Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Thanks all,

I had a really good sleep last night, and am definitely starting to feel better. I'm going to take today off though - feels like too much to launch from 2 hours on the sofa one day to a full day of work the next. 

Planning to work tomorrow though, albeit gently. So today is all about pottering around, easing myself back into being awake and upright. I might even attempt to leave the house - maybe for a short walk to the end of the drive 😂 (in my defence it's a reasonably long drive 😂)

Baileys_Babe

I'm glad tohear you are feeling better Cheery. Tomorrow I hope you are planning on working from home, I don't want you to over do it and take many steps backwards in your recovery.

EssexHebridean

100% with you on it being a sensible plan to take today off sick - I think events during covid with one fairly high profile person showed that trying to work through illness is less than a good plan. It's just a shame that wasn't made more of an example of from that perspective IMO! A gentle day tomorrow also sounds sensible. 

Glad you are starting to feel a bit more on the mend now though! 

Cheery_Daff

Oh yes, definitely working from home, might not even do the full day, we'll see.

Just did YNAB and bank checking, all looking OK. 

Got £493.45 sat in the holiday pot (after everything we've already paid for) so that's good. Got an additional £350 savings for November in the holding pot, so we can use some of that if necessary. If not, it can start building the pot again for visiting our friends in Ireland in the spring 😊

Not planning on spending £500 in 3 days between the two of us 😱 Here's a very rough guess

WEDNESDAY
* cuppa at the airport, max £10
* travel from airport, about £20 between us
* dinner out (although we'll likely eat in with friends), £60?
= £90

THURSDAY
* breakfast in flat
* we have the day to ourselves, it's unlikely we'll pay to get in anywhere, but it's very likely we'll spend the day moving between cafes, so maybe £60? 
* gig - need to refund friends for tickets, plus maybe a drink or two, and maybe bus, £100
=£160 

FRIDAY
* hanging out with one friend, again unlikely we'll pay to get in anywhere but maybe lunch out, £30
* may go out for tea since it's our last night, £60
=£90

SATURDAY
* train back to airport, £20
* drinks at airport, £20
=£40

OK, that feels VERY spendy and still only comes to £380. I don't think we'll go out for tea all 3 nights - far more likely that we'll just do once and eat in the other nights. Anyway, we'll see. I've transferred £1000 into the spending account (to meet the switch requirement) so we'll be fine.

Right, best go and wake Mr Cheery. He came down earlier complaining of a headache, so I'm hoping to goodness he doesn't come down with what I've got else we won't be going anywhere 🙄

rtandon27

Cheery_Daff said:

...Got £493.45 sat in the holiday pot (after everything we've already paid for) so that's good. ...

Cheery - that number would drive me mad - LOL - doesn't end in zeros - I'd be tempted to round it to 494 or 495 or even 500, just to make it pretty 🤣

Cheery_Daff

Ha, then I'm sure you're not the only one who will hate it that our mortgage payment is £919.99 😂😂😂

Problem with rounding is that you then leave unrounded numbers elsewhere! Anyway that pot was reasonably round until I started buying flights and things, doesn't seem much point in rounding it now as we'll be starting spending it in less than 48 hours 😂

Sorry, you'll have to do some extra rounding on your own accounts to make up for it 😂

LadyWithAPlan

Glad you are feeling better and the trip is sounding v fabulous 
take some snacks for on the plane and when you get there - even if they are for the way back .. 
there are huge Lidl’s in Berlin - I have shopped in them so fun to have a visit and get some German cheese or sausage at source 

they have some great art and memorials as well as museums there so worth checking out on your free day - the boat trips can be done quite cheap and a great way to sightsee 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, boat trip sounds like a cheerful suggestion, thanks 😊 Mr Cheery is VERY fond of a supermarket, so I can imagine how much fun he'd have in a giant Lidl. Might point him at one while I go on a boat trip! 😂

Much excitement today - we just got a text each saying our L bank switch has gone through and £175 has been deposited into each of our accounts 😃😃 I've not even figured out how to log into the online banking for that account yet, so that's the next job 😂 Very exciting though, that's got to be the easiest £350 I ever made 😱😂 

Now having a slight pang of guilt over switching away again 😱 although not that much of a pang that it'll stop me 😂 

Next job is to check Mr Cheery's S has set up properly (not had the card in the post, but mine arrived a few days ago) then set up the DDs and request a switch to B. Glad I wrote it all down in such a step by step way as I don't think I could remember what I thought I was going to do otherwise 😂

Cheery_Daff

Well, I actually spent the afternoon scratching my head over Mr Cheery's state pension, and think I may have FINALLY identified the issue.

He worked continuously for 23 years, for two different employers (one for 5 years, then the other for 18). Both in the same pension scheme. All years present in NI record as expected, except for 3 random ones - 93/94, 01/02, and 04/05. These are the ones we queried (back in Feb 🙄) and which HMRC has finally replied about - just requesting that we send them payslips etc from those years to prove employment 🙄

The stupid thing is that if I hadn't cleared out bin bags of unopened post years before we moved house, he might still have all those payslips 😂 Sadly I did, and he doesn't 🙄

Checked the HMRC record today before doing anything else. 04/05 (which the guy on the phone said had caused problems for several people, and which had simultaneously said that it was both full and NOT full 🙄) has now been rectified, and is showing as a complete year.

One down, two to go. 

Bizarrely, in a cupboard, I found a letter from 1994. Dear Mr Cheery, your employer has collected £1036 in NI contributions for the year 93/94, but doesn't have your NI number, please fill in this form 🙄 Funny - they had his NI number each of the three years before that 🙄 So we can send that letter as proof that they were actually collected (I won't photocopy the enclosed form, which is also still in the cupboard 🙄).

Two down, one to go.

Why is 01/02 missing though? 🤔

Made another cup of tea, scratched my head, and at this point noticed that Mr Cheery's NI number on his pension statement from 2007 was DIFFERENT to his actual NI number 🤔

More investigation. 1st employer had the right one. No docs from 2nd employer, so no idea, but pension provider (same one through both jobs) had the wrong one up to and including 2010, and then from 2012, when we started doing stuff like adding me on as partner, suddenly started showing the right one on statements.

NO idea how that happened, but I'm hoping that informing HMRC, sending what proof we have etc, will allow them to merge the accounts, and hopefully reinstate the missing years. 

That will just leave him 3 years to go. He's not done 22/23 tax return yet, so that can be one, then 23/24, and 24/25, and that's a full record. Can't claim til 2029 anyway.

Just need to draft a letter explaining that and get someone to understand it and we're laughing! 

🙄

Definitely going back to work tomorrow, got to be easier than this 🙄😂

beanielou

Here's hoping