Dilemma, Dilemma, Dilemma

Queen_of_the_Hive · 29 January at 9:07PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81859625#Comment_81859625

Hey KajiKita, there is quite a lot of change happening at work as we have a new team structure, new owners on top of the reduced hours so am not going to take any rash decision. I'm secretly hoping there will be the chance to pick up some extra work later in the year but I won't know about this much nearer the time. I think having stepped up it has made me a bit more hungry for more which is no bad thing 🙂

Queen_of_the_Hive · 30 January at 8:44AM

Yay its Friday morning!

I did something good yesterday - I bought a food magic bag from one of the well known coffee chains. It cost £4 and provided enough food to cover my dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Totally undiet friendly, but relaxing the rules when away.

Last night was a nice relaxed evening, enjoyed a walk from my hotel to the said coffee chain to collect the majic bag, took a few photos of the area and walked home. I used to work around this area in the past but like most places in London it changes all the time so had a newness feel. Really liked what I saw and maybe bring the kids another time.

Apart from transport costs not expecting to spend anything today. Have my flask & travel stash of tea bags so can make a cheap cuppa & have a little food left so this will do for lunch.

Queen_of_the_Hive · 30 January at 11:23PM

Hello Friday Night!

Gosh, am getting a bit better at being consistent with diary updates which is really fab.

So frugal 24hrs in the city didn't quite go to plan but all for good reason. Meeting at school was fabulous, all positive and glad to have been there. There was an unplanned pit stop at a local cafe with the step mum of my kids. We all get on well but haven't had a catch up for a long time. Last year she lost her mum through cancer & has had some ill health herself. We agreed we had a pretty rubbish 2025. It was a really nice to see how she's getting on but it meant I missed my coach home so ended up splurging on taking the train (£45) but it felt worth it.

Plastering work didn't quite go to plan as expected, the workman has removed the damaged plaster but said the bricks were very wet and it would be better to get the roof repaired before replastering. So we now have a roofer coming early next week to take a look. Its at this point we really do wish we have and EF. Hopefully the repair is not going to be to wild.

Tomorrow is back to fasting, back to carpet cleaning and clean up the dust from the plasterwork.

Queen_of_the_Hive · 1 February at 8:34AM

Hello Sunday Morning!

I've been trying to do a diary update since yesterday morning and failed myserably!

Yesterday was a good day, we ran errands and spent the afternoon doing some more cleaning of carpets in the holiday let. Progress has been slow. Our carpet cleaner is not the biggest but does a good job and we have to do it in blocks with guests staying inbetween and allowing time for carpets to dry. Thankfully we have finished the lounge / dinning room and now moving on to do the two bedrooms at the next available opportunity. This was my bit of exercise for the day too.

We popped into one of the supermarkets we don't normally shop at to buy top ups for the holiday let and at the same time bought a bag of potatoes and a couple of packs of green beans that were really good price of 37p each. Some of the potatoes were made into mash, the green beans were steamed along with some yellow stickered fish from the freezer for last nights meal. Am thinking of going back today and buying some more potatoes. Can't go wrong at that price. We also bought a reduced duvet cover in an autumn design. It was £7 for a kingsize. We will save for later in the year.

We also dropped off a bag of electrical recycling to one of the highstreet electrical retailer and popped into a well known DIY store with garden centre to buy small bag of compost, seeds and little seed trays. These were bought in cash via Sprive. £13.50 spent but a little put aside for mortgage overpayment later in the year. I'd seen adverts on a plant subscription and was inspired to give it a go. I usually grow something but haven't attempted strawberries from seed before. Will be interesting to see if it works.

This morning I need to do the job of moving money around, this job usually puts me in a mood as things are a grim but once tomorrow's mortgage payment is taken we'll be into the 7 years left bracket and we are soo close to hitting under the 100k mark which are all little wins in themselves.

Started back on the fasting after a little break away in the city Thurs/Fri but going well so far. Sleep has been better for it.

Here's the boot in all its glory!

KajiKita · 1 February at 9:40AM

Oooh Mortgage Milestone Approaching Alert! 😊👏👏

The boot is smaller and subtler than I expected - very sweet 😊

KK

Queen_of_the_Hive · 4 February at 11:10PM

Hey Weds evening diary,

This week is going well so, soooo glad that we are now in Feb than January! We are on our way up lol. Absolutely ready for long summer days in the garden with a G&T and a good book.

Finally getting around to paying the remaining monthly bills. Still sorting out my overpayment at work so I think they will adjust Feb pay to correct, so Feb pay is going to be pants! 🙄. But on a bit lighter news, I have a one off shift at my local cafe on Saturday. We've become friends with the owners and they offered me this week's shift and one in April as their regular person is busy and it was all totally unexpected so we will see how that goes! Am quite nervous about it but as I am starting to apply for some local second jobs I hope they will be a local reference for me plus the extra bit of "pocket money" will be greatfully recieved. Will pop any wages into my "side hustle" pot.

Next week is next trip to the city so tonight I have booked a room at the hotel we stay in quite a bit. Paid in cash as trying to keep my credit card from spiraling. Am very conscious of the current balance. My ideal goal would be to reduce the cc balance to 17k by the end of the year. Its currently sitting around 21k and it keeps me up at night.

Sadly looks like the boot vase has a slow leak :(, so once the current daffs are finished it'll be a game of hunt the source of the leak and see if we can repair with superglue.

Tomorrow we have the roofer coming to look at our leaking roof, hopefully its not going to be an expensive job.

TallGirl · 5 February at 11:41AM

I do love the boot vase lovely maximalism look needed to brighten things up. Well done on the shift in the local café could work out well indeed. Shame your current work has not got more hours for you and they messed up your pay. Grim to have to pay it back but sounds like you have a plan. I really hope you have a better February.

Queen_of_the_Hive · 6 February at 2:16PM

Hello Friday Morning!

Thursday was all about a bit of mindfulness which was well over due from all the extra hours and tramua from all the goings on at work recently! So last month I bought a jigsaw from a local shop for £2.99 and i've finally started it! Its very fitting, its titled "Simple Joys" and has all sorts of idea of things to do to get simple pleasures. Seriously thinking about gluing and framing it when its finished.

Roofer actually came this morning, looks like some lead flashing needs to be replaced and possibly a section of guttering too. We await the quote and hopefully this finally solves the problem. He did say the roof was looking in good condition, given the age of the property so this is something!

A bit of positive news, i've had an email to say my job is safe from redundancy. We were bought out recently and everyone was getting one of two emails. Thankfully mine, although does not pay enough still pays something and will continue. So for today, am happy.

Today i'm going to hunt through the freezer and make a list of everything we have in. This task we can only really do it during the daytime as the kitchen is freezing in winter and awful as soon as it goes dark. I'd love to modernise and insulate the kitchen but its way down the list of priorities.