MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

Evening all,

DS has been fed and is currently doing some lengthy maths homework, the prospect of which he was overjoyed about. 😐️
I’ve done the ironing, stacked the dishwasher, cleaned some muddy shoes and have just finished counting a tin of coins to be paid into DS’s ISA. My darling Dad saves all his loose change into a tin and gives it to DS when it’s full, he has done this since DS was a baby. ❤️ DS has plenty of money saved in his spending/day to day savings account at the moment and he has saved a fantastic amount for spending money towards his trip, so it can go in his junior ISA for when he is older. There’s £24 bagged up in small change plus £10 in larger denominations for which I have transferred the £10 to his ISA and will use up on little purchases or car park change etc. I need to pay that, plus his birthday money, intro the bank this week when I can get there as our local bank is hardly ever open these days. It may be a job for Saturday when I can get to the bank in the next town and pay it in there.

I did manage to drop the bag full of donations and a spare mirror to the charity shop before picking DS up this afternoon so that’s another job ticked off the list. I’ll start on the second bag and take that at a later date when I have enough to warrant going. Whilst there I found the perfect piece of furniture that OH has been looking for and it even matches his existing furniture! I sent him a photo, to which a big ‘yes’ was received, so I picked it up for him, with the help of one of the volunteers who kindly helped me lift it into my car and will drop it off later to him. He has already sent me the £25 it cost.

Today I was on the receiving end of a lovely act of kindness which actually made me quite emotional. The ‘giver of kindness’ wouldn’t have known the meaning this gift would have for me, but it’s the anniversary of the death of someone very dear to me who passed many years ago and the ‘gift’ was something they always gave to me to make me smile and cheer me up. The ‘gift giver’ has made my week and I am very grateful, not just for their gift but for their friendship, it is always brightens my day to hear from them. ❤️

I’m off to make a restorative cup of tea before playing taxi for DS to his training session. I will drop the furniture off to OH whilst waiting for DS as he lives close by. I’m hoping to coerce DS into a shower, (probably another snack!), then bed when he gets back as we both need to catch up on sleep and I have scaffolders coming tomorrow so will have to be up and dressed even earlier than normal in case they turn up at the crack of dawn. 🙈

Have a lovely evening all, keep warm and cosy. X

MeandO

The end of the week is in sight! I'll be so glad for a few days rest, although OH and I are turning plumbers and going to try to fix my leaking loo and OH's leaking kitchen sink, so wish me luck. 😳 We certainly know how to channel the romance for Valentine's Day, eh?! 😄

A few spends in A$da yesterday on milk, a birthday card and a bag of 'fave' sweets for OH @ 89p to wrap up for his birthday - gosh I spoil him! 🤣), plus some pants for me as I was down to a few pairs after having to throw some 'holy' ones this week - £6.50 for 5 pairs - they'll do!
I also popped to home bargains and picked up mother's day cards (one Mum, one Nan from DS) as I can leave them at my parents when I next go, otherwise the postage would cost more than the cards. I bought some cleaning products I'd run out of and some sprouting daffodil bulbs in a pot to split between the two pots beside my front door which have been empty all winter. I'm so excited about planting them today, the sun is shining even though it's freezing, but it will be so lovely when they bloom. :)

MeandO

Evening all,

I hope it’s warmer where you are as it’s absolutely freezing here today. A cold biting wind and frozen car this morning so the heating has been on during the day today as DS is home on half term and the house felt cold. If it was just me on my own I would have put extra layers on but I don’t want home feeling cold in our home. DS is having a soak in a hot bath and I’msat in my dressing gown, under a blanket with the (fake) fire on. I don’t use the heat element of it but the flames are quite realistic and make the room feel cosier. :) If the log burner was still installed I’m sure it would have been in use today, but I had it removed not long after moving in due to chimney and other issues. Sometimes I regret that decision!

Grocery spends are still down on last month and the gift cards are working well for me. I have popped to HB for ‘bits’ this week though and it’s so easy to end up spending £15+ on items I didn’t intend buying in there so I need to just not go there unless absolutely necessary.

