My 5 Year Plan to a better life!

MuffinTops

I've been on to the gas company all morning trying to get the bill into my name.  What a palaver that was.  They hung up on my calls and just shut down the chat when I was close to the front of the queue.  I kept with it and have now got that all sorted.  Well, that's what I've been told.  I'll find out in a week when the Welcome letter arrives.  I've also set up a direct debit to pay monthly now too.

When I moved here I decided to take a lot more control of getting health checks done and had one this morning.  Just a standard thing and results to be sent through in 2 weeks.

Did I say that I bought a massive fridge freezer?  Well that's all set up now, so I'm going for a large food shop tomorrow.  I've written out a main meal plan so hopefully will be an easy shop.  I also need to stay away from sugary things so I'll just have a small bit of dark chocolate just to keep the insanity at bay.  I'm also going to see if I can go without bread so if I come on here either typing gibberish or sounding angry I may need a virtual slap that it's "only" bread and sugar 😜.

I also didn't realise I've booked the next 2 weeks off work!!!  I had a meeting with my boss yesterday and was told to book the rest of my holiday for this fiscal year.  When I checked when to book those I noticed next week's date. I've never been that forgetful or ditzy!  Maybe I need the time off!  So I'm working out what to do to fill that time.  This glorious weather is such a bonus but it will help get me into better habits and going for beachside walks.

I hope everyone's having a good week.

MTxx

joedenise

Leave a bit of space in that new freezer and do some batch cooking while you're off!  It will be cheaper to make meals to store in it than to buy them.

another_casualty

Just catching up on diaries 

That fridge freezer sounds great . Sounds like it would fit Boris in . I remember one of my friends having one many years ago . Bright red . Awesome .

Good to see you have found a workman you can trust . Stick with him .

Hope the health stuff goes well , and I'm sure it will .
As for the bread and chocolate ; I find the ' proper' plain chocolate tastes a bit too sweety strong . ( something like that ) . So, I tend to stick to milk chocolate more . As for the bread I tried an experiment last week of having one slice a day only ( with healthy marmalade or butter pending mood) , and it seems to be manageable . Having said that , the bread is large vegan sliced from s&M . 

Can't comment on the war paint , but that's been covered . Normally my face is red from embarrassment 😬

Hope things are still going well 

I'll leave it there 😼

MuffinTops

Time has flown by since my last update.  I've had my van and my car MOT'd.  Both passed.  My van has some advisories, but nothing urgent or expensive so I'll get those done over the next months.  I do have to decide what to do about my car though as I don't want to pay so much having 2 large vehicles.

I went to B&Q to get a quote for a new bathroom and they've quoted just over £9k to include parts and installation.  I visited friends and they said that their bathroom cost the same, and it is the same size as mine so I think the costs are just that now.  With the cost of living being so astronomical I don't want to shell out so much, so I need to make a decision on what to do.  I have a lot of little jobs that need doing in the house which will work up to costing quite a bit, so I may concentrate on those as a foundation and look at larger jobs again in the future.

On a good note, I'm loving this great weather we're having.  I've started going for walks along the beach again, so that's a treat.  I've also had a few visits with friends since last writing which was also great.  Life feels grand still.

AC - I get what you're saying about the dark chocolate.  I love it, but I can see what you mean.  How do we get so addicted to bread?  I love it and crave it when I don't have it too.

joedenise - I'm not keen on batch cooking as, psychologically, it feels like I'm always eating leftovers (issues of childhood). 

I hope everyone's having a great week and that you also all had a lovely Easter.


MTxx

another_casualty

All sounds good MT 😼

It can be difficult finding the right bathroom solution .  Not sure if your quote/ estimate is set in stone . Apparently shortages of materials are increasing prices and builders having trouble getting bits and bobs etc . Not sure if that effects the quote you have , or if you have been quoted a timeline in which the work would be carried out .
The price varies in different parts of the country as you've probably gathered but judging by what your friends said it doesn't seem astronomical and seems reasonable .

Not sure what other important jobs you have in your home , but for me I'd say Front room/ kitchen / bathroom ..then whatever .  

Regarding chocolate ; I had to do a nocado home shop. No green and blacks !
However, I went for S&M which was cheaper. I used to get a fair bit from them before they closed down . 

I'll leave it there ..

MuffinTops

Thanks AC. The other important jobs aren't really about rooms but things like getting a pressure pump on the boiler, getting some electrics sorted and other bits and pieces like that. 

Well done on finding cheaper chocolate.  I'll have a catch up on your diary shortly.

