MeandO's money-shuffling

MeandO

This afternoon I’ve read through some of my old diaries on here and I’ve actually had a few tears and a few smiles doing so. It’s quite nice to see how far I’ve come in my approach to paying off debts and saving money, but I’m astounded at how much I’ve dealt with over the past 11 years or so. Reading my old diaries are like reading through a book of disaster after torment after disaster! I’m quite shocked I’m still functioning and relatively in one piece. I guess I’m stronger than I think I am. 

I haven’t moved much since my last post other than to cook DS some tea - coconut, chilli & lime prawns, rice and veggies - and to clear up. My stomach is not my friend today and I don’t feel like eating much so am just sticking to the mint tea presently. 

DS has admitted he’s really tired today (which explains his mood 😐) and has asked if we can have an early night tonight which suits me perfectly, so it’ll be showers, PJs and bed for us both in the next couple of hours. I am going to contact the gp this week to request a blood test for DS to check his iron levels again. Lately he seems tired a lot, looks pale and sometimes gets dizzy when he stands up quickly. He had low iron a couple of years ago so it won’t hurt to check again. 

I have an eye test booked for tomorrow and I think I’ll need my glasses changed as my eyesight has got much worse over the past few months. The glasses I have are just for close up work and reading etc, but I find I can’t see properly and everything is blurry for a good while if I’ve been wearing them and then remove them so I don’t tend to wear them often. Will see what is suggested tomorrow. 

in_need_of_direction

I can’t recommend mediflow water pillows enough. They are expensive but like you, I was completely fed up spending money on pillows that didn’t suit.  You can adjust the depth though it is a bit of trial and error to get them right.

MeandO

Thank you INOD, I’ll look those up. 

MeandO

It’s pay day and I’ve also received back pay from April. If only my salary looked like that every month! This month is also the month I get a double payment of CB which is paid every 4 weeks so I will have money to put away towards some mortgage OPs next year. 

I’ve topped the car/house pot up to £700 and the gifts pot is back up to £450. The school uniform pot has also had extra paid into it and I’ve increased the amount I pay into it monthly by £20. £150 has been sent to the ISA. I’ve allocated £40 extra for petrol this month as I’m going ‘home’ later this week for a few days. I’ve also allocated money for my next mounjaro pen if I choose to continue with it and also for my hair appointment mid December. 

One more item sold on vinted and has been posted today, so that’ll be another £7 in a pot eventually. 

Feeling a bit tired, fed up and stuck in a rut today, am hoping for a better sleep tonight. 

MeandO

Morning all, 

Another £40 of planned income has hit the account this morning, so I've sent £36.71 to round up the ISA to £2200 and the remaining £3.29 has been allocated towards my 2025 mortgage OP pot. I'm going to try and start building this pot up with little bits of income from vinted etc when I can so I can start OPing again on January 1st. Next month I will know exactly how much my new regular salary is with the small payrise I've received (backpay this month means it's hard to work out exactly) so I will be able to plan my monthly budget for 2025 and see how much I can allocate to mortgage OPs every month. It should be a minimum of £300 but I'm hoping I can make it a bit more.

Aiming for another NSD today as we don't need anything.

MeandO

OH and I spent a few days at ‘home’ with my family this past weekend which was lovely. As per usual on returning I’m feeling a bit down but trying to work through it. Spends were on petrol and I picked up some groceries on the way back so I had enough in when DS got home. I also bought a jumper from the charity shop for myself and bought my Mum a pretty one too, so nothing which broke the bank. 

After saying it would be a NSD on my last post, I ended up spending hundreds of £’s! However, it was all in the aid of moneysaving as my fitness club offered a Black Friday deal which meant a saving of nearly £200 if a year’s membership was paid up front and I also got one month’s free membership on top.This means I can cancel my monthly direct debit with them and won’t be paying monthly which will help the budget every month. I was debating whether to renew my membership or not as it is expensive despite doing me the world of good, but now I don’t feel so bad about renewing at this price. I have the money to pay for it in the ISA, but have put it on the CC for now and will see how much I can pay off this month whilst it is 0%, then will pay the rest off. Basically, I’m trying to withdraw as little as possible from the ISA. So far I’ve paid off around £300 which I’m really pleased with. There’s £15 in my purse too so will use that towards groceries and send another £15 to the card. 

I’ve now got three black bags full for the charity shop which have been moved to my car boot, partly because I have nowhere to store them and partly so I drop them off quicker! I’ve been quite ruthless in getting rid of things and my wardrobe in particular feels much more spacious and less chaotic because of it. I also have a bag of unopened toiletries ready to give to a local shelter via a friend who works there.

foxandflowers

So pleased you have renewed your fitness club membership - it is so important to do something that is just for you

MeandO

Thank you F&F, I feel incredibly guilty spending so much money but health-wise I need to do it.

I'm now at the 2 stone loss mark since June, which I'm really pleased with. It's part gym/healthy eating and part mounjaro. I'd like to lose another stone and a half which will get me into a healthy weight bracket for my height. Thankfully, I'm tall! 

It's been an up and down week with some very stressful parts but also some lovely moments with DS. I'm looking forward to some down time this weekend, although have a log list of things I need to do, places I need to go and things I need to buy - mostly Christmas gifts, groceries and dropping stuff at the charity shop. I'm panicking a bit about Christmas shopping as I went through everything this morning and I am a lot less organised than I thought I was, hence a few panic orders online this morning. I'm not sure where the budget is with that either presently but I will see when everything has caught up on the CC account and then pay off as much as possible. I definitely need to up the gifts pot contributions monthly next year.

This morning I have given away some surplus Christmas decorations via the local FB freebie group, I also have something being collected later today for £10. It's DS's, so the money is going in his school trip spending pot at his request. I have another bag for the Charity shop on the go which now makes 4 black bags full. I HAVE to drop that off asap as I can't get anything else in the boot of the car presently.

Sarahwithlove

I'm debating whether or not i want to continue mounjaro after Xmas or not. I have my next pen which is a step up to 7.5 but it's about £150 a month and I'm not feeling the benefits as much now, maybe the next dose up will help more. Don't know if it's just because I'm having side effects so noticing those more. 

MeandO

I am in the same frame of mind as you, Sarahwithlove. I’ve taken my first dose of 7.5mg today so will see how that goes, but I have experienced side effects on 5mg after not previously having any and it hasn’t been fun. I also can’t justify the cost going forward as I don’t think the weight loss is any greater than if I was just counting calories as I am also trying to do now. I am going to concentrate on the healthy eating this month, I’m not a big over eater at Christmas as we don’t tend to buy into all that, thankfully. I’m trying to concentrate on making the weight loss sustainable once I stop the MJ otherwise it was a massive waste of time and money.