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

Spendless

I have healthcare cash back policy and realised I hadn't claimed for my last dental treatment. I couldn't find the receipt so popped into my dentist explained the situation and they printed another out without charge. Claimed the money back and it's sat in my bank acc this morning.

In another news that I have been keeping quiet for a few days, I have lost my job - again. I suspect I'm a casualty of the increases from yesterday in  NMW  (I only earnt slightly above) and employers NI contributions. It is soul destroying to keep going through this. I'm not job hunting - yet. I accompany Mr S abroad next week and don't return till after Easter so no point.

I stocked up on a food shop (when it was still March!) and have enough wages of my own to cover DD's rent until  the end of May. I've made as spreadsheet  on how we cover Jun-Aug rent and have put away money from DH's wages and will need to continue to do this. The amount we need to put away is ironically equivalent to what our mortgage payment used to be before we paid it off 2 years ago. We are in a better place than we used to be now this most recent curveball has hit but it's frustrating it's knocked us back on getting ahead with our goals.  

Spendless

One of the few beauty treatments I have is a regular pedicure but this is with a Chiropodist (due to foot health issues) rather than at a beauty salon. My next appt is when we return from the US but both big toes nails had grown very wonky and unsightly . Due to regular appts I never have the need to trim my own toenails and was a bit cautious about doing so but knew it needed doing before I'm walking round in the sun in open toed footwear. I wasn't able to bring my Chiropody appt forward, I looked up the price of a mini pedicure at a local salon, which would have solved it but was reluctant to pay the  price when I'm due my regular appt in a few weeks (and wouldn't cancel this because the chiropodist deals with the footcare issues I have)  . I tried contacting the local college for their beauty dept as they were a lot cheaper but they haven't messaged me back, so I plucked up courage  and got a bowl of warm water with some footsoak I had and used the nail clippers myself. Quite pleased with the results, , No they are not at professional level but perfectly acceptable especially once I paint them with some polish I've found in DD's bedroom (she won't mind - she claimed she hadn't got any at all recently so the ones here can't be any she actually wants).

Tea last night was beef on harrissa flatbreads. I was wanting to use the flatbreads up and had cubed beef I bought recently. Just lately I have been finding the quality of beef/steak has gone down as I used to buy the same stuff and it was always ok. I suspect lower grades have been purchased by the store in order to keep prices same. 1st time Mr S was all for throwing the remaining horrible steak out. I refused to let him, saying I'd try it in the slow cooker first and if all else failed the dog would eat it. Subsequently we had 2 beautiful beef curries done in the SC and the dog missed out -lol. Yesterday I wasn't even chancing it the cubed beef went into the SC with a bbq rub on it and cooked just fie. It was served with spinach, red onion, Greek yoghurt and I also made some cubed potatoes also with the bbq seasoning in the air fryer. Tonight I have taken mince out, unsure what form it is going to take yet, will depend on what quantities I have in  of other items that need using.

We 'needed' to buy a corporate gift as a raffle prize for a charity fundraiser for the conference that DH and I are attending next week. It wasn't compulsory to do so but there's sort of an obligation because of the position DH holds. We receive plenty back in way of food, drink, entertainment  so I don't begrudge this but I do think it's something rarely spoken about when you have a higher income pay packet into your household. People only ever see the gross amount and think you must be doing fine, they don't realise the net pay when you're taxed at 40% or the knock on effect with other things, like the amount of maintenance loan the kids receive/d as student finance and how we need to top that up, even things like buying and  dry cleaning suits  rather than being able to throw your own clothes or a company polo shirt in the washing machine. The raffle item should arrive today or tomorrow, an extra del charge was paid for so it arrived quicker but that amount was able to be negated due to signing up for a newsletter which gave a discount and reduced it back down to standard del charges.

Other wins over the last few days (am trying to concentrate on them rather than fretting about the loss of my income). Told DD to grocery shop from my cupboards and included some alcohol that we no longer wanted/needed using up. This meant she had some booze in for a garden party at her student house to entertain friends with. I then topped up the food she'd taken the following day. DH was able to drive her back and then go and work away so no return rail ticket needed. 

I've spent some more time on my spreadsheet and currently there is enough money to cover DD's rent until mid June without going into any reserves, which does allow some breathing space.  

dawnybabes

Aww sorry to hear about your job, you weren’t happy there so look on the bright side.  Could you get JSA in the gap - AFAIK it’s not a means tested benefit ?

Getting away sounds good, will be good to recharge the batteries 🪫 ready for looking for another role. 

