Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

I'm loving the frost scenes early in the morning.  It's been looking so pretty outside.  I haven't managed to get out in it yet, but will do at the weekend.

My gas bill came in this week, so that's been paid.  It was a decent price too which may be due to the warmth investments I've made.  I've diarised when the next one is due in 3 months, so that I keep an eye on the app.  They generally email too, so shouldn't miss it.

I've burned through 1 bag of the 6 of wood I purchased, and I'm really happy with how long it lasted.  I generally use 2-3 wood blocks when I know I'll be in the lounge for a long time.  I'm thinking of purchasing a fan for the burner too as they're meant to push the heat around better than not having one and therefore warming the room up a bit faster.  I asked about one in the shop I buy my wood, but the fans they sold started at £75.  Online they're half that, so I'll try a few more local shops but will buy online if that's the best value.  

I ordered an electric under blanket and put that on my bed this morning along with the really thick warm duvet cover set I bought a few weeks ago.  I had one a while back, but threw it away when I moved and have really missed it.  Very happy to have another new one now.

I also bought a Oodie (is that what they're called?) last weekend and have been wearing that while I'm working.  It was £17 in Tesco (the christmas pudding one) and it's so cosy and soft.  It's also meant that when others at work are saying how cold they are at home, I've been absolutely fine.  So far, I'm only needing my heating on for an hour in the morning to warm the house through, specifically the bathroom for my shower.  Even in summer I put the hot water on early, so the one hour heating is on top of what is my general usage.

I do have to tear the Oodie off if I'm on a work video call and there are external people or "important' people on the call, but I rarely put my camera on so it's working out ok at the moment.

This weekend is the last one before Christmas!!! 🎄  Next week I've got a pantomime and a festive steam train ride to look forward, to get me even more into the festive spirit.

But the fun will need to wait a while as I'd like to have a bit of a house blitz this weekend and get myself better organised.  I have a bit of painting to do in the lounge and a wardrobe I need to put together and start using.  I don't think I'll go and buy paint this weekend, but I will do my best to get the wardrobe up.  I'll try to get the painting done before the new year.  I'm also out on Saturday to visit a friend for her birthday so that's a whole day thing as she lives over 3 hours away.  I am off Monday, so that still gives me 2 consecutive days to get a lot done.

Everyone but me seems to have booked off the days between Christmas and New Year, which is brilliant.  It means that I get to sort work things out without any hassle.  The only thing is, there will be my name on a huge amount of Out of Office messages as the person to contact.  I don't know what they think I'll be able to do, but it will be fun trying to dig through other people's work to figure out what sudden and urgent help is needed 🙈.  The blind leading the blind comes to mind.

Well I hope this week has been kind to everyone and you're all feeling organised and happy.  

DaisyCheerings

The last weekend before Christmas!!!  It's been a busy one.  I visited a group of friends yesterday for the Santa run to hand out the gifts I'd been squirrelling away since July! 🧑🏻‍🎄, and to have a dinner together.  It was lovely to see mostly everyone too.  One friend was away visiting family and doing their own Santa run (A) but I got to see most people.

One thing that's really stuck with me is that one of our friends (R) asked a few very personal questions about the friend (A) who wasn't with us, and another friend (N) jumped straight in to answer those questions.  R even revealed that they already asked A and A didn't want to talk about any of it!  I see A and N as very close friends, and also considered N a good friend to me too, but I'm rethinking how I am with N going forward due to how disloyal they seem to be.  I did try to stop N from answering but N seemed so excited to make everyone aware that they know such secrets that they wouldn't stop talking.  I also spoke to N after and said it wasn't their secrets to reveal but got told I was overreacting.  Just as a side note, A is a wonderful person who would never gossip about another person and definitely wouldn't reveal such personal information they'd been trusted with.  I won't mention anything to A because it'll just stir up trouble but that is also making me feel disloyal to A too!!!  How do situations like this continue past school days????  Or am I the issue as I'm the only one upset about it, even though there were 4 others there?

I need to colour my hair today - or soon, so am considering having a bath after colouring my hair as a bit of an incentive package!  I found my lovely coconut face masks the other day which would be great too, and I can dig out a great audible book to lay back and listen to!  Hmmm!  That's sounding like a good way to spend a Sunday night.  I don't drink wine sadly, but maybe a cheeky Christmas Baileys would work? 😃 🎄

During my long drive yesterday I listened to the Adam Kay "T'was the night shift before Christmas"audio book.  That was a good book to keep me company through the dark lanes.  Not as good as the first book at all, but still enjoyable.  I also love an audible book read by the author, and he's read both of his.

