Eating a Vegetarian Elephant

Chiglepig · 9 March 2021 at 9:08AM

Morning All, finally feeling better and it's my day off work, so here are the plans for the day:

Walk doggo - he's been very patient with only lead walks while I have been under the weather

Write and post Mother's Day card
Buy more mushroom compost
Finish mulching the front garden

I've already done couple of surveys on Nectar Canvass this morning - another 50p in the Christmas pot, but 25p down on the S&S ISA (I know, I shouldn't look!).

Chiglepig · 9 March 2021 at 3:45PM

All achieved - dog exhausted from swimming after ducks - he hasn't a hope of catching them and after this week we won't walk the rivers because they will be nesting.

Card posted, front garden looking all crisp and fresh and smelling fab. Also potted on some delphiniums I grew from seed last year - they won't go out until they are a little less attractive to slugs. I promised myself I would only grow from seed this year except for aquatic plants for a pond DD and I are planning. (I have a bit of a plant addiction)

Chiglepig · 10 March 2021 at 8:37AM

I know I shouldn't, and it's not a gain until I take it out, but checked my S&S ISA and it's up £3.73! Now, to promise myself I won't look again this week!

Aiming for a no spend day today, which shouldn't be a problem as I'm in meetings all day and I deliberately stocked up on bread rolls for DD to last the week because that's usually what I'm topping up when the bottle of wine falls into the basket

.

Nothing else will come off the mortgage now until the 28th when the regular payment and regular OP are taken, so the rest of the month is dedicated to small gains and general MSE-ing.

Chiglepig · 10 March 2021 at 10:07AM

I thought about it for an hour or so and closed my NatWest Bonus 50+ which went from a pathetic 0.75% to a laughable 0.25% and transfered the £800 to my S&S ISA.

That leaves us with:

NatWest Regular Saver (@3%, £50/month) £251
DH Regular saver £251 (as above)
Joint Premium bonds with DH £15k (not eligible for the draw until next month. This our car and Master bedroom/ensuite pot)
DH Bonus 50+ (our EF) £4.5k (0.25%)
Joint account 'float' £5.2k (this is high until DH's pension is sorted out and I know which day in the month it comes in and how much it will be).
S&S ISA £1.8k (variable!)
Mortgage overpayment resevoir £6.6k

It's good to write it down, because although there are people who have more, that is actually pretty comfortable, especially as I am now planning to move as fast as I can towards mortgage neutral. Sometimes my brain still tells me to check my balance to see if there's enough to take £10 out at the ATM!

DH will also get a fairly significant lump sum, but although I will advise him, that's his to make the decisions on.

Chiglepig · 11 March 2021 at 8:33AM

Morning all,

Yesterday was NSD (for me any way, I don't know about anyone else in the house), and I can't think of anything we need today either.

By the end of today I'll have done a full week without wine (DH still has a bottle, but his restraint is somewhat more impressive than mine!). Hopefully this means I am losing lbs and gaining £s

DD's job interview went well, and she's progressed to DBS check, so hopefully she will soon have her own money coming in and I will gain the £50 /w I was giving her as an allowance.

And the Pet Insurance quote has come in for the dog - £740, £100 more than last year although I haven't claimed in over two years. Ouch! I feel a weekend of price comparing is in order.

Just one survey this morning, 20 whole nectar points! But that's all I have time for, probably until the weekend, still, Nectar points total is now £41.43, and it all helps.

Chiglepig · 12 March 2021 at 8:11AM

DH is really on board with this whole thing - it's like getting a whole new husband! He has always been a bit laissez faire about money - happy to work hard to make it, but more concerned with how it makes life easier now rather than planning for the future, so I've mostly done the finances and quietly balanced out our different approaches. He spent a large part of yesterday auditing the charges on our bank acounts and then individually pricing up the benefits and presented me with the figures when I finished work! - The bank account stays (for now). And it's fab to feel excused from some of the life admin.

Yesterday was another NSD and I have completely avoided top-up shops this week, although we will probably need milk today.

So for today I would like to extend many thanks to all of the MFWs whose diaries have inspired me; whose sensible ways have helped me look at my own bad habits; and whose positivity and creativity are just a joy to be around.