Fresh Start At Fox Towers.

LilSmiler

Great news about the house move and potential date, get packing..! 

When you do need to get some new specs have you seen the various MSE discounts you can get, I've had 2x pairs for £49 previously - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-glasses-discounts/

birdsfoottrefoil

Good luck with the move Foxes!! Well done on holding your ground on the dog.

What a nightmare on the glasses!!

millymolly22

Good luck with the house move and so a good result for the van.  Things are looking positive for you all

Humdinger1

Exciting times fox! Good luck and you are so right about the dog.  It's all about mindset.  Love Humdinger xx 

Sarahwithlove

Good luck with the move. Definitely try ordering online for your glasses. I used glasses direct myself and really impressed by them. If you liked the frame you had you can also just Google it to see if anywhere else sells it cheaper and just get a copy of your prescription from opticians. 

foxandflowers

Two purchases made this year - Telephone dress and a pair of jeans. Decluttering has slowed right down, as almost everything I own is in the storage unit. I can only imagine how much of what I've put in there I will end up getting rid of... I imagine at least half of it.

Have had a very relaxed weekend - Mini Fox was at her dad's, so we spent the weekend watching the FA cup and I worked on my cross-stitch. Went for a sea swim, and one of the girls from work came along so that was nice. Absolutely nobbling though, very much enjoyed my bubble bath afterwards! My stepdaughter has booked us a hotel for the gig we are going to at the end of the month, so we had a nice catch-up phone call.

I've been invited on a conference with work at the end of February. It's 2 days in Cardiff, with a free buffet and they're paying for a Premier Inn for 2 nights. Very exciting! It's a shame my friend's husband is working nights, I was hoping to steal her for a cinema date. I might go by myself instead. I'm quite looking forward to 2 nights alone, I am going to take my laptop and just watch the TV I like and sew I think! 

Warranty latest - Mechanic absolutely will not do any work until he is paid first. Workaround is telling the warranty company he is doing the work today and tomorrow, so they then pay him, then he will fix the van. Hopefully we have it back on the road by Friday. If not you may be able to hear my screams of frustration wherever you live. 

House wise, the 'everyone is ready' was sadly UNTRUE as the Local Authority search is still not back - I have enquired if we can get an indemnity policy in place instead of waiting as I am sick of hanging around. It's a cash sale, it should not be this complicated!! Although currently as we don't have the van, it is sort of going in our favour that we aren't moving. 

I have to roll my Switch over again today. And pay Mr Fox's phone bill. 
Debt wise, I think my plan is going to be once we move:
There are 15 creditors/friends/family I owe money to that is less than £1000 each. I would like to clear those within the first month, so by February 28th. I reckon that will be about £14k. That will leave me with 8 left, all of which will be on Stepchange. This is where my negotiating tactics will come into play, as I want to negotiate good F&F offers. In the meanwhile I will re-do my budget with Stepchange to pay bare minimums. 

Things I will need to buy: Fridge freezer, washing machine with tumble dryer, sofa. I am hoping the sofa will be a marketplace find! Send me green velvet corner sofabed for under £100 vibes please. I've also talked myself out of buying a vintage style fridge-freezer - a white one will do just as well and I can get decals for it to tart it up. 

I'm going to go and have a nose in the works stationary cupboard now, and see if I can purloin a notebook so I can write down all my plans. 

Petal88

I'm sure it's the internet listening in as I read your post about wanting a green velvet corner sofa for £100 and this popped up on my FB feed: https://www.facebook.com/share/14qrATi5pG/ I know it's nowhere near you but maybe you could get a man and van to deliver it for cheap? I've done that before for furniture I've bought cheaply on the bay of E.

foxandflowers

@Petal88 - If the internet could listen about me needing a moving date too that would be very helpful haha! What a lovely sofa that is almost exactly what I had pictured. I have in the past bought sofas on FB marketplace and got a man and van to deliver them - I paid £350 all in for 2 big 3 seaters a couple of houses ago, they were wonderfully comfortable. Unfortunately they were too big for the last house so got sold, and I don't have the measurements for the new place yet, but I am excited to thrift & buy second hand. 

I am sleeping really badly at the moment. Running off four hours a night, when I am a minimum of 8 normally. I think the stress of waiting around is really starting to get to me. I am trying to make back the £21.09 I've spent on clothes this month, currently on £4.36 on InboxPounds. I need to list things on Vinted again, but in my utter stupidity, I packed my shipping bags. All 60 of them. And I don't know where in the unit they are residing. So that is on the back burner, unless I ship things in bin bags, which I hate doing. 

Mr Fox and I finished watched Lockerbie on the firestick last night, and it was outstanding. I don't really have words. But one of the men said to the other something along the line of we spend so much time among the dead, but how much sweeter to be amongst the living which made me cry, and then made me mull on it for most of the night. I have spent so much of my life in deep grief, and my life has passed me by because of it. We are not doing that this year. I am going to try and live.

Although, that being said, last night Aunt Flo arrived, so I got discounted Ben and Jerrys and watched Youtube in bed. Which probably is not living my best life. Weighed myself and am another lb down, so at 10st 5.5lbs currently. I would like to lose another stone before summer. 

foxandflowers

Finally braving finishing last years financial summary and posting it on here. Horrendous amount of wasted money in 2024. I have been frustrated at every turn last year, feeling like I was making absolutely no progress, and now I can see why. This is for the whole household, and I probably could have tidied up my categories a bit more, but it will do.

I will definitely be tracking my spends again this year, as I think its invaluable to have the perspective.

Lessons learned after a brief stare at the Graph of Horrors - 
- Meal planning is an invaluable resource
- I need to categorise better in terms of "General" spends 
- Team No Takeaways 2025!
- Shopping doesn't cure any bad feelings you are trying to supress
- Dogs are really expensive
- So are vehicles
- I do not need to buy any more clothes.

MeandO

Impressive graph, Fox! I wouldn't know how to create one of those and probably wouldn't want to see the result anyway!

Still here cheerleading you on. I know things are still stressful at the moment but your posts seem to be so much more positive these days.  crossing everything for a quick move date for you xx