Arrietty's Acorns

Arrietty

Hello,

is it really 2 weeks since I last posted an update?  
I always fully intend to do a weekly update to declare all the wonderful money saving I have done... perhaps the 2 week delay speaks for itself 

I am finding it increasingly difficult to make savings each week.  The cost of household & grocery shopping is shocking and although I have always chosen supermarket own brand for many items I now find it's becoming a necessity rather than a choice. I've always tried to be a conscious shopper but whereas I used to choose eco/environmentally friendly brands or products that's no longer an option.  

I have bought lunches at work a couple of times in the last 2 weeks but the price of those have now increased so where it would once have cost me £20 to eat every day, it would now cost £24.25. 

Anyway, I'm alive and healthy and can afford to do grocery shopping so am still very fortunate.

Linked Savings Acct: £1687.98  
What shopping I have done has brought in a few penny scooping.

OS Account: £1380.09
The Premium Bonds win has been paid in which boosts the fun funds a bit:


SA Account: £371.26
No additional payments have been made to the car / wardrobe fund so this remains the same:


HRH Current Acct: £7.11
HRH had his saddle check yesterday and I was very proud to hear the saddler say how well he had wintered with a consistent weight and looked to be in great condition with a lovely shiny coat I was beaming with pride.
A few other people at the yard have recently commented "how well" he looks and I always thought that was just a polite way of saying "your horse is a bit fat" as they often drop weight this time of year as the grass in the fields is spent and they're ready to move on to the spring grass. I see no reason why he should get hungry and prefer to keep him at a consistent weight all year round and as long as he's regularly exercised this shouldn't be a problem. 
I collected a rug from being cleaned, mended (tail strap) and waterproofed so that was £38. I dropped another one off to be cleaned and reproofed so that should be ready in a week or so and that's all Ive had to do this year.
The shared visit, saddle check and a bit of reflocking where it had settled at the front was £106.00.
Thankfully, he has a couple of sections of hay left so I won't need to buy any more this week and they move to their Summer Field next Saturday.

HRH Savings Acct: £108.38
Teeth and vaccination done, saddle check done, rugs are all stored away apart from the one at the cleaners and a couple of lightweight ones to keep at the yard - he's been wearing a rain sheet this week as it's been so windy and cold at night. Hoping to be able to add some funds to the HRH account over the next 3 months.

In other news...

I have 2 salary payments under my current contract and due to another member of staff now taking time off my manager has applied to extend my contract to the end of June. I admit I was conflicted when she first told me as I had been looking froward to taking some time off in June!  However, I haven't  found another role yet so I'm just grateful to have a bit more time. Will be lucky to make it to pay day on Friday without using my credit card.  I'm meeting friends for dinner on Wednesday and my car is low on fuel! The petrol gauge has a sneaky habit of saying I have 130 miles left and then 5 minutes later telling me I only have 60.  130 miles would get me to payday on Friday ... 60 will definitely not so I may do a full and supermarket shop on my CC this week and then pay it off as soon as I get paid. 

I was watching something on Netflix the other day and a message appeared to say that I would no longer be able to watch on my TV from May 2nd.  I guess this is because the Tv is deemed too old now and they no longer want to support models of a certain age.  I find this infuriating because there is nothing wrong with the TV but had a similar issue when ITV upgraded their app.  I don't have a TV licence so only watch Ch4 or Ch5 on catch up.  
I am NOT buying a new TV  just for this especially when the Netflix content has been largely uninteresting to me recently so I shall either buy using my laptop or unboxing the daughters uni TV if I'm desperate.  

Perhaps the universe is suggesting I do something else with my time instead...

Have a lovely day!

~FlowerPot~

Hi, Thats good you have a contract till June, that takes the pressure off a little!

V annoying about the TV!

Arrietty

Time flies... how have another 3 weeks passed by?