DS and I are off ‘home’ for a few days this week. The car has been filled with petrol read, I just need to check the tyres before we head off as I haven’t done this for a while. I have a tyre pressure checker/ inflator thing bought a long time ago to save the crazy price charged for air at garages, so no spends to check the tyres here. :)
It will be lovely to see my parents as we haven’t seen them since Christmas, it’s just a shame we can’t stay for longer.

OH’s birthday cake was a success in that he is happily munching his way through it! His Mum and Dad have helped him todayI believe so I’m glad it’s being enjoyed. It’s his favourite cake flavour, but the only one I don’t like so I won’t be partaking in a slice!

Unfortunately I have some rather disheartening financial news in that I’m going to have to borrow additional funds on the mortgage after all. 😫 The window guy came to quote and noticed a few things that I hadn’t spotted that make the window replacements a necessity to keep the house water tight and weather proof.
He has been recommended by a few friends of OH’s and it turns out they have a mutual best friend as such who has confirmed he is a ‘good guy’ and knows his stuff. He hasn’t tried to upsell and has suggested ways to save money and what is actually needed vs what is not worth doing, so I’m happy we’ve found someone trustworthy. The quote to replace all except two windows which he said don’t need replacing is just over £4K which, considering two of the windows are huge, I found reasonable. That includes glass which will help block the noise on the road side of the house as the road noise does bother me a lot. So, on top of the roof, that’s around £7k spent on this house this year to get it watertight and and we’re not even in March yet. 🤨

I’ll be paying off the money transfer card with the extra borrowing from the mortgage and then closing that card down, but I may let the 0% run first and put the funds in the high interest account for a while to earn a bit of interest.

I am trying not to get too down about it as it is essential works and will add to the value of the house and hopefully reduce our heating bill somewhat with efficient windows. It does mean the mortgage will go back up over the £50K mark though which I am gutted about as I worked so hard to get it under £50k and it felt like a massive milestone conquered. I’ve done it before though so I will do it again. Everything will then be thrown at getting that mortgage down again. I’ve applied and been accepted for the extra 7.5K, now I just need to wait for the documents to be sent through.

Today I returned some jeans I ordered from Sainbugs in the sale as neither pair fitted well. I also returned one pair of pyjamas I ordered for my Mum’s Mother’s Day gift as she wouldn’t have liked the material. One other pair has been kept (£8 on sale) which I’ve wrapped, alongside some chocolates, and will leave with her this week to open on Mother’s Day. I also ordered a couple of PJ T shirt tops for DS (also on sale) which got the thumbs up from him, so we kept those too. All else has been returned and the refund has been processed to the spending CC which may actually leave a little positive balance on that card as I already paid most of that spend off.

I also banked the £24 in coins I mentioned previously which has now been transferred to DS’s junior ISA. :)

Whilst out and about today I found an item of jewellery which I’m sure would be precious to someone. I’ve made a post on the local FB site asking for a description or proof of ownership, hopefully the owner can be found. I’ve had the usual idiots comment on the post too. There are some strange people out there. 🙄

Right, off to bed for me. Stay warm and safe everyone.

xx

MeandO

Afternoon all,

DS and I had a lovely few days with my family, although the first day proved stressful with my Mum being taken suddenly poorly. After a brief hospital visit, she’s home again so I was really glad to be able to be there to help them. I’ve cooked, cleaned and done what I can in the short time we were there, I feel so sad I can’t do more for them.

The financial situation has changed since I last posted in that the extra £7.5K I borrowed has been paid into my account now so my mortgage has increased. However, a family member recently sold some valuable items that belonged to my grandparents that were ‘collectible’ and not of use to anyone now, and they have so kindly gifted some of those funds to family members, not taking no for an answer. This means that I have already been able to pay the mortgage down by over £2,000 for which I am so very grateful. I shared with them how I would use the money and they were very happy with the thought of me using it to pay my mortgage down.
I now have the money to pay for the windows, the roof repairs, the spending credit card is paid off and I have also paid the money transfer card off with the additional borrowing so my only debt is now the mortgage again, despite it being around £5K more than it was last week. I have now overpaid two sub accounts to the full 10% yearly capacity so will work on overpaying the other two next. I will close the money transfer card account down when it has cleared.

