MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

That's an idea worth looking into, thank you badmemory. The radiator is behind the door in his bedroom so I wonder if it will be OK there. When I get the boiler serviced I'll ask the plumber if it's possible to fit one there. 

Chrystal

Putting a blanket on top of the duvet really stops it from working properly.  Duvets work by trapping heat in the air pockets, so if they're  flattened = cold!  So the duvet on top of the blanket is best
Hope you manage to get your exhaustion sorted out.  I also have pernicious anemia and it's debilitating until it's sorted properly.  Maybe time to 'insist' at Drs that it needs checking again. (((hugs))) XX 

MeandO

Thank you Chrystal, I didn't realise that! 

My new duvet has arrived and on removing the old one I realised it was only a 10.5tog and not 13 as I thought, perhaps that's why I've been feeling chilly. Saying that, I slept well (for me) last night and was so snug and comfy this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed.

DS is usually with his Dad today but will be with me again due to the ongoing situation at his Dad's. He has another sports session tonight so I've made a sweet potato and swede topped keema pie for us at lunch time so I can just heat it up for us to eat tonight. It's packed full of veg and SW friendly so I'm trying to be good and plan more. It's also used up some of the sweet potatoes that needed using. I imagine there'll be leftovers for another day and I'll drop a portion off to OH later whilst in the area waiting for DS.

£15 of the vinted money has hit the bank account, the other £15 should be cleared to transfer soon. Not sure which pot to stash that in yet but I'll decide when it's all received.

weenancyinAmerica

Is there any place to complain about the service at the doctor's? 

MeandO

Hello weenancyinAmerica, yes - a complaint was made earlier this year when they delayed a CT scan by 6 months after not returning a signed form - and that was only found out because I had to chase them and the hospital. Unfortunately nothing came of it. 

MeandO

I’m sure today has been about 3 days long… My lovely son didn’t get the memo about an extra hour in bed last night so we’ve been up since ridiculously early o’clock this morning and I’m tired beyond belief. 

DS kindly had a lift to and back from his sports session this morning so it meant I had a couple of hours to myself (the first in a week!). I met OH and we had a quick brunch and coffee out in the local town which I had to go to to pick up the last part of a gift for the three November birthdays in my family. I’m pleased to have got those all bought, wrapped and ready to take to my parents house this week when we go home. It will save me a fortune on posting them. It was nice to see OH too as I haven’t really had chance to see him all week.  OH kindly paid for brunch (at the local Spoons so was under £10 for both of us with several coffee refills!), I spent around £1 in Sainsbury’s on some salad and a jar of basics low sugar jam for cake making. 

£40 has been transferred from the gifts pot to the main account to cover the presents bought this weekend. I have also bought several Christmas gifts online this weekend, paid with the CC, but will transfer and clear immediately once it’s showing up. 

I have a £24 refund going to the CC for a booking I made to take DS and two of his friends to an activity centre last week. I booked and paid online the night before, when we got there the activity was closed and the staff gave us a credit note to use for a later date. I’ve since found out the activity has been shut for nearly 6 months and won’t be open until next year at the earliest so wasn’t happy and asked for a refund to be told ‘no refunds!’ I questioned why they were STILL taking bookings online to which no-one could answer. One stinking email to head office later and a reminder of their legal obligations and there is a refund on the way plus a family pass for a different activity as an apology. 

My freezer is quickly emptying whilst having DS full time for the foreseeable. I love that he is here all the time, but I’ve certainly noticed the food going down quicker and am having to shop more. I was also reminded yesterday whilst it is not a good idea taking him grocery shopping. I went to Tesc0 instead of Ald! as we had to go to some other shops in the same centre so it was closer. He hates shopping (as do I), so we did our utmost to get in and out as quickly as possible. I ended up spending £45 and didn’t seem to have a lot for my money plus some treats that I wouldn’t normally buy were included as he had a particularly upsetting morning yesterday and I wanted to cheer him up.

Today I’ve spent £80 on train tickets for DS and I to go to London for a weekend in December. We are meeting family members there who are coming from a different area and whom we don’t get to see as often as we’d like, so it’s something we’re really looking forward to. They are very kindly paying for our hotel as an early Christmas gift as they can get reduced accommodation rates via their work and I have used our railcard again to massively reduced the cost of the transport. We’ll take drinks and snacks with us again and breakfast is included at the hotel so we’ll fill up on that and food costs will be kept as low as we can. It’s given DS something to really look forward to.

Right, my bed is calling, night all!

MeandO

Urgh, the heavy rain kept me awake for most of the night last night, I'm even more shattered today with a cracking headache to start the day. Is it bedtime yet?! 

The child benefit has been received today and allocated to pots. I've also sent £100 to the CC to more than cover the train tickets with the extra going towards the Christmas gifts purchased on there, none of which have turned up yet.
£5 has been sent to the EF to get it up to over £4600.

Now to get through the day...

Mrs_Money_Penny

Hope Your day is going quickly and your feeling better xx

MeandO

Thank you Mrs_Money_Penny x

I think DS must be going through a growth spurt. He's not a big eater but has had about 3 breakfast and an early lunch by 11.30am today... I'm going to have to go grocery shopping again soon!

MeandO

Today is a difficult day. My wonderful Mum is undergoing high risk surgery today and I won't hear until late tonight how things have gone. I'm struggling to concentrate on much and am trying to hold back the tears constantly at the moment. It's a sunny day so at least the weather is cheerful if nothing else so that is helping a little.

The situation continues with DS's Dad, so DS is still with me full time presently. I've actually had grocery shopping delivered today for the first time since lockdown times as I'm just not getting enough hours in the day and dragging a pre-teen around the shop with me seems to end up being stressful and expensive. My grocery budget is fast diminishing and I am really noticing the increase in costs from cooking every day, but it is lovely having him around. I haven't seen much of OH though and I can't get to SW as I have no childcare and DS has sports clubs to go to, so any 'me' time is non-existent presently, I think I'm going to have to quit Slimming World for now. 
I have attempted to do some Christmas shopping online, but I need to send several bits back this week as it arrived and wasn't suitable. I've no idea what to get anyone this year.

I received my notification from UC today after switching from CTC to say I'm not entitled to any payment this month. I'm not sure if it's decided month by month or if that's it now? I worked overtime last month so received more in my wages and that seems to be the figure they're going on. They have also deducted the transitional protection amount from my payment due to my earnings so have said I won't get anything at all. I don't understand that as I was receiving CTC last month and as I understood it, transitional protection was to help with the difference if I was entitled to less on UC. I have asked the question in the journal but I've noticed the responses always seem to skim around the question asked.

I spent just over £56 today on groceries - a big shop for us as everything was running low and I had to stock up quote a bit. I need to complain about the celery that was delivered as it was 'bendy' after obviously being kept too cold/frozen so hopefully will receive a refund for that. £75 was spent yesterday on DS's new sports kit and £22.50 the day before that on a shirt he needed for a club. Petrol costs have also been higher this month already as we went home to see my family. Needles to say, the bank account is not looking too shiny. I have cash to put in to my bank today but went to the bank early doors only to find they've changed their opening hours to 9.30am-4.30pm. I'm not sure how people who work FT are supposed to get to a bank these days.

I've put washing on as the weather was lovely but it has clouded over since I started typing this post. The weather forecast doesn't mention rain so I'm going to chance it and hang the clothes out now.