Moving on

Cherryfudge

Some little progress has been made, mostly in displacement activities. Dinner was eaten (chicken and chorizo pasta, with some left for a meal for DH tomorrow and a bit of freezer space gained). The spare bed is made up and the laundry is put away. I've texted a few people and fed the houseplants. I've also looked at my existing ISA and 1.75% is really not competitive! The best one according to MSE seems to be Plum, but I've never heard of them before so I've texted D, who's the nearest thing we have to financially savvy. However, I'm inclined to think I'll go for it anyway.

ETA: it's an auto-saving app, but according to this link, I could pause the autosave indefinitely. It's backed by the Bank of England so in that respect I think it's probably as safe as any ordinary account, but the complication seems to be that I'd have to link it to a main bank account to get the ISA to transfer across. The ISA is with the same bank as the account DH pays into, i.e. our main joint account, so I'd have to be very sure to unlink the account for savings purposes, or all DH's hard-earned cash (that we live off) might eventually disappear into my ISA! I also think DH would be absolutely horrified! He is (with all due respect) financially clueless not very engaged and it took me ages to persuade him that overpaying the mortgage was a good idea...

I'm going to have a bowl of porridge now and set off for work while the dust settles in my brain.

Laura_Elsewhere

After having Other Stuff getting in the way for weeks and weeks, I have an awfy lot of catching up to do, so your organisational achievements are amazing! 

I've got some laundry on the go, and I've cleared and cleaned all of one side of our tiny galley kitchen- the rented flat comes with very dark-grey worktops, virtually black, in a tiny kitchen with no window...! So we put down cheerful big plastic-sheet cutting-board things in primary colours, but they quickly started to look tatty- so now we've found a place that will do a piece of toughened glass (ie heatsafe) to the exact dimensions, and we've got new colourful sheets to put down first, and Mr E managed to find nearly-black blu-tack to put round the edges to stop liquids getting under, so it should look really quite spiffinf when finished, new worktop in custom colourfulness for about forty quid, all-in!  

Cherryfudge

Laura_Elsewhere said:

After having Other Stuff getting in the way for weeks and weeks, I have an awfy lot of catching up to do, so your organisational achievements are amazing! 

I've got some laundry on the go, and I've cleared and cleaned all of one side of our tiny galley kitchen- the rented flat comes with very dark-grey worktops, virtually black, in a tiny kitchen with no window...! So we put down cheerful big plastic-sheet cutting-board things in primary colours, but they quickly started to look tatty- so now we've found a place that will do a piece of toughened glass (ie heatsafe) to the exact dimensions, and we've got new colourful sheets to put down first, and Mr E managed to find nearly-black blu-tack to put round the edges to stop liquids getting under, so it should look really quite spiffinf when finished, new worktop in custom colourfulness for about forty quid, all-in!  

I like the sound of your colourful kitchen Laura! We have a galley kitchen too, but with a small window and a half-glazed door, which make a lot of difference. At one point we had a faux granite worktop, which was fashionable but not practical for someone like me with a food hygiene background, thus needing things to look clean (as well as be clean). We now have wooden work surfaces which I like a lot, though they do tend to stain if we aren't careful. Serves us right for setting cups and pans down then just leaving them there... so much for kitchen hygiene. Glass is perfect for hygiene of course, and all the nicer for having colour showing through.

redofromstart

I've gone with Marcus for my ISAs, the rate is ok, the App works well and I have heard of the owners. Not sure if you can transfer money in though.I started mine a few years ago so we never needed to.

Cherryfudge

I didn't spend anything yesterday, though I think DH will have done. This morning he's ordered some light switches (£22.98) as the dining room one broke and the lounge one is scratched.

I have almost made up my mind not to go for the Plum ISA, though I think the risk is probably low. I just don't like the aspect of giving bank details for our current account when it's not going to be the current account that's used. It will cost £15 p.a. in lost interest, though. Reading Redo's post above, I realised I've not heard of Marcus either - basically I'm completely out of the loop on ISAs!

Cherryfudge

No progress made on ISAs, though I notice the one being recommended yesterday is no longer the best buy so I'm not likely to get that interest rate.

Today mostly didn't go to plan. One of the Tuesday group had to visit a relative in hospital after work so we postponed our meeting till next week. I realised that gave me a free evening so I texted work to see if they needed cover, then DH and I did week 2 run1 of couch to 5K. I've felt healthier all day on account of it.

