Now or never

Its_time

Thank you @crunchy_time feels a bit silly to be so upset about it going but we both really love it, if we could afford to keep it we definitely would.
We've got a very busy weekend ahead of us, a few weeks ago I accepted a quick turnaround project which would come in Thursday evening and be ready for Sunday evening....well it's here and now I am partly panicking and partly feeling excited at the challenge. 
I've told myself this is what I wanted, to earn a full time wage from my business and this is how I am going to do it!
Yesterday was a major day for my business, I was contacted by a local company that need me to do 1 or 2 jobs for them a month.  Previously when other companies have asked I've had to say no as I never had the time.  This means a large (to me) monthly income.  I am not counting my chickens until a later date when I see how many they actually bring and how often but the first is booked in,  availability, cost etc. all agreed.  It felt lovely to actually be able to negotiate as a business.  
DD will be back off her holiday so will be working as of next week which is very good as we are a tad over booked towards the end of August early September, she's already agreed to work the weekends if necessary.
Wish me luck xx

joedenise

Sounds exciting.  Good luck with the business.  Hope the new business turns out to be as good as you hope and it materialises for you.

Its_time

Thanks @joedenise I hope so too!
Day 1 and the new project went 'okay' not great but okay.  My workshop was way too hot and even with a fan on I was absolutely cooking.  It was hard physically as everything felt heavier, more cumbersome and what could go wrong went wrong my head was slow and basic tasks were beyond me.  Nevertheless I am just under half way through which tells me if it was cooler and I was thinking straighter it would have been fine.  
I finished around 7pm and DH took one look at me and sent me for a shower, to be fair all of a sudden I did feel a bit exhausted and faint.  Half hour later showered, fed and sat in the garden in the shade I felt much better.
Tomorrow is another day but is going to be boiling hot again so challenge on 💪

Its_time

Really hoping it's a bit cooler tomorrow the last few days have been boiling.
I have almost finished the weekend project just need some finalising tomorrow and fingers crossed it's done.
It's been a hard weekend but I have enjoyed it and have been able to see what I might be capable of doing, DH has been a fab house husband lol 😊 he really has.
Tired tonight but looking forward to tomorrow.

Its_time

2nd weekend project almost complete, just (hopefully) needs finalising tomorrow and then it's off.
Been so busy lately that we've had 2 Tesco orders as no time to get to Lidl, can honestly say it wasn't a good idea.  I ordered twolarge chicken breast of 950g each and they substituted a 1.6kg pack instead, so less weight for the same money and then there were only 6 pieces inches lack!  Also had a pack of 6 pitta bread and there were only 5 inherent.

Its_time

I have no idea why that last post posted when it did, I had not finished doing it ...
Anyway, a busy time for us, we need to work out a plan where we get at least half a day off a week, that be nice...

Its_time

Wow time flies.  Lots has happened mostly that we have been busy, been on holiday and I have been unwell for a good few weeks.  I have hardly managed to get into the sanctuary as the work is too heavy but I have upped my part time job hours to compensate.  We are doing ok.
DH has been working weekends to try and get the little car ready so it is in his opinion good enough to last us a while and when it is done we are still selling the bigger car.   DH thinks this weekend will see it finished, then the bigger car needs a few very small items and its 'perfect'.  Then the money situation will improve and all bar the mortgage will be paid off.
We are still very grateful that we have given up our old main job it was sooooo awful and we believe a lot of my current health issues are related.  I wont go into details but i've had lots of tests all of which are fine no problems found but I still feel unwell.  I know anxiety and peri-menopause is a lot of it but I would like to feel better all the same.
Money wise despite us giving up that huge whack of money when we quit the horrible job we are not doing bad considering how tight things have been with me not earning what we expected, one of our horses being very unwell and needing the vet and trying to make sure the smaller car is more than road worthy, it is but DH wants to do a major service to make sure.  I am really grateful that I am able to up my hours each week if I want to and it's fine if I want to stick to my core hours.
I am spending most weekends quietly cleaning and relaxing and just concentrating on getting better.  DH carved me a lovely halloween pumpkin and I am sooooo looking forward to Christmas.

