Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

debtfreewannabe321

I have spent hours in the garden today, it was pretty cold to start with but once I was out there a while I soon warmed up. Lots of plants have been cut to tidy them up. I can now get down paths and see the fish pond. However I need to do a tip run as my green bin is nowhere near big enough to cope with all that I cut down. I will do that on a dry day this week when DP is not using the car. My back is sore now so time for a rest. I didn't get much done for the last hour anyway as the neighbours were all out and about and stopped for chats. I kind of gave up at the third neighbour coming over to chat and leant on my broom for the rest of it Garden looks much tidier now though so glad I made the effort. Sadly heard about two neighbours having passed away, one just last week and one just after Christmas. Both from sepsis which was strange. And sad. One was elderly and one was only 10 years older than me  
I feel like I should go back in the garden and attempt some tidy up really but it is so warm indoors...hmm, perhaps I could burn some of the branches I tidied up if I cut them down some more, a nice reward for a bit more work. That might be a way to get rid of them easily too. Most of it is dead wood already so should burn well enough. I need to go and do a dog poo pick up too as he's been using the front garden and although the grass is long enough to cover it all it is pretty gross...I haven't picked it up in at least a month *yuk* (he is walked for many poos though to be fair so there shouldn't be as many as you're probably thinking )
I will pop over to the neighbour's house later too to see if the cat needs feeding and watering. 
I have requested a refund on s'burys. The cucumber was not great to eat today, and the organic is not cheap so I resent buying and then throwing it away. They have already processed it as a yes so that should be in my bank for the end of the week. I have ordered another shop from them for Saturday. Hoping that will see me through to payday then which is the week after.
Hoping for a NSD tomorrow and Weds. But I may pop into town and get a card for the neighbour to send our condolences, I don't think I have any of those in the house.

debtfreewannabe321

I got back out into the garden yesterday to tidy up the mess I had made. I had cut down three buddleias which were well over 15 ft each so there was a lot of tidying to do. The roses were over 20ft and intertangled with lots of other shrubs, I cut them down to knee level to start again, they were straggly and didn't bloom well last year. I also pulled out some weeds and cut down some other shrubs that needed tidying. I managed to get a thorn stuck in my finger which took hours to come out, and I also managed to flick up a load of dirt into my face meaning I had to wash my eye out for a good five minutes before it stopped hurting- nearly walked into the french doors holding my eye on the way to the kitchen too! #
All cut down branches, and garden waste are in a sort of pile now though. When DP is off we will sort through it together and do a dump run I think.
We have been in this house since June 2022. In that time we have had two summers where we basically kept up with the grass and hedge cutting and left everything else to do it's own thing. We have done a whole house renovation from new bathroom, to stripping all walls and ceilings of woodchip to replastering where needed, walls knocked down and log burners installed and the garden has been somewhat neglected. I am grateful to the old owners for leaving us with such a beautiful garden which they have filled with lovely flowers and shrubs and a big fish pond with running stream, so this spring I intend to focus my efforts on bringing it all up to scratch.  I am aching today though and we have no sun so I am not doing it today. I am still in PJs. I think I deserve a lazy day so today is it

I will see if DD is awake in a moment and make us some pancakes. DP is hours away at another big meeting. He isn't wanting to turn any of them down and reschedule as he wants some big wins I think before he goes off to his interview in a couple of weeks. DS is at his dad's house until end of the week I think so just me and DD in the house today, it is very quiet. All I can hear is the distant noise of builders and roofers working on a house at the end of the street and the wind blowing down the chimney. 

Not sure what is on the meal plan today but I am grateful for having it as it means I don't have to stress about what we are eating every day. Even DP has mentioned a few times it's a good idea to be so organised even if it does take away from spontaneity. 

My job list for today:-
* run hoover around downstairs
* Make pancakes
* eat pancakes 
* Empty out hallway cupboard upstairs and put back in in some sort of order. 
* Make dinner

DP kindly built me some shelving for the cupboard in the hall upstairs last year and I threw everything back in and haven't yet got round to sorting it out. It was the old cupboard where the water tank would have been but since it has all gone, he has chopped down the pipes left there, built a middle partition and shelved up one side and left one large space on the other for ironing board, hoover and some other large items. I have one large shelve across the top of the partition too so I need to organise this cupboard better, everything is thrown in right now and I can never find anything! I think some storage boxes might be a good idea, I will go and see what I need and size it up and maybe have another trip over to 1kea if I don't have anything suitable here. Hoping for a NSD today.

