Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

daisy_1571

Surely the Xmas presents won't come from your holiday budget?  That will come out your presents fund.  And your throw also isn't a holiday budget purchase either?  Is that not something that would come from household fund?  

Hope you continue to enjoy York,  have a great time

Dxxx

themadvix

You've reminded me to get my Turtle Doves out NG - I think today is the first day they might be needed (despite glorious sunshine). Thank you!

Re charging... T3sla have started opening up their chargers to other users (certain ones - I'm not sure of the details), but they are usually good value for money (T3slas get it cheaper, but I still think they may be better than other motorway service options and they vary in price depending on demand). I know you've said before about not having the right charger for 🐙 but I do wonder if things might have changed/you got fobbed off last time? I mention this because they have a charging link up with loads of companies for when you're out and about and if you use them you get an 8% discount on the standard rate (and charged to your electricity bill). Do you use Zapmap? It might help you find cheaper options? Charging out and about is definitely more expensive than at home, but there are ways to make it a bit more affordable (apologies if I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs and feel free to ignore me!). Can you charge at the flat in York or not? Is there somewhere you can park for a cheaper slow charge while you're there? 

Enjoy the show tonight!

South_coast

What would it take to sort the draughts out at home?

KajiKita

I have been buying shampoo for Mr KK from S'ains for a while, not a huge volume per bottle, but under the £1 mark:



Not sure if they have other 'flavours'? And I agree with others, prices have massibely increased compared to 5 years ago!

So pleased DH got his last month's pay - I hope that takes some of the sting out of the family dynamic? 

KK

newgirly

Hi daisy, strictly speaking I have a Xmas/birthday present fund, food and extras are covered by the £1 a day fund, so I can take the chocolate money from that as I make all the kids a 1st December hamper with their and their partners advent calendars plus some treats for December. By Xmas I find there’s too many sweet things hanging around! The throw is not a holiday item but I fancied it while on holiday so it’s being counted as a holiday spend 😆

Hi Vix, I should check again thank you, we use zapmap  sometimes, we did find a fast charge 15 mins away from the city, you have to be so careful as many like m0rrisons are open 24 hours but you can only park for free certain hours. I did spot (afterwards online)  that the one we used is 54p instead of 85p at night, will bear that in mind next time. I’ve not got the Tesla app yet. Generally it’s very tricky finding working chargers that are not in use in central York. We can plug in at the flat but we have to leave the window open a little and even with a safety cover to go over the wire on the pavement it’s a bit awkward.

Hi sc, new windows and the conservatory gone in an ideal world. I’m working my way through the house with curtains as opposed to the blinds we had, so far the front bedroom is done and I’ve got some for the back main room. So only the box room and some to go in front of the conservatory to go, I’m trying for second hand better quality ones which is more of a luck and timing thing 😆 got one pair of laur@ Ashley on vinted handmade and another the same brand different pattern in the charity shop so far, I must admit I’ve not looked for a while.

Hi Kp , thank you I shall look 🙂 yes, receiving the extra months money has helped as we seem to have so much we have committed to, I think it’s good for dh to not feel too ripped off by them at the end too! 

Had a lovely long walk around town again today, popped into the Minster briefly, you see a different bit every time as the scaffolding is always moving from here to there , so there’s often bits you have not seen before 😁 bought sarnie meal deal at tesc@ for the way home tomorrow and are off for a very early dinner before our show soon. 

