MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

What a lovely drying day! My washing dried on the line before 2pm today - the joys of drying washing ouside!

The leaky radiator has FINALLY been fixed today after the 4th visit from the same firm of plumbers. I won't be using them again. This guy also agrees there is something not right with my boiler (although his diagnosis was 'I haven't a clue what's wrong with it, but it ain't right') despite his colleague arguing it was fine last week. I will get a second opinion from someone else. I called their office to pay my bill, only for the girl to tell me I owed them £270  for work they never did, instead of the £90 I actually owe them. Told her to call me back when she has the correct invoice and I will pay it. The plumber left a soaking wet trail of dirty water and boot marks right through my house across two rooms of carpets after dragging his wet vac through it which was pumping liquid out everywhere, so I've had to put carpet cleaner down on those to try and get them clean. If it stains, I'll be sending them the bill.

I've posted the ebay parcel and one vinted parcel that was going via the post office. Two left to post, annoyingly at different shops, but I'll try and do those tonight. I've also listed three more items on vinted in the hope of a few extra £'s.

I had a response from floozyjet who have offered to refund me the cost of the changed flights I booked when they cancelled ours and put us onto a different one that was really inconvenient. It's just over £150 which would be great, but I don't want it to affect the compensation claim of £440 which they should be paying up for not informing me of the cancellation in the first place. I've asked them to confirm whether I will be ineligible for the compensation if I accept the refund of the flight cost. I await their response.

I've sewn holes in a pair of PJ bottoms of DS's and a top of mine that sprung holes today too - feeling a bit virtuous about that one as I usually hate doing these things and take any sewing for my Mum to do when I visit my parents! In my defence, she loves sewing...

MeandO

I'm making the most of this weather while it lasts and have washed all of my bedding today and have hung the mattress topper on the line to air too. I was hoping to put it in the washing machine  but it wouldn't fit, so I've sprayed some fabric refresher stuff on it and hung it outside.

My kitchen smells lovely presently as I have 3 lemon drizzle cakes baking. I somehow managed to end up with a bulk of 8 or 9 lemons, so what better use for them than CAKE?!  One will go to OH's Mum as she loves a homemade cake and perhaps I'll pop one in the freezer too.

This afternoon, OH and I are taking a load of stuff from his to the charity shop. I have half a bag full here to go too but will have a scoot around the house shorty to see if there's anything else I can pop in there. I'll also pop into L!dl whilst out and pick up my free loaf of bread from the app and stock up the flour, sugar & eggs which I've almost used up this morning with the baking.

One more item sold on vinted this morning so I've wrapped that ready to go later today. I posted yesterday's sale this morning but today's is to a different shop again. 

If I get chance later and it's dry enough I may try and cut the grass for its first cut this year, the garden always looks smarter once the grass is cut. 

Aimingforthegoodlife

I do love line drying, it is so exciting! Back to dreary weather my way, boo! Good news on radiator, poor form with the charges and getting rubbish all over the carpet, how rude!!

Enjoy the lemon drizzle cakes!

sudonum-mum

Just caught up on 2 years of posts (not sure why I left MSE) and the ups and downs have been very up and very down.

I honestly don't think you realise how strong and amazing you are.

A few things jumped out at me as I have caught up over the last few weeks (reading a bit each morning when I wake up as I'm a lark), slimming world is not good for you, not in weight loss terms but for your mental health and financial health. Seeing you berate yourself for not losing weight when you have so much going on is really sad. Dieting does not work if you have other stressors in your life. Maybe give rebelfit a follow on Facebook, he is fabulous about explaining why dieting doesn't work for so many people and why you have to sort your mental health first. He does have plans you can sign up to which obviously cost but I find just his Facebook posts are good to help change your mindset.

The other thing that jumped out at me was the menopause/peri-menopause and you feeling so low. It's really good you've started taking a supplement, I know you don't think it has made much difference but reading the last few months of posts since you started taking them really showed me how your mental health has improved.
As I was reading and before you started them I wanted to come on and recommend some supplements my friend took, she hit peri menopause and was suicidal and didn't think life was worth living. Luckily she joined a menopause support group who recommended some supplements and within a day or 2 she felt happier and brighter. I won't say what she took as you're getting on so well with your ones but wanted you to know that you are not alone and the menopause journey is shut.

Good luck with savings and paying off your mortgage.
I'll keep up to date from now on 😁

MeandO

Thank you Aimingforthegoodlife and Welcome back Sudonum-mum, thank you for your lovely comments. 

I know what you're saying about SW. I don't really buy into the whole branding thing of it and have always left the merchandise and ready meals etc they pedal well alone and choose to cook from scratch. It is expensive too. I can also see how it doesn't work long term as as soon as I take a break from it I don't follow the 'plan' and then it's a vicious circle. I guess for me, not seeing many people all week and not having much of a social circle, it was nice to go to a group of people where I didn't feel judged or was conscious about my size in an otherwise slim circle of friends, and I really jelled with a couple of them who I have kept in touch with. I am very tall and am not morbidly obese or anything so am lucky that I carry the extra weight as well as I can, but definitely need to lose about 3 stone to be healthier, keep my risk of hereditary issues low and to feel better about myself. I am at that age where joints are starting to ache too and my knees are giving me a lot of pain presently.
My problem now is that I'm so bored and fed up during the day, WFH and seeing the same 4 walls constantly that I just eat through boredom and trying to cheer myself up, which it obviously doesn't. Then I eat because I feel rubbish about myself - it's typical emotional eating.  I have looked at the rebelfit literature but many of the trustpilot reviews are quite scathing and it is a lot of money like you said. I do understand the mental health thing, I just need to break the cycle somehow. Unfortunately I don't have the option of working in an office anymore as we don't have one! I also can't change my job as everything else about it fits with our lives and I can't afford to lose that. I used to swim lots and go to the gym which I loved, but unfortunately I don't have more than 1 evening a week where I could do it, if I want to actually see my OH too. It's a bit of a catch 22.  