debtfreewannabe321

Well I have had a productive couple of hours!
I made pancakes, washed up and hoovered the front room and rest of downstairs. I love my new hoover I splurged on last year and actually enjoy hoovering now (saddo I know). I decided to leave cupboard upstairs for now and fold the clean washing from the weekend washing marathon. As I emptied the dining table off of the washing I saw the old pillows I replaced on the chair. I got annoyed at the sight of them as I had only just bought them last year. So instead of throwing in the bin like I usually would I went and found the invoice with them on from next and chatted to one of their online chat people. I asked for a refund as they stated 2 year warranty on them and I had only actually used them for four months (they were pretty cheap but still...) She said I could have one if I send them back!! Result hey! So I will package them up, and put on the return label and wait for the courier to collect them tomorrow. I have never been one for pursuing refunds until I found my way back to mse I feel quite petty about some of the things I am asking for refunds like lemons and cucumbers but also, they shouldn't be selling me rotten or not good quality stuff and not expect me to ask for a refund. I hope to get that pillow refund back before the end of the month. If it isn't needed for anything else by then I will send it to the MOP. Only £25 but better than going in the bin! 

beanielou

25 quid better in your pocket! 

redofromstart

Well done you, we shouldn't just accept rubbish quality

debtfreewannabe321

Afternoon all, 
DP has the day off today, so we spent some of the day in the garden clearing the stuff I cut down the other day.

We decided to pop to a local market town with DD for the afternoon. What a disaster. DD was getting so stroppy about people accidentally touching her or brushing past her in charity shops (all small old buildings so it's pretty hard not to do). We abandoned them after the third one. We managed to sort out a new bank card and pin number for her to be sent out as she's old enough now to want to go shopping with friends and needs it. She lost the old one as she'd forgotten the pin number and never used it really. So we did that. At least it wasn't a total waste of a trip, I guess.

DP & I then traipsed around several cafes and restaurants looking for somewhere with space and things on the menu we could all eat or want to eat. Honestly all I wanted was a bit of cake and tea. But I live in farmerville here and I think we are pretty much the only vegans here. By the time we found somewhere I was honestly so stressed out I had nothing (it was only a falafel sandwich tbh not even the cake I wanted 😭 🤣) I felt like an alien to everyone around me and totally detached from reality by this point. 👽

I was stressed at DD getting stressed, DP had done a disappearing act and we couldn't find him nor any signal to ring him for ten minutes. And by the time we got to a restaurant (in a small hotel) I sat not eating or drinking because I thought I was actually going to cry from upset.

I went to m0rrisons on the way home because I was hungry, they had no sandwiches left for me, I bought donuts instead and have eaten four through utter stress and upset and feel sick now 😞 I wish I had stayed home in all honesty.

I'm home now. Spends were from my pocket money which has dwindled to having not much left for the month.
I'm making an all day breakfast for dinner for us all and I hope to have de-stressed by then to enjoy my evening with DP. He's outside avoiding my tears/ silent despair. 

It's grey, wet and miserable out too so can't even walk the dog for some fresh air. Moan moan moan ....have to do it here as I think everyone here isn't really bothered to be honest. Hope everyone has had a better Valentine's Day than me.

One positive, my gift I bought DP had been delivered when we got home so he got it today 🙂. And I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some other small gifts. I think the gift I wanted the most was to feel like I belong to a community though and that wasn't to be today. I shall remain my indignant alien self for a while longer (it has spurred us on to get the house finished so perhaps something good comes from these events hey).

The next parcel was picked up too so hopefully the refund will follow 😊.

debtfreewannabe321

Well I feel better after a nice evening with DP 😁 and a catch up with some old friends who randomly messaged me whilst he was cooking me dinner. 

I've also had a few small refunds for some other bits come through today so I sent them over to the MOP. Update figures tomorrow. All's well that ends well eh ❤️

debtfreewannabe321

This morning I did a sort through of the fridge and cupboards, they are looking a bit bare. I nearly brought the shopping forward by a day but DP thinks we can eek it out as do I really. I feel a bit of a sense of panic at empty fridge shelves but in reality we have everything we need for breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the next few days. So I left the shopping as being delivered on Saturday that is pushed back a day or so from our usual Thurs/Fri delivery slot. I thought that way it might last until payday this next shop. If I can push back each delivery by a day or  so it lasts 8/9 days rather than 7 I do less shops in a month. At least in theory that is how it should work. We all know how these theories with food like to test us though

We watched DP dvd choice last night, it was a movie from the charity shop yesterday it turned out to be a documentary about something boring haha, it did make me laugh though, and him, which after the stressful afternoon was much needed. That will be redesignated back to the charity shop pile. The album I bought wasn't great either so I will give it another play today and decide if that is to go back too. Thankfully only a few quid spent on both of those together. 