My day out yesterday cost me less than £15 of non-budgeted spends.  A big group of us went out to dinner and I just had a plain pizza and no drink.  I had a 4 hour drive home, so at 9pm I went to the till and paid for my £12 pizza, gave a £3 tip and then said my goodbyes to my friends to set off home.  This worked out great as I need to keep spends down, and I was also the only one who only had a main course (most others had 2 courses and quite a few alcoholic drinks).  Although I have no doubt if I'd stayed to the end, no one would have expected me to pay for their extra food and alcohol, I didn't need to deal with it either way which is always a bonus when you're trying to be frugal.

The house blitz has been more of a fizz than a blitz, but that's ok.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to do a few bits next week if work isn't too busy.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the last chaotic weekend ahead of the big day!  Stay warm and wonderful! 

Sarahwithlove

I don't think you are overreacting, its not their secret to tell. 

DaisyCheerings

Sarahwithlove said:

I don't think you are overreacting, its not their secret to tell. 

Thank you. 

DaisyCheerings

My home insurance is due for renewal this week, so I've cancelled the auto renew with my current provider and have found the same insurance for £100 a year less!!!  My old provider have increased their yearly total by £70 from last year (no claims), and then made me go through a list of questions about a new policy before I could cancel with them!  At least they're making it easier to stop auto renewal on insurances now though.

My renewal quote with the previous provider was £199.00 and my new quote is £89.43.  I've added Home Emergency cover this time which took it to £132.81.  I added home emergency cover based on how many pipe burst stories I'm hearing recently with this weird weather we're having. I had a pipe leak earlier in the year, so not feeling immune to that particular issue.  I also tried to get cash back, but couldn't find a decent deal.

I've had a little jig around of my mini accounts and have managed to repurpose one into a "Sweep" account.  So at the end of each month I'll go through all of my accounts and sweep anything that's left over into that sweep account.  I can then use that for times where I need a little extra that I haven't budgeted for.  I've also been through the monthly allocations I decided on last month, and I'm pretty sure I've got it all covered, so it's a good way to start the new year financially.

While working I'm also trying to stay on top of my weekly housework so that it won't notice when no housework gets done this weekend! 🧑🏻‍🎄. So far, I've done 2 loads of washing and currently have the dishwasher going as I managed to accumulate enough to fill it up.  I'm never sure how I can do that when I live alone, but I don't seem to have any difficulty with it!!!  I won't have a chance to clean any floors later, but can add that to tomorrow's list. I've also been trying to empty my fridge and freezer so that nothing is out of date or close to it.  My cupboards need checking for out of date, or close to out of date food to make sure nothing gets wasted there either.  I'm considering having a little move around in the kitchen too as my plates, glasses and cups are at and above eye level, and food is on the bottom cupboards.  

Right, I'd best get some more "corporate" work done.

savingholmes

I also think you weren't over-reacting and would be wary.

Well done on the insurance renewal.

DaisyCheerings

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and are all set for the new year celebrations.  I bought way too much food for just 2 of us to get through but I had a lovely few days.  My Christmas started off with a festive ride on the steam train. I was in the front carriage on the way, so it looked really pretty and misty with all the steam.  The train was lit up with LED lights and there was a different colour to each carriage.  It wasn't as good as last year, with very few lights and decorations along the track but was still a nice evening.

In my town they have a little theatre, so I'd booked tickets to the pantomime they had showing and both of those trips got me really in the Christmas spirit.  Christmas Day and Boxing Day were so relaxing..

Work paid us early last week, so I moved that into an easy access savings account, and moved it back into my main account today to distribute around.  

I'm planning on taking my decorations down tomorrow and needed some heavy duty boxes to put my decorations in.  I bought a couple of stacking boxes in the sale, so should be able to put everything away safely.

Later I'll write up some goals for the year.  My word of the year is "discipline". I have so much I want to get done this year, so many goals, that discipline and focus is needed. I may make myself a little wall decoration to remind me.  I'm also keeping a list of my goals in a cute little notebook I have so that they're always easy to refer back to.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you enjoy your exit of 2022 and entry into 2023.

savingholmes

Hi Daisy - discipline is good - but make sure you balance it with joy / reward too.

Happy New year.

DaisyCheerings

Happy New Year @savingholmes.  I definitely need to stay aware of balance.

DaisyCheerings

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope 2023 brings you all you wish for.