Starting afresh in paradise

Merlin's_Beard

I'm not sure I've got any helpful solutions, tbh - my go to routine is get in - put kettle on - sit down and de-tense with a cup and tea and my receipts going into my budget app (being out and around people is always a bit of a stressor to me!), but I'm not sure that's helpful while you're on the go.

ManekiNeko

Thanks, that's a good thought to connect the habit to tea drinking (which I do a lot of!).

I've also had a helpful tip from my partner to check how much I can spend before I go out for the day, then deduct what I spend off it in a rounded way. For instance, say you have £50 available, you spend £8.57, so you say to yourself you've got £40 left. That way, in reality you'll underspend a bit, and it's easier to do mental sums that way.

The other thing I think I'll do is get receipts for everything, as I don't always bother at the moment, but think I'd find it easier to enter working from receipts and a physical calculator compared to using my phone for the budget, the calculator and the notifications of the amount I've spent. Obviously, this will be much better with tea, as you suggest! ☺️☕

Not much to report here - been away for a few days, just heading home. OP'd another 28p of cashback. Been enjoying doing some drawing lately, and planning to give a few people drawings or paintings as gifts. This is time consuming but also counts as a leisure activity, and is deff less expensive than gifts atm.

ManekiNeko

Another 13p of cashback cleared, so added to OPs pot. Other than that, been quite triggery, and it's been busy lately so just enjoying a very quiet day. Getting takeaway tonight for the first time in a couple of months.

ManekiNeko

Another £1.19 of cashback has cleared through, now sent to the OPs pot. 🪙

My OP fund has been starting to build up.. I'm debating at what point to OP it. They said if I OP less than three times the amount of my standard mortgage payment, it'll not count towards the 10 per cent annual limit, so I'm tempted to do that, even though there's a snowball's chance in hell ❄️🔥 of me overpaying more than the 10 per cent limit this year anyway. Anyway, I've got time to decide, as I've got about twice the amount of my usual payment as things stand.

The other reason I've been feeling like I might need to OP it sooner is because my savings have actually been building up. 😲 I had a text from the DWP yesterday saying to expect a £301 cost of living payment soon, so (tired brain) I'd been worrying I might somehow reach the £6k lower savings threshold. But having had a good night's sleep I've realised I'm being silly, because a) I only have about £4k in savings just now, so there's no way I'd reach it, b) I've got plenty of things to buy in the fairly near future, so if anything my savings will be going down a bit, and c) the cost of living payments are disregarded from means testing anyhow.

I'm back home for a few days now, partly trying to tidy up a bit (plus sorting and shredding more old paperwork, I hope), partly to get jobs done online. I've ordered my GHIC card now, but still need to look into travel ins, a travel spending card, etc. Hopefully this won't take too long, as I believe I can take one of my existing cards with me. My holiday backpack that I've ordered should be arriving later today, too. 🎒

Not sure if I've got the energy for all that yet, though. Might play a game for an hour or two and then try to get on with it. I do miss coffee sometimes ☕😂😴🤦‍♀️

ManekiNeko

House post, skip to the next if you only want money:

Yesterday was productive, my partner helped me lift some heavy items around (stuff like putting my big tent up on top of my wardrobe). He also thoroughly tested my floor lamp - the one that fused my extension lead when I tried to use it - and after quite a while, established there's actually no problem with it at all. So it's now plugged back into that same extension cord and has been working perfectly ever since. He's as baffled as me lol. 🤷‍♀️

We tried a new place for the artificial Christmas tree, but no dice, so he's suggested I take it out of its (enormous) storage bag and pack it into three separate black plastic bags. As at least then I can store these separately - though no idea where yet, especially as they're relatively delicate. I'm thinking of getting an extra sideboard cupboard for the living room though, so probably in there eventually. Really, I'd prefer to hide the tent in there too but it depends if it'll fit.

Anyway, trying to stay focused on things I can do today, not maybes from the future. I shall be emptying the tool bags and repacking them with only tools - DIY supplies to go separately, on a shelf. Both will go into my bedroom, which should free up the leg area under my desk to accommodate some/all of my boxes of 'misc' paperwork. They're so stressful and I shall hate having them by my legs, they'll be right in the way, but hopefully this will motivate me to keep dealing with them? In turn, this should make the couch end of the room much emptier, and might even mean there's space to watch a movie there, if I can find my HDMI lead.

Other than that, some general tidying up would be a good idea, as moving those heavy things around has left a trail of loads of lighter things that got moved out of the way, and there's not much useable space in my place now. For instance, I slept down a narrow part of my bed last night as the rest was full of stuff, and I've just had to clear a gap on the couch to sit down. I've got my support worker back on Monday, so I at least need the living room to be back together by then.. I'm here until Saturday so really that means by then.

I do also have a little pile for charity accumulating in my hallway, so if I'm feeling energetic (and if I manage to find a spare cardboard box), I can post that off to donate (freepost). I've also got a few tip items as well, so going to take them on Monday so I have an emptier hallway ready to install my coat hooks and shoe rack.

Been feeling a bit overwhelmed in general, and not coping too well with everyday activities. A decent part of this is how messy it is here - I can't stand visual clutter, and my home is full of it. It's why I haven't started working on measuring up and building cupboards, even though they'd be useful for storage - there's not enough 'room' in my brain to do this yet (and frankly not enough room to work, either!). So I'm just trying to have a good tidy up in the hope it makes things feel less 'busy.' Then after my holiday (my backpack arrived btw so that's all set) I'll have another go at the DIY side of things.