On our bid to do no takeaways this month I have put a fake away into the meal plan for Saturday, because we both nearly threw caution to the wind last night and ordered one which would have eaten into the food budget- which is already not looking good. We had a nice all day brekkie instead in the end and it was good. We do like to say truck it on a bad day usually though and order take away to make us feel better. Honestly though after eating all those donuts I still feel sick. I am fasting today for sure. I won't eat until dinnertime because I still have tummy ache (totally my own fault though so never mind.)

So to stop us feeling this way again before payday and wanting takeaway, I have put in an easy fake-away which has cost me around £10 of the food shop this week (much cheaper than take out, right?)

I already have tofu in the freezer, and I already have some jarred sauces in which I bought and never used so they were the basis for the meal idea. I have added some stir fry bean shoots and veg, some noodles, and some water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and also some Thai crackers to the shop, and I have black bean sauce with peppers in already. So should be a nice easy quickish fakeaway on Saturday. A random chow mein-esque type dish hopefully and will taste great!

The food shop before I added all that in was where I wanted it to be really, and this has taken it to the limit of where I wanted to be. But that's okay, it is still cheaper than a take out. We are doing a fantastic job on that front really, we haven't ordered take out since the end of last year! I have one planned for my birthday meal - I will budget for it next month- and that is it. Oh and DP says, your birthday is on Tuesday right? I work it out.....ummm...yes it is, why?!
Cos the take away shop is shut one day a week- on Tuesday!  
Well, I could have predicted that one eh haha. I will order it for perhaps the weekend of my birthday week instead lol. 

Today I intend to sort out DP new bank account. It is in his name only and we want to add me to it as well and that will be our - ugh phone just rang, the orthodontist has jury service and has cancelled DD appointment for a brace. We have to wait ANOTHER 4 months, she has already been on the waiting list 3 years, unbelievable. - anyway, back to what I was saying, That will be our bills account that we both want access to really. DP was supposed to set it up last month but I messed up the ID thing and I got my email muddled with his name and everything got the wrong way round, even got addresses wrong and I had his DOB on my name and my number on his account, and we eventually allowed it to time out so we could try again. The lady at the bank reset it all for us yesterday after gently questioning how we could possibly have messed it up so bad well, that's because I took charge of something that needed a tech guy lol.
We will also move the insurances, mortgage and other bills over to that account today as well. So next pay day we can hopefully just pay everything into there and we won't be panicking mid-month that we have spent bill money.  
If we have time we will go to the tip today as well with the garden waste. Garden is looking lovely again even if it is winter, it just looks so much clearer for having had some tlc around the beds and shrubs and bushes cut down.
Jacket potatoes for dinner, we will have the leftover fakeballs and sauce on those for DP & I and cheese for DD. Tomorrow we have salad potatoes, corn on the cob and something out the freezer (probably veg burgers) to go with that. And Saturday morning the shopping is coming. 

Next week's meal plan is looking like this:-
*Saturday - fake-away mentioned above
*Sunday- Roast 
*Monday- Dahl (freezer portion)
*Tuesday- Spag Bol (freezer portion I may make it into something else yet like cottage pie)
*Wednesday- Pie'n'mash (freezer again)
*Thursday- Fake balls & pasta (freezer and cupboards)
*Friday-Jacket Potatoes
*Saturday- Ratatouille & rice (freezer)

The sack of dirty potatoes is proving invaluable, saves us so much money and we love potatoes here (think it's probably all the Irish in me ) and next week is turning out like I hoped, freezer meals all week, from dishes I pre-cooked all month. My food bill is coming in at £91.62 so far which will bring me in under budget still and all good meals with real veg in, nothing  rubbish (aside from the fake balls, I am going to look for recipes for these to add to my repertoire). 

Hoping for a NSD today too

debtfreewannabe321

Oh and I actually only ate three donuts!

debtfreewannabe321

Copy and pasted from MFW thread-

#17 checking in for what I think will probably be the last of Feb overpayments.
£600 into a saving account for OP at end of year and £128.86 from PAD & TT this month. Quite happy with that amount and if I add any more I will come back but I think money will be quite tight until our payday next week now. 

So Feb is £728.86 OP for #17

Really happy with the PAD & TT for the month, they really add up sometimes!