I have updated my signature with the new mortgage totals, hopefully I would have overpaid and saved enough to get it back down under £50K asap.

debtfreewannabe321

I think that was a great result! Only five grand added and you're able to do all that...! Well done 😊

MeandO

Thanks DFW321. I hope your trip was all you hoped, I need to catch up on your diary. X

MeandO

DS is at his sports club, I’ve just popped to Asd@ and picked up some toothpaste as we’d run out, some daffodils for my weekly treat ❤️ and a few other bits we needed. No more spends now needed until payday on Thursday.

I sold an item on vinted recently so posted that off today. The £6 from that sale will go towards the OP

DS cooked himself food tonight, following a recipe he found, with me helping him out when needed. He also made enough for himself for lunch at school tomorrow and proudly packed that up, ready to take with him in the morning. I don’t think tomorrow’s lunch time can come fast enough for him already! He’s going to pick a recipe a week and I’ll buy the ingredients in and let him cook for us. Exciting stuff!

Have to go pick DS up, will continue later…

MeandO

Taxi duty complete, just about to settle down with a cup of tea.

I’ve taken some mince out of the freezer to make DS a lasagne tomorrow and a portion of beef/soup stew has been taken out for myself - DS isn’t a fan, I love it! The lasagne should be enough for a few meals so will likely freeze some portions.

Two loads of washing were done yesterday and more or less dried on the line outside as it was a lovely day. I usually try and hold of washing until Wednesdays in the week as it means I only need to do one weekday was then and can save the bulk until half price Sundays to save some pennies. So hopefully no washing to do tomorrow unless DS manages to fill the washing basket again like he did on Sunday!

I’m having my hair cut and coloured this week which I’m looking forward to as I currently feel a bit like a badger with my streaks of white/grey and I always feel better afterwards. I have the money saved for that though as I save every month, so the cash is ready in my purse.

OH are staying in a city about an hour away from us this weekend for his belated birthday treat. We have a spa hotel booked the first night and a cheaper hotel the second, but it still has a pool so we’re really looking forward to a bit of relaxing and swimming. I am a water baby, I love to swim. I used to swim miles every week when I was younger and I really miss it.
I’ve also cashed in some Tosco points that were expiring and we have a £30 restaurant voucher to use whilst away so that’s another thing we’re looking forward to. We’ll keep any other meals cheap, we’re not big spenders and are both have the same budgeting mindset when it comes to not overpaying for meals.

I’m going to aim for an early ish night tonight as I didn’t sleep too well last night. Sweet dreams all x

MeandO

A mixed bag kind of a day today. This morning brought several frustrations, first the charity shop turned up to collect the large piece of storage furniture originally over £100 from the Swedish store (after I’d re-assembled it last night), walked in and said they don’t take that type of item. I’d sent them several photos and told them what it was when I originally asked them if they wanted it and had stored it and waited over 2 weeks for them to collect it instead of giving it away for free. I wasn’t amused. It’s the second time they’ve messed me about so I will be more inclined to offer things for free on marketplace in the future rather than give to charity, So, I listed it back on MP for free and had someone come to collect it, not before dismantling it again so she could fit it in her car. They didn’t even say thank you when they turned up to collect it! The manners on some people… Anyway, it’s out of the way now and has been saved from landfill,

Next, I received mail addressed just to my address, no name on the address, with threats of bailiff action after not keeping up with a CCJ payment plan. There was a name on it when I opened it - the neighbour who I’d previously had trouble with doing the same thing with numerous hire purchase, fines, store cards etc and letters coming to my address instead of theirs. I’ve emailed the company AGAIN telling them their correct address and put it in the neighbour’s post box with a bit of a strongly worded request to get their address right.

My lovely friend saved the day by turning up at my door with two bunches of daffodils for me! My house is now full of yellow flowery loveliness and an hour’s catch up over a cuppa was just lovely.

DS is now home and seems to have developed a grump since being home so I’m leaving him be for a while! I’m cooking lasagne for his tea and going to have another cuppa myself.

I ended up having to do a wash today after all as the basket was almost full again. At least there’ll be none to do tomorrow now. The dishwasher’s on, I’ve emptied the recycling bin and folded the laundry and put on appropriate beds so not much to do tonight. I’m looking forward to a hot shower and an earlier night than last night as it was gone 11pm by the time DS settled down.

foxgloves

What a cheek not even thanking you for a free item! Some people!