Its_time

The small car is finished all repaired and ready for anything.  The bigger car has just gone up for sale, DH has been incredibly touchy this weekend and is a bit snappy, I know it's because he feels as if he is a failure and we ought to be able to afford to keep it, plus he loves it just as I do.  It was DH's idea to sell it and clear the debt he is just finding it a bit hard in reality, it's hard I think as well as lots of people have shown interest in it making him realise even more how desirable it is.
Anyway..........
I have been working more hours lately to cover the bills as has DH, he is worried about money and likes to be busy which in his mind is earning money.  Even though he feels like this he is adamant we are NOT going back to the old job, we would probably sell up and downsize before that happens.
The horses bill has been paid but she has been ill again since, we did think the final day had come but she rallied and is now on pemanent pain killers for arthritis.  Another cost but we love her and she deserves the best care for the rest of her life as do all the others.
I am still unwell with pain daily but am quietly starting to feel a little better in myself, just need the doctors now to diagnose what it is and sort it out for us.
I've rejoined the grocery challenge and set a weekly budget of £50 as I think doing it monthly gives me far too long a time to mess up in, if I mess up one week, the next week is soon here.  I joined the Tesco delivery saver £7.99 a month and I have questioned myself ever since whether it is the right move.  I know I wont go to the shops regularly at the moment so it is the cheaper option with what we have I think and certainly saves me money on my deliveries.
All Christmas presents are bought other than two which will come to £64 for the both maximum as per our budget.  All the food we need is listed and half already bought by putting a few items here and there into our weekly shop.  Only a few more items that need to be bought as close to Christmas as possible are left to get.  I have bought a large roll of brown paper and some Christmas ribbon so all the presents will be wrapped in that this year.
I've set up some accounts that had gone by the wayside this year and a running budget/account showing what we will have if we save into each account, it's based on what we spent this year so might be more accurate than a guess, I really liked having money ready for the expenses when I started it earlier this year.
I am not too worried about our retirement...at least I don't think I am.  DH has his private pension which I think will be small even though he's paid it for years and years, his also has his old age pension which is fully contributed to.  My old age pension is showing 16 years so needs some more years before it will be full but I have time to fill it up, I also have just started a pension in my new job and although it will be small it is more than nothing.  We also have the house which will be fully paid by then.
For me it really is sticking to my plans, they are all good on paper, just find it hard to stick to them.  At the moment I am adding bits as I go along.  I haven't included any money I make in the sanctuary and have only put DH down for what we consider the bare minimum he will earn, so anything extra from either of these two avenues will be a bonus.

Its_time

I've booked our Tesco delivery for Saturday, at the moment it is £45.05, there are again a few items for our Christmas dinner which come to around £10 and similar amount for two presents for DH's parents who we hardly ever see and are visiting before Christmas.  I've asked DD to make her famous yorkshire pudding for the dinner I am doing on Boxing Day as she will use her oven the day before to cook things for Christmas Day buffet in the evening, cheaper for us and it means we might get away with putting the rayburn on when we have it switched off at the moment.  It still runs the heating and hot water but as a boiler not as a cooker, it is oil fired so more convenient than coal.
We're in credit with our electricity provider by around £400, I am not going to drop the direct debt to reflect this as they want us to, I need to see where we are when our fixed rate ends in March.  According to our smart meter we are averaging around £36 a week for electricity as opposed to £75 last winter.  We have it set to an hour in the morning and around 4 hours in the evening with the thermostat set at 18.5 which is low for me.  Also because we are not using the cooker part of the rayburn the pump is not running which appears to eat electricity.  We cook most things using our airfryer, combination microwave and two plate portable ceramic hob, it does the job nicely.
I made some fairy cakes on the weekend as I forgot to buy chocolate bars for the boys when they come in at breaktime, they were happy all the same.  Another thing I have done recently is make pizzas out of garlic and coriander naan bread, some tomato puree and cheese, apparently they love them, DH will have one for his tea with chips.
Tonight he is having curry which is defrosting at the moment and some chips as I am working late and I don't expect he will feel like cooking rice when he comes in.

Its_time

Gosh it's been a week or so of stress.  One of our horses has been unwell for a bit and has now had 4 vets visits.  The bill is around £1200 so far.  Yesterday the farrier came and finally found the problem whereas the vets had not managed to, she has am abcess in her foot which has now been cut out and she is finally comfortable.  If this had been seen straight away the cost would have been minimal.  Despite the cost there is no way we would sell them or similar as we love them so much and they are part of our family, we just have to find a way to pay for it.  To help matters I have done more hours at work this week and also will next week but it will only scratch the surface, will just keep working extra until its paid.
     I've done some more sanctuary work over end of last week but I have to limit myself as I am not feeling to well still and apparently it will be a slow road but as long as it is going in the right direction I don't mind.  When I finish the jobs I have in at the moment they will bring in a few hundred pounds which is not included in any of the budgets.  I do this so if I earn at the sanctuary it is like a little win and in this instance will go to the vets bill.
Covid has reared it's ugly head only DH and myself have escaped so far this time round.
I am doing a weekly budget for food shopping which is better I think, I am not coming in under budget but at least I am not horrifically over.  Hopefully once Christmas is done our shopping can go under budget but we will see.
It is so very cold her at the moment, we have the heating on all day most days, it is going warmer in a weeks time though which will help.
The big car is up for sale, no takers yet but Christmas is a very bad time to sell so the New Year may help.
We put our tree up on the weekend, DH and I did it together which was absolutely lovely, it's such a nice feeling to cuddle up in the evenings with the lights on.