ManekiNeko

In money news this week:

Found 10p at the garage yesterday. Was quite excited 🎉💃 lol. Ofc, it's gone into my OPs fund.

Had my PIP payment today which came to £650.25, a bit more than usual but not as much as it'll be from next month onwards. This means I can cover my additional repayment to my DS out of the extra PIP, which is a relief because otherwise I'd have had to take it out of fun money, which is pretty limited as it stands, especially when I have to take general housekeeping needs out of it because I've run out of money in that pot. I'll also have maybe £9 left over to put towards one budget category or another.

My solicitor rang me on Monday to say I need to send over a surprise extra £45, as the Land Registry need that amount more than anticipated to process the lease extension alongside changing the registered owner to my name. Normally this would be a panic, especially as I've already spent all my fun money for the month, but I've actually kept my Rainy Day Fund for exactly that, so I can just send it over. This is a nice feeling and I want to remember it for next time my brain tries to convince me it's urgent to buy something 😝 lol. I usually think of rainy day money as things like, going to hospital, but I think an unexpected bill could count too? 🤔 I'm aiming to send the money later today, but need to have a big tidy up first so I've actually got room to sit at my desk in a relaxing way, so we'll see.

I also seem to be obsessed by the inflation rate rn, because the rate in September will control the rate of increase for benefits next spring. This is pointless because a) the rate of inflation could change wildly by September, b) food inflation is way higher than overall inflation, so I'll be on a loss if anything, and c) there's no guarantee the government will actually uplift benefits by the rate of inflation.

So why keep looking at it? I think it's because there's things I'd really like to be able to pay for (mostly things for our potential future family, either immediate stuff to buy or longer-term savings for their future), but can't currently afford, as well as a few underfunded line items in my budget where I'm putting a little something towards it, but not nearly enough.

A good example would be preparation; this isn't doomsday prep, it's Tuesday prep, you understand. In plain terms, I'd just like to get some simple emergency items to have at home, like say a good torch in case of a power cut (my existing one, which I was given, is starting to conk out on me), and a simple home First Aid kit. Maybe a few Peebols and a SheWee for my partner's car for if/when I'm pregnant (in case, say, we unluckily get stuck on the motorway if they closed the road ahead for a while for an accident and I'm desperate to go). But my budget for preparation is £2.75 a month. At that rate, it might take me a year to get a good torch.

My therapist has also increased his rates for everyone, but hasn't for me yet, so I've got to expect at least some rise next year - and to all my bills, no doubt.

It's really frustrating sometimes not working any more, even though I know I'm not well enough.. I miss one job in particular where I could easily pick up overtime when I needed it. I was paid in 15 minute increments and got travel time paid too. In a way I'd quite like to return to something like this, with a good employer, and other times I daydream more about my plans to run an non-profit one day. In reality, when I'm well enough I imagine it'll be a hybrid thing where I get a part-time job and do my non-profit on the other days of the week. It all feels a long way off though.

Ok, enough rambling. Happy Thursday all, hope it's as sunny for you as it is here. 🌸🌼🏵️☀️

ManekiNeko

Ugh just typical, realised I've got an infection again so it's off to the doctors for more antibiotics. This is the thing I'm on the waiting list for surgery to resolve.. it's felt like an infection was maybe about to come on for a couple of days, but I've been hoping it would go away. Guess not. Explains why I was so tired and lightheaded yesterday.

It's really aggravating because I think it was caused on Tues when I was in the same position for a few hours.. it seems if pressure gets put on the area, it triggers an infection.

I'm not sure what antibiotics I'm allowed when I'm trying for a family, so I'll wait and see if there's anything I can have or if they'll send me to have the infection drained.

This is the last thing I need a week before heading out on holiday next week.. though I am at least grateful it's only a pleasantly warm country we're going to, not a hot one.

ManekiNeko

Well, the checking my balance before I went to the shop worked. I only went to Morrisons so it wasn't a big test, but it's about starting a new habit.

I comprehend the item prices in the shop well enough, but don't understand the total price at the till. For example, this meant I had no idea what I'd just spent until well after I'd gotten home, and only because I happened to think to check.

If I look on the positive side of this, at least I know I can't go over budget when I check how much is in the pot before I go into the store.. although I think a weekly budget is better, so I'll try to think about £60 a week rather than the total monthly figure in there.

I feel inexpressibly.. hmm, out of control or weak? Not the right words, but don't know better ones. In the face of not being able to understand a price properly, when I can do quite advanced financial stuff at home.

Merlin's_Beard

Well done on the rainy day fund and not having to scrabble - it's not the best to get an unexpected bill, but it's nice when it's a frankly neutral event instead of a massive negative one.

As for making your brain comprehend things while shopping - they are exhausting places full of noise and fluorescent light and items of food that mysteriously change aisle for no real reason (looking at you, eggs). I think everyone thinks better at home. becaise a shop is specifically designed to confuse you into buying more or  more premium.

ManekiNeko

Thanks Merlin, I appreciate it. I agree, it's really nice to not need to panic about it. 😌

Ha, so true. I just thought it was me always forgetting where the eggs lived 😝 oh dear lol. That's a good point though about the lighting etc, I'm so used to finding supermarkets / shops harsh places to be that I'd forgotten there was intentionality to the design or that it might bother people, or otherwise throw them off, without MH stuff going on and/or neurodivergence.