Find the SecondStar and soar, and then straight on till the morning…

KajiKita

Good news on the refunds and excellent news on the pay increase and back dated pay 🎉🥳😊

Hope the weekend is going well and you are warm and dry enough.

KK

SecondStar

Thank you @kajikita !

The £74 monitor refund ended up being a refund to an Argos gift card - had forgotten I’d bought a gift card through our work discount scheme to get 7% off, and they would only refund to the payment method! I’m not sure what will be worth spending £74 on at Argos, but I’ve got 3 years to think about it, apparently.

It might go towards Christmas, or possibly DIY / garden things.



The weekend was lovely! It was blooming cold, so I was glad to have brought my thermal layers to go under my viking kit, and to have my ever-toasty partner tucked up under all the wool blankets on the bed at night.

It was a beautiful, scenic spot, and a nice way to close out the season for the year. Not very busy with the public, but I still managed to make £120, and my partner made £140. I sold a pair of socks (the pair I was going to keep for myself, if they didn’t sell!), a hat, and a pair of mittens - all to very appreciative people, which is always lovely. It’s a very nice feeling when people want to part with their cash for things which you’ve made!

Some of the sales were cash, some were on the card which takes a couple of days to go through, so I’ve not counted this £120 into my budget for the month just yet.

I’m not quite sure where to put the business sales money?

Do we think it’d be sensible to create a separate ‘business pot’ for all sale money, to be used for the likes of my website domain subscription, online sales listing fees, business cards, and buying in materials and items for sale?

That way I can keep the business money separate from my employed income, so I can properly monitor growth (hopefully!)?



Pay day today, with a little bit of extra overtime cash too, so I’ve been doing my regular budget today.

I was able to put £293.51 into my emergency fund from my basic salary, and overtime was +£69.55 - so that’s a total of £363.06 to go into the emergency fund

As of right now, my 3 month emergency fund is sitting at £3,348.62 / £3,500! 95% of the way there, only £151.38 to go!!

I started graphing my emergency fund - back in April it had been at £4,100. In June it dropped to £2,750 with the boiler, and then took more hits with 2 lots of car trouble, and unexpected vet bills. It goes to show just how quickly cash can deplete when something goes wrong.

Between April and now, this has been the most money I’ve ever saved up, all by myself.

It is very humbling, but incredibly satisfying. It shows what I am capable of when I set my mind to something, and it gives me confidence that I’m able to take care of myself financially. It makes my life feel rich, in a way which isn’t just about numbers!

Sarahwithlove

Definitely keep business separate, maybe open another account for it to go in and expenses to pay out of. It will make it easier to monitor 

SecondStar

I miscalculated, I actually made £140 over the weekend! The card payments have arrived today, I’ll speak to my partner about how he wants to divvy up the cash / card amounts this evening. He’s more of a cash person, whereas I like my money digital!



I rearranged my living room and bedroom last night, in a flurry of energy brought on by boredom and a sore bum from having been parked on the sofa for 2 days.

My home is so tiny that it’s difficult to place furniture - there’s only a few spots that things like the sofa don the bed can go. I still have my lovely old sideboard which belonged to my granddad - it’s a 5ft long chunk of mahogany, and it’s much too large for my house, but I don’t want to part with it. If (when) my partner and I move in together and upsize, then I want to keep it for my next home. In the meantime though, I keep dragging it around the house to see if I can make it fit anywhere else. If my partner moves in here in the interim, then it will have to go and be stored in one of the barns at his parents house - there’s simply not enough room to swing a cat otherwise!



Speaking of boredom and sore bums, whilst we were away I didn’t lift and scroll on my phone for 3 days, from Friday afternoon till Sunday evening.

I sat down on Sunday and picked up my phone and tablet, and my fingers began their regular routine of clicking and scrolling, and it felt like my brain would burst with the instant overload of pictures, videos, music, text… It was the most bizarre experience - it was almost painful.

After 3 days of being entirely outdoors, boiling the kettle on the camp stove, talking to people, working on a craft, walking to fetch water, looking mostly at a distance, and only looking at a screen for a few seconds to process card transactions; it felt bloody awful to be bombarded with reels and to take in so much information within seconds.

But I am addicted to the scroll and pushed through the discomfort, and am back to wallowing in my social media habits again. But it has made me think critically about my usage, and how much enjoyment I’m actually getting from my use (not much), and how much of my use is actually just a time-sink / dopamine drip (a lot).

KajiKita

What an interesting response to regaining access to the WWW …. Maybe you could do a digital detox day once a week? 

KK

SecondStar

@kajikita after how rotten I’ve felt this week, I think that might be part of the answer going forwards!

And I have felt really rotten this week.

I was off on Monday and spent the day on the sofa, in the quiet, recovering from the weekend.
On Tuesday I was WFH on admin tasks, so once I’d finished all my work by 11am I…spent the day in the sofa.
On Wednesday I was also WFH, with 1.5 hours in active tasks, and the rest….on the sofa. My partner came over for the night which was lovely.
On Thursday I went into the office, only none of my friends or team were in, so I got all my work done by 10 and then went home. Worked on for the rest of the day, and then spent the evening on the sofa and went to bed early.
Friday I stayed at home, but it was a repeat of Thursday.

I didn’t leave the house Monday - Wednesday, didn’t speak to anyone on Thursday, and then went to the shops after work on Friday.

I like living alone, and it’s not often that I feel lonely, but this week I’ve been full of aches and pains from being stationary and not moving my body at all. My tailbone feels bruised from sitting on that damn sofa, or my metal desk chair; and my hips and inner things hurt, because I sit cross-legged, or all scrunched up.

