MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

Thanks DFW321, I think lots of people are feeling the pinching of pennies at the moment aren't they. :(

DS is 15 and keen to get a part time job, but unfortunately there is very little opportunity until he hits 17/18 ish here. He is quite good at saving money himself but doesn't appreciate how the cost of everything adds up as most young people don't until they start paying for things themselves. I'm trying to remind myself that he is on the cusp of young adulthood and in a few year's time things may be different if he is earning himself.

MeandO

I have transferred some money from the car pot and household bills pot to cover the grocery overspend as planned and also £20 from the 'house/reno' pot for a new rug needed in the hallway now we've had the floor done. The old one was threadbare and had the musty/mouldy smell caused by the problems pre-damp proofing. I do have trouble spending from my 'pots' but that is what they are there for.

The day to day spending credit card (for points) is now cleared again.

I've also paid another £24.84 off the 'debt.' It's good to be slowly chipping away at it. There's no interest on it so it's good to see the amount going down in full each time.

The two ebay parcels were wrapped last night and posted. No more sales yet, but I did list a few more things. I am going to try and sort the rest of the clothing pile out tonight and list those.

My washing basket went from near-empty to full last night when DS tidied his room and put his clean laundry away (after much reminding 😐️), so one load is in the machine ready to go on the line to dry. A second load will be put going straight after and then that should be it cleared again.

An item I bought for DS back in July (shaver) has stopped working already, so I contacted the big river company today as the return window had passed but it is obviously faulty as it won't charge. They have agreed to a return and refund (£29.99) which I'm relieved about but will use the money to buy a replacement.

MeandO

My lovely friend just called round with some flowers for me after helping her with something last week. ❤️ It was no task, I was glad to help her, we had a laugh! Some people are so lovely. She also gave me £5 for something I picked up for her. Again, no need but she wouldn't take no for an answer, so I'll pay the fiver off the debt as it was money I wasn't expecting.

MeandO

Just paid £4 of bagged up change into the bank, so just paid it straight off the debt. All the little amounts add up :)

MeandO

I sorted the freezers out earlier and made a list of everything in them whilst I was cooking food for DS this evening. I have a small-ish under counter one and the freezer part of a fridge freezer so not a huge amount of space but ample for us. It’s a really useful exercise to do as I now know what I actually need to buy and what we have enough of.

Half of the food cooked this evening has gone in a tub to freeze for another day. I had poached eggs on sourdough and thoroughly enjoyed every morsel!

After talking about being ‘stocked up’ for emergencies etc, I have had a big empty plastic storage tub in the utility room for some time not knowing what to do with it, and today I suddenly had the idea of storing a few long life bits in there. So far the long life milk and oats are in there, I have made a small list and will look at adding to it as I can.

Last week, I ordered a couple of storage items for DS’s room, some more clothes hangers and a small tabletop ironing board from the Swedish store. It’s all arrived today and I’m absolutely thrilled with my little £5 ironing board as it’s perfectly useful for the amount of iron I do (as little as possible), and it means I can get rid of the HUGE board I have had for a few years which is a nightmare to lift out of the only gap I have to put it. It takes up so much room and I invariably hurt myself trying to lift it out of there every time. I’ve listed that on the local fb board for free and a lady wants to collect it tomorrow. I’ve also listed another item that we no longer need, just to declutter. If no-one wants it it will go to the charity shop.

Oh, and the shaver does work, DS was just using the wrong charger 🤦‍♂️ so no need to return it now. That’s a job saved.

I’m off to have a shower, get my PJ’s on and have a quiet evening, hopefully.

X

MFWannabe

Hi @MeandO

Reference your fix for fuel, under Ofgem rules you can change to another fix within 49 days of current one ending and not have to pay the exit fees

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/tougher-rules-fixed-term-energy-deals-come-force-ofgems-retail-market-reforms-begin-bite

Hope that’s helpful x

MeandO

I didn't realise that @MFWannabe, thank you. That's really good to know. I shall take a look at the deals in that case. :)

MeandO

DS put his new fabric storage cubes in place in his room last night (black ones, to replace the yellow patterned ones that were old and not 'teenagery' enough!) and turned out a few things, which inspired me to do the same. 😊I completely decluttered the box room/office and used the old storage boxes from DS's room which fit into the Ikea shelving unit I have in there (which was originally recycled from the old playroom) and act as drawers. It now looks so much neater and tidier than the mismatch of a wicker basket, cardboard storage box and piled up paper etc that was there before. I love shopping from home to make things look better.

I also sorted all the 'non-clothes' items to list/sell into one drawer and now have three piles of clothes on my bedroom floor to list today. I thought if I put them there they will annoy me more than out of sight in the box room and I'll have to do them. :)
The other cupboard in the box room (old small sideboard/2 drawer unit which has been in at least 5 of my houses!) has also been sorted and bits donated, thrown or ready to sell. I've also removed a few pictures and bits of artwork from the walls around the house that I'd like to change or am tired with. I have decided I want less up on the walls as I probably was guilty of trying to put something up on every wall before. Less is more…

I've also parted with some china that I was intending to sell but there's very little interest, and put some clothes that I don't think would sell on ebay in the charity bag. All the charity stuff has been taken downstairs and will be thrown in the car boot later to take there tomorrow.
A lady is supposed to be coming shortly to pick up the ironing board and another item I listed for free. I have put the rest of the bulky things like frames, artwork there too and she can take anything she wants. I could probably sell some of it for £5 here and there but it will benefit me more to just clear the space at the moment, I don't want to store it.
I don't know if I mentioned it, but I also finally got round to clearing 'the drawers of doom' in the utility room a couple of weeks ago. Those drawers with random bits of stuff in that may be useful but you never end up using. Anything unknown, unwanted or unnecessary was thrown out and the rest put back tidily.

In money news, I need to get some shopping today as DS not only ate the rest of the (huge amount of) food I'd cooked and earmarked for the freezer last night, but also a whole family tub of yogurt and 😮 half a big pack of rice cakes, then made oat, yogurt & egg pancakes and had that with a load of fruit and honey. I don't know where he puts it.
He's been very 'teenagery' this week and I've had to have a few conversations about being considerate to others and showing respect (when I say 'others', I mean to me and his father, he's an angel to everyone else!), so it's been a hard week.

My new payslip is online and shows the backpay I will be receiving in this month's salary. I have deducted the equivalent amount of UC and will put that aside for the month as the backpay means I won't be entitled to any UC this month. After that, I should have an extra £254.71 which I will throw straight at the debt. It would be lovely one year to actually have that money to spare and not needed elsewhere. A girl can dream, eh?

in_need_of_direction

just take comfort from the fact that the teenager is angelic around others

MeandO

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82145927#Comment_82145927

Yes, he's a great kid and really caring underneath the teeny attitude, so I just keep telling myself this is temporary! I let things slide if they're not worth the hassle, but I'm big on treating people nicely and he's been pushing buttons big time lately, so have had to remind him about respect and consideration which hasn't always been taken too well. 🙄