Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Evening chums 😊

Banking all done and money allocated to pots for May - if all goes to plan we may actually be able to save something from normal income in May which would be nice! 

I have finished work for the bank holiday (off until Wednesday) and a couple of useful things have been done - we remembered to take out the recycling, took my Ziffit parcel to the drop off point, had a nice evening amble around the park for half an hour (and met my steps goal). I also nipped into the gym and asked how past as you go works - I just do NOT use it enough to justify it. Pay as you go is cheap here, swimming (which i use most) is just £3.75 so I'd have to go 10 times a month to get my money's worth, and I haven't - not once since I joined last summer.

We've got some stuff out of the freezer ready to take to Mr Cheery's Dad's tomorrow - might not save us grabbing a bag of crisps on the way home but we will at least limit what we buy. 

Qmee cash out of £5.38 has arrived in the bank, so I'll add it to my signature in a second. Down on the Happy Wheel again today but I got sidetracked before I added it all up, and I'm not doing any more now as I've had a drink (and I never mix drinking and the Happy Wheel for obvious reasons) so I'll add that up tomorrow, it's all written down in my little book.

Right, best get on with finishing my drink! 😂😂

beanielou

Enjoy your wee break 

MovingForwards

Just catching up.

Your LPG tanker dial, looks like straight down is directly opposite the 50% marker, which explains why the supplier thought you had 3%.

Hope Bessie is ok now, that's been some ouch vet bills, but I doubt you would have been happy with yourself if you didn't try.

I started to go grey at school and have been dyeing my hair ever since, grows so fast I should do it every 2 weeks. 

Please use some of your holidays and have trips, longer breaks and rest. You're still doing loads, almost singlehandedly and your body will only take so much.

Suffolk_lass

I notice your HW goes up and down a fair bit. I wonder if you might track it as a daily total in a spreadsheet column so you can plot it on a graph and see if it is paying for itself and your time. I might have mis-read but is this one of the things you pay an annual fee for? 

Cheery_Daff

Suffolk_lass said:

I notice your HW goes up and down a fair bit. I wonder if you might track it as a daily total in a spreadsheet column so you can plot it on a graph and see if it is paying for itself and your time. I might have mis-read but is this one of the things you pay an annual fee for? 

I do pay an annual fee, yes, and there's a daily tracker in the thing I pay a fee for, so I've kept track right since the start - definitely a good idea. I pay annual fees for two things, and paid them upfront this year rather than monthly- it works out at about £15-20 a month I think, so as long as I make more than that each month, I'm up. So far this month I have - in fact I'm £29 off covering both fees for the whole year, and I barely spent any time in Jan or Feb.

So I do get enough to cover the fee. As to whether it's worth my time... well, overall it certainly doesn't match my hourly rate at work. Suspect it doesn't even match minimum wage per hour. It's certainly better and more interesting than surveys!! And there's no way I'd actually get a second job, not even flexible freelance, so this is a nice way of doing something fairly mindless for an extra bit of dosh. 

It's usually one of the first things that falls off when I'm stressed or tired, which is as it should be I think. I didn't touch it hardly at all in 2020 (because we'd taken Mr Cheery's pension and I didn't feel like extra money was a priority), or 2021 (because I was too stressed with builders etc). Picked it back up to work towards topping up the savings account after paying for the kitchen - I like to see it creeping up.

So it won't make my fortune, the hourly rate isn't brilliant, and it's certainly not something I would recommend to anyone disorganised or remotely prone to gambling. But my tracker tells me I've had £5506 from it altogether so as a side income that's not too bad I don't think. 

I never do more than an hour a day though - get bored after that 😂 I know some people try to do it full time! 😮

Suffolk_lass

That all sounds a bit more reassuring - sorry if I sound like your nagging auntie. I suppose it is easy to slip into bad habits and sometimes a little review and reflect is a good thing - take dieting. 0.8 away from a stone and my smug filter meant I made custard to have with the pears I defrosted (thinking it was lemon sorbet!!). What am I like!? - don't answer that!!

Cheery_Daff

😂😂 no, it's fine - I do often question whether it's worth it, and frequently decide I can't be bothered if there's too much else going on. I'm trying to do it every day in April just to see how far I get - averaging about £4.50 a day so far so not too bad for 30-60 mins that I'd otherwise be watching the TV in.

Love the custard = lemon sorbet - that's exactly the type of thing I'd do 😂😂 And I can't talk - also trying to lose weight and just eaten a hot cross bun 🙄😂😂

Baileys_Babe

Cheery_Daff said:

 And I can't talk - also trying to lose weight and just eaten a hot cross bun 🙄😂😂

I think you can forgive yourself as it is Good Friday otherwise known as national hot cross buns day

Cheery_Daff

Ha, thank you 😁 Can I also forgive myself for an Easter egg?? 🙈

In fairness we have had a long and tiring day, driving 3 hours to see Mr Cheery's dad, and lots of messing about while we were there. We did achieve some things (I plastered a wall for a start) but it was a bit hard going today. Spent £35 on necessary fixing and mending stuff in B&Q. Mr Cheery's sister was there at the start and brought some stuff for lunch, and we brought a home cooked meal from the freezer which we've ended up eating cold in the car 😂 We did stop off at the supermarket though, but not for food to eat on the way home (except the Easter egg...) - mostly fruit and wine 😂

Another couple of hours left in the car 🙄

beanielou

I don’t know how you do it Cheery. 

I hope you have a more restful & relaxing weekend 😊🌻