Work situation dominating too much of my time - physically, by preparing for it each evening, doing laundry for it each weekend and actually having to be there each day  and also mentally by constantly thinking about the situation and not being sure what to do for the best.  I have applied for another role which I feel I should be suitable for and am waiting to hear back.  It's a lower pay band than my current one, but it's a permanent position and at least if I know what I have coming each month I can budget accordingly. It's also entirely possible that my current contract may be extended ...

As often happens when I'm a bit stressed about finances, I have found myself spending a bit more. It's more 'future-proofing' than wild inappropriate purchases; if I know that potentially lean times are coming, I assess what I may need and buy it before the lean times occur so I can then just focus on buying essentials.

I stocked up on skin care products and cosmetics I use regularly when I saw them at reduced prices - £81.70 and I also bought a  new trench coat and smart wool winter coat which were both also reduced - although admittedly still rather pricey at £288 for both, saving myself £161 from full price of times.   I bought second hand items from eBay while I was debt-clearing and although I don't mind pre-loved per se, when it comes to outerwear I prefer to buy new for integrity and longevity of wear and I know both these items will last many years if taken care of properly, which I will do.  Obviously, I used TopCashBack to get myself the best deal!

May was always going to be an expensive month as had various events booked.  Last weekend was a day out at Royal Windsor Horse Show and we were very lucky to have a dry and mainly sunny day but I wore my new trench just in case and it was the perfect weight of outerwear for the occasion.  I spent £63 on lunch but took a water bottle and used the refilling stations to keep myself hydrated. 

Wednesday saw youngest and I head into Brixton to see The Black Keys.  They were superb as per the last time we saw them and it's the first time I had a seat at a gig but I have to say despite the increased cost I was quite grateful after a 6am start.  The tickets were bought a while ago ( £160) but the additional costs were parking at station for £15.00, another £9 on train/tube, £18 for a meal and another £15 for drinks. The price of drinks at gigs is extortionate and as they were offering free drinking water I resolved to only have that in future. The price of parking was a bit much too but that was for 7 hours and I dropped youngest home before finally getting back to mine at 12:30 and I hate walking home from the station late at night.

Thursday was another early start as I had to take my car to its diagnostics appointment. The ongoing roadworks on M25/A3 are causing delays and misery to all and I spent a total of 5 hours driving that day just dropping car off/coming home and doing the reverse later on. The dealership is about 12 miles from me and the journey should usually take just half an hour each way... so that was a fun day after a late night  Cost of diagnostics £115 and hire car was £25.  

Quote for fitting a new wiper motor ... £610.00!  I asked if it was made of gold. Fitting cost is £180 for about 2 hours of work (of course the mechanics are on £90 an hour ) and the rest is the cost of motor.  I asked if the motor can only be fitted there and in the showroom the lovely man gave all the right answers about 12 months warranty blah blah blah and then when he walked me back to my car told me that of course they're not made by the brand and a non-dealership mechanic could probably source and fit one cheaper too.  Lovely Paul will be getting a 10/10 review when I leave feedback for my experience! Bonus is that they did give the car a rudimentary clean.

A beloved relative is having a birthday next week and we are going out for the day to climb trees and whizz about on zip wires... a birthday gift is a must of course so with the experience and a meal it will probably cost about £100.

The cupboards were almost bare and the fridge and freezer needed restocking and as I'm avoiding buying lunches at work where possible so a trip to Sainsbugs last night came in at £102.00.  Hopefully that will see me through to the next pay day.  

All this spending and not a lot of saving has occurred and my CC now has a fairly hefty balance which I will need to pay off at the beginning of the next month. I do have quite a few items sitting in my online M&S basket but will wait until after CC statement before I hit the purchase button. I don't have enough in the car fund to pay for the diagnostics, hire car and new motor so not sure how to proceed with that at the moment and will wait until I get a quote from local mechanic before booking anything.

Linked Savings Account: £1693.10 I notice that this has increased by nearly £6 since my last post and while it's never going to grow amazingly it's easy, I don't notice it and it's 'something'.

