Pay for the future and not the past

Toonie

Just been reading through and I wonder if this is Old Style thread would help (it's the one I have bookmarked anyway)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4605757/old-style-christmas-preparations-for-christmas-2013

MissRikkiC

Im going to have a look at this thanks @Toonie

MissRikkiC

Morning and Happy Sunny Monday. 

Nothing much to report here, its been a scorching hot weekend and i did work in the garden in prep for my littles birthday bbq but also future proofing for when shes walking unaided. I was shattered after working on the garden most of saturday and 3 hours sunday too. But it looks so much better so im really pleased! I did get bit alot though which is annoying!

No real movement on the debt front but just ticking away nicely, will pay a little more off next month than needed and any sales from stuff/extra we get that isnt otherwise accounted for will just get thrown that way in the hope to clear the credit card by next Christmas. 

Had a great win with OLIO at the weekend, makes a big difference to our freezer stores and i know its not going to waste which makes me happy. 

Right, off to research how to make a balloon arch for my daughters birthday. GULP

Loveactually

I don’t know who invented balloon arches 🤨. It’s such hard work I did it once but never again. 

MissRikkiC

I have the structure just need the balloons.  Hope it lasts 24 hours as I cba to do it the morning of! 

MissRikkiC

Morning everyone .Feeling quite pi55ed off with the world today, judgey people, small minded relatives and costly councils/builders. 

Need a run to make me feel better but its just too hot so im eating biscuits instead. 

Wont stick around but hope that everyone else's day is better

Loveactually

Sorry to hear that you are having a bad day. Hopefully it will be a better day tomorrow 

Hazelnutty

Blackcats said:

Well done on clearing credit card 1 ahead of schedule - that's fantastic progress.  

Credit card 2 balance means each £38.40 you pay equals 1% paid off.  I use a 100 square grid and colour in each % I pay.  Actually I have been really artistic for my latest challenge and drawn a sweetie jar with 100 circles in for colouring in 🤩

I like this idea @blackcats and think I'll do the same in my journal for my M&S card. Thanks for the tip!

MissRikkiC

Hi all, Happy Tuesday. 

It feels like Monday for me as i didnt work yesterday - unexpected but developed an infection over the weekend and sat in UCC for some antibiotics for 3 hours Sunday. As a result of said infection, i felt pretty ropey yesterday so didnt want to do much, especially not concentrating on my work so will make up the work this week. It inadvertently fell nicely as it was my daughters 1st birthday so we were able to play and have a nice day at home as my husband was already off so silver lining and all that. 

No real updates here, but following my last entry on being pretty hacked off i felt i should commit a little more than then and maybe an explanation almost to ensure ive put it to bed myself (and it doesnt make me annoyed all over again!) but also because i have a few things in my head which i need to put down on paper (so to speak!) some in an attempt to remember them but also as it helps clear my mind. 

I feel a little light headed this afternoon but think the fact the thunder clouds are over the house means its a lot darker than usual so ive probably been squinting alot.

Anyways, i was mad at the council last week. Im sure everyone else is aware of this however i didnt realise that to knock a wall down *which was already partially knocked down and made good of in the past* requires a building notice application from the council at the ridiculous cost of £198. Whilst it was in fact the fastest application for something I've ever completed and it was almost authorised the moment i clicked 'Pay', that just added to the annoyance that i had to pay for it when it wasn't really FOR anything other than to tick a box! However, in order to do things correctly, it now submitted and we can crack on with the work thats required. 

We are opening the back part of the house up to include a kitchen diner instead of them being separate rooms. 

Back story for those that are interested, we purchased the house a few years ago and it had a small porch 'attached' to the side of the kitchen however due to the fact that there could be daylight seen between the brickwork for the house and the porch, in order to get a mortgage it was required to be demolished. This meant that there was no longer a home for the fridge freezer we owned, nor was there space in the kitchen itself for even a fridge, so its always stood in a really awkward space in the opening between the kitchen and dining room being a PITA. This is the space we want to make larger (aka knock down the wall) to allow for extra space and to have the larger style entertaining room we've always talked about. 

The council , plus peoples over bearing opinions on quite personal and important decisions i'd made and then a relative who clearly wasnt in the mood for being reasonable meant i needed a run to blow off steam which made me feel better. 

Anyway, its a new week and im not feeling as grumpy or poorly anymore so lets continue with some positivity. 

My daughter had a lovely 1st birthday and i felt very emotional having been left a parcel by my late mum, for my daughter to open on her birthday. It was a little outfit and will be treasured. 

We havent got nursery fees to afford this month because of the summer holidays hence lending to the fact we can afford to have a little work done to the house. We will be DIYing most of it - or at least i will be as i have tiles and paint etc already. Just need to get it all started! We do need a steel as the wall is load bearing so sourced one of those and called in a favour from a friend so erect the steel. The fun part will be done by us; knocking the wall down! Not just because its fun but because 1. i'm not paying someone hundreds of pounds to do a job that almost anyone could do, but also because i can keep a handle on the mess if i do it myself! Im thinking an hour or so a night plus clean up afterwards and i should be able to get it all sorted within a week. Then the boring bots of stripping wall paper and tiling starts .... I really should save up for the cooker backsplash i want but i think instead ill wait until we tear out the kitchen suite in a few years and have it as a finishing touch then instead.  

I'm considering buying a veg box at the moment, i am so frustrated by the amount of packaging we get through. Our recycling boxes are always the most full out of the whole street! I do think part of it is because we cook from scratch for every single meal however also there are plastics and tubs for everything which must make it worse! I'm in two minds since the cost for us currently is the number 1 factor and Ald! and L1Dl are both cheaper options, but i'd like to reduce packaging/plastic and shop a little more local. Also the produce MUST taste so much better. Hmm.

Budgets are all tidy from this end. I feel liberated that i am able to put away for Christmas, Birthdays, Car repairs, Holidays etc (which i appreciate is a fortunate/good place to be) however like ive previously mentioned i do feel a bit torn between just chucking all those allocations of money against the credit card instead and giving everyone the bare minimum/dealing with problems when we get them. That said i think thats a little how we got here in the first place so im sure this is the right way of doing things its just a mental battle sometimes. 


Hope everyone is happy and enjoying their weeks. Longer post than expected but feel better for having wrote it all down. Phew 

WinterWarrior

The building notice is daylight robbery! Do they come out and check the quality and approve it for that or just take the money? If it’s purely a paper exercise then that’s really terrible 😞 
Happy 1st birthday to your daughter 🎂 
I hope you feel better soon.