Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

themadvix

Hope things get back on an even keel asap!

Moorviews

Sorry to read of the recent problems. I hope Soot is feeling better and that everything else is resolved soon 💐

Chrystal

Hoping that everything is OK.  Sending gentle (((hugs))) and positive vibes.  XXX

foxgloves

Thanks every one of you for your kind wishes re poor old Soot & the other cr*pola which beset us over the last few days. It does mean a lot to know one is being thought of in times of adversity. I hoped to pop on yesterday to post an update, but Mr F's horrible day did culminate in an unwanted outcome, so we went & sat out on the new kitchen garden bench & chatted about that instead. He says he's ok about it now & seems pretty chipper. We just talked about the most important things in our lives & future plans & he realised nothing about those had changed. No more on that, as quite a specific situation & I do like my anonymity on here. 
Anyway, I expect you'll want to know what happened with Soot. Well, this came as an enormous surprise, but he stopped eating. He ate very little on Tuesday, a few nibbles on Wednesday & wouldn't even finish a lick-e-lix on Thursday. I remembered from a situation with a past cat that not eating in felines is a problem if is persists because it can cause quite serious liver problems, so I secured an emergency vet appointment & Mr F did a mercy-dash to get home from work in time. Vet was very thorough & gave him a good going over. Said he couldn't find anything obviously wrong. I'd suspected an infection, but his temperature was normal. Apparently this can be a thing with cats, whom he described as 'mysterious creatures' - they can get an unspecified tummy thing which makes them feel full & nauseous so they don't want to eat anything. This would explain why he was responding to most of the usual food cues such as biscuits rattling or a pouch being opened, but then turning away & not wanting to eat it. Vet administered an anti-nausea drug, a vitamin B shot & something else which Mr F couldn't remember, & he told us that if they were going to work, it should be quite quickly. The next morning, Soot ate half a pouch for breakfast & some of his other daily snack & meals. This morning he ate a whole pouch. So, it is looking better atm, but we have been told to monitor him & if it happens again, we need to book him in for blood tests to make sure there's nothing else going on. He is more normal in himself, though not quite back to his usual levels of activity because he probably needs to rebuild his energy levels. 
I haven't looked too closely at the bill. It will almost certainly be under the excess on the pet insurance policy, but we do have a full Meow Pot atm thanks to Project Surbiton, so I am grateful for that, & of course that the vet was able to see him - the last appointment before closing time. 
Shall I tell you about being scammed next?
F x

Humdinger1

Dearest @foxgloves, sending hugs.  Yes please, tell us about the scammed xxx

BrilliantButScary

So pleased that Soot is on the mend. I'm sure Mr F appreciates having a supportive partner and sometimes having a discussion helps to put things into perspective.

foxgloves

OK, just been to march a few more laps up & down the garden as my daily minimum steps were looking low - with all the rain today, it's not been the sort of day where I wanted to go out for a stomp around the village, but I have achieved my target now & can report that I haven't been sedentary for the last 44 days. 
Anyway, onto yesterday's scammers. I didn't lose any money thanks to both spotting it straight after the event & the good old C**p Bank declining to pay out our money to these crooks. Here's what happened:
I entered a prize draw to win a box of toiletries (in the hope that I'd review them - a high street chain). I managed to secure a box & there was a £2 charge towards delivery costs. This rang no alarm bells at this point, as I have had all sorts of plants & other heavier freebies in that past which just required a small amount for p&p. Went to pay this £2 on my Visa debit card & there was nothing to arouse any suspicion on the payment screen. I am suspicious & cynical by nature but everything here looked normal. Paid the £2 & then closed exited the payment screen. 
Then there was something very much not normal. There was another payment screen underneath requesting the same details.....which I now know was the actual genuine one. I thought it was odd, when I'd just filled everything in & already paid the £2 & something didn't feel right. I thought I'd check my emails as I'd expect with any payment/ competition prize that I'd get a notification. Nothing about the draw. Instead, there was an email informing me I'd signed up to an e-book subscription service. And a bloody expensive one at that as I would have 3 days to make up my mind, then they'd be collecting £41-92 every 2 weeks!!! I could cancel by signing into "my account" (password helpfully supplied) & doing it online or by emailing them. I was pretty sure the sign-in wouldn't work & of course it didn't. I was just sending a strong cancellation email when my phone pinged & it was the bank saying that I would be receiving a message from them on a specific number shortly as they believed a fraudulent transaction was underway on my account. When the message came it asked if I had authorised a £41-92 transaction to this e-book service (because despite the ' 3 days free' cited in the crimmy email, the b*ggers had tried to take my money instantly). I couldn't text back 'Yes' because I thought this would cause the bank to go ahead & pay them, but nor did I feel I could text 'no' as I HAD authorised a payment, but it was a different payment....to somebody else....for something else.
So I phoned the bank & the chap I spoke to from their anti-fraud dept was really good. I explained that there was a live fraud happening on my account which they had picked up on & he wanted to know exactly how it had happened. I explained that it looked to me as though scammers had managed to piggy-back into a competition by inserting a fraudulent very authentic-looking payment screen into it - that's why when I'd paid the £2 & closed down that screen, the real one was sitting there underneath. He said that this is quite common & that the screens do look very good. Anyway, he blocked the payment that the crims were trying to take, then blocked them as a company entirely........well, I say 'company'  - by then my information background was kicking in & I'd discovered their business HQ to be a phone mast in The Netherlands! He also said that if they have still managed to steal any money, that the bank will refund it because I had reported it to them as a fraud. My visa card will be replaced. He said I am now more vulnerable to further fraud attempts & read me a list of things I mustn't do, but they were all stuff I know about & wouldn't do anyway. I checked into my online banking several times throughout yesterday & again this morning, but have not lost any money, so I am hoping that the combination of my suspicions kicking in quickly plus the bank's digital anti-fraud measures has put a stop to it.
But here's a thing. After I'd sorted this out & calmed down, I found that I DID receive an email from the scammers saying that they'd received my request & would cancel my account. That's quite a canny move on their scummy part because anyone receiving that who hadn't sussed the wider picture or been alerted by their bank would see that & think "Oh thank goodness, that's all sorted", not knowing the devils had already taken the first £41-92.
Just 2 last points, as there is invariably something to learn from these infuriating experiences:
1. The anti-fraud chap asked me quite a few questions about subscriptions. When I mentioned the prize draw was for a selection of toiletries, he asked me if I thought I might have mistakenly signed up for a subscription service. I said I definitely hadn't & stressed that the crimmy subscription service was e-books.....I don't even have anything to read those on as I like real books. I said as he obviously had my bank account in front of him, he could see that we don't really have subscriptions, but even then, he said we did have a live one (Guardian/Observer). I think this line of questioning probably stems from people who sign up for a free parcel of something - beauty, beer, coffee, books, whatever, & don't realise that this is just the temptation instalment & that all the others will be paid for. Thus, when they see a chunk of money disappearing from their bank accounts, I bet they get onto the anti-fraud dept. 
2. The other thing was that initial text I received from the bank when they suspected fraudulent activity underway. The advisor said that I had done the right thing to phone & explain properly, because if I HAD texted back "Yes" to say I'd authorised the money, then anything I lost would be treated as a 'disputed payment' rather than a fraudulent one, so I think that is worth knowing. 
I couldn't give 2 u-know-wots about not receiving the parcel of toiletries. Obviously the p&p payment screen for this was the one 'underneath' & therefore concealed by the scammers' inserted one, & I wasn't going to fill in anything else because I had to sort out what exactly had just happened. Anyway, no money lost - I don't know if this experience will help anyone, but I thought it was worth sharing. 
F
(& onto more edifying stuff now plus a photo if I can find it.......)

