Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

My car is now booked in for the MOT.  I'm relieved that's booked in.  Next is the car insurance.

I still haven't cut my grass as it keeps raining!  Hopefully I can get it done before the weekend.

I've written out my budgets for April, including the Council Tax and SKY increase.  I'm really unhappy about the SKY increase, but it's my own fault as I was going to cancel them and let them talk me into staying if there was no increase.  Everyone's had the same increase, but I just think I shouldn't have continued with them as I already had valid doubts.  Although having access to The Last of Us has lessened that blow.

There's a bi-yearly craft fair here on Saturday.  I went to the one before Christmas and bought most of my gifts so I'm hoping to get a good start on Christmas gift buying this year.  I already have the 2 gifts I bought a few weeks ago, so I need to keep track of it all, and who I've bought specific items for, otherwise I'll forget and it'll be a mess. 🤦‍♀️

Health wise, I'm in the habit of cooking decent meals daily so now I want to make sure I make healthier choices.  A friend of mine has recently lost a lot of weight and is looking so much healthier, and it's really inspired me.

A couple of weeks ago I sent a bulk amount of stamps off to swap them for the barcoded ones, and the new ones have been returned so I'm up to date on sending cards etc now.

Time for lunch now.  I hope everyone's having a great day.

doingitanyway

So much to be pleased with for you.
The trip to Salzburg sounded very glamorous.
Well done for dealing with the phone spoofing. (I've never set my voicemail and I'm not sure how to do it. I'd like to turn it off altogether. Must find out how, thanks for the reminder.)
Healthy meal choices will soon lead to weight loss 

savingholmes

Scary about the spoofed call. Thanks for the tip.

Glad you had a good time away.

doingitanyway

Hi @DaisyCheerings just letting you know I set a code on my voicemail. I even set a message! So thank you for the prompt 
Enjoy your Saturday.

DaisyCheerings

Hello @doingitanyway.  I'm so glad you saw that and changed a few things.  I'm sure I was mainly caught out for not having a pin on my voicemail.  That reminds me that I now need to amend my voice message to a more personal one.

DaisyCheerings

A few unexpected things occurred and I've hardly been home the past month or so.  Nothing bad at all, but a friend was let down at the last minute for a dog sitter so I stayed at his house for a couple weeks to look after his dog while he was away.  I then had lots of other plans that had been prearranged but I didn't really notice that I'd block booked so much time out.  As an introvert I found it all very draining despite the fact that I spent lots of time with people I love. 

A bonus is that I did manage to get a lot of things sorted that I'd been wanting to, but I know that I need a better way of making plans that doesn't just consist of looking at the day I'm asked to go out to see if I'm "available".  

On other things I've been trying to get my head around AI.  I've been invited to test a couple of beta versions from companies I use for specific things, and I've been really impressed with the information it's given me.  So I'm finding this all equal parts of scary and exciting.

This month is really difficult financially as I've overbooked myself and that always throws out how organised I am.  I'm keeping my head above water, but only just.  Well, my nose is poking out at this stage.  If I can get through May without any mishaps then I should be over the worst.  I had a few expenses that I hadn't budgeted enough for, and that's what has caused this, but they are one off situations and shouldn't happen again.  This has, however, shown me that I need a buffer because although these situations won't happen again, others can.

I've also been invited to an amazing holiday early next year, and I don't know if I'm just mentally drained but I don't want to go. I want to stay home and do my own thing.  On the plus side this holiday has so many wonderful experiences and it would be with very close friends.  It's also affordable (just about), and on the minus side, I don't feel any enthusiasm for it at all, and have so much still to get done in the house that I feel the money would be better invested there.  I have a month to decide and I'll properly weigh up all pros and cons and then will listen to my gut on it.

Well, it's the Coronation weekend and it's been nice seeing all the street parties and decorations around here.  They celebrate more here than I ever saw where I lived previously.  I'm really impressed.  Lots of lovely pictures went up on social media for our local page too.

Well, I hope everyone's enjoying these long May weekends.  2 down and still another to look forward to.

doingitanyway

A fellow introvert here... You say you are overbooked so if anything like me you are feeling overwhelmed. When I'm like that I want to 'stop the world and get off' and will happily rid myself of everything (even good things) for some alone time. I suppose I'm wondering if now is the best time to decide on the holiday. It might be a good idea to do the holiday, but a bad idea to decide now? That said, time at home is nice too...

savingholmes

Personally I think if your gut is saying No I wouldn't do it - unless you want to deliberately break the habit of saying no and widen your horizons. It if was tomorrow would you want to go?

doingitanyway

Waving at you and wondering how things are going?

DaisyCheerings

Hello @doingitanyway thanks for the wave.  I haven't logged on in so long, so I missed it.  I'll explain my absence in a catchup post, but it was really nice to come back to a wave.  Thank you.