Fortune_Smiles

I bought a heated throw this year too.  I think it's going to be a great investment 😁

Fortune x

newgirly

Hi fortune, I think it will be. One of the cats spent a while testing it out yesterday, managed to bury herself in it so might have to be be very careful to make sure it’s switched off when I leave the room incase she roasts herself 🤣

Well we are back and spent a lot! Dh chipped in and hasn’t checked all his spending yet (annoying!) but I’ve spent £68 on car charging and my guess is his was about £25-40 ish on top. It’s not a cheap option on the go but it’s so infrequent , the bigger picture is it saves a fortune the rest of the year. Our overall spending not including tickets was probably £400 ish perhaps which is an astronomical amount for us in York for three days 😳 after Xmas last year we did under £30 odd not including car. We ate out a lot but it was all early offers , no desserts/coffee / alcohol etc. still it was trip I planned a long time ago and a show I couldn’t make last year as I was too unwell still so I’m glad we did it. I’m not sure we will make it to our reserved weekend before Xmas though, time wise, spending money and time off work mean it’s getting trickier. Will have to see as York at Xmas is just the best 😬

Back home to no food now 🤣 I’ve got my flu jab this morning so might pop to the shops afterwards for a few bits. I’m a bit annoyed I’m not allowed Covid this time, they called me for it last year and flu , this year I don’t need Covid as I’m under 75 - as I also was last year 😆 receptionist said they have a shortage 😒 I’ve emailed the gp and it’s a no, so I’ll ask today if I should be having it and need to pay privately or not, online advice seems to vary in my circumstance. 

newgirly

No Covid jab for me this year, they have tightened the rules. I did ask if I should pay for one privately and was told there’s not much of it about now 🤷‍♀️ my brother was ill in bed for a week last week with it which is coincidence! I’ll probably leave it this year and ask my cardiologist next year what he thinks. 

Did a big shop for the first time is ages yesterday, I spent £65.86 so a total spend now of £489.99/£1000 with 53 days left to go. Got some good bits and went to mr s for a change. I managed to get myself the only waste box there (£2) , I’ll add a photo if I can but it contained two boxes of ripe kiwi berries, I had to look them up online as even the lady on the till didn’t know what they were, I tried one but should have them due to medication so I dropped a few to mum and dad to try and then gave the rest to ds2 who popped over for dinner. 

Also we have been having a nightmare with the tv package company as dil connected my n@tflix to their sk7 account, basically it’s taken multiple calls for hours on the phone and they have now given them my sky account and me a new one and upped my price 😳 they couldn’t disconnect his as it’s a “puck” apparently?! Anyway I’ve been told it will be escalated and the price reduced by a manger by next week and to call back- that’s a feat in itself as it took forever to find a phone number as is the way nowadays 😒

In better success I have a refund on the way from the water company, I saw a refund on the account but the guy on the phone spent ten mins telling me they are trying to raise my balance to cover the next six months and then at the end said I’ll get an actual refund, no idea what’s going on there but I will either make an extra payment to the electric account or more likely do something frivolous and pay it into the cruise pot 🤣 I believe it’s about £70 if it does arrive. 

I’ve also this week paid for a basic Wi-Fi package for our April trip as I sold two high value items on vint@d  £45 and £15.50 😬 so I added another £20 from my personal spending pot which isnt getting used due to the challenge and ordered it now, it may get a little cheaper on Black Friday but I can cancel and rebook. Slowly getting there. 

Dh got his cscs (if that’s right) number through from hmrc so will now get taxed at 20% instead of 30% by the contractor he works for, so more money now as it has to be 30% until the registration comes through. I don’t need to allow for NI as his tax allowance won’t be taken into account when the 20% is taken so it should even out. I am still putting by money each month for holiday pay to pay ourselves of £200 pm. So a little extra there to play with and he is on more than his last job 😊 not sure he’s enjoying it massively but he seems fairly settled now. He’s all over London decorating council places, large amounts of which are in Westminster in those big white Georgian style massive terraces which surprised me, then there’s the less affluent areas which are quite run down. 

Anyway I’m waffling now 😊

newgirly

There’s another box of kiwi berries tucked under there, doesn’t seem bad for £2. 

Watty1

That looks a  bargain.    
It seems there are different strains of covid so I've been wondering how effective the jab would be anyway?  (Having spent two weeks being ill with it I get why anyone would want a jab but it has crossed my mind about the different strains)