MeandO's money-shuffling

Skint_yet_Again

I’ve dried washing on radiators for years oops 😬 however since moving back up north I have used a dehumidifier at the same time. My house is now smaller and colder so the dehumidifier is essential in my view to stop condensation. I got one from s fix just under £100 with a laundry drying setting. Might cost more now and if you can’t afford one try to open trickle vents if you have them or crack open windows.

When DS was weight lifting I used to bulk buy meat from muscle foods online. Then I switched to Mr Al di as I only had the smaller freezer left (fridge/freezer) when my chest freezer packed up and I didn’t have spare cash to buy another. He used to eat whole tins of tuna with pasta & mayo pre-cooked in the fridge, chicken sausages pre-cooked and lots of eggs. I used to get frozen berries which can be quickly defrosted but didn’t seem to get eaten so quickly. Thankfully he started work at 18 and paid for his own food.

So pleased to hear your mum is doing well after her op and my thoughts are with you all

1stTimer

Another vote here for dehumidifier, I absolutely love how easy it is to dry everything in winter now.

I just stick the clothes on an clothes horse in the spare room, turn the dehumidifier on and close the door and it all drys in approx 6 hours

MeandO

Ooh, huge thanks for your drying experiences and suggestions @foxgloves, @ArtyJ931, @Skint_yet_Again & @1stTimer, it's good to hear what works well for others before spending money. The old dryer was collected for scrap this morning which saved me taking it to the tip. I did have a chuckle at the circus of the three of them trying to lift it above their heads, approximately 7ft in the air over a high sided van, then opening the back side of the van to climb up and re-position it. 🤣
After reading all of your suggestions and doing a bit of googling I've decided not to buy another one. I have ordered a de-humidifier with a laundry setting instead after your recommendations, so thank you. It cost me £109 on the Pr!me deal which OH ordered via his account (as I cancelled mine) and I transferred the money to him. I have the sizeable utility room that I can put the drying racks up in and close the door on it all, so I'm hoping that will be the most cost and drying-effective solution. It arrives on Saturday. For today, I am utilizing the very windy but sunny weather and there are two loads on the line, including my bedding, and one more load in the machine to peg out when it's done. I just need to make room on the washing line for it, as it's already groaning under the first two loads! I did remind DS this morning that washing may take longer to dry in future and about only putting things for wash when they're dirty and not just been looked at/left crumpled on the floor. He has a habit of just throwing everything in the wash basket, whether he's actually worn it or not.

I ordered some other things on the aforementioned deal last night too. A new carbon monoxide detector as mine is very old and out of date now and two 'smart' bulbs that can be turned on for security reasons. It's quite obvious when there's no-one at home at our house when I'm away and it's also very dark when we come home at night as I'm unable to put a security light up at the front, so I'll use them for both security and 'being able to see(!)' reasons. These and the de-humidifier were paid for from the 'replace, renovate, repair/house' pot leaving less than £20 in there now, but I will do my best to build it back up.

I also bought some Christmas gifts for DS as they were on a good offer. That was around £60 taken from the 'Gifts' pot. Oh, and a new electric toothbrush for DS as he took his last one to his Dad's one weekend as he didn't have one there and it never returned despite me asking several times. 🙄That was £21, taken from the pot of money I save towards DS's clothing, tuition, school stuff etc.

As the dryer's gone there was a big space left in its absence - bigger than a normal appliance space as the wall follows a weird angle after the dryer space as there was originally an old fireplace on the diagonal. The visible space wasn't pretty as the whole expanse of the (very rough) back wall was in sight, so I moved the narrow undercounter freezer I had on top of the work surface to where the dryer was. I did fuse the plug in the process (long story), but changed the fuse and it worked just fine to which there was a huge sigh of relief. I didn't want to have to replace the freezer, especially as it was full of food too.
The improvement in the space spurred me on to properly sorting that room out. I threw a few more items out, put a pair of shoes for charity, advertised a large bulky item for free (which has just been collected this morning) and took everything else off the floor and hoovered it all out as it was very dusty in there. Everything that is now in there is of use, is now tidy, clean and I'm making the best use of the space we have. I may look at covering the worktops with vinyl so they match (one is an old black one, one is wood coloured!) and possibly painting the cupboard doors at some point. The vinyl flooring is badly laid in there and ripped in places, but it is serviceable for now and not something I'm spending money on until the whole room is re-done.

Yesterday I was supposed to go into my new office location, which I did, but I couldn't manage the walk with my pain levels currently. Parking is non-existent and the allocated parking is about 3/4 of a mile's walk away which I would sadly struggle with at the moment, but I also have to carry heavy equipment in a rucksack and had a separate bag to carry in my hands yesterday with things that were needed in the office. I called my boss as I was already late after trying to find closer parking. He is aware of my current issues and told me to just go home to work and not to even try walking from the allocated parking, which, me being me, I obviously did attempt, but couldn't get far with the weight on my back. 😕I felt totally useless and defeated. I drove home having wasted the best part of two hours and 25 miles in petrol. 😕 To cut a long story short, the aftermath of yesterday has resulted in me being referred to Occ. Health so that my employer has to be 'officially considerate' as my line manager put it. I'm not sure how I feel about it really. I am grateful for the support but it makes me feel 'officially' a bit useless and broken now.

