for cold and sore throat. Pretty sure fizzy drinks aren't helping it so need to cut them out for a bit. 

efes_shareholder

I haven't had a covid cough but do use a natural remedy for any cough which seems to give relief 

If you would like to try it , prepare the mixture in a shot size glass.

Mix Warm water , a teaspoon of honey , lemon juice and grated fresh ginger together and down like a shot

Usually stops my cough for a good few hours.

Worth a try and considerably cheaper then cough mixtures.

Sarahwithlove

efes_shareholder said:

I haven't had a covid cough but do use a natural remedy for any cough which seems to give relief 

If you would like to try it , prepare the mixture in a shot size glass.

Mix Warm water , a teaspoon of honey , lemon juice and grated fresh ginger together and down like a shot

Usually stops my cough for a good few hours.

Worth a try and considerably cheaper then cough mixtures.

Thank you I have some ginger actually so will give it a try 

mark55man

sounds very soothing especially if quite warm

if it doesn't work add a slug of whisky or rum

if that doesn't work try again until it does

Sarahwithlove

Ooops I never did come back to update. My cough is almost to an end I hope. It's certainly better than it was. 

Ok money wise. I have booked to go to Germany to see my brother and his kids in November and put it on the 0% credit card. That is 0% until March and hopefully I can clear it in next couple months.

I also stupidly in a panic did a money transfer on my virgin CC as my dad had a boiler emergency and looked like he would need the money I borrowed back quickly. Luckily we managed to source a part from abroad to tide him over for now. So I have kept the money in my saver as for some reason I'm better at paying off debts then I am with saving so figured as its on 0% will keep going and get the interest on it. Not ideal but have to pay the transfer fee anyway so might as well earn it back in interest. Bit of a big boo boo to make but figure this is the best way to fix it. So that means I know have my £5k in my sinking/emergency fund and can focus on paying off debts.

My lodger is still no closer to moving out and as much as I would like to have my own space the money is needed right now. With the rising costs coming in October I will need to increase her rent again. She is still paying way below average for the area.

Still applying for jobs but not much out there taking my interest right now and I don't want to go for something for sake of it. I want to enjoy my next job and not hate going to work everyday.

Also in not very MSE i have rejoined SW and lost 5lbs in my first week and they included eating out. I had regained about a stone of the 3 I had lost and decided I needed the accountability. Sadly eating healthier also tends to cost more. Though did get my free goust0 box via referral on social media. It sold so quickly they had to take the offer down.

Just kind of waiting for end of month now so I can do a end of month review and plan for the next month and get refocused again. 

Sarahwithlove

Wow where has the time gone again? I really need to make more of an effort to get on here and best way to do that is on my laptop. Sadly, this is ridiculously slow to load which puts me off. 

A lot has changed in the last couple of months and a lot of changes are coming over the next few months. 

My lodger is moving out officially on 10th December. This means I won't have her rent anymore, but I will be glad to have my own space. She is moving in with her boyfriend into his house he owns that he had planned to rent out. She has been slowly moving her stuff over the last month and its making me realise how different things are going to be and in a good way for me. Seems silly but simple things like extra cupboard space in kitchen, extra shelf in fridge and draw in freezer. Reduction on bills especially council tax which I have worked out I should only have to make a small payment to in January approx £30 so spare £100 to go towards the debt. Then also have the 2 months which don't pay any way in Feb/Mar. Long term the plan is to move next year when my mortgage comes up for renewal to somewhere closer to office and family/friends I spend most of my free time with. Hoping I will also be able to get a smaller mortgage and/or service charge. 

I got a promotion at work from mid-November so no more job searching which I am very happy about. Not sure what impact will be on my wages long term and won't really find out until January's pay.  But along with the annual pay increase of £1920 backdated to April 22 I should hopefully be able to bridge some of the loss of income from lodger. The backdated pay is being paid in Decembers pay which will be post Xmas so not tempted to spend it. This will be going on paying off debt and car tax which is due on 1st January. 

I have been reviewing my budget for next year now that it is just me and looking at ways to cut back on my spending. I have made an inventory of cupboards and freezer so that I can start making more meals at home and avoid takeaways as they just eat into your money. Currently I allow myself quite a generous food (£250) and spending money (£150) a month so want to try and reduce this to £200 and £100 if possible. Obviously cost of everything has risen over the last 12 months but with some sensible planning and cheap quick meals I should be able to do it.  

I still have my £5000 in my sinking/emergency fund pot and I generally have been trying to pay for expenses out of my wages instead of using any of it which has been going well ok and I don't foresee any major big expenses not until June/July time. Hopefully by then I will be in a better position debt wise. 

Current debts all 0%

MBNA CC £1170 - repay minimum £29.25 on DD and any extra comes off this card 
Virgin CC £2950 - repay minimum of £29 a month 
Dad Loan £3800 - repay £100 a month 

£50 a month goes into saver for future moving costs, currently at £100.

January which be based on Decembers pay which will be a full month on new pay rate and I should get an extra £750-800 backpay after tax etc. This extra will go directly off my credit card. I should also have a reduced council tax payment of £30 approx, along with reduced spending/food costs as above I should have around £450 spare to pay off my credit card. This is based on my predicted wages using salary calculator rounded down. Pay at end of Jan will be first full payment at new rate. But hopefully based on predicted above that will mean my MBNA card will be gone in January and I can just focus on my virgin credit card. I also have some smaller other savings pots such as save the change and rounding down my bank etc which will all add up. I am finding that having debt on credit card is making me more cautious of my spending then when I was living with only my loan to my dad. I'm not a saver I'm a spender and not having debt makes bad habits creep back in. I now am working on reigning these in again so that I am in a good place in August when my mortgage fix ends.  
 
I'm going to try and make an effort to post more on here. I have got myself a new diary for 2023 which I want to start using to write down my spending in and keep track of any NSD's as need more of these. 

mark55man

all looking very positive.  Lots of good thinking and plans

I bet you will really enjoy your own space, whilst missing your lodger a little bit.  

Some of the regular savings seemed to have up their game a little so if you are not getting 5% or your money you can shuffly it around.  I haven't bother looking around for a while as 0.1% rather than 0.05% hardly seems worth it.  But 5% a year is good and probably in excess of most mortgage payments.

Your plan to move sounds exciting - expensive yes, but if it saves you time and money socialising and working that can easily work out 

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

all looking very positive.  Lots of good thinking and plans

I bet you will really enjoy your own space, whilst missing your lodger a little bit.  

Some of the regular savings seemed to have up their game a little so if you are not getting 5% or your money you can shuffly it around.  I haven't bother looking around for a while as 0.1% rather than 0.05% hardly seems worth it.  But 5% a year is good and probably in excess of most mortgage payments.

Your plan to move sounds exciting - expensive yes, but if it saves you time and money socialising and working that can easily work out 

Yes, there is definitely good rates for regular savings accounts so trying to take advantage of those as my current mortgage rate is 2.25% so until August when the fix ends then regular saver is good option for me. 

I think moving for me long term will be the best option. Whilst i don't mind where I live it can be a pain to get out of in terms of traffic and doesn't have a train station or anything like that. I also hate the maintenance side of my garden and I hardly use it to get enough benefit either. There are also a few things I would need to do if I planned to stay long term, such as changing 2 windows, redoing driveway, repaint decking etc. New job also means I have to go into office minimum of one day a week and being closer to office I think I would be more inclined to go in more and save on my own gas/electric etc.