Spendless

Thank you dawnybabes. You are correct. I endured it because it was nearby and paid a wage.  I intend looking into if I can claim JSA (or whatever it's  now called) based on my contributions once I return from abroad. I looked at my NI record I have 3 missing years and I know when I tried during a previous bout of being without work this meant I couldn't claim, but I think the tax years used  are now different. It's worth a try anyway.

At home wins yesterday - Made cottage pie with the mince. Used up some potatoes for the mash. Dried clothes on the line. Mum called and helped me sort out a large wardrobe in the spare bedroom that was  full of 'stuff' into a more organised solution and then by default tidied up my bedroom too. 

Today - Salmon fishcakes need using up, have got jacket pots, salad and/or peas to go with them. DH got an email saying we can have 2 hours of half price electricity from 12.30-2.30 so will use that time to do some more washing loads. My interest has paid into my ISA that I've seen building up since I started it and I can see April's interest accruing. 


At the beg of last year me and DH embarked on a declutter by category, we were doing well and then life events just meant we didn't continue. Now I have some spare time that is something to return to as I can see the finishing line is within grasp. Areas still to do - Bookshelf in conservatory (I need to look up a local recycling place for books we don't want). Alcohol in a cupboard. I want to reclaim the space where it's currently stored and find it a new home. CDs/DVDs. Currently all unused shoved under a desk. Paperwork sort out - think this was in the process of being done when we came to a standstill. There's def not as much to sort as there was. Hallway is probably a category by itself due to the varied items in there but don't think it will take long to do. Then there's both mine and DH's wardrobes (we will tackle our own individually -lol)  That will pretty much leave the enigma that is DD's bedroom for when she returns home and our attic and outside shed as the main areas to be tackled.     . 

Spendless

At home wins yesterday - I used the 2 hrs of half price electricity to do 2 washing loads. That left me with 1  lot of clothing that I was able to line dry. 1 set of washing to dry overnight in the house and the  bumper load of underwear I had which I didn't have enough line space or time  to dry outside  (as my garden goes into shade from 4 pm) I put in the TD and was all dry within my half price period. 

I also sorted out my wardrobe by switching over seasonal clothing, so jumpers went on the top shelf out of the way (I kept a couple of long sleeved items hanging just in case) and summer/T shirt items came down in anticipation of me packing. They made me realise that I could do with an additional swimming costume and another dress because the evening social diary is filling up with meals out during our trip.  DH dropped me off in the city centre saving me travel/parking costs and I went for a look but didn't see anything costume wise that I was happy with the price of, then I popped into a charity shop and there was a new one with the hygiene label still in place for 4.50. The last shop I popped in I saw a dress on a mannequin that I thought looked nice so went to try it on and liked it so bought that with my remaining budget. 

Spendless

Yesterday me and DS went to watch a musical which had been tickets to us from Mr S for my bday last year. No travel expenses as DH drove us there and back. Slightly spendy as we ate out during the day. Enjoyed the day.

Today Mum (a mostly) retired hairdresser is cutting/colouring my hair in advance of our trip. Then it is a case of get the house ready for our dog sitter to move in and start packing.  

Spendless

I know I posted before about this but something I never wrote down was how much the debt started at. I know we only started to pay it off from early 2023, despite starting the diary Sept 21. Inbetween those dates we were just paying the minimum

I found an old spreadsheet that listed the debts as of  early November 2023. Altogether with CC debt, money I was paying back into savings monthly (as we'd be unable to  0% BT the whole lot) and DH's clothing account that I think we'd just realised   he had. (I didn't used to scrutinise our bank accts as much as I do today. Earlier this week I queried an expense with DH, he truly believed I was looking cos I had time on my hands to do so, nope I look every single day -lol)  The total debt we had then was £10050. We had £3k saved towards pay it off netting it to slightly over £7k. We then paid it all off by the beg of Aug 2024 just 9 months later. 

In addition we have paid DD's Uni accommodation since Easter 2023 without using savings. We also had overdrafts of £1k and £500 respectively which are now not used. 

Spendless

I have £15 in cash in my purse leftover from the other day's shopping budget. I have already put £185 away out of my wages for  DD's next week's student rent (due 10th April). If I pay the £15 cash I have in to my bank acc to add to what is left, then I have next  week's rent too (due 17th April) and leaves me with a round sum of wages leftover. The following week's rent (due 24th April) I will need to dip in to this round sum to pay it, but I will have also received the monthly interest on the 2 everyday savings accounts which I will use to reduce it. In addition I will see where we are at with DH's wages given that we are away for over a week with many meals, drinks, entertainment provided for us so no 'day to day' expenditure. Last time I recall I used to take a bottle of complimentary water that I refrigerated in our room to the pool with me after breakfast. Joined Mr S for lunch and sneaked a bag of crisps and a can of pop for afternoon snacks back at the pool for the PM session before going and getting changed for the evening meal.  Must remember to take a suitable day bag to do this - lol.  After that it I will need to use my remaining wages to cover May's rent which annoyingly has 5 Thursdays in it but once that is over enough should have been saved from Mr S wages to cover the next couple of months and also I will have started applying for jobs and/or learnt whether I can claim JSA.