Anyway, I've just heard the washing machine spin so need to get the third (and final!) load onto the line and make the most of the free drying weather.
Have a lovely day all x

MeandO

A whole 99p has just hit the bank from a TCB payout, so it's been rounded up to £1 and sent to the debt as today's PAD. 😊

MeandO

All three loads of washing dried lovely on the line, the ironing’s been done and DS has been warned I’m not re-ironing anything that is not put away in drawers nicely and is crumpled on the floor! I ironed and hung three of his nicer T shirts, ready to put straight into his wardrobe, but that was met with annoyance as apparently ‘they don’t go there.’ 🙄He took them straight off the hangers, and they’re probably in an already creased pile on his bed/floor, so he will be shown where the iron lives when he next asks me to get the creases out before he wants to wear them! TEENAGERS!!! 🤯

I’ve prepped food for DS for later. I had a late beans on toast lunch so am not hungry yet. I might have a couple of boiled ‘dippy’ eggs later when I get hungry. 😋

I’ve just sprayed some black mould remover in the shower cubicle to get rid of the black bits starting to form on the grout and sealant. That usually does the trick in removing it if left for half an hour or so. I’ve not really got much to do this evening (although I said that the other night 🤨), so I may have a look for little jobs to do round the house.

DS is going for a ‘trim’ later (definitely not a hair appointment as I called it earlier when asking what time it was booked for and was thoroughly corrected, apparently it’s not even an ‘appointment’, just a trim! Who knew?! 😬🙄🤔🤯), so I may pick up the milk, yogurt (see a theme with our shopping?!) and avocados we’re almost out of, as it’s in the same area as the ‘barbers’ (also definitely not a hairdressers!).

Is it bed time yet?! X

ArtyJ931

Definitely go with the natural consequences thing - is he old enough to iron his own clothes/ do his own washing? I think about 11-12 for a young person with no SEND is about the age they can do that? Might help you not to have so much on your plate.

MeandO

Yes, he's plenty old enough to iron, ArtyJ931, and will be if these items are presented to me again before they're dirty! 😉I've already removed and returned two items from the washing basket that were only put in his room, clean, last night…

£3.50 made on ebay so have paid it off the debt this morning. I've also listed two other items for auction rather than BIN and both already have bids, so we'll see how those do in a week.

I'm feeling a bit 😕 today. I've received a letter confirming the increase in my monthly mortgage payment; my life insurance annual statement through which will just about cover the mortgage if it needs to and my evening last night and morning before school with DS was difficult again, I just wish he wasn't permanently in 'attitude towards Mum mode' no matter what I do. He needs no reason these days, just feels like he permanently hates me. I know it'll pass, but it's tough living through it. 😔 I'm also cold, bored and tired today and we know how much more difficult everything feels when tired. I guess everything just feels a bit bleak and grey today and I'd like to curl up and hibernate.

My Sister just sent me a video message of my lovely Mum, recovering at home, which has made me smile. It's a tough recovery for her as she has to remain in a certain position which is giving her so much pain in the rest of her body. She doesn't complain though, she just gets on with it. I really need to take a leaf out of her book and stop moaning, don't I.

I've re-purposed an empty wicker basket today and put it to use in the utility room. I have some spare shelves that were in DS's room pre-new wardrobe, so I could put those up in there to match the others already in there and replace the mismatching one. I'll see if I can find the will to do so later.

MeandO

I’ve been AI-ing my utility room and kitchen to see how it would look if I painted the cupboards and changed the flooring and it looks lovely! Unfortunately I can’t afford to do much about it for the forseeable, but at least it gives me some ideas to aim towards/dream about. Maybe I can make the renovate/repair pot into the kitchen and utility revamp pot. I hate to tempt fate, but SURELY there’s not much else to go wrong or need replacing in this house?! I’m concerned about the large double fence gates we have out the back as they act like sails in the wind and are not tethered the best, so I’ll have to try and brace those somehow before the winter weather gets too bad. I think replacements could be in excess of £2K+. They are huge to allow for vehicular access.

I’ve put the recycling and garden rubbish out for collection. I went round the garden first and pulled some more weeds up and the tomato plants which have now gone over. I could really do with cutting the grass again but it’s too wet.

EBay bids are climbing already, I’m up to just under £30 on one item and £10 on another. They’re collectible items so I’m hoping they’ll do well. Any money made will go towards the debt.

Skint_yet_Again

I think you can get paint from recycling and reuse centres for free or low cost. May be worth looking into? Not sure about flooring I suppose it depends how big the space is. Maybe face book or look for end of roll lino in local flooring stores, or free items to collect locally on the bay. Maybe someone will have bought too many packs of laminate. 🤞

MeandO

Thanks Skint_Yet_Again, there's a great recycling centre near us that sells paint, so that's a good call. I'm happy to live with it as it is for now as I've certainly improved the U.R. in the last few months and it's functional for what it is presently, I just like to dream that one day I'll make it look lovely too! It's certainly not essential.

The hard (I think a form of thick vinyl?) coating on some of the kitchen doors has blown and is peeling off on one door so catches every time it is opened or closed. The units and doors themselves are in great condition under this so I think I can remove the vinyl with a heat gun and paint the doors. It's something I can do myself for sure but I've decided it's not a job for now. It can wait until I'm (hopefully) feeling a bit better health-wise, or at least until the spring/summer so that I can sand and paint the doors outside.