Pippi's Diary, 2024 edition.....

pippilongstocking123

Hello folks
Back again after a long break to get some focus as I change jobs.....long time no see! 

Off to do a budget! 

I seem to have lost my mojo so starting with the MSE love to find it all again!

Haggis says Hi too.

MatyMoo

Lovely to see you oh stripey one!

Hi to Haggis, hope things are going well for the whole family?

foxgloves

Pippi!!! Hello & welcome back! I think this year feels like a good one, potentially, for people to rediscover their money-saving mojo. I hope you find that yours comes scampering back as enthusiastically as Haggis!
F x

Seasidegal58

Wonderful to see you back Pippi!  Have missed your posts!😀

pippilongstocking123

MatyMoo said:

Lovely to see you oh stripey one!

Hi to Haggis, hope things are going well for the whole family?

Hello I hope you're well too and the family - Haggis is just back from a beach walk, he's grand although 13 how did that happen? We are OK a few ups and downs, an empty nest now visited by grandbabby no 1 and no 2 on the way any day. 

Must get back into those MSE ways! 

pippilongstocking123

Hello to you too!

foxgloves said:

Pippi!!! Hello & welcome back! I think this year feels like a good one, potentially, for people to rediscover their money-saving mojo. I hope you find that yours comes scampering back as enthusiastically as Haggis!
F x

I hope it is a good one Foxgloves, so lovely to see you on here too, hope you and yours are fine. I really do need some enthusiasm and a bit of scampering won't go amiss either! xx 

Seasidegal58 said:

Wonderful to see you back Pippi!  Have missed your posts!😀

Seasidegal how wonderful to see you too, hope life is treating you well. I must get back in the swing of all things MSE, just lovely to say hello to you all. x

EssexHebridean

MRS STRIPES!!!!!!! Welcome back - and for goodness sake it's been a while! Utterly delighted to have you back on here - and I TOLD you folk remembered you, no?! 

Paging @rtandon27 who I know will want a heads-up on this diary..! 

pippilongstocking123

So me hearties, what a lovely warm glowy start we have today. Thanks to you all.

I've just handed in my notice on a job that was just a bit harder than expected, due to start a new job soon, so I've a few lean months ahead of me. Never mind its also January and I might have overspent a little over xmas etc. 

So now its all about the small things and stretching the food stores and the pennies until the new salary hits the bank in late February and whilst I'm looking forward to a change of jobs its less money, as I'm only doing 20 hours a week, partly as my Granny duties are now a key part of my life, and I don't mind stretching the pennies to allow a bit more of a work life balance.

So January's salary is potentially my final pay from my current job and I'm not as yet sure when the new job starts (likely Mid January). It might be I get a bit of a salary from that in late Jan or not until February. A few unknowns, which whilst is OK, has made me a bit twitchy.

The bank account has be ransacked of any unneeded DD's and I'm going to stop my savings payments for a month or two to let me breathe a bit easier until the dust settles.

I'm going to try for a few NSD's as I'm a bit rubbish at those. What can I say, we now have a corner shop in the village. And whilst I do like a good reduced sticker item, which they are good at after tea time, its the most often transaction on my bank card.

Scuttles off to make a cuppa and look at Martins latest newsletter to see if I can snag a bank switch or learn something new this week.

Passes the biscuits.....

pippilongstocking123

EssexHebridean said:

MRS STRIPES!!!!!!! Welcome back - and for goodness sake it's been a while! Utterly delighted to have you back on here - and I TOLD you folk remembered you, no?! 

Paging @rtandon27 who I know will want a heads-up on this diary..! 

Well I rush around the diaries for a wee second and you sneak in. Must have heard the biscuits rustle. 



Lovely to see you my lovely and a nip over to your lands has reminded me about meal planning. I must get on that, as much as I hate it. Its a eat it up and use it up month here.

Waves to all, lovely to be back.

Had a wierd weather day here, we got our solar panels last year and its been a major adjustment in mindset of when to put things on and running things in sequence, not together as it overloads the flux-capacitor or something technical like that, I don't really understand. Anyhooos after what seems like weeks of NO sun and no free energy (although given the investment needed to get the things and the batteries, is it really free energy? I guess after payback it is one day.{rant over})

Anyway, managed to run the washing machine and then the dishwasher on {free} sunshine time, so I guess that's one for the MSE bag today. The batteries are almost charged too, so we can use up the sunshine leccy into the evening tonight.

Fires on and as that's PIPPI free wood, we'll be cosy for free too.

Tea will be leftovers, had a 'roast dinner soup' for lunch with some HM bread. Tonight its either left over chilli, or fried rice concoction. 

I've got a few chores for later

Write a couple invoices for private gardening work and send them on think I've got three in total to do.
Send a card from the stash to a chum who's not long moved house.
Check octopus and see if our payment is back in the bank as we overpaid in Dec despite the dodgy sunshine
Think about switching bank to get some free money
Hang up some washing to dry indoors
Walk the mutt locally, maybe up to the shop to see if there are any reduced bargains
Do the next stage of a sour dough
Check the cupboards and see what we have to buy as I know we need dog food, flour and a few bits but I need to target my spends this month if we're to get through. 

Cheery_Daff

Pippi!!!!! How utterly spiffing to have you back 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 LOVE your MSE diary 🥰🥰🥰

Glad you are leaving a vexing job xxx and hopefully the new one will be filled with cheerfulness and frolics and cheese 😁

Good luck with your NSDs. I am rubbish at those too 😂 Although I seem to have finally mastered the art of meal planning so maybe there's hope for me yet! 😂😂

* nabs a biscuit* 

pippilongstocking123

Cheery_Daff said:

Pippi!!!!! How utterly spiffing to have you back 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊 LOVE your MSE diary 🥰🥰🥰

Glad you are leaving a vexing job xxx and hopefully the new one will be filled with cheerfulness and frolics and cheese 😁

Good luck with your NSDs. I am rubbish at those too 😂 Although I seem to have finally mastered the art of meal planning so maybe there's hope for me yet! 😂😂

* nabs a biscuit* 

How cheerful to see you here too, thanks Cheery you guys have really brightened up a rather scary day. Handed notice in today for vexing job. Big girl knickers totally required. But we did it, then hid the phone and ran away and walked for an hour breathing deeply so our old boss could neither be cross at us, or actually talk us out of leaving. Better things ahead.

Seems an age since PhD days of yonderness. Lost my login so started a fresh. xx

Hands out biscuits.

The auld mutt says hello by the way. {Wags a tail}

I must take a leaf out of your book and actually get out into the garden again and so some planning. 

We moved last year into this house, its very cheerfully near the sea, but has a very neglected garden, and a woodland out the back.  Apart from foraging for logs I'm ashamed to say not much has happenned out there.

*waves hello, thanks lass*

Its been an utterly life changing few years, so grateful to be peeking above the paraphet.