Settling in for the long haul

Dakota_Rose

I am getting a little too used to lazy mornings and enjoying a cup of tea in bed to start the day.

We will be busyish today visiting Mum, helping a friend and chipping away at the bathroom work (Mr D). We are getting low on the food but nothing that we can’t make stretch for another day or two if we pick up another loaf of bread.

I’ve weirdly enjoyed the post bank holiday money check-in. Lots of direct debits have now cleared so I’ve updated those on my monthly spreadsheet and everything is in line. We still have money in the family treats pot that I put aside for the Easter holidays as we’ve spent very little out of it so far. I also have all of my personal spends intact for the month ahead.

Awaiting a refund from the tax self-assessment changes I made. The statement is through and it seems as though I overpaid £279. I’m not getting my hopes entirely up until it’s through, but I’ll definitely be chasing it if I don’t hear anything. If it does come back, this will go straight into the school uniform fund for next year, which is currently at £0.

Dakota_Rose

Well we’ve sinned and definitely bought more than a loaf of bread in our shop stop today 🫣.

£30 spent when we could’ve dragged it out another day or two. A bag of sweet potatoes and a doughnut treat were picked up for free with our coupons. We bought some hayfever tablets, sunflower oil, toiletries and some nice sausages and buns for tomorrow’s lunch that we plan to enjoy in the garden if the sun continues to shine, along with some fresh fruit and plenty of bread for our carb-heavy house. All useful items but still, we could’ve made do with less for another day or two.

In more positive news, Mum managed her first walk around her (tiny) block of bungalows today. She found 2 walking sticks and a very slow pace manageable with some support. This is great progress and it was lovely to see her outdoors again. Of course, this barely contributed any steps for the rest of us so I need to get my backside into gear tomorrow onwards.

We had a second roast dinner from the beef joint we cooked on Sunday, and it was delicious once again. Apple tart and ice cream for dessert with a few rounds of Uno to end the meal. I think I’m going to be returning to work twice the size at this rate!

It’s Mr D’s turn for littlest one’s bedtime tonight so I’ll be reading some more of my book. It’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ and is really quite emotive.

Dakota_Rose

My tax refund has been sent via bank transfer after the dodgy cheque didn’t scan. So that’s £25 premium bonds bought and the odd £ sent to the emergency fund. With a little bit of tilly tidying and interest going into that account, the emergency fund is now sitting at £1083.95 including the premium bonds. Such an annoying amount, but I’m resisting the urge to round it up, as every other £ is accounted for. I don’t know why I haven’t stopped hard at the £1000 EF, it has just been nice to send little bits over for saving rather than ‘sinking’ at times.

[Deleted User]

That's good your mum managed a wee walk.

Well done on the EF!

Dakota_Rose

I’ve picked up another challenging book while I’ve had the brain space - ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini. This has been on my radar for a long time (published in 2007!) but after reading The Kite Runner by the same author, I expected that I would find it an emotional read. It was very emotive and hard to read in parts but so worth reading and will stay with me for a long time. 

26 books for 2026

1.You Are Here (easy read) 9/10

2. The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle (time-travelling murder mystery) 9.5/10

3. Love Untold (ending made a middling read worthwhile) 8/1

4. Way Back (engaging easy read with a farm theme and a few typos) 8.5/10

5. The Cuckoo’s Calling (first of the Strike detective novels) 8.5/10

6. Yellowface (‘too awful to look away’ page-turner) 10/10

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns (emotive, heavy but worthwhile read) 10/10

[Deleted User]

Oh sounds good.

I'm still only on 3 for the year, started the 4th so will keep you posted.

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954765#Comment_81954765

please do 😊

Dakota_Rose

The weather is absolutely beautiful today and it has felt like the summer holidays while we’ve relaxed in the back garden. I resisted the urge to go shopping to top up our lunch offering. We stuck with the hotdogs as purchased yesterday, and the salad, burgers, pop and ice lollies have stayed at the supermarket.

Honeysucklelou2

Hard to beat a day in the back garden when the weather is beautiful…glad you are enjoying the break!

Dakota_Rose

Happy Thursday all.

I have woken up to the very happy sight of a £285 tax refund in my bank account. I feel like I’ve won a special monopoly card!

I had said that if it came through, it would be the school uniform fund for next year, but now I’m wondering if it would be better used in the home improvements pot at this point of the year. This is a nice choice to consider over the first cup of tea of the day.

Last night, we agreed that a new mattress would now qualify as a need rather than a luxury. It is very old and very saggy and is starting to cause aches and pains. The children all have fairly new mattresses but ours is over 12 years old 🫣. We found a Which? Best Buy one, (very similar in design to our current Simba) online for a smidge under £345 so that seems like a no-brainier. Our last one cost almost triple that. We don’t expect it to last 10 years but the one we are sleeping on really needed replacing some time ago.

Well wasn’t that an entry of the thrilling and mundane combined?! 😂.