We got a few jobs done: the dining chair is now being varnished and DH has started to sand another one. I did some laundry and mowed the grass (I can see there's a lot of work needed in the garden). I had a bloods appointment at the surgery and the nurse tells me my blood pressure is 120 over 78, so she's pleased. I walked back via town and got eucalyptus oil (£1.50) to try to get the oil stains off my jeans, then picked up a message that threw me off kilter. There has been a near-miss type incident in something I'm involved with and they wanted my version of things. I didn't reply straight away, as I've learned that's often not wise. Instead I went home and talked it through with DH before drafting a reply and running it past him. Then I had a message back to say they had had more details and knew I wasn't involved, which is a big relief. However it's thrown up a weakness in a system so that is being addressed.

I had just about calmed down from this when my phone went and it was work to ask if the offer of help was still valid. As a result I've had two hours of work I didn't expect, on a week when less was available. I did spend the equivalent of what I'd earned at the supermarkets on the way home, oops. However, there were some good yellow sticker bargains and a coupon which was a bit like having 75p off. Unfortunately my Lidl app didn't scan so I don't have a receipt for that one, but the total for both was about £21, which is enough food for about six main meals for both of us, and some snacks.

Cherryfudge

I'm just trying to get a handle on today: if I write things down there's a small chance I will feel accountable enough to make a start on them.

I've just had a look at ISAs and am muttering 'Oh, blumin' 'eck, Plum is back and better than before'. Yet I'd decided not to use them because it's basically a savings app and I'm trying to conserve existing savings, not squirrel away more. That would be from DH's income and it's up to him to come to that decision should he so choose. Perhaps that means I can leave it till tomorrow?

This afternoon is church cleaning, brought forward because the day we'd usually do it is Good Friday. I have about three hours to use between then and now.

Things I could do:

• put together a Moroccan-style casserole to use the lamb I bought yesterday. I don't know if I have all the ingredients and I've not yet looked up the recipe but if it waits till after the cleaning, it won't have long enough to cook.
• do one of the courses still owing for work. I tend to forget about them but as I have a supervision coming up, I'd like to have them up to date. My own laptop has stopped talking to work emails, so that means getting the work laptop out and the keyboard is a bit small for me.
• Tidy the kitchen. Good displacement activity.
• Tidy the garden. No. It's been raining so the air might be cold and damp. Change would be involved. Effort. I clearly need to wriggle my toes, as this helps make me more able to get out of current slump.
• Rescue recycling bins from where they are collected at the end of the road. No. See above.
• Brush my hair and make myself ready in case a TV crew shows up at the door. This has never happened before but I might as well be ready, just in case.

Oh get moving, woman. Just do something and the indecision will melt away.

Laura_Elsewhere

If it helps, I think I would go for:
- brush your hair in case the tv crew turn up because, well, you never know...
- go and retrieve recycling bins because that's a thing that makes life nicer for other people too, so it's a win-win on the Smug Glow of Virtue side of things  
- check date on the lamb; if it needs used today, then make the lamb thing; if it doesn't, then leave it til tomorrow but mark it up mentally as one of the things you are definitely doing tomorrow

That should all be quite quick (esp if not using the lamb), and it's three out of your six done- fifty per cent! Half of the list that isn't all for today anyway! Whoohoo!!!

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere, that's just about exactly what I've done, helped by the sun coming out. It isn't too cold out, either.

No TV crew so far but annoyingly I heard the letter box go and it was a 'failed to deliver note', even though I was in and if I heard the letter box, where was the preceding knock? So now we have to wait till the neighbour is home to collect something that could have been handed straight to me. Sigh.

The bins are collected and the work laptop is brought downstairs. Italian is practised. Lamb needs to be used so I've found a recipe...

Cherryfudge

I'm making a recipe that I'm fairly sure I've done before (as in, the cookery book opens at that page, and it's all things I like). I've reduced the dried fruit quite a bit, partly because it's used up the dried apricots, and now I have the choice of whether to buy more apricots (so the recipe is more as intended and I can use the current Mr T voucher that gives extra Clubcard points if buying certain baking stuffs) or not (saving money, clutter and having eventually to find a way to use up the rest of the apricots). I added chickpeas to stretch the recipe but I'm not convinced it's enough to feed us twice.

This morning I've used up the apricots, some fresh ginger and some cleaning bicarb. The kitchen is differently messy, with washing up still to be done and some recycling to go out as well as cleaning.

The garden is now featuring spots of un-forecast rain and some impressive movement from gusts of wind, so I'm not tempted.

Work emails have been checked and a few deleted, but the course will have to wait so I can get the cleaning done. I'm going to put on a warmer jumper and get moving.