Progress is...

Watty1

catching up, sorry re dentist but I do know a good dentist is absolutely worth sticking with. Hope that improves soon, it is just another trauma to add to all the other insults piling upon you at the moment. Virtual support and those virtual biscuits are yummy (swipes another one)

Humdinger1

Are they magic biscuits, as in our preferred flavour? Dark chocolate Hobnobs, for instance?! Sending love @rtandon27; as ever, you are utterly .impressive Humdinger xxx

rtandon27

@KajiKita - well OH was marginally more tolerable when he came back from day-centre - brought presents from the nurses which turned out to be fortisip for him - obstensively to save us a week's worth of meal supplements - um hunny - we get your meal supplements on perscription!🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
I'd love your HR contact's details- do you happen to know their fees/rates for advice?

@Cheery_Daff - it appears dental pain is settling - woohoo - I'm not woozy today and in a lot less faceache! - thank-you for asking. WRT carer groups - around here, in the boonies, they meet once a week on a weekday during the day - the support group is designed for retired spouses that don't work, so those of us who work, don't rely on benifits, and are already time-poor have no way to participate! I even signed up for the other two closest towns just in case they operated differently, but no luck! My greatest emotional support is actually my neighbour, but that is mutual as I try and look out for her as much as possible as she is the same age as my mom!

@Watty1 - thanks for popping by hun - virtual support is always appreciated!!!

@Humdinger1 - hunny, those biscuits are whatever you'd like them to be 😚😉 - thank-you for the love xxx

rtandon27

My first admin task for the morning was to take meter readings! It appears that the app only starts nagging me at the two month mark and that is fine with me, as my direct debit comes out without regard to a reading being made every month. One less admin task for me every other month is perfect!

Second admin task was to settle on my new electric/gas fix. Turns out I already am with the lowest rate currently available to me and the next lowest rate is with the same provider - I do like this as less hassle when it comes to dealing with being on the disability register! So next fix kicks in at the beginning of October for a year - the comparison tells me we will pay 16 pounds a month extra, but the actual gas rate is going down which is why it's a good 10 pounds less per month than every other option!

rtandon27

Third admin task is to sort out my insurance claim!

On Aug 14th I sent a claim for my original dental appt and xrays for 74pounds - this was received in my bank account on Aug 20th.

On Aug 21st I submitted a claim for my pre-pay certificate, and on August 23rd I got an e-mail stating that they needed documentation to process my dental claim! - WHAT?!?

Well I did not notice this until today, August 29th when I went to submit my final dental claim for £136.50! - SIGH - So now I've sent them a slightly irate e-mail about the Aug 21st claim and will hold off the final dental claim until that is sorted so I don't confuse the 'poor dears' any further!

GRRRRRR!

At the very least, the other dental bills (my dentist has seperate codes for different procedures have already ben claimed elsewhere and paid back to me to the tune of 268pounds - hooray for multiple dental appointments! Now I just need a (80% refundable) hygenist appointment when my mouth is feeling better and that's me done until next year!

rtandon27

...and a non-admin thing - have a date for my next adventurizing with Karmacat - not sure what we wil do yet but it's always good fun, entertaining & educational!

rtandon27

Today's first admin thing is energy related again!

E0n currently have 150 pounds of my money with another 120 scheduled to be taken on the 15th. I went to request a refund online and the cheek - they will only 'let' me have 5 pounds back! The most I'm happy with them having at this point in the month is 60 pounds. On average across the entire year, we spend two pounds a day on electric/gas - so for the 15-ish days between now and the next payment they only need to have 60 pounds of MY money!

So first step - I've reduced my payment for next month to 110, and then when their lines are open after the bank holiday weekend, I'll be phoning and asking back 145 from them. It's the principle of it, I don't leave my money in zero percent accounts with a bank so unless they are prepared to give me interest on my money it can come right back into my account!

Cheery_Daff

Good on you! Remember when (was it Bulb?) used to give 3% on your balance with them?!

rtandon27

@Cheery_Daff - I think we used to be with np0wer back in the day when the interest happened, but we are now with e0n - I've been very careful not to keep a credit with them but every year, around this time they seem to have more than a month of credit as we are low users to begin with and extra low in the summer.

Now that OH is not cooking for us, the meals I rustle up are less involved and over the summer rarely involved cooking let alone the oven. Also over the summer, we use natural light most of the time, so even with the fan going usage was much less than the average. Our other big draw appliance is the dehumidifier and there has been zero use for it since May!

What I find interesting is that we pay the same now per day as we did in 2021 when we moved in, though we have slowly replaced bulbs and fixtures with more energy efficient models. The washing machine and fridge that I purchased were both top of the class for energy efficiency, as have been the replacement vvacuum and new hot/cool fan. So while we have not dramatically lowered our usage, small tweaks have kept inflation at bay!

Cheery_Daff

Just after you posted I had my email from the octopods - we are £58 in credit now, going into the winter. Our DD is £50, and we used £61 last month I think (unusual electric showers are giving us a bit of an increase I suspect!) Not asked us for any extra though! Well, not yet…