Let's get this sorted then!

Rhyddid2026

Mine says it can only cut branches of 4inches/10cms but I've used to cut down logs, you just have to cut it from both sides to meet in the middle.

I've withdrawn my etoro bonus. £104 thank you very much. I've paid £100 off my loan and kept the £4 in case of desperation.

The loan is now at £4,150 and I still aim to clear it by new year.

Baileys_Babe

We too have a mini chainsaw and get lots of use from it.

Rhyddid2026

I've got my eye on battery operated pruners too, but I'm not quite in need of them yet.

I just used the last of my £250 emergency buffer to get dog food. I'm back to back at work tomorrow so wouldn't be able to get any til Thursday or Friday otherwise and we ran out yesterday. I had been eeking it out with kibble, eggs, and tinned fish, but I'd pushed my luck far enough.

Welsh water have been hassling me for months about my water bill. There wasn't really any option to let them know I'd increased my standing order, I tried to tell an agent on the chat function a couple of months ago but it obviously didn't work. The only option online was to make a one off payment to clear it. They've now sent me a final demand 🙄 even though I'm paying £40 a month and as of yesterday I only owed them £49. The next £40 will be paid to them on Thursday. Isn't it funny how they don't mind me being in credit by a few hundred but they get so insistent when I owe them a small amount. They seem to hate that I pay by standing order not direct debit. They can kiss my @!*#

I usually do a big food shop delivery around 1st of the month but I'm house sitting for a week from Saturday so I'm thinking about eating from the freezer and just getting a few essentials til I'm back. I have lots of stew type things (I think) in the freezer so if I get some nice bread I can use those up. I've taken a small joint of pork out of the freezer to cook for tea (and have over the next few days).

I've got a quote from the garage for the advisory work (£237) so I'll put that money aside out of my wages and get it done in the middle of the month.

The dogs also need their annual check ups and jabs this month.

I've booked a couple of days off work in December for solstice and I've got my eye on a cabin by a lake with an enclosed garden for the dogs. I've only had one weekend away all year (to Spain in May) so if I can book it with a deposit then I might just do that. I'll be taking all my own food so it's only the cost of the cabin for 2 nights and fuel to get there. I'm very much in need of a break, and one where I don't have my work phone on and don't spend it doing housework.

I don't think I've had a night out or paid for gig tickets all year either!

in_need_of_direction

OMG, i read that as battery operated prunes and was afraid to consider the problems you may have been facing!

Sun_Addict

A cabin by the lakes with the dogs for Solstice sounds amazing.

I bought a tiny cordless trimmer with a lawn edger spare blade and extender handle for trees for around £30 from Am@zon a couple of years ago and it’s brilliant. I only charge it up about once a year.

FootyFanDan

The cabin sounds like it would be a fab idea.

Rhyddid2026

@in_need_of_direction I'm glad it's not just me that reads things too quickly 🤣

@Sun_Addict I think I used small tools more often, they just seem less of a faff don't they.

I'm not sure I have enough money left out of my wages to book the cabin. They want 50%. I certainly don't have enough if I want to buy logs and replenish the emergency buffer. I think I'll put the thought aside in my mind for now (although I'm working evenings again and getting utterly exhausted). I'll focus on this loan repayment and see how the finances are mid month. If that cabin gets booked on those dates though I will be devastated.

Logs can probably wait another month, car repairs shouldn't. The dogs need their vaccinations this month too.

I think I'm going to hit some decent debt repayment goals this month so that might be enough to keep me going for a while.

Baldybear

Book the cabin, pay min on the debt, one month wont hurt, you need that break, you said yourself you would be devastated.

I hate to say this but if you need to put the cabin on the cc, you know you will pay it off as you are brilliant.

You need that rest, go for it 😊

FootyFanDan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82153304#Comment_82153304

This 👏…1 million percent this….do it, if possible without the CC bit haha but defo do it.