Five Year Fix, Five Year Plan

KajiKita

Yaaay for two weeks off! Me too 🤩

Totally get you on the ugh! of having to deplete savings for planned spends. Just the same here …

What’s the crawling weed, can we have a pic?

The bird song sounds nice ❤️😊

KK

Yorkie1

In garden news, the grass seed still hasn't sprouted so I've given up on it. WIll have to try again at some point

I just don't think it's been the weather for it. Too hot (above 25C and it won't play ball), too cold at night, etc.

I'm leaving any attempt at grass seed until September.

Merlin's_Beard

@KajiKita it looks like this - if anyone has any advice beyond "pull it up" I'm all ears!

@Yorkie1 I think that's maybe sensible and I'll just try later in the year again!

KajiKita

Ah, that looks very like field bindweed to me …. Sorry. You can use weedkiller but I never trust myself with it and I hate the thought of what it might do to the wildlife.

KK

Merlin's_Beard

Back from a lovely trip abroad and into this horrendous heat!

The trip was lovely, Stockholm is expensive! Having said that, holidays are the one time I don't pay a lot of attention to money, I just try and make sure that everything I do spend adds value to the experience.

(As a rough idea, about £900 on hotel/flight/airport parking, about £600 for museums/trips/food/transport - including airport breakfasts. I also lost my water bottle in a museum which will be about a tenner to replace.)

Managing the 1nv1salign away was more complicated than I thought it was going to be. The lack of ability to eat street food because I needed access to a toilet to brush teeth after eating was a lot of a bigger deal than I thought (I was seeing a friend who lives over there and they just… completely forget every time they made a suggestion for a food place, which was very wearying to try and constantly reinforce that over the course of a week for two meals every day)

But lots of island trips, a trip into a forest reachable by public transport and my 7 day transport card, lots of museums, lots of good food.

And now I'm hiding out until I go back to work on Monday.

rtandon27

@Merlin's_Beard - have a look at zima - easier portability and hygienic iyswim - sometime i resort to mothwash when brushing is not an option - I aim for 90% perfection as life still happens - ends up being 20 instead of 24 hours of the day but easier to manage.

Merlin's_Beard

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82048426#Comment_82048426

Oooh! That looks interesting, especially as the retainers will be much longer term when I get to them.

Merlin's_Beard

Done a bit of a money shuffle - opened the Edge saver, which is 6% but needs you to have the paying Edge account to go with it (there was a lot of complicated maths but basically while the savings rate is good it's worth it). I need to open the associated regular saver. I ought to start the regular saver (8%) but that will be a thing to do to start in August.

(There is precious little else I want to do in this heat, absolutely horrendous. My house didn't go below 26C yesterday, but we're starting today at 23C so hopefully that bodes for a better day. I think I've been fighting against the retained heat in the walls from the days I wasn't here as well. I don't even want to touch my cross stitch because I'm so hot and sticky and sweaty)

Merlin's_Beard

Positive updates!

I've started the HRT - only just, so it'll be interesting to see what effect it is having (started a diary to check effects).

hmrc have updated my tax code so I'm getting £2000 back from them - have requested it. Mostly going into the new car fund, but also covering a weekend trip away in november (very weekend trip - can't get any time off so flying late friday evening and early sunday evening, but will see friends so worth it)

medical appointments have settled down to the point where I have a day off without any dentist/doctor/counselling/electrolysis!

rtandon27

WOW that is quite some tax refund!

I've found their estimations wildly inaccurate when they estimate my taxable interest - one year they over charge me 700 pounds and the next undercharge me for the same! So I just let it role and while I claw back the overpayments asap, I let the amount due in the alternate year role into the next tax year iyswim, so that the code they give me just negates everything in the end!