Simple living in the country - back to basics

KajiKita

I suspect you weren’t worrying over almost nothing in work, I suspect all parties had time to sleep on it overnight and realised that they had backed themselves into respective corners and therefore were able to reappear in the conversation today in more ‘constructive’ positions …..? 😉

I hear what you say about the ones who have the good packages now, striking in support of the ones coming up behind. I was genuinely shocked when I heard what a junior barrister was expected to survive on …. The senior ones could have just kept pocketing the wings, but they seemed to have a genuine passion for protecting the future of their profession. 

Seeing it from the ‘inside’ like this as you are sharing it with us, does highlight to me just how personally committed each and every striking person is in the UK right now. They really ‘have skin in the game’ in a way government ministers do not ….

Re the garage - still frustrated on your behalf. But once it’s paid and the money has left your account you can focus on replenishing it slowly but steadily 😊

KK

EssexHebridean

No idea how it works in chambers these days but when MrEH first qualified the expectation was that you worked for expenses only for the first 6 months of pupillage (?sp) and then a ludicrously low salary for the next 6...it was the reason why he never ended up going through that final stage in fact, there was simply no way he could have afforded it. In theory things have improved with minimum wage etc - but accordingly to those still in that side of things now it hasn't, if anything it's worse - because the "expenses" are no longer paid, and with the best will in the world there is a degree of "lifestyle" that one is expected to fund even at junior level which someone on min wage, by the time travel, accommodation, food etc is all covered, simply can't stretch to. Not sure what the answer is - or even if there is an answer. 

Good call to find a new garage - that sounds very shady doesn't it - I can well understand your feeling a bit disgruntled because at the very least their quote wasn't clear! 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks all xxx

EH, ridiculous to expect people to work for all that time with so little pay. Clearly that only leaves it open to people who can afford to do that. I do hope things have changed, although I imagine they may not have done! 

Evening all 😊 Been visiting family today, not spent anything other than diesel and came home with some fruit cake. Actually, that's a complete lie - we stopped in T3sco on the way home and spent £12 🙄 How did I forget that?!  An assortment of things - batteries, a few tins, fruit, and some reduced salad and veg (decent reductions - bags of salad etc down to 11p).

Both car insurance renewal quotes came through the post. Together they add up to £640 - last year they were £550 😠 £90 is far too much of an increase - no claims (and this should still make a difference because I only started amassing a NCB when we got the second car about 5 years ago), and obviously we're getting older. I wonder why the increase? Mr Cheery has passed 60?! One of the cars is now 15 years old?! 

Who knows. Will definitely be shopping around! I'd prefer they were on a joint policy - we're with direct line and I'm sure I was originally offered joint cover, but 'they way we do that is with two separate policies, one in each person's name'- so two logins, two sets of documents in the post, and no apparent discount for insuring both cars with them. Doesnt sound very joint to me!

Anyway, hoping we can shave at least a little off that...

beanielou

Enjoy the weekend 

KajiKita

You are having fun and games with your car insurance aren’t you. I think Adm1ral are supposed to be good for joint policies aren’t they? 

Have you plugged yourself into the MSE car insurance tool? (You may have mentioned this already but my head is a bit scrambled this morning.)

KK

Cheery_Daff

Not done that yet, it's on my list for the next few days. I was waiting for both renewal quotes to arrive, but they have now, so I know what I'm working towards.

Productive morning so far. Cafe breakfast using the last of our vouchers (and some extra). Nipped to a couple of charity shops, got a book for £1, couple of presents for a couple of Mr Cheery's chums for £5, and a cat carrier for £4.50. Obviouspy we don't have a cat... but it will nicely fit a chicken for a vet trip. We always took them in a kind of crate with elaborate coat hanger and scarf covering system, but that's harder to manage if you go on your own. Last time we took a dog crate - more robust, but huge and unwieldy to get in and out of the car. This will be far more realistic.

Bessie is going to the vets on Monday 🙄 Which we could well do without 🙄 but I suspect she needs another implant. Yet another expense, but at least this time the vet isn't in a bird flu restriction zone, so we don't have to have a home visit 😱 anyway, we'll deal with that as and when - looks like it'll be me taking her because of the timings, and this cat carrier will make the whole process much easier.

Anyway, some activities for this afternoon and the rest of the weekend.

* clean out chicken house
* refresh boot dip
* clip manky bum feathers off Daisy 🙄
* bit of batch cooking - flatbread and something straightforward in the hay box
* tidy up the study - created a bit of a mess wrapping the last presents in there in a rush yesterday morning
* some sorting in the craft room - lots of clothes and bedding etc to find homes for, and I need to sort out some under bed storage, possibly by just shifting baskets around.
* banking
* car insurance 
* go for a walk, possibly to one of the wildlife Trust reserves I've not been to before

Plenty of other bits and pieces i can be getting on with but that'll likely do for now. 

Cheery_Daff

Evening chums 😊

Barely anything done off that list 🙄 I went for a walk - just to the end of the road though. And I did a bit of tidying in the study. But nowt else.

Hey ho. I'm trying to have a nice relaxing evening, so all is not lost.

EssexHebridean

Probably the 15 year old car thing on the insurance I'd guess - that makes a difference for cost of breakdown cover too, I'm afraid! 

That cat basket was a bargain! We've determinedly hung onto one of the two we had - a rather lovely traditional wicker one we originally also bought from a charity shop - as we feel it may well come in useful again one day either for another cat, a young puppy or perhaps even for chickens, who knows! 

Hope Bessie's vet's visit goes without either incident or two high a cost! 

themadvix

I doubt it being 15 years old makes it more of an insurance liability - if anything it's the opposite (granted the opposite is definitely true for breakdown - but do they actually ask about that given it's usually the person that is insured for that?). My experience of insuring a 25 year old car bears this out. I suspect it's the mileage, Mr Cheery's age (possibly, although at 60 that's very harsh) and possibly just inflation - although our renewals were not that much more than last year - mine about £9 I think.

SuperSecretSquirrel

I won't rub salt in the wound specifying exactly what I paid for car insurance on an old runabout this year, but I've never paid so little in my life. Renewal with existing provider would have cost more than last year, switching to a different provider (one of the big name banks, not a fly by night) halved the price. Cashback will be a cherry on top, if it gets paid.

I've always thought the multicar thing might be a bit of a con. If they can get you to have more than one car, especially with different renewal dates, insured on the one policy, that's an extra hassle factor to add to the standard inertia factor to further discourage shopping around and switching.