So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

EssexHebridean said:

Also like the idea of you keeping a track of bike use to work out break-even point - that's a brilliant idea! 

Yes, I thought you might! Problem is, I'd have to have some awareness of petrol prices! We fill up so irregularly now that I am oblivious!

Was just about to say I think it's stopped precipitating here and I was considering a soggy cycle to the library (Mum has just left) but it's now tipping it down, so I think I'll pass! I hope it stops for you.

Baileys_Babe

Could you not just set a nominal mileage cost for the car? 10p, 20p whatever seems most realist.
If you also include insurance, tax, MOT, servicing etc the bike will soon be cost neutral 🤩

themadvix

Morning all,

Good idea BB - I'd just have to work it out once then and could include all the other costs. Definitely would be cost neutral very quickly! (Assuming my car actually gets sold - at the moment it's still sitting there costing me money as we've not had a chance to get it ready for sale - was hoping tomorrow, but the forecast isn't looking promising for cleaning/photos!)

Not that I'll be going anywhere by bike today - it's chucking it down with wet snow again here and beginning to settle on the paths I think. I *have* to get to Lidl today though, so I think I'd better go sooner rather than later, although forecast is for it to brighten up and turn to rain (and potentially stop). I also have a singular cat sitting visit to do and an RM survey item to post. Am very glad I have access to the car today though.

Another day with no proper work currently. Haven't had much in the way of PA surveys this week either. Am super tired today for some reason, so fairly glad it's not a full-on busy day. Dinner last night was soupy leek rice with the freshly laid eggs - delicious. Lunch today will be spaghetti on toast for me and some 'chicken poppers' (from Olio) for Mr MV. The cats are enjoying their saved salad proteins for their meals. Dinner tonight will either be mac and cheese (with Olio tomatoes) or chilli using hg beans.

MS things:
* £4 NW rewards transferred to savings (the rest  left in the account to cover the fee)
* £10 from my bills account transferred to savings (there's an error in the spreadsheet that I can't fathom that means I end up with this extra £10 sitting there - fine by me!)
* HW and clicks done - another £1 won on the new game and another 5p on free spins there

Gratitudes:
* An early night last night, although I am still so tired!
* The car today
* It's Friday!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

I am so cross with myself.... the Lidl voucher expired yesterday 😡I went to Lidl anyway, as it's always much quieter than the Aldi in our town which is quite cramped and very popular. £14.85 spent. Didn't get as many eggs as I'd like as you can only buy two boxes, regardless of how many eggs are in the boxes (and naturally the dozen boxes were sold out). Also didn't buy yoghurt as I prefer organic and they didn't have loose onions. Otherwise, I got what was on my list and also some passata (glad to see it in glass) and frozen veg (a request from Mr MV for something for his lunches - I'm not sure what, it wouldn't be my choice!).

Have also visited the cat (had forgotten that this lovely owner leaves me a chocolate!) and picked up a tin of kidney beans. It was nice to get a walk in after being cooped up for two days solid. The sun has put in a brief appearance this afternoon so the battery is charging back up after I did a load of washing this morning.

We have invited my Mum, Sis and Niece and Mr MV's parents for Sunday lunch next weekend (Mothers' Day). I will have to buy some meat, but will be keeping an eye out on Olio for suitable veg and apples (pork, so apple sauce) over the next week - hopefully by being organised I can minimise costs. Pudding will either be fruit crumble, using bottled fruit or chocolate pudding - neither of which will cost anything.

A small piece of work has just arrived, so I'm going to get on with that now. Have also managed a short PA survey.

Karmacat

How annoying about the voucher!  Grrr.

themadvix

Indeed Karma. 

Have just googled the cafe my friend had suggested and seen that a tea (English breakfast - whether pot or mug is unclear) is £4 there, so have suggested we return to the one we've visited before and she agreed completely! £4 for a cup of tea, what would Mr Cheery think?! We are meeting for a cat-ch-up (sorry, couldn't resist), long-term cat sitting debrief and to give her the thank-you present I bought for her cat sitting last weekend (and probably some moaning about Olio). Apart from this, tomorrow should be a NSD.

We are out on Sunday at C2C in London, but plan on having a large cooked breakfast at home which will hopefully tide us over until dinner at least, as food is going to be extortionate there and you can't take food or drink in.

themadvix

Ooh, have just managed to order some seed oca from Real Seeds - they'd had a bad harvest and had said they'd only have limited stock available, so didn't expect to get any! Very pleased with that as when we had them from R'ford we loved them - raw, roasted, just generally delicious. Also ordered some more cucumber seeds as there were only four in my original pack and they all died 🤦‍♀️Allotment pot will cover the costs.

rtandon27

oooo - a new and unusual veggie - had to google oca! - everyday is a school day

EssexHebridean

Another here who’d not heard of Oca - having googled though it sounds lovely, I’ll have to add it to the things we might try growing once we eventually have a garden! 

I reckon BB’s idea for the nominal per mile amount for the car is a good one. I know that just for diesel alone my car now costs in the region of 12p a mile - which is eye watering bearing in mind it wasn’t so long ago I used to estimate 10p a mile to cover every aspect of the drive - including depreciative stuff. That was when diesel was a lot cheaper though! 

And I too wouldn’t countenance £4 for a cup of tea - there is really no excuse for that! 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

I shall work out the cost per mile at some point (although nominally I could work on 45p/mile as that’s what the tax man allows). However today I’ve been getting closer to cost neutral as I cycled to town to meet my friend. Tea was £1.80 for a small pot, so much more reasonable! And I had two pots as we had lots to discuss 😊

Picked up another Olio last night as someone couldn’t do their regular slot. Was another relatively large collection and I was very pleased to keep grapes (didn’t remember fruit in Lidl), yoghurt  (Yeo valley, so what I hadn’t bought in Lidl as they didn’t have any organic) and parsnips (a next Sunday’s lunch), as well as lunch and snacks for today. Also collected a basil plant, chips and spring onions from another Olioer on my way to the homeless shelter with the leftovers.


When I got back from town I did some bike maintenance/tweaking and also washed my old bike and got it up for sale on FB. I suspect I’m asking too much for it at the moment, but can always lower the price.

Have just bought a navy blue sharpie from eBay to (don’t laugh) colour in my jeans where the cats pull the threads through! There’s a tricky technique for pulling the threads back through that MIL and I have mastered but it doesn’t always work and I figure colouring the white threads in will make them look smarter for longer (I have form for using a sharpie to colour things in - a damaged bit of worktop trim in coloured with a black sharpie and you’d never know!).

Mr MV has added a couple of bottles of Guinness to his parents supermarket order for us for St Patrick’s Day, but otherwise I think we’re done for spending today. He’s off to have a bath shortly and I’m going to read my book. I should be clearing and cleaning my car, but it’s just not warm enough to be outside without a coat and wearing a coat to do that stuff is a real faff (I hate hoovering my car at the best of times). It can wait!