Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

I didn't end up getting much on my big shopping trip despite my shopping list 📃.  I did go to a superstore, which I haven't done for months so it was lovely having a look around and browsing all the possibilities, although I ended up only buying what I can't buy locally.

On the first Saturday morning of each winter month, one of the clubs here open to the public which I visited yesterday.  Despite how antisocial I generally am, I do look forward to these mornings as I meet up with neighbours and we have a coffee and a catch up for just over half an hour.  I see them other times as well, but this is a nice planned visit.  I also visited the local market that we have on a Saturday, but didn't buy anything.  There's a lovely plant stall there 🌺, but none of the plants really grabbed me this week.  I do need to start planning out how I want my garden to look, rather than buy plants and bulbs I like and then put them where they fit.

As I didn't buy enough food at the superstore I'll need to go and get the rest of the items on my list tomorrow.  I'm going to try the greengrocers this week 🍎 and see if their food is worth the extra. I really prefer to support locally, but some places make that really hard to do when they charge so much.  I don't mind if the quality is much better, but I'll see what this place has to offer this week.

In other spendy news 🚨, I've started my Christmas shopping!!! 🎄 I know it's ridiculously early, but what I've bought suits the recipients so well, it's not something they'd think of for themselves (I don't think) and they were a great price.  I've also ordered a March birthday gift which should arrive on Wednesday.  All of these items come out of the Gifting budget I have, so it's all accounted for.  The large superstore also had Christmas wrapping paper for 15p a roll (I bought 3), so I can wrap the gifts, add a label and then put them into my Gift Box 🎁.  I note what each gift is in a little notepad in the box to stay organised.  I'm hoping to be ultra organised for Christmas again this year, as it really helps relieve the stress.

This morning I've managed to almost finish the upstairs office 🗄 by cleaning all the counter tops, moving the furniture and putting away the items I had to take out to be able to move the drawers.  I've managed to get everything back in a much more organised manner, and it's already feeling much more peaceful in there.  The next job is to go through the 3 sets of desk drawers and make sure they have the right items in them.  I've been doing my office job downstairs for years and so most of my stationery 🖋  and work stuff is there, and now I need to swap a lot of items around.  I've had enough today though so will get back onto it tomorrow.

Today has been windy and cold, so I've lit my fire 🔥 and will make myself a hot drink shortly.  Then I think I'll have a quiet evening reading a book 📖.  Late last year I visited a boot sale and a woman there had about 8 Sophie Kinsella books for 30p each, so I bought what she had and will start on one of those.  It's starting to get dark now and we have a gorgeous purple sunset.  If it wasn't so windy out I'd sit outside to watch the sun go down.

The fire needs more wood 🪵 so I'll get that topped up and the kettle on for a relaxed evening.  🌻

savingholmes

Love the sound of your walls. Well done on the cleaning and organising too. I could do with a cleaning 🧼🧹 fairy as I haven't started looking for a new cleaner yet.

WinterWarrior

DaisyCheerings said:

Thank you so much for the tips @WinterWarrior.  I wouldn't have thought of that but it sounds lovely. I'll add this to my list of what type of accessories to look for.  I love the sound of the gold flying ducks.  Where did you get those from?

Amazon. I have 2 packs of 2 and used black command strips to fix them up, rather than nails/screws. 

I realised I shouldn’t post a link (I don’t think?), but search for LIFKOME swallows and you will find them 😁

DaisyCheerings

@WinterWarrior I have the flying ducks in my basket now, thank you.  I've also found some other bits and bobs that will go with it.  Things like lamps and other accessories.  I think these will really warm up the green too.

Where has this month gone?  On the plus side, my attitude towards finances seems to be improving as although I have little left from my personal allowance, my shopping bill is on track.  Dare I say, I'm even ahead a little.  I've also saved some money on the council tax this month and next and I've put that straight into my savings fund.  

I moved my British Gas app to their new app, and it may be a coincidence but since then they've been updating my credit file to state I'm not paying my bill each month.  I contacted their call centre and I don't think they understand about UK credit reports as it was really difficult to get my message across.  I think I managed it in the end, so I'm now waiting to see if my credit report gets amended.  Fortunately I don't need anything that would check my credit report but it's still frustrating.