foxgloves

With the last few days being stressful, I did what I usually do for a coping strategy & threw myself into useful tasks. yesterday, I finally got the greenhouse all sorted. Everything in there is now in its final planting place for the season, apart from beans which are waiting for transfer to one of the new raised beds. I couldn't get the angle right to show everything in the greenhouse, but there are 3 varieties of chilli (scotch bonnet, cayenne) & jalapeno, peppers (variety = corno di toro), 6 'Roma' tomatoes (the other variety 'Oh happy day' are outside), 3 aubergines ('Moneymaker'), 2 cucumbers 'Bella' (grafted plants as all the ones I sowed from seed failed - more on Spring weirdness at some point), coriander & plenty of basil for this year's pesto-making. The big potted vine is a 'Black Hamburg' grape, which pretty much just grows itself. Mr F doesn't like grapes much & defo not with seeds in, so all the more for me at picking time! We have almost finished the refurbed bit of the kitchen garden & have a few things to plant out there inc the french beans, the last squash plants & the Tuscan kale. I shall also be sowing more carrots & spring onions. I might try to take a decent photo of the kitchen garden area when it's finished & planted up.
Onto today's efforts....not a lot really! We treated ourselves to breakfast at the village farm shop cafe, took the crossword & just enjoyed not thinking about difficult work situations, poorly cats & crooks. We bought the last item (we think!) required to finish off the kitchen garden refurb - the gravel. We bought 6 bags & I can't see us needing more than that, as it's only to top up the sparser areas. I think we may have a little of the money I ringfenced for this project left over....& that's even with it having rather unexpectedly covered a new sewing machine too. Today has been rainy on & off all day, so as we are expecting a drier day tomorrow, we are hoping a final push should get everything finished up the veggie-growing area of the garden. Mr F is intending to roll a couple of defunct railway sleepers into place to create a raised edge to one of the longer beds & I hope, to rake some of the new gravel across. I have ear-marked a number of tasks, which when all finished (will take me into next week), will mean we are entering what I think of as the maintenance period - watering, feeding, weeding, tending, harvesting. 
Oh, & as Mr F was riffling through the freezer, I suggested we do a meal plan to cover the rest of June. This was well-worth doing as we have been able to prioritise freezer contents, as well as home-grown stuff which is just starting to kick in - cucumbers (have picked 3 so far), lettuces, rocket has re-grown after a haircut, coriander & the first courgettes won't be far away.
Well, m'dears, I've yakked on quite long enough. DO ignore me if I get boring - I won't be at all offended, I know growing stuff isn't to everyone's interest.
Love F x

Humdinger1

@foxgloves you are NEVER boring.  Not within a country mile! Well done on thwarting scammers!! Love Humdinger xx 

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - Well, that's very sweet of you, m'dear. Hope all is ok with you.
F x