I dont anticipate spending too much in the States though we do have more free time than previous trips Previously we have put a wide array of goods into our supermarket grocery trolleys (a cashier at Walmart once said  to us 'I can't figure this random choice of yours out -lol. We explained we were tourists) because we wanted to try things or take back things but we've already done/got the vast majority now. I was buying 'can't find in the UK' gift items for family but all family birthdays are now over until Autumn when it's me, DH and Nan who will be 100 and there's very little you can get here anyway. Mid year ifs father's day and 2 wedding anniversaries but considering an experience for that plus we will back in the States later this year either to visit DD when she studies there or accompanying DH on his penultimate trip because his association with this organisation ends mid 2026. Nothing amiss just you only have the connection for so long and his time is almost up. I'm a but regretful as I wasn't able to go when the kids were younger, my parents worked, my IL's had ill-health then the pandemic came so I've only been going for the past few years.  It's not going to be the same for much longer anyway as the owners are retiring in a couple of years and whoever takes over will put their own stamp on it. I do think if something is changing you don't want to be there for the end when new things are coming in or the penultimate when there's talk of new things coming in, the year before that is the place to be. This was true of DD's course in Scotland that she'd just moved to as I started this diary it only ran for 2 further years before closing down.

At home wins today and yesterday. Mr S is now off and the house is far more tidy and organised than we anticipated being at at this stage. Earlier this year we replaced a tatty rug in our conservatory originally from a carpet offcut with another. We only paid £40 for it, but we anticipated being able to get some sort of cover for our conservatory sofa to match, only we couldn't get anything suitable and I was convinced the 2 colours didn't 'go'. Yesterday using 2 throws and 2 different sets of cushions Mr S blended it all together and it looks lovely and cost nothing. I saw something on SM recently  about how to be happy being at home that you need surroundings where you feel comfortable, so intend working towards this.  

Spendless

Not sure if I'll get a chance to update after this till I'm back from my trip, so giving yesterday's/today's and tomorrow's  'At home wins' 
Tomorrow's is the one I am most excited about because if I'd still been working it's doubtful I could have attended. Now though  me and DH are able to go and watch DD's first play  that she's written being  performed. All the drama schools do this, once a year  they give their students the opportunity to create their own work. However there's a process to go through, once written you have to submit your play to the staff/committee and see if it gets approved as one that can be staged.  If it does then the rest is down to you, you have to advertise your play ask people to audition, get your cast together and your production team (and replace them if they quit!) and then perform your play to an audience. Quite often the students go on to take their work to Edinburgh fringe. Daughter's play is about being neuro-diverse and  has a mostly ND team. We have plans to take DD to a celebratory meal afterwards.

Yesterday and today wins-  Yesterday I moved money into my bank acc ready for next week's student rent. I went into town to pick up DD 6 thank you cards for her team (you might be the playwright - some tasks are still delegated to parents!) . I also needed two card for FIL's bday and happily The Card Factory had buy 3 cards get the 4th free, careful selection meant I was able to buy 8 cards for under £6. I also bought myself another pair of 'sparkly' flat sandals that were just £13. These always get me huge compliments in the States because it's something  they don't seem to be able to get hold of there. The house is very nearly clean and organised. Yesterday I cleaned the oven just intending it to be a 'make it respectable' chore with the intention of getting in professionals once we return. I've amazed myself with how well it's turned out. It's not perfect but I wasn't expecting that. I now think I'll just buy some more cleaning products as one of mine ran out and just redo and save myself the money on the professional oven cleaning fee.

Today there is the end of the household chores to do, packing and a small grocery shop to get for our house/dog sitter plus things for tomorrow's car picnic lunch.  I also intend getting DD some flowers to take down  as it seems to be a big thing at her Drama school  to give flowers after a performance. This isn't the same at every place though as she has a friend at a diff drama school, went and watched her perform, bought her some flowers for afterwards and friend was puzzled why she'd done so -lol. A few years ago when DD was at a nearby school  I came across a florists that had such lovely and reasonably priced flowers that I often bought from. The owner told my Mum that their stock came from ones rejected by a store that is well known for it's slightly higher prices but good quality. I checked yesterday and shop still exists  so will buy there.  

badmemory

Does that make her writer, director & producer.  That must be nerve wracking for all of you.  I have fingers firmly crossed.