So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Oh that sounds super interesting Jess! Do you have a link?

QueenJess

themadvix said:

Oh that sounds super interesting Jess! Do you have a link?

It's actually an old article.  I started reading the one today about the German reuse schemes and found myself in a whole little world I didn't know existed of these types of articles.  I then read about Vanuatu drastically cutting plastic pollution, then went on to read about France.

Just one of those internet wormholes I fell into this morning!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks Jess - I'll enjoy reading them!

Had a lovely time last night - pub with BIL, SIL and friend (the beer was excellent) followed by paella at the tapas bar with Mr MV. £11 spent on beer; Mr MV paid for dinner, but most of it (bar £4) was covered by the money his mum sent for our anniversary, so a low-spend evening. We cycled, and saw the maine coons for their dinner en route, so no electricity/parking costs. Today will be no-spend too - apart from visiting the cats, we have no plans to go anywhere, intend to eat BNS (and chilli?) risotto (to use up the BNS from the weekend) and play a board game.

Tomorrow we will be spending, however. We need to get a present for Nephew, who is coming Sunday (we have part of it, but need some more); possibly something to finish off present for my Sis (and a birthday card), a trip to the refill shop and to Sains for GF food for Sunday and possibly a doormat (an inside, washable job). Long-term readers may remember that B&W naughtily liked our bristly door mat for peeing on - since we gave up on those (having replaced many), we've just had bare concrete by the back door - because of course we cut the wood floor to have the doormat inset in it 🙄). In an attempt to make the house slightly more welcoming, I thought we might get a washable mat - then if he decides to pee there (occasionally still happens), it can be dealt with. We may also see the in-laws and treat ourselves to a visit to the tap room in the neighbouring market town which we've not visited yet.

Sunday will only involve a small spend if we go to the quiz at the pub - which is on the cards. Will be entertaining BIL and children for lunch and then popping to Sis's for a low-key birthday gathering.

Oh, and at some point I'll be planting my order from Rocket Gardens - due to turn up tomorrow hopefully! Brussels, beans and kohl rabi.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* 1P surveys
* Have just picked up a platform job - I really don't need more work, but it's interesting! 

Gratitudes:
* Lovely time last night
* Looking forward to playing Beer and Bread tonight (it's a really good two-player board game if anyone is interested)
* Cats were lovely this morning - I got nibbled because I wasn't paying the girl enough attention! 😂

Have a good afternoon all!

LadyWithAPlan

I also read the German recycling post but then became obsessed with the dogs of polling stations hashtags. You sound very focused, organised  and frugal!
The new work sounds good - i may need to look for suitable platforms myself for new contract work.

redofromstart

We had a similar door mat problem, and I got a magic mat which washes and dries quickly and coped with regular washes (on a cold 15 minute wash with bio stuff). 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks @redofromstart for your reassurance that this should work - £20 spent on Saturday on a new mat... It's a bit of a novelty having a mat rather than just bare concrete to avoid! Saturday was generally rather spendy, but that was expected. And due to a misunderstanding (that had me fuming quietly and not-so-quietly), we ended up catering for the in-laws as well as BIL and children. All smoothed over and apology accepted, so no harm done. But we did spend more than I'd've liked on food (not helped by the WR website, which suggested that the only GF celebration cake they did was lemon drizzle - not really a 7-year-old's choice, meaning we went to Sains especially, bought a far-more-expensive-than-intended cake as it was what was available (£8.25!), only to return to WR for the rest of the shopping (nearer the car) and discover we could have had a £3.50 GF chocolate cake!). Spent £30 in WR (although this also included various bits for us) and then some money at the bakery on Sunday morning (I'm not going to disclose how much - I'd be thrown out - but it was organic, handmade sourdough for the grown-ups/Nephew and a couple of pastries may also have slipped into my order. Local business though, so happy to support it - and it was all delicious and the bread is still going). While in the market town, we also had lunch (burritos - Mr MV paid) and a couple of beers at the tap room we've been planning to visit for a while (I paid). It was actually really lovely to spend the time with Mr MV pootling round shops (looking for a present for Nephew) - he avoids shopping at all costs (which is definitely fair - I do too), but it is nice to do sometimes!

Sunday was a rather chaotic day - I had cat sitting (last visit to Maine Coons), popped to bakery, had brief meltdown about self-inviting in-laws, said in-laws and BIL all an hour late arriving, chaos with two loud small children, dishwasher delivered (and installed), eventually saw visitors off, watched GP, went to Sis's for her birthday family gathering (see below) and then (at last) to the pub quiz (we won!). Bread and then a couple of pints were the only spends at least.

Sis had us all round, thought she had a sniffle... turns out it was Covid... Am really hoping Mr MV and I don't go down with it - it's never yet been a sniffle for us. Am meant to be going to evening class in person tonight, so will test before I go. One of our number has already sent his apologies due to Covid.

Am more-or-less caught up with main client's work at the moment, I think. There'll be more coming, but he's away for a couple of days, which will allow me to concentrate on other things. I've just started on the large platform job, which isn't as hard going as I thought it might be (so far), so that's good.

Assuming no Covid, we're planning a trip to the north Norfolk coast at the weekend. We might even nab a cheap hostel room and go up Friday night - £52 for a private room, including continental breakfast seems a very good deal. All depends on Covid though really.

Allotment has been largely neglected - popped down yesterday and did a bit of weeding. Am still waiting for my Rocket Gardens order. Am rather cross as it was marked as dispatched (with tracking no.) on Thursday... RM tracking says they're 'waiting to receive it'. How dead will my plants be by the time they get here? And it's going to be too late for the borlottis to do much - far too long a time between ordering and delivery. 