Christmas shopping is still happening, although I've also bought a couple of birthday gifts for later in the year.  I'm really enjoying this too as it's helping my shopping addiction without costing any more money than I would be spending.

I've also managed to give my washing machine and dishwasher a deep clean.  I always wipe the door and seal after each wash on my washing machine so I don't have any mould, but the detergent drawer is now gook free and gets a good wash each week.  The dishwasher is easier as I can see how to take each piece out, and then I did a wash through with some white vinegar yesterday.

After this week I have a week off, so I'm looking forward to that.

I hope this Monday is finding you all well and that this is a good week for everyone.



🌼😃

savingholmes

Glad things are going well Daisy. Well done for keeping things on track even while redecorating.

DaisyCheerings

Thank you savingholmes. 

I haven't done much the last couple of days as I'm trying not to go out and spend any money.  I did a very small shop yesterday for essentials and spent just over £12.  I then cooked some salmon and accidentally dropped it straight onto the floor!  Sigh!!!  Luckily I cooked 2, so dinner wasn't completely ruined.

I've taken some holiday from work for the rest of this week and next week in the hope of getting more organising done and just having a bit of a break as it's been quite intense recently.  A small project recently blew up into something really high priority so I've had to pass that to a colleague as it can't wait for me to return. I'm not feeling good about that, but I guess it's the nature of the job we have.

Right, I need to find a replacement for the salmon I lost yesterday and get some food as I'm getting hungry.  I hope everyone's enjoying their week.

savingholmes

Sorry about the salmon. I've done the equivalent a few times recently and dropped strawberry tarts on the floor - the expensive kind from MnS - I was so gutted but can't be undone.

DaisyCheerings

Thanks savingholmes.  It was so frustrating, but I think an expensive good quality strawberry tart would have sent me over the edge

DaisyCheerings

It was so nice having a break from work.  I'm a little more organised now, and that's what this year is about for me, small steps forward.

I got paid last week and have distributed those funds to where they need to go.  I've also started withdrawing my food shopping allowance on a Friday and then having only that to spend to keep me in check.  I got through this week with 15p to spare, so I think I need to be a bit more mindful on a shopping list as some things I picked up had no price label so I couldn't keep a tally in my head very easily.  I'm also shopping at MSons as they have the Easter deal on if I spend £30 a week for 4 weeks they'll top me up with another £12 which is always very handy.

There was an ad hoc invite for an activity weekend away next February which I signed up for.  I didn't realise that I'd need to pay instantly, but did manage to jiggle some budgets around so I could afford that.  There will be around 20 of us going, so it should be fun and now that it's paid for I'm happy to be booked.  The price I paid includes accommodation, food and activities so other than diesel it'll feel like a free trip when it comes round.

I had another month of British Gas stating my bill hadn't been paid.  I contacted them again and they seemed to get what I was saying about my credit report but just said there's no "credit report department" to speak with and they are confident it will get better!  That was last week and since then my credit report has gone from 6 missed payments (2 a month as Electric and Gas was separate reports) to just 1 missed electricity payment.  Last month it added more missed payments around 15th so I'll wait until 20th to see if they've stopped reporting, and then contact them again about this last correction they need to sort out.  Then I think I'll change energy supplier as I'm not happy with the service I'm currently getting. 

Thanks to WinterWarrior I also have some great ideas for my new living room.  A friend bought me a gorgeous Swiss cheese plant, and I've also seen some other wall hangings that I love.  I went to Dunelm and they had a great monkey lamp which I bought.  I still need a rug and a coffee table and although I know the rug I want, I haven't decided if I want a simple coffee table or one with some functionality so I'll wait and see.

I've had to put my heated jacket on again today as it's feeling pretty cold again!  Roll on warmer weather.

I hope everyone is having a good start to the week.

savingholmes

Your living room sounds like its coming together.

How frustrating with BG. I found them shockingly bad too.