My back, core, and lower traps are weak, and so my posture has become more and more misaligned, as other parts of my body attempt to compensate. My upper traps and pecs are like iron, my neck and the base of my skull ache constantly, and my lower back rounds out and collapses when I’m sitting.

I can’t keep on like this, I’m only 33! I look as though I’m in good physical shape for my height, but the reality is that I am far weaker than I was even 3 years ago, and my stamina is non-existent anymore.

Gentle, consistent exercise is what I’ll be aiming for. I’ve not done any of the walking I said I was going to start, but I will. I’ve also just this very minute got in touch with a local Pilates instructor - I exercise better and more regularly in a class setting, rather than promising myself that I’ll do exercise at home. £25 a month to get me moving again is a bargain.



In other news, I had a spurt of energy after rearranging the furniture, and have started looking at the porch again.

I cleared out all my summer jackets and sandals into my summer storage under the bed, and took out shoes and bags which I don’t wear anymore for charity. I took out the side table which was taking up floor space, and used a tension rod to hang a curtain across to hide the coats, bags, and shoes in their alcove.

The ‘curtain’ is actually one of 2 white crochet lace bedspreads which my mum bought in a charity shop about 25 years ago, and which have come with me on every house move but never used in the beds due to pets clambering on them! The 2nd bedspread I’ve also used on a tension rod in the living room, in the arch into the kitchen. They’re wonderfully full and lacy, and give a real fairytale cottage vibe, and feel like having part of my mum in my home which is lovely.

I also picked up a length of moulding to go around the porch walls as a faux-dado rail, a couple of paint samples, and a new 1l tin of primer - I finally used up my last tin, after decorating 2 houses with it, which was pretty good going. I’ve got a Vision!

The primer, paint samples, moulding, caulk, adhesive, caulking gun, and 2 tension rods, all came to about £58. I had been planning to fund this from my personal spending, but I then sold a harness which my dog never used, which went for £70.

SecondStar

After feeling very sad and sorry for myself, my partner and I have had a lovely weekend, and I’m once again left very grateful to have such a wonderful person!

He approved of my curtains, and listened and nodded along to my porch ideas, and took me out to buy shelf brackets and get pizza and milkshakes for dinner. He prompted me to take my ibuprofen every 4 hours, and then made me a hot water bottle (which I said I didn’t need, but was actually very grateful for once I had it!), and then tucked me into bed when I felt run down and tired.

Then this morning we discussed our respective health and fitness plans, with the idea to begin walking together. A quick trip to decathlon presented 1 pair of shoes which were an Alright fit, but after 2 years of exclusively wearing barefoot style shoes may be a bit too uncomfortable. More research required. We also nipped into B&Q for a shelf for the porch, and a nicer curtain rod for the living room. Oh, and I got to exercise my somewhat rusty male barbering skills, and gave him a haircut and a beard trim, which came out looking really good!

A very successful weekend all round, and I’m hoping to take all of that good feeling into this coming week of work.

My BFF and her partner have also decided to host their Christmas party again this year, so we’re hoping to do a short weekend trip over to see them, which would be lovely. She’ll still be visiting in January, but it would be nice to see them before then.

I start my Pilates class next week! I got a pair of grippy toe socks in decathlon, and I’m already having great fun with them haha.

SecondStar

Last day of good weather for the week, so I made myself go for an hour long walk after dinner. It did feel a bit aimless, walking without a dog, but I took myself along the shore front and then up and down some of the little terrace streets which I hadn’t walked before.

I hadn’t appreciated how unique a lot of the houses are, it’s less likely to find one which isn’t painted in a combination of colours, or which doesn’t have some unique name or moniker on it’s front door!

My legs hurt, and I’m more tired than I’d expected, but I’m glad I got out for some fresh air rather than racking up another hour on the sofa tonight.

KajiKita

Well done for getting out and moving. I always find getting started the hardest bit and then I start to enjoy it 😊

Your emergency fund number (in your signature) is coming on well 😊
What are your plans once you hit the EF target?

KK

SecondStar

KajiKita said:

Well done for getting out and moving. I always find getting started the hardest bit and then I start to enjoy it 😊

Your emergency fund number (in your signature) is coming on well 😊
What are your plans once you hit the EF target?

KK

Right now, EF is at £3,361.82 / £3,500!

I have my accounts set to round up transactions into my EF, so it grows a tiny bit through the month. I’ll have my EF fully funded with my next pay cheque at the end of the month, which makes me happy.

Plans after that will be to grow my EF out to £7,000 (6 months expenses) - this is a number which feels secure to me, and feels as though I’ll also be prepared for vet emergencies.

However, I will be slowing my EF savings a bit, once I hit the 3 month target.

I’ve been hellbent on replenishing my EF after all the big expenses of the last few months. Not having cash in the bank is terrifying!

I’ll still be putting away regular amounts, but I’ll also be focusing on other sinking funds - going to visit my bff in December, increasing the budget a little for Xmas and my partner’s birthday, possibly a weekend break in February, taking the camper van somewhere in the spring, a week away in the summer, putting money aside for the garden next year and for bigger DIY projects, maybe increasing budget for clothing, etc.

The goal will still be 6 months expenses / vet fund, but I also want to start saving for enjoyable things as well. These last 10 months have been more frugal than I’ve ever been before. It’s been a necessary experience, and an enjoyable one at times. It’s been interesting to find out what I’m capable of, when I have a set goal and vision. I’m definitely not throwing all of that out the window, I just want to start using my money for other things that I value as well!