Car Fund Account: £471.26 I added another £100 last pay day which was after my previous post. 

OS Account: £1300.09  another £50 Premium Bond win helped to boost this and I expect I will be dipping in to this to pay off the CC and fund the car repairs. 


HRH is very fat and happy at the moment after moving to the summer field a couple of weeks ago  He hasn't done much work the last week due to me being busy and also it being hot, I tend to walk him in hand rather than ride because it's just not necessary to make him hot and sweaty  He managed to lose his first fly mask within 24 hours of me putting it on so I put on a different one which covers his whole face including the nose but with the ears out as he hates having his ears covered and he's kept it on so far... We did find the other one after walking round the field along with 2 others horse's and one over reach boot  .  He's also kept those on which I'm very impressed at.

HRH current account: £99.12 - He is due shoes next week so that will drop again.

HRH Savings account: £108.38 - I did buy some more of the anti-coughing supplement at £43.00 but just used my own money for this as I want to keep something in his account.

Alongside the £50 Premium bond win I have also received £700 from HMRC for contributions I made to my SIPP.  I know it's a 'good thing', but honestly,  I'd rather have had the cash as that would have paid for my car repairs! 
I can't claim to really know what I'm doing with this SIPP or whether it's even worth it, I just liked the idea of the Govt. giving me some money for a change. 

I think May will continue to be costly but I plan to be VERY FRUGAL in June... especially until I know what's happening work-wise. 

Have a lovely day 
x

Skint_yet_Again

Fingers crossed for your application for the other role or extension to current one 🤞 

Do you need the m & s items or can you empty your basket? Hope the car quote is not too bad. 

Arrietty

Good morning and a very Happy Bank Holiday weekend to you.

Thank you SkintYA - good advice re the basket ... which I left on hold until last week when the speedy elves got the better of me!
It wasn't frivolous spending as such; new towels and bedding and a couple of pairsof work trousers.  Having to return trousers for a larger size -  but I'm not beating myself up about that as my others fit, they're just a bit worn out.

I will need to look smart for work because I got the job   

Had my interview on Wednesday and wasn't too hopeful as I'd said I really wasn't willing to work at one of the 3 sites which is 12 miles away and can take from half an hour to a full hour to travel and I also asked if there was any flexibility on hours as 9-5 really isn't great.
I was honest about my reasons - HRH - explaining that whilst summer is fine... winter is really difficult... interviewer said she'd have to speak with a couple of ofter people and would let me know.
Interviewer called me a couple of hours later saying they really wanted me for the role and could offer me 8am - 4pm  and would discount me from working at the furthest site if I would be willing to occasionally help out at the other one - which is much closer and doesn't require a trip on the M25.  I received the conditional offer on Friday and have accepted so now just await a start date.

It is a lower pay band so slightly less than I'm currently earning but it's a permanent role and after being made redundant, 6 months of job hunting and then 2 years of uncertainty in fixed term roles I'm happy to trade £50 a month for job security.  It doesn't need to be forever, I can move up in a couple of years or so but right now I'm just happy to have a permanent job.

I'm on annual leave this week and despite some other trial and tribulations actually feel I can now both relax and start to plan ahead. 

Yesterday I attempted to cut the grass but it had grown so long with the constant rain/sun cycle it kept choking up the mower and eventually it just started whining and the blades stopped rotating. I'd only cut about a 5th  . So. I got the hedge trimmers out and managed to do a decent amount until I was stopped abruptly by nicking the cord. 

At that point I realised that gardening just isn't for me at this stage of my life.  When HRH was on full livery I had more time to attend to the garden, and could keep on top of it every couple of weeks.  Now that I see to him every day I have a lot less time available and frankly, I don't feel the need to be spending time out doors hacking away at brambles and pulling up weeds and saplings which have rooted themselves while I wasn't looking.  It's hard work; it's quite wild and there are trees that need to be lopped/removed,  fields at the end which means all the brambles and weeds grow through relentlessly and it's just a bit overwhelming.  

