Settling in for the long haul

MillQueen

hello and thank goodness it’s the weekend. well it sounds like you have been much too busy for spending, which is a blessing of some sort, but I hope you will get to have a rest this weekend. Enjoy your time at home.

FootyFanDan

it sounds like a chilled weekend is very much needed.

Dakota_Rose

Thank you both. @MillQueen it was indeed too busy to be spendy and this weekend is coming in nice and low spend too as I’m now too tired to be spending 😂

@FootyFanDan its been really chilled out thanks.

Little one absolutely loved his friend’s party. It was so nice to see him soaking it all up and smiling from ear to ear the whole time. The village hall has been recently renovated and it looked lovely. I must make an effort to join in with more of the events they run.

Other than a food/household shop, we don’t have anything else much planned today. I haven’t painted at all since Christmas and am missing having a stash of cards ready to use. As it’s Mother’s Day next weekend, I really need to get my butt in gear. I have the main gift sorted for my mum, and flowers on order for MIL. It’s the first year without my gran and I will miss speaking to her. Her address comes up each time I order something online as due to distance, her (as MIL) usually had something delivered each time a special event came around.

If anyone has a suggestion of something small that really helped in a hospital bag post-surgery, I’m all ears. I could do with another little gift or two to give to mum next Sunday. She will be going in for spinal surgery the week after and I have bought her a heated cushion, as I thought this would be safer than her trying to manage a hot water bottle, and a pretty tin of biscuits for when she’s home. Or, I may just take sandwiches, scones and tulips for Mothering Sunday day itself. She’s super organised and her bag is already packed.

I ought to include a mini money update, and it really is mini: £1.72 interest added to my EF pot this morning. £1001.72/£1000.

Wishing everyone a super Sunday 😊

vampirotoothus

Hi how about a wrap of some kind, so she can wear the hot bottle? V x

MillQueen

Sounds like a nice nice village hall… probably with lots of nice cheap activities to get involved in.

Aww sorry about your gran, that's a sad reminder seeing her address 💔😔

Ideas for hospital gifts: a colouring book, an eye mask, a water bottle with a straw, cosy socks….

The £1.72 over the £1000 is sort of satisfying though…

Dakota_Rose

Thank you for your suggestions @vampirotoothus and @MillQueen. All really lovely ideas!

Going over the £1000 is satisfying but really not good for those keen on a round number 😂 it won’t be touched until the bonus saver ends and the interest is added. Then the £1000 will be transferred to premium bonds with any left over rolled into the next sinking fund or saver I think.

I have been feeling a bit ropey with a headache and sore throat this afternoon but feeling grateful to have been able to indulge in a long afternoon nap. Really hoping it doesn’t turn into anything worse. I have a long work day tomorrow to get through.

We decided to move our morning hot rolls (bacon, black pudding, tomatoes and potato scones 😋) to a late lunch instead so we won’t be cooking a main meal tonight. It’ll be a light supper of cereal and toast for anyone who wants one. The potato scones weren’t in the original line up but my mum was clearing her fridge/freezer and was going to get rid so they came home with us, along with a bag of broccoli, cauliflower cheese grills, some skin-on roast potatoes and 8 yogurts. Mum was glad of the extra space and clearing things she’d ’gone off’ and we were glad to save them from the bin and will put them to use.

We stopped on the way home for some packed lunch items. Collected our free bakery treat (well little one did) and picked up an Easter egg for each of the children. We usually stick to the refillable eggs filled with small treats for a huge garden Easter hunt each year. But for £2.25 each, they will have a large egg to find at the end this year. Lidl had reduced the £3.98 ones today so we felt £6.75 for three was reasonable. Will only need a couple of big bags of maltesers/minstrels to fill the small ones for the hunt, which they absolutely love every year. Will buy those if and when we see them at a good price.

Nothing else to report other than I’ve started my new book as recommended on here - The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (JKR). So far, so good.

_Dolly_Rocker_

Books Read - 2026
The Wild Folk - Sylvia Linsteadt
The Wild Folk Rising - Sylvia Linsteadt

Really enjoyed both of these books and will keep them to read again. About 3/4 of the way through Dracula.

Just remembered today I said I would keep you updated on my read list!

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914969#Comment_81914969

Ah thank you for sharing with me! Will have a look at those titles - can’t say I’ve heard of them before. If you’re keeping them to re-read, you must have enjoyed them 😊

_Dolly_Rocker_

I hadn't heard either but picked the first one up in a charity shop for £1.50 because I liked the cover.

However the bargain hunter in me hates this next part, I realised when I started reading that it was a part 1. I had to pay £11.50 for the 2nd one! Contacted loads of places including the local library and they couldn't get it. A book shop near me contacted the publisher and they said it was on a print freeze so had to buy it online.

This was made better though because they were so good.

Dakota_Rose

@_Dolly_Rocker_ I’ll need to bear them in mind next time I have an opening on my to-be-read shelf. It’s bursting at the seams just now.

Long day to start the week but fairly productive. Hoping for some more reasonable finish times for the rest of the days now.

Sore throats have hit the house again and I’m really cross as this time it includes me 😂 😭 Last night was not a good sleep with all the coughing and spluttering going on.

In money news, there’s a few unlikely payments that may be in the pipeline and have meant I have my eye on my inbox hoping for some good news. The first is a claim I have made for a tax rebate for professional fees I have been paying the last few years. This morning, I have had two emails from HMRC saying my tax code had changed as a result so maybe, just maybe some pennies are coming our way.

Secondly, still waiting on a gift card through money supermarket and/or a TCB bonus for taking out a new life insurance policy. I’m not sure if one will cancel out the other but there’s no sign of either yet!

Thirdly, my car tax is due to decrease significantly as the 5-year luxury vehicle rate is ending. This should mean over £400 less a year is charged although I do pay monthly so likely to be £37 a month saved or thereabouts. This should be a definite rather than unlikely saving but need to keep an eye.

Finally, and most unlikely, we’ve asked our old car insurance company to review the payout we were given for my car when written off almost 5 years ago. I’d had it around 8 months, (wasn’t even in it when an neighbour crashed into it on my driveway) and was given about £4k less than I had paid for it/insured it for - it was second hand so no major depreciation expected in that timeframe. I couldn’t have bought like for like with it and ended up loaning more money to buy a different car. So, we felt an inquiry into it would be fair to ask for. They’ve replied asking for more details as they ‘couldn’t find the record.’ Luckily I had all the info they wanted and sent it to them promptly. Stereo silence since. It’s worth a shot for the old, gentle/naive Dakota Rose. We were prompted by an article on here saying that the companies were being told to review their past offers and pay extra due to unethical practice. Our address and my name have since changed so I thought I’d reach out myself.

Other than that, I’ve been earning my salary and enjoying my mortgage when not in work. So little else on the money front to report.