MuffinTops

So I'm currently on hold again with British Gas as I still don't have my account in my name.  This is the third time I've had to contact them about this.  Each time I speak with them they tell me not to pay the generic bill I have (addressed to The Occupier) as the account has been moved to my name and I'll get my welcome pack in a week! Over a week later I still haven't received anything so have to go through these shenanigans with them all over again.  I'm currently 278 in the queue of which I'm probably in the wrong queue as they don't give decent options initially!  On the bright side I've been able to go over some finances and have a chance to update my diary.

I have a budget for my gas and electricity and that's been building up, so I'm not worried about the hefty bill I'll be getting as it'll be 6 months worth, but just irritated that I'm spending so much time trying to sort out getting a proper account number addressed to me. 

On a separate note, I was paid on Friday and have now updated YNAB and transferred my obligation amounts to their respective accounts.  I like to put various budgets aside for things I pay yearly, but it means that as soon as I get paid my account goes from looking huge to looking skeletal within a matter of minutes 🙈.  My assigned accounts look great though, so that's a good thing 🥳

My bank holiday weekend was great.  My Mum and I took her dog for a quick drive to a really good dog walking area.  I always take the lead (she can't be trusted off it) so that she can have a bit of a run and she looks so happy.  She was shattered when we got home and just curled up to sleep for the rest of the day.  She's a 12 year old terrier who isn't motivated at all by food, but does love being outside.

The rest of the weekend was spent at home making things with my new investment machine.  It was so nice to be able to get involved in that.  I need to work out a balance of going for a walk and getting some fresh air and sunshine when I'm doing lots of things at home though.

In the evenings I also caught up on the Dexter New Blood show.  I love the Dexter series, but I really wasn't impressed at all with this series.  I've read that they're considering another series, but it's not for me anymore, unfortunately.  It has made me want to start the main series from the start again though so hopefully I can do that.

Not much more to report.  I'm currently 111 in the queue with British Gas, so I think I'll make myself a drink and wait it out.

I hope everyone had a great bank holiday weekend and are raring to go for May.

MTx

another_casualty

Loving the dog . Seems like a real character.

I remember watching the whole Dexter seres a few years back . I think the series with Tom Hanks son was awful . The trinity killer series before was great . 

I didn't think that anymore series would be made . Some things are best left alone .

As for British Gas ; ( probably too late now 😺), but I was going to suggest doing online chat on their app . EDF do this , although since the alarm bells with all astronomical costs it may not be available quickly . Once sorted , you may find that it is better to move to one of their rivals ( not tiny ones though as they may not be around) as BG have always been the most expensive . 

A thought just crossed my mind ; if you haven't got your issues sorted with them ,if you complain to ceo you may get compensated . Just a thought ...

MuffinTops

Time has flown by, and I'm not sure where.  Thanks for the comments AC, and I think it's time I did complain to British Gas as they made such a mess of my account.  I have had to contact them 5 times to get it fixed and then they still sent me an email saying they were going to pass my account to a debt collector based on their mistakes!  It is fixed now, but I'll be printing off all correspondence I had with them and I'll send that to their complaints department to see what can be done.  I still have other issues, but my main worry was getting the old bill credited to my new account.

I was doing the online chat as I needed to keep a record of what was discussed.  I'm also now about to look around and see what's on offer out there for energy with other companies.

Other than that my finances have been all over the place.  I'm doing ok, not going overdrawn or anything but I'm just struggling to get organised.  I think I need to focus on that this coming month and make sure I keep it all updated.  I have the phone app and decent network coverage so there really is no excuse.

I've still been taking my Mum's dog for long walks each week.  She loves it but now it's summer and tourist time we're encountering lots more dogs and she gets incredibly stressed with new dogs near her.  Also, this heat isn't great for her either.  It's a cooler area with a sea breeze where we take her, but we have to take her old age into consideration and not overdo it for her as last week she seemed a bit out of sorts after.  Last Friday was too hot to take her at all so we just spent the day with her, trying to keep her cool with lots of windows open.  I bought her one of those cool mats, which seems to work quite well in cooling her down when she's particularly hot and there was enough of a breeze through the open windows too.

A couple of weeks ago I took some time off and as the weather was so lovely had a day out exploring local areas which was fun.  The weather was perfect for it.

Despite not writing for a while, things are just ticking along nicely. Nothing major to report, which I'm very comfortable with.

I hope everyone's having a good start to the week.

MTx

RosaBernicia

Glad to hear things are going well for you MT. 

Re energy, I have found the 0ct0 one to have good service - plus their website is clear and the deals have been reasonable if not cheapest.  If you find you like the look of them let me know as I can send you a referral code that will get you a bonus