Spendy Wendy to Saver Savvy

jwil

Hope FIL's op went ok

Spendywendywoo

Thank you @jwil, they don't know as yet but have had to implement other measures or he may lose part of his limb. He's taking it all in his stride and remaining positive. Thank you for asking x

Blackcats

Hope you get some positive news on FiL soon.
I no longer like shop bought mayo based sandwich fillings - they are gloopy and more mayo than tuna etc.  homemade is so much better, cheaper, healthier, tastier etc! 

Cara_

Well done on the balloon payment.

Sorry to hear about your FIL; I hope the new treatment helps. 

Spendywendywoo

Thank you for your kind comments, FiL is home and doing well. He had to have a finger amputated, which given it could have been a lot worse, he is grateful for. Rest and recovery now and then we’ll look to have what has happened investigated. 

Quiet day yesterday, we’ve had some renovations done in the house (mostly DH has completed the work as he is very handy, and just had one tradesman last week come and put down a new carpet. Today is tidy day and putting everything back where it belongs. Lots of dust so every surface needs at least a wipe and polish and the floors need a good clean too (carpets and hard wood). We need a new hoover as the one we have is very old and despite cleaning it out, the suction just isn’t where it needs to be to clean effectively. We are very grateful to have a discount scheme through work so can purchase a gift card with, usually, 5-10% discount so will have a browse later and find the best offer. 

I’m going to try and fit the hoover into our budget and really scrap back on other categories but with having already put quite a lot of cash into the car savings this month, I may need to dip into the Home Emergency Fund… will think on that today about how to approach. 

In between the tidying I am also meeting a friend for a coffee (Home Bargains has a great cafe in the next village, £5 for a coffee and bacon roll - I think the coffee alone is about £2.50, much more affordable than your usual *bucks or c0sta). I’ll walk to the cafe to get some steps in 😀

I hope everyone has a great day,
Wendy x

Spendywendywoo

Well, no new hoover today...quite annoyingly, we asked for the hoover in the shop and was advised that they had stock. I explained I just needed to purchase a giftcard as I get a discounted rate through work and was advised not to worry as it would take a few minutes to retrieve the hoover from the warehouse at the back. 

Giftcard was purchased and then 10 minutes later the advisor return to advise that there was no stock left and though the system was shocking as one in stock, it was likely that it had been 'swiped', I assume she meant stolen. I was advised that I could receive the hoover in 3-5 business days, or travel 30 mins to the nearest store with stock (not a chance it would only be an hour round trip on a Sunday as it is one of the busiest retail parks in the area). 

If the advisor had advised that there was only one in stock I would not have purchased the giftcard and would have waited until the hoover was at the till. Lesson learnt to wait next time.  I've tried to contact the customer services for the store but the chat kept messing up. 

I don't know about anyone else but the levels of customer service seems to have really dipped in the last few years - I'm not sure if it's always been the case and I've been more accepting or if it has actual got worse as the standards have dropped...?

I've managed to clean up using a brush in the hard floor areas but the carpets will just have to wait, which is disappointing as I have a very busy week ahead before a week of annual leave of which I have lots planned (both fun activities and not so fun chores). 

Right, off to find a recipe for the soup I want to make later, and also prep dinner (homemade chicken burgers)

Suffolk_lass

Just updated myself with your diary and I wanted to congratulate you on achieving that car payment!  - Well done!

When you work out how to keep your inventory up to date, please share. I have several systems, and some work better than others. Asking Mr Sl to put new purchases in the chest freezer in the garage works least well as he never knows where about he has put it and never updates the list. I can remember what is in the kitchen freezer but do keep a list of the garden produce in the commercial freezer. That is stuck on the fridge side with magnets and any anomalies are updated when I defrost and repack it, usually once a year in Spring. It didn't happen this Spring due to Mr Sl's illness and recovery. I fear the chest freezer needs another list. It takes two of us, I call it, he writes it down. He hates doing it so you would think he might have an incentive to update the list (also on the fridge in the kitchen) but no. Only I use the pencil. I do list things on my trusty spreadsheet but it is futile, except in terms of layout (fish together, lamb, etc). My larder is walk in so I can see the organised storage that I maintain without a list. Currently the extra tomatoes that are prepped, ready to be cooked, are in the meat freezer as the iced up produce one needs defrosting!!

Spendywendywoo

Thanks @Suffolk_lass

I do think pen and paper, with the recording being kept in the kitchen for ease of updating, is how we are going to roll as I can’t see any other way working as well for us. Though, I have decided today that I will empty the kitchen freezer of everything bar veg and frozen chilli, garlic, ginger that we use often and ice. Then, as I’ve gotten into a great routine of doing a plan and a shop at the weekend, I’ll keep all items for meals that week in the freezer from the shop, or transfer from the chest freezer to the kitchen freezer for ease, everything will there ready as I’m cooking. I’m going to trial that for a week and see how we go, that way I can always keep what’s in the chest freezer up to date as I arrive home with the shopping - or even before the shopping is delivered / picked up. I’ll let you know how we go x

Spendywendywoo

Well today has been a very productive day; work has been crazy busy but it’s a WFH day so saved the commute, however I did nip to the supermarket 6 miles away at 7am to pick up some school pants for DH. I knew they were needed and had considered going yesterday but knew it would be busy on the roads…40 mins, 12 miles and two pairs of pants later, I was back home and eating my breakfast by 7.30am.

Alongside a full day at work and a trip to the shops, I made sausage, mash, veg and gravy for tea, a real belly warmer for these colder days, I did two lots of washing and drying, hoovered up (we’ve borrowed an hoover for a couple of days from a very kind neighbour), decluttered the utility room and also worked through the donation pile that has been steadily building for weeks - all bagged up and labelled for who or where it is going to. I also sorted out the equivalent of 7 lots of washing as I’ve let it build up but all now done and the utility room is spotless again. Oh and I made some creamy roasted tomato soup and filled and out the dishwasher on too! 😂 

I do have a big pile of ironing to sort but DH and DS are out tomorrow evening so I’ll make a start on that tomorrow night whilst listening to some music or a podcast. 

I’m already ready for bed, so im going to read some diaries and then 30 mins of reading my book before bed, ready for another productive day tomorrow  

Spendywendywoo

Busy day that started productive with an hour of work tackling a complex task at 6.20am. Pleased I put the time in to start the task as it now feels a little less daunting, just lots still to do to get to completion. 

I’ve been on lots of calls today, all planned in, so feel quite tired now. 

Burgers for tea. DH and DS are out tonight so going to do some ironing and some more decluttering, I just love getting rid of stuff it feels so refreshing lol