My neighbour was a tree surgeon and would give it a good tidy up twice a year but they have now moved and I'm thinking I might get some quotes from local gardening service to see if they can help out.  I can replace the mower and hedge trimmer but that'll be another £150 - £200 and still leaves me to deal with the problem on a regular basis.  I have no idea how much such a service would cost but think if I spend a bit to get the trees and bushes dealt with then hopefully it won't be too much to get someone to come once a fortnight to keep grass etc under control.

 Another expense is my car which is going in on Tuesday to have the new wiper motor fitted. The local chap quoted me a lower price charging only £45 for fitting it rather than the £180 at the dealership and I'm ok with that as I can wander to local shops while it happens.  He did offer to fit a second hand one at a significantly lower cost and said if I intend to sell the car within a year that would be what he recommends.
I was initially tempted but as I have no plans to sell / buy a  new car any time soon and the motor has lasted 9 years so far... I would have no idea how old the second hand one is or how long it will last so chose the new option.

With less money coming in each month and likely more going out due to gardening expenses I decided to cancel the monthly payment to my ISA and SIPP.  I can resume payments at some point but for now I think I'd rather pay some money to my savings as I've been missing seeing them grow.

So, the Payday Fairy has been and there has been shuffling to various accounts:

HRH Current account: £89.12 - this is after livery has been paid for the next month so barely any change but his next shoe fitting is not until after the next payday! 

HRH Savings Acct: £200 - progress here!

Car Fund Account: £571.26 - I now have enough to pay for the wiper motor but feel a bit uneasy at having nothing in that account so may use my CC and then pay off using a combination of other savings funds.

OS Account:£1438.58 - I claimed £30 cash back and transferred £100 on payday

Linked Savings Account:  £1696 - the pennies keep trickling in.


Have a lovely day 
x

Arrietty

Another 3 weeks since my last post 

There hasn't been a summer here yet but I've been pottering on trying to get my life and myself together.
Went to visit a relative for their birthday the first weekend June which was a lovely day although I did come home feeling rather fuller than I'd like! 
I'm having a battle with healthy eating at the moment; I seem to have gained half a stone since Christmas and have a family wedding at the end of September so I'm re-setting myself and my eating app with the aim of shedding 15lbs in 15 weeks

Had a lovely walk through Windsor Park with my sister last weekend and racked up over 20,000 steps by the time I'd been to the yard as well. My job is mainly sedentary so thank goodness for having HRH to keep me active each day.  Every time I wheel a barrow of dung to the muck heap I think of it as a little workout!

He's been in a funny mood for the last week so I've mainly left him alone to be a horse with his buddies and just done essential checks on him and a couple of walks in hand rather than riding.  We were meant to have a lesson yesterday but as I arrived at they yard the heavens opened and carried on for an hour.  I said to instructor that I wasn't prepared to ride  in that weather and didn't think it was fair to tack up a wet muddy horse as it would surely be uncomfortable for him... she said I'd be surprised as he probably wouldn't be  'uncomfortable'.
I never get on him without a thorough grooming first and even with a rug over him I couldn't' get him clean and he hates going in the undercover shelter as it's really low so I just said no thank you.  I think the instructor thought I was being a wimp but I don't care. I'm not making my horse uncomfortable and I'm also not making my tack all wet and muddy for the sake of £25 - keep the money!

Learned that livery is going up by £15.00 a month from July so there'll be a bit less going into the HRH savings pot each month and I bought another tub of the supplement which helps with his asthma.

HRH savings: £200
HRH current £45.12

Car Savings £571.26 - 
Wipers now fixed ( cost me another £138 on top of the unnecessary £490) and all paid on the CC (current balance £900.46 ) which I'll pay off as soon as a cheque has cleared.

O/S Account £838.58 - 
I had a £100 win on the Premium Bonds ... but then had to pay out £700 to help a relative in need... should be coming back in as soon as cheque has cleared.

Linked Savings : £1705.29 - 
The more I spend, the more pennies trickle in to this account.


