Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Nope, plumber can't do teeth 😂😂 and apparently can't do boilers either, at least not til Thursday 😱🥶🥶🥶 Part's not arriving til then it seems 🙄

Anyone want to ring and tell Mr Cheery?? 

At least the heating has come on at work now, so I'll just stick around here til they chuck me out, then go and get back under the duvet again 🙄

YAWN.

EssexHebridean

Oh nooooo! Bad timing for delayed parts (as it were!). 

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, today is like a roller coaster- Mr Cheery just rang to say he's got the boiler working again 😂😂 God knows how, a random assortment of buttons etc, but I'm not touching it again until the plumber comes, regardless of the gas cost 😂

Mind you, the day I'm having it might have gone off again by the time I get home 😂

redofromstart

Cheery_Daff said:

Thermostat is now sat at 9 degrees 🙄 That's in the warmest side of the house, but not in this room that I've got the oil heaters in (and the blanket over the doorway).


We didn't even have central heating til I was 12 - but we did have a gas fire in the living room, and mid terrace that wasn't particularly exposed. 

Oh this fits my memories well. My parents had CH and double glazing installed the year I went to uni. I remember many many blanket layers in bed, and waking up to Jack Frost patterns inside the bedroom windows in the morning. Beautiful swirls and ferns. 

Cheery_Daff

Yes, beautiful patterns! And wearing duffle coats to play upstairs

I'm delighted to report that the heating is still working. Bravo! I have been SO tired today, completely useless. No idea how I didn't manage to get to work til 10, and then ended up leaving again at 4, and did nothing once I got back. 

I have been having an interesting time looking back over budgets over the last few years though, at monthly average spends. I've done Jan - Nov for this year, so I've got full months which will hopefully give a more accurate picture. But Mr Cheery has just arrived home so I'll have to report back later...

Karmacat

Sleep!  That's the thing, always works enjoy the warmth, too  

greenbee

Being cold is tiring. Get some planning done with Mr Cheery to deal with some of the draughts and make things cozy!

Cheery_Daff

Morning chums  

Off on an adventure today (well, a work adventure anyway) but before I go, just a quick one about average spending over the last few years while I drink my tea

I've looked at Jan-Nov average spending this year, so we don't end up with half a month being divided over a whole month, if you see what I mean. I'll do it again properly at the end of the year. 

It's interesting to see how similar some of the things are from a few years ago, and how different! 

First of all, this year's figures - these are all monthly averages and rounded [with spending for 2021, 2019, and 2016 in square brackets]

My spends - £116 [£148, £100, £183] - this year made up of slimming world (£14), socialising (£16), stationery (£7), books (£5), clothes (£19), exercise (£23) and other things (£33)

Diesel - £288 [£158, £218, £89 -before we moved, when we only had one car]

Food and household - £246 [£370(!), £218, £89 - not a true reflection as Mr Cheery used to buy most of it from cash income and we didn't track it]

Joint treats - £132 [£212, £135, £76]

Car maintenance (incl MOT but not tax, insurance or breakdown) - £87 [£136, £117, £15 -we only had one car back then and a much cheaper garage)

Birthdays - £43 [£32, £17, £23]

There's more, of course, but I didn't break it down the same every year, and some haven't changed much. My spending is lower than it was in 2016 - but back then we didn't have a mortgage and I'd just got my new, better paid full time job so I was spending a bit more. Surprised I've only spent £16  month on socialising though, I feel like I'm out all the time - but it's often in friend's houses, or just a cuppa in a cafe, I rarely go out for lunch or a meal with friends (and if we both go, it comes from the joint treats pot)

Diesel is much higher of course, although given prices have probably nearly doubled in that time, and that we now have 2 cars and an hour each way commute, it's not as big a difference as I thought! But back then we went on a lot of weekends away, and would have just counted diesel in the diesel pot, so it's evened out a bit. 

Food... This isn't just food -it's all cleaning stuff (not much ), toiletries, other household stuff eg lightbulbs, the occasional bit of tupperware etc. Last year was high because we didn't have a kitchen for most of the year, and the builders were here for 4 months which was very stressful. Interstingly, in my head I'd assumed we were spending an average of at least £300 but apparently not - I'm pleased it's this low because I'm dreadful for not meal planning/having a shopping list so I'm sure we could get it lower if we tried. 

Joint treats was higher last year for the same reason, but has dipped back to 2019 levels which is fine. We've done a LOT more cafe trips since we've moved out here as it's felt a bit isolating at times, and we can't just pop round to a friend's house for a cuppa with no notice in the same way without a long drive. 

Car maintenance seems a bit lower this year -but then I did ring the garage yesterday cos the 'change oil' light has come on in one car, and the heating is being rather intermittent in the others, so that'll probaly increase before the year ends!

Birthdays are creeping up too... Just me being more extravagant perhaps, as I'm not sure there are any more people to buy for since 2016... Christmas is holding pretty steady, but I've not included it as obviously quite a bit of that will be happening in December. 

Anyway, interesting stuff. And now I must go!

beanielou

Enjoy your adventure 😊🎄

EssexHebridean

Ahh we've had intermittent heating in MrEH's car a couple of times too Cheery - thankfully on both occasions it's sorted itself out when we've "turned it off and back on again" as it were! 

Delighted that you have heating again - hopefully it will stay on until the plumber gets back to do a proper fix on it - and well done to MrC for finding the right buttons to press or knobs to twiddle!