A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni

Spendless

Made packed lunch every day this week and didn't visit the vending machine at all so will take that as a win. Yesterday on discovering I had no meat for salad/sandwiches (the unopened chicken expired a week ago and I'd forgotten to bin it - oops!) I quickly made soup instead to avoid having to buy out.

Looking forward to payday in 6 days time, still have money in both accounts but need to sort out what is owing on this month's credit card. There's a pair of prescription glasses on there (daughter's) so that will be a chunk of it.

There is a bit of expenditure this weekend. I am looking for some costume jewellery to compliment the  dress I'm wearing to a charity ball next month.  There's a really nice independent shop in a neighbouring town that I've got some from before whereas where I live tends to be all national chains. Taking my Mum with me and I think it's highly likely coffee or brunch will also be on the cards. Later daughter is coming home on a flying visit. This wasn't planned but is very much a needed recoup and refresh visit. She initially thought she had longer but an additional rehearsal got planned in after we discussed her coming back. We pay her rail travel (and we're 3.5 hours away so it's not cheap) and due to not being able to guarantee a rehearsal won't overrun have paid for an open ticket. Hoping to get to see Bridget Jones diary with her

Spendless

Bought the jewellery though not at the shop I've previously bought at, though it's still there, it has massively reduced it's stock. No time for a coffee stop due to parking restrictions, so stopped midway home for a pub lunch instead. I think I may have ate too much during the day as I had a bit of a tummy upset later in the day but then cleared up and I'm fine now 

Daughter came home but the final leg of her journey from London that should be under 2 hours long took 5 hours due to  a major incident on the line shortly ahead of where they were. She said passengers were getting ratty with train staff as they had run out of the majority of  food though a staff member tried to diffuse the situation by saying 'we have beer'  As inconvenient as it was, which I truly understand if you were travelling with young children or had medical needs it was nothing compared to the now heartbroken family of the deceased and the train driver who may possibly not be able to return to their job due to trauma. Eventually the train was able to continue its journey and we picked up from the station and grabbed a take away to share, not the healthiest thing but not a great deal of choice at this point. No time for anything else after eating than a quick catch up then bed

Prior to getting on the train daughter had seen a woman being threatened by a bloke as she walked along a shopping area street, she asked the woman if she was ok, and the bloke turned on daughter and threatened her in the same manner (with violence and sexual assault) . Daughter got away from him and went in a chain restaurant around the corner and said what was happening. The staff dismissed it as something 'security in the area that the incident was taking place would deal with', only as daughter said there was no security just a load of passer bys ignoring what was happening and a group of men watching. All this makes me worry for her safety even though we don't live in a sleepy backwater ourselves and aren't without incidences. 

The late arrival meant that daughter's visit is even shorter than she anticipated. When she first mentioned coming earlier in the week she thought she'd even be able to do a 2 night stop, an additional rehearsal was then thrown in meaning only a 1 night  stay here  was possible. Today hoping to fit in the cinema trip and then her have time to meet a friend before returning back. 

alipops1986

Hi Spendless, 

I'm usually reading along silently - I enjoy following your journey. 

I just wondered how your DS was doing, and whether you'd heard anymore from the ex-DIL? 

Alipops x

Spendless

Hi @alipops1986 - Thanks for stopping by. Glad you enjoy my diary. Son is getting on with his life and doing ok. I've not heard anymore of ex-DIL.

Daughter's delayed return had a huge knock on effect of what we did at the weekend, she had to skip meeting  a friend so we could still fit in  watching  Bridget Jones diary, really enjoyed it and like everyone else is saying both laughed and cried at it.

Mr S discovered he could get a refund for daughter's train. I hadn't realised this was possible, I thought it was only for trains delayed setting off. There was the option to donate the refund instead to the charity CALM. If it had been mine or DH's direct cost we'd have done it . As this had been an additional unplanned  cost to us, and and expensive ticket, we weren't in the position to do it at this time in the month as there was only the option to donate the whole amount. I think it's a fab idea though so once we've both been paid at the end of the week, will be making a donation to them.  


House refurb continues. DH has at long last got rid of an unwanted 4 drawer metal filing cabinet which was standing on the deck of the summerhouse getting in the way. Now that's gone a plank of wood on the deck can be replaced and that area is finished. Some furniture we have is going to be 'vamped up' and re-purposed to other rooms which will help with the next area we are tackling which is the conservatory. We keep on having our diary filled at the weekends so difficult to find time to get on with things. 


