Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

I do miss full time money 😂 And may potentially be persuaded back for a VERY limited time for a specific thing, but not permanently, not unless the circumstances were different. I didn't work it out exactly, but having done similar calculations not so long ago, it would have been an extra £600-700 a month ish. Certainly not to be sniffed at!! But the extra travel would have eaten into that considerably, and if I'd had to have a hotel stay even just a couple of times a month, it starts to look rather unattractive...

In the office today, and NOT money-saving, as I have had to pay for parking 🙄 Very vexing, since there are loads of free spaces right outside the office door, I just don't have a permit 🙄 My back is MUCH better, I slept all the way through last night, but it's not better enough to park a mile away and walk in carrying everything, so £7.20 spent on parking instead 🙄

Today is being mostly take up with eating a massive frog, a result of inadvertently p*ssing someone off in a meeting i ran last week. The task itself has physically taken about 5 mins, but all the surrounding sorting out has taken all day. Now waiting for a couple of other opinions before I send it off - hoping it can get out of the door today though.

Right, going to take a little walk to drop an old laptop back to IT - it's been cluttering up the place for about 3 years 😂

Cheery_Daff

Frog email sent, response received asking me not to contact again (expected). Feel sh*t, but there we are 😕 My fault originally - a thoughtless action, the result of a busy week and pain from a wonky back. I dealt with it as I could at the time, and with the aftermath as I could today, but can't avoid that someone is annoyed, and has also informed lots of others how annoyed they are. Several learning points for me.

Not a good feeling, and not one I want to cultivate very often! 😕

beanielou

Boo to the paking & the other thing.

rtandon27

Ouch - so sorry about the sticky situation 😢 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks folks xx 

Having a hard time getting this situation out of my head 😕 

Anyway, I am home now, so let's focus on the cheerful things.

* finally got round to posting both my power of attorney forms off today 😊 This is a big win - it's been on my list for literally YEARS and has taken a good number of weeks to make all the decisions and get round to printing, signing etc in the right order. Just need to inform my mum before the notification forms arrive in the post 🙈😂

Part of the reason I was doing this was to inspire others (my mum, Mr Cheery, his dad) to also do it. None of them have, of course. But I am contenting myself with the fact that I am more tolerant of bureaucracy than all of them put together, so if anything happens to any of them, I'll be able to cope with lack of POA far better than they would if anything happened to me without it. I've done my bit! 

* Mr Cheery has had a good tidy up today 😊😊 Shelves will wait til the weekend, but the house was peaceful and calm when I came in 😊

* he's out tonight, so I have the house to myself - a rare thing and much appreciated 😊

* we're having a smart meter fitted tomorrow. Theoretically, at least 😂 Our last suppliers said there wasn't space (I'd sent a photo), so when we changed suppliers, and all the building work had been done, I checked. I've been informed they should be able to, with a fly lead. Appointment booked for 8-12 - although I had a text today saying 8-5... I'm working at home tomorrow, and have several meetings in the afternoon, so they'd best stick to their appointment time else they'll be getting sent away! 

Right. I am on the sofa with a hot water bottle, but I'm going to do two things before I settle down with the TV

(1) PAY THE PARKING FINE which i have still failed to do. Clearly never going to hear back from the parking people at work, and on this occasion I've decided the chance of getting it squashed is so minimal, it's worth paying £35 to make it go away 🙄

(2) banks and budget - it's payday for me so I can happily allocate the first part of October's budget 😊😊 I do like to fill up next month's budget in the middle of this month 😁

Back when I've done that...

beanielou

Hope your smart meter installation goes to plan. 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks Beanie 😊

Parking fine paid 🙄 and banking done - all looking good. First full wage for a while I think, what with a flurry of strikes earlier in the year, it's been distributed nicely round the pots.

£350 added to the 'save first' pot - that's the first thing I budget for each month, and it's where I pilfer from if necessary throughout the month. If it's not pilfered (and mostly it's not!) it's transferred into the current longer-term savings pot - currently being divided between replacement income and holiday (which i realise isn't longer term, but maybe 'unnecessary' 😂). Anyway, £700 in there now - I'll transfer September's dosh to savings at the end of the month, and then we should have enough in there for our autumnal jaunt to visit friends in Germany, which we need to get on a book! (After we've told them we're visiting, of course 😂)

There's currently £674.84 sitting in the LPG pot, which is adding up nicely. I add £170 a month throughout the year 😱 No idea what's in there at the minute, but I imagine we won't need a fill til roughly November at the earliest. There was talk of getting a tank sensor, but no action from them yet. If we get a fill in Nov, that'll be payable Dec. Another fill prob Dec-Feb depending on dates and weather, payable Jan-March. Might need to add a bit extra for the second fill depending on dates, but might not. We'll see.

£400 in the MOT pot for the big car, due mid Oct. Just had a service, and we know it'll need bearings and a tyre, but otherwise nothing obvious or drastic wrong (tough wood). I'll ring on Monday to get it booked in, get it over and done with.

£298 sitting in festive pot. Went a little overboard last year, buying things in advance then buying other things 🙄 so need to be a tad more mindful this year.

£827 in home maintenance - I'd like to get the septic tank emptied before the winter, it was less than £200 last time. 

Prolific at £17.59. I need to claim about £35 worth of expenses. Happy wheel not even worth mentioning - currently minus £1 😂 Hoping to turn that round today but not holding my breath 😂

Right, a Prolific study has popped up, best get on with it!

starnac

Glad your back is better. Hugs for the sticky situation. It's difficult to get a reply like that even if it is expected. 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks xx

Meter guy is here! Had to retrieve him from where the satnav postcode takes everyone - but it was a good job as he hadn't rung in advance and I wasn't dressed 😂😂 Going to need a shower when he leaves though 😂

Doesn't seem to think there'llbe a problem, which is great. We were previously with Ovo, and they had a blanket rule of 1m in each direction round the meter or they wouldn't book an appointment 🙄 I sent photos to the Octo lot and they said it should be OK with a flylead - and now this guy says it might not even need that. Fingers crossed.

Working at home for the rest of the day, nothing else to report I don't think.

Cheery_Daff

All done! Very straightforward 😊 In home display thing currently saying we're using 4p an hour - I suspect that will increase when I put the kettle on in a minute 😂