MS things:
* Clicks and HW
* Have been signed up for a focus group thing on solar/batteries, booked in for Monday, so that should be £120 (poss +£100) when it's all gone through.
* Have booked our hotels for travelling for our holiday in October - went direct to save with one and earned Hotels.com loyalty with the other. 

Gratitudes:
* It was nice to see niece and nephew at the weekend, if a bit much at times!
* Pub quiz (and a drink) - so calm after the mayhem
* This work not being as tricky as it could be
* Dishwasher 😁

Have a good afternoon all!

EssexHebridean

Fingers crossed for Covid avoidance then...there does seem to be a lot of it about at the moment doesn't there, although thankfully the reports do suggest that it is (for most people at least) not much more than a sniffle now.

No shade from here on spending money on really good bread - it absolutely can't be beaten IMO! it also of course tends to have the advantage as you have noted as coming from a nice local business which is worth support too, so win-win I'd say. 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks EH. We seem to have dodged the Covid, thank goodness. Sis is OK, but very tired, which is very unlike her (spoke this morning and then sent her off for a second nap as she was clearly flagging). In exciting (to some) news, we were scheduling a trip to Disneyland Paris for October next year. It gives us plenty of time to save and hopefully we can get a good deal. We're going to see how we all fit in our car (Sis, Niece, Mum and us), but also look at train times/options.

The bread has worked out pretty well - I've just had the last of it for lunch (toasted, admittedly). Real sourdough does last better than either homemade or bought UP bread. It's been novel not baking this week (and I think I'll avoid it until Sunday now), but I definitely won't be paying £4.50 per loaf on a regular basis.

Work is still incredibly busy. Just as I think I'm getting ahead, something else pops up. Main client has forewarned me about something arriving tomorrow (and more towards the end of the month), UK client has forewarned me about something else arriving tomorrow, I've done a whole load more for the US client that arrived overnight and a tiny bit for another US client too, and I'm still working on the platform job as well. Yesterday was largely Cambridge-focused - report boss has given me more details and stuff to do, but she's now away until mid-August, so that's something; got caught up on most of the bits for my boss/friend after our meeting (although that then generates more follow up).

Since my last post, we have booked the night in the YH for tomorrow - we'll have to see how early we can get away from work commitments, but at least we'll be up there nice and early on Saturday. Plan to grab some fresh pasta and sauce en route and have traditional 'camping' tea as we'll have cooking facilities. Saturday will likely involve breakfast at the hostel, ice cream and lunch expenditure, as well as tickets to the garden at Sandringham - it's on my 40/40 list to visit - intended to go before RHS membership ran out, but that didn't happen.

Have also booked Christmas market trip to Cologne for December by train. Super excited about this - we haven't been to Germany since before the pandemic. Long-long-term readers may remember (if I even wrote about it, it may have been during my diary hiatus) that we've been to Cologne before. However, going by train takes quite a bit longer (but has its benefits) - so we decided not to go any further this year. We're staying two nights... in the Premier Inn... I'm seriously unimpressed as it's not very German, but it was by far the cheapest. Fear it'll be full of Brits too - eurgh!

MS things:
* Tax bill paid; pension, LISA and long-term savings all topped up with the (substantial) leftovers.
* Dinner will try to use up various bits as I've discovered rather a lot of stuff in the fridge that needs eating - a result of doing a lot of catering recently and losing the plot somewhat!
* My plants from Rocket Gardens are finally arriving today - assuming they are healthy, I'll either plant them this afternoon or tomorrow morning - they may not arrive until 7.30pm!
*£1.18 TCB and £3 NW reward sent to EF savings - only £55 to find there to be square after the dishwasher purchase - Tandem interest is due tomorrow which should go a considerable way towards that.

Gratitudes:
* England's win!
* A lovely chat with Sis this morning
* A text from my Dad (who is visiting Cliveden) - saying the last bit of his lunch roll had been stolen by a red kite! He then sent a photo of the sign saying 'it is likely that red kites will steal your food here' (my italics). I think I'd be rather disappointed if they didn't given that it's likely, not possible!
* The sun is out!

Have a good afternoon all!

EssexHebridean

Lovely planning for fun stuff there, and yes, I think I to would be disappointed if the Kites had shunned my butty with a sign like that on display! 

themadvix

Morning all,

Absolutely EH - I'd quite like a close encounter of the bird kind (yes, pun intended!).

Am slightly concerned that I've not received a payslip for this month (usually arrive a week before - payday is this Monday). Not quite sure why as I'm pretty sure they were signed off before the deadline. Am following up with HR now. It's obviously not the end of the world, but I will be quite cross if I don't get paid.

In better news, EF interest has hit my account and that combined with £5 from a bookie payout means I'm just £4 away from paying back the £100 borrowed for the dishwasher. We don't have a separate white goods replacement pot - but this doesn't bother me as our EF is larger than it needs to be (even more so now we don't have a mortgage). I'm due a final hit of interest (from my tax savings account) on the 22nd, so I'll be able to distribute that to other (more fun) savings pots!

Am nearly finished with the first part of the large platform job, so that will be returned today. Am expecting something from UK client, but it might not arrive until later/Monday. And nothing arrived from main client overnight (he heads over the Pond for the summer each year), so that won't arrive until later, if at all. Mr MV is aiming for a 4pm getaway!

My plants arrived about 5.30 yesterday, all perfectly healthy, so clearly they'd not been packed when they said they had. I need to get them in the ground before we go - that's my next job after this work (would have gone first thing but it was rather damp 🙄).

Have a good day/weekend all!