I still don't have a start date for the new job as yet and I'm hoping it will be the second week of July rather than the first so I can have a break!
Two more weeks in this role and although I'm enjoying it, there has been a fair bit of stress with people off sick meaning many cancellations to planned appointments My line manager also learned this week that the person who I'm currently covering and who insisted they were coming back in July ( hence me leaving) is actually only intending on returning for one and a half days a week!

I have no idea how that's going to pan out for the department and couldn't help but be a bit concerned ... until one of the new and young members of the team said to me "I don't think you should worry about that, the manager should have confirmed the hours when they said they were returning and you've done more than your fair share of helping out over the last 2 years whilst effectively putting your progression on hold and no-one has put themselves out to make you a permanent member of the team so that's their tough luck"   
That young person is absolutely correct and that is why I haven't offered to do any of the Saturday work that's now available following the cancellations!

I shall be working on my garden instead!  I had a chap come round to assess and quote for the one-off clearance work which I have accepted and once that's done we'll have a discussion about ongoing maintenance visits. I feel lighter already that I no longer have sole responsibility and I'm looking forward to buying some new plants to bring a bit of colour in.


As always, I shall endeavour to post more often and in the meantime,
have a lovely day x

Skint_yet_Again

What a great update. ☺️ Well done on refusing to be drawn into extra work, the young person was right! 

I feel your pain with the healthy eating it’s so hard sometimes. Good luck with losing 15lb in 15 weeks 🤞

Arrietty

Well look at me - posting 2 weeks in a row 

I've realised that if I post more regularly then I needn't do such long and waffly posts!

Slightly anxious for a couple of days over the new job when I realised the new manager hadn't completed the changes form required when moving from one department / type of contract to another  and the payroll department asked my current manager to confirm I was leaving and would not be gettignpafi any more  but now all sorted.  
My current manager asked if tnew department had asked if I had any leave booked and when I said "no", she suggested that I book it right away so she can approve and new department then have to honour it  . So, I'm having a week off in September and a couple of days after my birthday in January! 

No major changes to savings this week other than the money I lent has been returned:

HRH Current Acct: £45.12
HRH Savings Acct: £200

SAS - Car Savings : £571.26

OSA - Fun : £1538.58

Linked Savings: £1706.66


The gardener is now booked in for early July so money for that is still sitting in my current account. I did buy lunch at work one day last week as there was a BBQ with ice cream and it was delish!

Went to Sainsbugs for a big shop and nearly passed out as it came to £103.75  I bought a few birthday cards as there are several coming up, I also bought some razor blades which were £11, a couple household items but otherwise it was all food and I've noticed yet more price increases.  n my Nectar offers noticed that I was offered a tin of coffee for £5.13 rather than the regular price of £6.25.  Which sounds decent until you realise that when I last bought that coffee it was just £5.75 a tin so they've actually increased the price by 40p!

I'm seeing this more and more and although they've recently done a huge refurbishment at that store... I do believe that we the customers are paying for it with all the price increases! 

My bank offer cash back at various outlets and whilst some of them are places I don't go at all, there is currently a 10% offer at Waitrows which is actually closer to me than Sainsbugs so I'll be going there for the next month!
I have £50 in nectar points but I'll probably save that until I need something specific.

In other news HRH is back to being his usual happy self which is a relief.  I always worry that he may be feeling unwell / something is brewing when he doesn't want to come in but I suspect that it may have been the bags of ragwort by the gate that were putting him off    He nearly leapt out of his skin when I made him walk by them.  It was only when I kicked them and jumped up and down on them a few times that he realised they weren't going to eat him! 

The sheep fields next door have been opened up as they're currently empty and some tracks cut into the grass so I walked him round there in hand on Friday and he thought it was the most fabulous picnic ever! Yesterday we rode round and he was extremely happy and well behaved. It's lovely to have a new area to explore and a welcome change.

Pay day on Wednesday so there should be some more savings to report next weekend.

