Flying solo

twiggy86

Well I officially gave bf a key to my place yesterday - he was quite touched as thought it was just him that was being too enthusiastic and excitable about moving in! It will definitely be more of a change for him as he has lived on his own for 3 years and is the one moving - whereas I just have to get used to having someone in the house again... but he's here a lot of the time anyway!!! 

This morning I have ordered a sofa bed for the little bedroom/ snug/ games room (bf will put his computer in there). I found it on two online stores - one being £15 cheaper than the other and a higher percentage through TCB! So that will be arriving next Wednesday which I'm happy about as before bf's kids will be staying again - at the moment his 14 year old has been sleeping on a blow up bed when he's here which I don't like (he sleeps fine but makes me feel like he isn't welcome, which of course is not the truth!) The reviews were a bit mixed on the sofa bed but I opted for this one as it was wider than others, however I will buy a mattress topper to ensure it's comfortable enough! I have a spare single duvet for it, so don't need to buy that though. 

This does now mean that my "house pot" only has £144.50 sat in it but don't have any more immediate projects planned, just finishing touches to the bedrooms. Next job will require saving up a bit for the downstairs utility/ toilet area. 

Tonight we have tickets to the circus, which I'm very excited about! I did give bf the choice of watching the football and me going with a friend (tickets were booked a while ago) but he's said he wants to come! As a "date night" treat, we will grab some food out - I will drive and pay for food/ drinks as I organised this date. 

So on to today's bits and pieces....

• Order sofa bed 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Wash towels on 30 degree quick wash 
• Research mattress toppers 
• ZIPZERO (yes I am shouting at myself!)
• Lunch from stores 
• Enjoy an evening out guilt free as it's in the budget! 

birdsfoottrefoil

That’s exciting Twiggy! I remember finding it hard living with someone after a period of living alone, I think we both had to persevere a bit as romantic as that sounds 🤣

twiggy86

@birdsfoottrefoil - Yep I'm expecting it to be a bit of an adjusted, particularly for bf. One thing though, we seem to be very good at communicating so hopefully we can work/talk through any issues. I have expressed my concerns re him finding it too much as he is someone who needs "alone time", so as long as he tells me when he needs space then hopefully it will be ok. I have been sorting things to make sure he knows he's welcome - like he noticed this morning that I'd cleared some boxes out the bottom of what is now his wardrobe and he said that he'd been panicking that he's taking it too fast so was pleased to see that I am on board! (Side note: these boxes are now simply shoved in the second bedroom so must sort them properly!!)

The circus was great fun last night and I even got called up on stage! I decided to fully go with making a fool of myself, rather than awkward so had a good laugh! Only spent £12 on parking and a drink for us both - we got out so late we decided to forego dinner and bf had bought us some popcorn (not sure that counts as dinner!!!)

I'm off to London with friends tomorrow - have £75 set aside as a separate budget for that but don't envisage spending it all as train and theatre tickets are already purchased. Anything not spent will be rolled over to the festival I'm going to at the end of August! Good news is that bf likes camping so I will be using his tent etc so no need to buy any supplies for that! 

Today's bits and bobs include....

• Update spreadsheet 
• Lunch from stores
• Take HM burger out of freezer for dinner
• Load of washing on 30 degree quick wash 
• Hang washing on airer 
• Pop tortoises in garden 
• Walk to shop
• Buy mattress topper 
• Snap receipts 
• Park for free at netball - although meeting a friend for a drink beforehand 

_Dolly_Rocker_

How exciting!

twiggy86

I'm back from a fairly busy but lovely weekend!!! 

I had a great time in London with my friends on Friday - I did pretty much spend my entire budget (a measly 80p left!) however that's what the budget was for! We had a bite to eat when we got there and then went to a lovely restaurant after the show and I had the world's largest lemon meringue! 

Then Saturday I met a friend for a walk and a sausage bap which he treated me to, so will be my treat next time! In the evening I met some different friends for a burger and then went to watch a live band - had a great time dancing away. I drove (and parked at my friends for free) so didn't spend much and still danced like a complete idiot! (It's the way it's fun!!!) So only spent £20 but was out for a lot of the day! 

Yesterday I went to meet some of my acro friends in town for some practice - parked a 5 minute walk away which was free. Then by the time I got home bf was back from camping, so we just chilled out for the afternoon, cooked some dinner and watched the football! I also managed to make some good progress on the crochet deer I'm making as I'm conscious that the birthday its for seems to be fast approaching and I haven't had much time to sit and work on it!