It was really interesting to hear your observations about me since being on the supplements, thank you. I do feel like I'm on much more of an even keel rather than up and down and that makes life much easier. I would welcome the name of the supplements your friend took if you don't mind, just in case I ever feel like these aren't working anymore. It sounds like they have been a life saver for her, I hope she's doing ok now. I'm finding having open conversations with a friend/colleague and also my OH about the peri menopause is helping a lot. 

MeandO

Some of the vinted money has started to reach the bank account which is very welcome at the moment as I am very low on funds. OH and I went away overnight at the weekend - all booked and paid for in December. We kept spends very low, but I still could have done without any extra expenses this month really. We both downloaded the 'Groggs' app for a free hot drink to take on the train with us  which was a little bonus and saved a few £'s. The return journey home was a nightmare thanks to numerous train cancellations and then getting stuck amidst the six nations crowd as we were so delayed, so we missed several trains due to lack of space and ended up home 6 hours later than planned. It was very stressful and completely ruined the break away tbh. I've applied for refunds for our tickets as I ended up buying new tickets to try and bypass the cancelled trains, but they then cancelled the new journey.  GWR are claiming I can only have a refund of one ticket as I couldn't be travelling on both, so I've explained the second was purchased to avoid the first route as they'd cancelled the connecting train! We'll see what comes of that. I've had confirmation of £19 in refunds from the second train company so that should hit the account soon. It will go to the CC though to pay off the new tickets purchased. I'll skip the trains and take the car next time.

I've received just over £25 from TCB this month which has gone straight to top up the groceries pot. I'm still waiting on the £7 odd from ziffit which is taking its time but will be welcomed when it arrives. Child benefit should be paid on Monday but I want to save that for the weekend before payday when DS and I are going away for the weekend which was a Christmas present to him. All accommodation and travel is paid for already but I need to fund food/drink and any extra entry fees for us. I've taken £100 out of the holidays pot to help cover this leaving just £25 in there for now. 

badmemory

Then they wonder why people drive everwhere.  Years ago I used to commute through a northern city every day.  By through I mean North to south right through the city centre & back again every day.  Back when the trains were BR & the buses were the local city ones.  I don't remember either a bus or train being cancelled.  The bus may be a few minutes late in rush hour because of the traffic, but that was it.  Then everything got sold off because it was going to be so much more efficient.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hi MeandO, I also find the rebelfit mindset so much better than other places- I have tried the courses but struggle with purely online. I just follow on the book of face, and the 'gram! Totally free, first time in my life I am staying at a weight, I always yoyoed before. (I am very big though, and am having bariatric surgery this year!). 

Well done for chasing the trains, how annoying after a lovely time away, its amazing how things like that can overshadow what was a good time. I can imagine it is very isolating WFH all the time, is there any scope to go into the office at all? Would swimming be something that OH or DS might get into with you, exercising and spending time together?

Take care

MeandO

Unfortunately we no longer have an office @Aimingforthegoodlife - they've closed the building down as everyone is now required to WFH. I never thought I'd miss going to the office.

I had a gym membership 18 months ago which I took out specifically to swim in the pool regularly and I could also take a guest once a month. Unfortunately, I just didn't get chance to use it often enough as either the ex let me down with picking up DS from school or the times I could go, the pool was filled with swimming clubs and young lads with their mates who took to bombing in the pool straight from sweating at the gym which put me off. It was pot luck whether the pool was empty enough to have room to swim which I really dislike. DS now won't be seen with his mother doing things like that in public as it's 'not cool!' and OH came a few times with me and enjoyed but not enough to warrant taking out a membership himself. The local pool nearby is very small and had such a hectic timetable with school swimming and then swimming clubs that it's not ideal either. I used to belong to a gym with a pool when I lived in a different area and it was great. It felt like a real treat to go there as it was more of a health club and so I went several times a week. Unfortunately, that's now around a 30 minute drive away on the motorway which would put me off and is very expensive so unaffordable on my budget nowadays too.

I've followed rebelfit now on fb after both yours and sudonum-mum's positive comments about it. Hopefully it helps! xx

sudonum-mum

Thank you for taking my comments in the way they were intended.

I've heard others say they go to Slimming World for the social aspect so I totally get it.
What do your friends you've met there think of it?
 If they are not fussed could you meet up on the same evening but not at Slimming World but still at a pub or similar as its the same money spent? Or could you do a fitness class once a week with the money?

Is DS at an age where he can be left for a few hours at weekends if you wanted to meet friends for coffee?

I hate working from home and go to the office everyday. Mine isn't boredom but that I get distracted and end up doing housework!!
Could you take regular breaks and do a quick 15 min walk to stop the boredom eating?

I'll get the details of the supplements and then post.

I've never joined a rebelfit challenge, I just follow the Facebook page and it just helps with mindset. I've recommended it to a few people who struggle with weight loss and have stressful lives.