In the meantime, have a lovely day x

Arrietty

Here I am again and a mere week has passed since my last post.

It's New Job Eve; all the laundry, ironing and cleaning chores were done over the weekend,  I've set out my clothes for tomorrow and as I start half an hour later than my previous role I'll have time for breakfast before I leave which is good  so I won't then be tempted by the delicious bacon rolls or pastries in the cafe.

On that note, I have successfully shed 3lbs in the last 2 weeks and I'm feeling motivated to keep going with healthy eating and increasing my daily step count. 13 weeks until the wedding (which is my target) and next weekend I'm taking care of a friend's 3 horses which should help with the step count as there'll be extra barrows of manure to collect 

The gardener starts tomorrow and I'm torn between guilt for not having done anything in the garden to help out and joy that he will actually see all the things I planted in bloom! I'm very excited to see how it looks once he's done his bit and also to know if it rekindles my love of the space...

It was hot and humid here  last week, and we don't like to ride HRH once the temperature hits 25 so he had a fairly relaxed week: a shady graze and groom under the trees on Monday, bathed so he was fresh and gleaming on Tuesday, rolled in the dust on Wednesday  went for a walk in hand on Thursday, had new shoes on Friday and as the temperatures dropped a bit we had a gentle walking hack around the fields on Saturday and today the daughter came over and did a couple of jumps in the school which he seemed to really enjoy. He'll have another day off tomorrow and I'll be out with the fork and barrow after work burning more calories!

Transferred money to his current account on payday, paid the farrier on Friday and livery goes out tomorrow
HRH Current account £108.12
HRH Savings Account £200

Sent £100 to the SAS Account: on payday.
Car savings: £670

Sent £100 to the O/S Account on payday and the money I lent out was repaid so that's also gone back in..
Fun, Trips & Treats: £1638.58

Linked savings account hasn't had many pennies scooped over in the last week but there should be some tomorrow.
£1706.82

I tried opening the monthly savings account with the bank where HRH has his account which is offering 7% interest ... but as per usual, their crappy app kept crashing and my application hasn't gone through.  I'd also tried to open their 4% interest account too but guess what... that also didn't go through.
I like their ethical ethos but honestly. their app and just general online banking is awful and after the crash last year which meant I was unable to access any of my accounts or any other funds linked through them for over 24 hours.... which s why I opened the current account where I bank now.

So, I investigated what they were offering for a monthly saver account... 5.25 % which is not to be sniffed at and the account details showed up immediately in the app.  Sainsbugs are selling their finance business to Nat West so I decided to close my Sainsbugs CC as they're apparently on a mission to bankrupt anyone who shops I their stores, I've applied for a CC with my current bank ... and the details of that also showed up immediately in the app.  I opened both these within the app and it was instant.   I have to wonder how can one bank can get it so right for customers and others can get it so wrong. 

I immediately transferred the maximum monthly amount of £250 I the minimum is £25) in there and will try to keep doing the same each month.  I don't yet have a specific savings goal for this account but if I can save the full £3000 over the next year, I'm sure I'll find a use for it!

June has been quite a spendy month over all and there's been a bit of eating out too; Friday it was a relative's birthday so we went for a lovely lunch in a pub overlooking the river - cost £75 and then on Saturday I went out for a meal and a cocktail with colleagues to a fabulous Brazilian restaurant which cost £41.  Colleagues gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a lovely silver bangle which I've been contemplating buying for a while.  Today, I thought how pretty it is and yet how lonely it would be on my wrist by itself so I naughtily treated myself to a sister one and a trio of rings all from this fab independent jeweller in Yorkshire who uses recycled silver and eco packaging ... which of course absolutely justifies the purchase   

Not entirely sure how I'm going to justify the purchase of the 2 blouses earlier this evening but I do love linen and they're such fabulous bright colours so I'll work on it and come back once I have the answer.

Skint_yet_Again

Well done on your weight loss Arrietty. Hope your new job is going well.