DH arrived home from working away last night just in time for us to both watch the ML show. Thankfully we fixed our energy bills some months ago for a fix until Autumn 2026. It did make him aware that we need to cut down our energy usage though. I pointed out to him that I've been complaining about him wearing short sleeved polo shirts in winter and saying that he's cold and needs the heating up for a very looooong time! 

Spendless

Payday x2 today. Both our accounts had money left over last night which is good considering we had a handful of unplanned expenses. However we haven't paid the Credit card bills this month which are due in a few days time. Mr S is going to put everything on a spreadsheet and we'll go through it when I return from work (as diff accounts pay for diff things) 

For the month ahead, well today is ordering food at lunch as a payday treat. I only intend getting a salad or jacket potato as watching calories and tomorrow I'm at a charity ball with a pie and peas supper. Tickets which include meal and entertainment  have been paid for already, but there will be  the drinks at the bar, a return taxi (so we can all drink) and I'm aware that the raffle will be more expensive because several corporate gifts have been donated from businesses. I'm fine with these expenses as it's to support a child with a limited life span. I also need to buy some  shoes with a heel as the dress I'm wearing is a tad too long. The dress itself came from a charity shop a few years ago and this will be the first time I've worn it. At the time daughter was participating in pageants and the charity shops full of unworn prom dresses due to the pandemic. Daughter spotted this particular dress for me, thought it would fit and suit and persuaded me to buy it. I initially protested as I had 'no occasion to wear it to' she said but get it in anticipation of the time you do, then you have something that is going to cost you a lot less than buying once the opportunity arises. She was correct because I  only paid £15 which a huge amount less than I'd pay looking for something suitable now. No grooming costs to add cos Mum is a hairdresser and will do my hair for me. 

After that it is both my kids birthdays this month plus mother's day. Already planned what I'm getting my Mum which will cost around £20ish. We ordered son's gift but it hasn't turned up so it's being refunded and we have re-ordered. Once that is out of the way, I'll re-check om what daughter would like for hers and make plans for her to be home that weekend.

Spendless

A few posts back I mentioned Nan struggling with anything that came with a plug! This week she blew up the microwave by heating a pie in a foil container in it! Nan has a combo of 'meals on wheels' and other people dropping in to provide lunch for her. This particular day would have been my Dad's turn but he was at a hospital appt. On hearing about it I said it would have been better to have asked for a one off additional meals on wheels for that day and cheaper than paying for a replacement microwave! 

Yesterday we went through the CC bills (we now have 2 because 1 isn't widely accepted but both build diff rewards, both are paid in full each month). After paying these we did both have something left over from  Feb's pay but I'm acutely aware that this is now down to being both mortgage and debt free, so think there is more work to be done on cutting back and budgeting as we begin to build savings back up.

Spendless

This week has been our eldest's bday. His gifts from family  were cash, a supermarket gift card, chocs and some needed practical items such as a rucksack, power bank  and an  air fryer. The dog's bday is tomorrow but we go away at midday to London to watch DD's show at her drama school, so dog will have to accept being looked after by extended family. We are staying o/n paid for with hotel loyalty points again. 

At the beg of the year Mr S transferred some money over from long term savings accounts to an everyday one as we had some expenditure towards the end of the year (my flights etc). Due to him having received a pay rise in Jan plus some bonus and transferring any money left over from wages, I've had a look through the accounts this morning and think we are in a position where we can transfer the amount we 'borrowed' back. I am so pleased with this. I still pinch myself at how much easier it becomes when you're debt free. Paying ourselves back is a whole diff ball game to paying a lender, probably because you have far more control and flexibility over how and when you do it.

Taken in lunch all this week. DH went grocery shopping a the weekend, I returned to find him out and then was going out so wasn't thrilled he asked me to sort the fridge items out and just bunged them in. It's taken till this morning for me to sort through it properly and that's when I discovered I had no sandwich meat! I've quickly made soup instead from veg that needed using up. Tonight I think I need to ensure that we have items for a 'car picnic'. Our last few trips down south have taken far longer (by several hours) than they should have done so we haven't really got time to play with as we are watching daughter's show tomorrow evening.  

 
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Spendless

A few posts ago I talked about if I'd saved every penny of my wages from the job I had between eldest ending his GCSEs until he'd just completed his first term at Uni. It came in at a staggering £39K! I've also added up the 'life cost's we have had in recent years that our alternative universe counterparts didn't. That comes in at at £37.5!K. Very similar amounts!  Hindsight is a wonderful thing! It was slightly above those figures but I've knocked off the recent paid back amount


Realistically would I have saved then? No,  not all of it. My wages from that time period paid for a long haul family hol (the last we did as a family of 4) and driving lessons for eldest , we would have also had debt, so at best it would have gone to servicing that, but I accept that a lot of it 'just went'

I'm glad me and Mr S both have a different mindset now. This weekend once we've returned from our trip to see DD's show we are looking at new savings accounts top open to move transfer some savings into but also build more back up. 

