The Mental Debt Struggle...

cannugec5

We can’t get any supermarket deliveries at all at the moment. We used to get Tesco, and only Tesco, but a landslide in October closed the road so they can’t get here. 

Possibly they will reopen the road just before the end of December. I doubt there will be any slots left even if they do. They will be gone in a flash. 

I do, however, subscribe to Amazon for toilet rolls and SMOL for laundry detergent and washing up liquid so they don’t run out. I really look forward to ‘normal’ supermarket deliveries again. 

Cherryfudge

I'm not awake enough to try to get my head round the energy price fix but I'm sure someone can advise!

You seem to have thought through such a lot. I hope things even out re the family dynamic but in the meantime it's really nice that you've been able to pay some back to your Mum while keeping an emergency fund for any other needs.

I've not used Am azon for food apart from the odd item I couldn't find elsewhere, but I remember hearing that if you set up a recurring subscription for certain items, you can get a good price on them.

The broken bone sounds a lot more painful than it actually was: thankfully although it was complicated, it wasn't displaced. In fact the only pain I remember was lifting the arm, especially when I had to put it on the X-ray plate. It had to be pinned but it's healed up perfectly.

Keedie

That landslide sounds dangerous with far reaching consequences @cannugec5. Are people able to safely get in and out of your area with that road closed? 

I imagine that the delivery slots will definitely be scooped up before you even know they're available when they resume, but hopefully after that initial rush, it will die down into something more manageable. I need to look at Amazon for toilet rolls and stuff, my sister and her husband do their laundry stuff and toilet rolls etc on repeat from Amazon. I hear good things about Waitrose and Amazon, so I'll definitely look into it for January.

Keedie

Yes I'm glad that I've not wiped out the emergency fund @Cherryfudge, but really happy to see another chunk repaid to my mum 🤗. I'm glad that the broken bone wasn't too painful for you.

Keedie

My brother gave me the £10 instalment for this week and so I put that in my Debt Buster pot and it's now £35.19/£250. So that's ticking along nicely. 

I hobbled down to Poundland today and got two money tins, as I've realised that I just save coins better with them than when I can easily access the money. My little cat tin will still house the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p coins for penny challenge, but the 50p and £2 will now go in one tin which I'll use for holidays like I used to, and the other tin is for all my savings challenges in 2024, so that I can set the money aside and count it at the end of 2024, and put a chunk towards my debts and a chunk towards being ahead on my 2025 sinking funds.

I moved all my 50p and £2 coins into their new home and wiped my savings trackers clean, so that I can start them afresh and anything saved so far will just be a bonus. I had £15 in £5 notes as well as my son keeps taking money out of the cash point and then not wanting the change as he prefers to spend on his card, so I then end up transferring the money to him. So I've used that £15 to kickstart the savings challenges tin.

I noticed that there was a small chip on the ramekin dishes that I got from Lidl yesterday when I opened it, so I took it back today and swapped it for another one. This one has no chips, but the inside of one of them is slightly discoloured but that doesn't matter. I don't mind that, but a crumbling dish isn't going to work for me. I could just imagine it getting larger and larger over time and it would have been a waste to keep it. So me and my crutches got on the bus to Poundland and when I got off the bus to go home, the bus stops right outside Lidl, so I was able to sort that all out and then hobble on via the pharmacy to pick up my bipolar medication as I realised last night that I forgot to collect the tablets that they owed me. Then I dragged myself on home and had a nap!

Cherryfudge

cannugec5 said:

We can’t get any supermarket deliveries at all at the moment. We used to get Tesco, and only Tesco, but a landslide in October closed the road so they can’t get here. 

Possibly they will reopen the road just before the end of December. I doubt there will be any slots left even if they do. They will be gone in a flash. 

I do, however, subscribe to Amazon for toilet rolls and SMOL for laundry detergent and washing up liquid so they don’t run out. I really look forward to ‘normal’ supermarket deliveries again. 

Crumbs, @cannugec5, that's drama! I hope you aren't cut off.

I subscribe to SMOL for dishwasher and laundry detergents, fabric conditioner and multi-surface cleaner, and to WGAC for toilet rolls and kitchen paper. They seems to get a lot more on the rolls as the middle is narrower - there's also the MSE trick of slightly squashing toilet rolls before putting them on the holder, so they don't spin and give you too much.

Cherryfudge

You've had a long day, @Keedie! I hope you get some rest and it doesn't add to your pain.

The savings tins sound fun!

Keedie

I had a look at Smol and it seems really good. They've got a bundle for all of their products for £11, so hopefully it is still on in a week or so when I have some more money.

I ate my dinner too late as I was so tired before, but now I can't sleep 😬.

LittleMissDetermined

I'm also a stockpiler (much to my husband's annoyance) as you never know when you're going to need something. It does mean we need to check dates etc more regularly but I always take advantage of the multibuy offers if it's a staple we use often. 

Keedie

The last few days have been quite busy and I've barely caught up with myself. But things have definitely been looking up 🤗.

My son scored top of his class in a Maths quiz and he then got the highest grade in his Business mock exam and got a distinction! He was so excited when his teacher's email came through on Tuesday evening that he raced so quickly into my room he almost bumped into the doorway like an excitable puppy! I took him out for a celebration meal at Honest Burgers on Wednesday and got 10% cashback with using my Monzo debit card (so a very MSE way to do a celebration 😂).

My winter homes £10 payment came the other day and I put that in my OctoPain (it's for Octopus Enegry and it's a 'pain' to pay for any bills) pot to save money for a buffer should I need it for my energy bills. Still not sure about fixing, as the prices will most likely drop from April when I turn my heating off, so if it does go down, then I'll build more surplus in the account for winter 2024. The prognosis for switching is 'borderline', so I'm not sure if it is worth it or not? Decisions, decisions...

I moved some money around for the business account and started an emergency fund in there and some sinking funds for ongoing expenses, so that what I have stretches further and I will always be a few months ahead on expenses. I'm going to do my copywriting course in the new year and when I qualify after a few months, I'll be able to start freelancing with copywriting. I'll also do HR freelancing from around February or March 204 and I should be returning to work late January 2024. Once all of that is in place, I'll be able to expand my budget and get into a better position to save and clear my debt to my mum.

I've been having some side effects with my bipolar medication and I've slipped back into the pre-diabetic range. I don't want my liver to be affected again, so I've agreed with the GP that I will come off the medication in January once she's met with the mental health team and the psychiatrist and they've worked out what I should to move to. Being back on medication has really helped me and I'm feeling less overwhelmed and more emotionally resilient, but it's not worth sacrificing my physical health for my mental health. So we're back to the drawing board in some respects.

I was referred to the council's Occupational Therapy department in September 2023 by social services when they did my care package assessment. I've just received a letter stating that OT accepted the referral and it's a 12 month waiting list to be seen, and that they will recommend equipment in the first instance and then if that does not help, then they will consider adaptations. So I reckon it's going to take around 2 years or so before anything meaningful happens. I'd asked in October 2022 if I could be assessed for a wet room as although I have an electric bath lift, it requires me to be able to consistently climb into the bath to use it. I was told that they would consider giving me a step stool instead. And when I chased it up a couple of months later, there was no record of any request 😬. So at least this time, it has been noted and things are in motion, even if I have lost a year of no action.

But some more exciting news as I clearly can't count, I got a refund from the tax department at the DVLA. I sent a check for 50% of the annual car tax so that I could tax the car and get the reduction, but I clearly have no clue about what my tax band is as I wrote them a check for the incorrect amount and so they've sent back a check for £7.50. So I'll put that back into my travel fund 😄.