Walking into another chapter ...

benbenandme

18 days into the month and Ice lost 9lb so far  
This morning I did a 10 mile beach walk and bumped into one of my best friends from my school days - I haven't seen her for 30+ years, it absolutely made my day!

Blackcats

Well done on the weight loss - that's brilliant.
well done for recognising your school friend after 30 years too! 

TallGirl

Hey just wanted to check you are ok? Must be time for your Summer break soon and that long long list lol.

benbenandme

You're absolutely right Tallgirl, we are hurtling towards the summer holidays and list time ... sorry for the lack of updates, the end of term is always quite bonkers and this year is no exception - the lovely Ofsted decided to rock up a couple of weeks ago so that caused some extra stress but at least it's done and dusted before the summer and we don't need to be worrying about that when we come back in September. 

We break up on Thursday this week, so only 3.5 days to go. I have already been working on my summer holiday list, as I'm sure those of you who have been here a while won't be surprised about. As well as a practical job list I also have a financial goal too. A friend of mine posted recently that if she can make £27.40 a day from her side hustle then she will have an extra £10,000 in a years time! Well. I don't think I could do that every day for a year but with 6 weeks off work it seems like an ideal challenge to me

I have a few things that could help me with it - matched betting; the new footie season starts at the beginning of August so there is some money to be made there; prolific surveys - I  like these although they usually die off over the summer. My cards; those of you who have followed for a while will know I sell |Flamingo Paperie cards, however since Covid events for this have been few and far between and prices to attend have rocketed. This, combined with the huge production cost increases has meant the company has sadly closed I do have lots of stock left still, I may sell some as a job lot to some other sellers who are continuing. I also have various stands too that I could sell. Other than that it will be the usual Vinted, Pinecone, Facebook marketplace etc to try and generate some extra pennies. so in total we have 45 days off this year, 45 x £27.40 = £1233. That's the plan 

Today I am finalising my plan for the practical list; I'm currently sat with my feet wrapped up in some Footners socks, which will hopefully make my feet look pretty in a week or two, watching the mens Wimbledon final and generally chilling  

My list will follow shortly x

benbenandme

So here is the summer holiday to do list as it currently stands:

Clean lights Fix lights under the stairs Paint bannisters Gut wicker drawers in lounge Gut large and small wicker baskets Paint table and chairs Sand coffee table and wax it Gut tall cupboards Clean under sofas Vax carpets Clean skirting boards Clean blinds in lounge Gut shoe cupboard Put up photos Fix broken candle holder Deep clean dishwasher Deep clean washing machine Gut food cupboards Inventory freezer Gut cupboard under sink Blackberry picking Clean kitchen tiles & grout Clean kitchen light Replace glasses Descale kettle Touch up painting in the hall Paint downstairs loo Clean bathroom tiles & grout Clean bathroom light Descale shower heads Gut bathroom cupboards Gut my wardrobe Gut my chest of drawers Gut under my bed Fix garage door Gut garage Paint new fence panels Remove shed Bin garden chairs Jetwash decking Turf Step and patio tiles Weed grey gravel Sort front garden Clean conservatory roof Clear next doors brambles to get to outside tap Clean garage door Car MOT Eye test Clean the car Boiler service Return wheelbarrow Get shelves in airing cupboard Get rid of tumble dryer (doesn't work) Get rid of garage freezer (doesn't work) Check all finances / insurance etc for renewal dates Clean wheelie bins Clean all windows Hoover conservatory light Fix garage light Sell stuff on Vinted Lots of trips to the tip

benbenandme

I have started with some Prolific surveys to get my challenge underway. Not a lot yet but all helps.

benbenandme

Day one of the holidays! Yesterday we finished work at lunchtime and we all went to the pub (approx 100 of us). Had a lovely afternoon sat in the beer garden chatting. I was home by around 6 and had a chilled evening and a fairly early night. A nice lie-in by my standards this morning and now I'm sat here with a coffee, looking forward to a day of watching the Ashes, a bit of pottering about tidying up, a bit of work on surveys etc but overall a lazy start to the holidays.

When my Dad died I kept an old huge vodka bottle of his, he always came home from work and emptied his pockets of his loose change into it. Over the years I have done the same but now can't remember the last time I put anything in it as I never use cash these days. So I have decided to bank its contents and get some lights to go in it instead. Just added the pennies that are in there and that's £75 to start my summer holiday fund off. 

benbenandme

Off to a good start, just spent 45 minutes doing a survey on Prolific for £9

benbenandme

Been and cashed in my small change - I wanted to take it to the bank but by the time I've paid for petrol to get to my nearest branch and then paid for parking (£1.50) it wasn't much cheaper than using the coinstar machine in Sainsburys. They do take 10%  but at least it's done and I've got the cash, even though it was £67.50 instead of £75. 

I also bought a few bits in there including a bottle of Radox shower gel that was free using Checkoutsmart and flavoured Volvic that was 50p on Shopmium but I still have credit with them so that is free too in effect. 

The £9 has been credited to my Prolific account already, happy with that! I won't include any money in my summer holiday total until I've cashed it out, otherwise I'll get in a muddle

benbenandme

And another prolific survey done, this time £15.00! Time for some lunch now x