Spendless

We are back from our trip. Enjoyed watching daughter's show and can honestly say it was the best thing we've ever seen her perform in. The trip down though cost us in cash and calories. Due to some extended family news we received during Thursday we didn't feel like making a supermarket trip for drink or snacks on Thurs evening. Some workman we had coming  at 8am didn't turn up till closer to 10.30. We'd allowed for they wouldn't be quite finished by the time we needed to leave now it would only be part way through, so had to ask my parents to rearrange the times they intended to be here. We did manage to eat before we left for London, so at least that's something, but we realised when already on the motorway we had no refreshments, we also needed to eat something light before watching daughter's play to keep us going till after 9pm when it was to finish and accept with barely knowing the area we weren't aware where we'd still find serving food. 

The workman finished after 5pm, they'd not charged a great deal for the work we'd had done considering it had taken them hours and there were 2 of them but it was someone setting out  in business and we thought we'd give them a chance and that with the work we'd seen pics of, that it would be ok. We sent the money to pay them and asked them to do some further work,  though again DH was going to have to leave part way through the time they were here and I'd be at work. Later a relative who was dog sitting said about a chip on one of the cupboard doors. We thought we'd look at it when we came back, when we did we noticed that several things weren't correct, including (IMO) the placement of handles, and examples of  poor workmanship. I could have accepted some things knowing we hadn't paid much but not everything. Me and DH started discussing it, he wanted him back to  at least rectify the stuff and then possibly continue with further work. I didn't want him doing anything if DH wasn't going to be on the premises all the time and was very much taking the view that the bloke had broken my trust and I didn't want him back and was  prepared to write off the money we paid out as the cost of the materials, petrol costs and time. As it was  clear we didn't totally agree with each other's view, we decided to ask my parents views on it when they dropped our dog off. One look at my Mum's face when we asked told me all I needed to know. That's when she told me that the workman had left a mess they didn't clean up, she did it, including washing down cupboard doors and had felt some of the poor work when doing so. Dad who could do DIY in his younger day  started looking more closely into what had been done and was able to identify more things and how/why it had been done wrong including that the wrong tools had been used. A decision was made to contact the bloke saying we weren't happy with it and why but we just wished to cancel all further work nothing more. 12 months+ ago I'd have cried my eyes out at wasting money, today I'm prepared to chalk it up to experience and take some of the responsibility for what happened. When we realised we had a clash of dates for the workman coming and us needing to leave the house, we should have re-arranged. We chanced someone new despite thinking the price was a bit low. We shouldn't have paid the full amount out before witnessing the work. All that is on us and we're old enough and experienced enough home owners to know not to do it. I'm just viewing the work done  as a 'prototype' as to what we want there in future, but we will take our time finding the right item and person next time.


Setting off from London also took us longer than anticipated. Daughter had been struggling with lack of clothes storage (she does need to reduce her clothes though!) but with not knowing if she'll be in the same property next year and will spend a 1/3 of her year abroad it didn't seem worth it buying something nor could we find something all parties were happy with, in terms of price and looks. Instead we took a chance on glamping up a chest of drawers I was using and no longer needed. It had originally come from a bedroom set when DS was young and even then had been on half price offer so if it didn't work out we'd lost nothing. They were painted a couple of coats of white, over the wood effect and the drawer handles some of which were missing anyway replaced with sparkly ones.  It fitted in nicely into her room. She then mentioned a personal item she'd lost during the week that was going to need replacing, and thought it had been lost in an Uber but she'd tried ringing and had no answer. We got her to try again and this time the driver answered and had her item, only he was working his 2nd job as a security guard so couldn't leave his position to return it, but we could go to him which we did. At home the round trip would take around half an hour, this was London Sat mid morning traffic so took well over an hour! As this all meant daughter would have been late for her final show,  we then dropped her off at her college and set off. The only thing we did do is call at a small Tesco to stock up on provisions for the trip back!

So lots of money savings lessons learned this week!

Sunshine_girl2

Gosh Spendless what a couple of days . Sorry to hear about the workmanship but I think your thoughts are right . I hope you can get the rest sorted correctly. 

Glad you enjoyed DDs show. 

Hoping for a quiet week for you .