I'm back in the office this week - although will be working from home on Wednesday as have the sofa bed being delivered! So today's bits and bobs...

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet with weekend's spends 
• Work on crochet present at lunch 
• Start writing shopping list - going with bf after work tonight as I don't know the bits he likes to have in the house so we're going together 
• Stick to list best as possible 
• Snap receipt 
• Dinner from stores 

Seems like a short list so will think if there is anything else I can do today! 

twiggy86

Two little "grrrs" today! The cashback for the sofabed had tracked but has now been declined and no idea why! So that's £15 I won't receive! However, it was still the cheapest place to buy through so it wasn't a wasted purchase, just annoying! I also didn't put my crochet hook in my bag so wasn't able to work on the present at lunch! 

I was also feeling the "mid-month slump" re finances - I think more so this month as I only paid the minimums off CCs to give me more flexibility in this month's budget. So I was toying with where to pull some money from - I have quite a lot left in my fun money, but then the groceries are looking low.... so decided to leave the fun money alone for now as may shuffle it to the food budget. What I decided was to use £7.68 which was in my Monzo savings from roundups so far this month as a small extra payment. I would have liked to make a bigger payment (and it also upsets me that it was a random amount when the CC had been sat at a nice round number!) but hopefully I will be able to make a further payment later in the month - especially once I've been paid for the festival I'm working at this weekend, as I'm not sure how much it works out at based on the hours I was given. 

PennysIntoPounds

Oh that's annoying about the cashback, is it worth emailing them and asking what happened?

Nice to be able to make any extra little payments, it all adds up! Great if you can make another payment later too

MFWannabe

Are you able to ask why the cashback has been declined? 

twiggy86

Thanks both - I've had a look and can't see anything obvious to challenge it but I might have a deeper look!

Quiet night last night - just went food shopping with bf (we split the bill) and then cooked dinner. Tonight I'm going to pop by Home Bargains on my way back for a new duvet. Bf really struggles to sleep, partially because he finds my bedroom too hot so I'm going to try getting a more lightweight duvet. So I'm hoping that will help - plus it is technically "summer" now and the current duvet is 13.5 tog! Other than that it will be a quiet day! 

Tomorrow is "exciting" as the sofa bed is due to be delivered! Meaning I will be working from home again so I am there. 

Today's bits and pieces...

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Take fajita mix out of freezer 
• Wash towels on 30 degree wash 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Look into cashback 
• Work on crochet project at lunch - I have my hook today!!!
• Pop to shop on route home 
• Snap receipt 
• Sort out some shoes which were shoved in a cupboard - see if any are worth listing on Vinted 
• Dinner from stores

twiggy86

I did submit a "missing cashback" claim yesterday in the hopes of getting my £15!!! I did receive my £5 reward from my bank account, so that's been shuffled to misc savings for now. However I did spend £6 on some flowers for myself - period was making me really anxious so decided to cheer myself up with flowers! I picked up a mattress topper and fitted sheet for the new sofa bed - did click and collect from Dunelm and went via TCB for a few pennies! Oh and the other thing I did yesterday was look at my broadband - I checked and I am now out of contract so need to start considering what to do as should be able to get it cheaper! 

Today I'm working from home as the sofa bed is being delivered this morning! As well as working, I'm also sorting out some stuff I'd shoved in the second bedroom - already have a bag of stuff to drop into a textiles bank (like t-shirts I got from various running events I've done in the past so no good to anyone else really) and have a few bits to list on Vinted - I've listed 2 things already but a few pairs of shoes need a wipe over as a bit dusty!!! 

I've also actually FINALLY found out a bill so that I could set up a zipzero payment!!! So I sent £6.56 to my council tax but we'll see if actually works! I used zipzero in the past and swear the payments didn't actually work!!! 

Today's bits and pieces...

• Update spreadsheet 
• Book eye test - haven't had one in about 6 years!!! 
• Lunch from stores - a portion of fajitas I took out of the freezer
• Pop tortoises in garden 
• Sort out stuff in spare room 
• Re-post few items on FB which didn't go the other week 
• List items on Vinted 
• Zipzero
• Must check POA forms for someone so that they can get them signed! 
• Snap receipts 
• Cut grass 
• Park for free at acro 
• Have something light for dinner when I get home