Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Morning all,

Hi Crumpets - I won £500 in a puzzle competition on the comping board Have just discovered I can't win anything more with Bauer for 6 months though (date is in the diary, it'll save me time in the meantime!)

Really struggling for energy at the moment - but we've had a busy weekend! I put my somewhat dubious sewing skills to the test and created a cover for our letter box cage to stop naughty cat from chewing any plastic that comes through the door (i.e. RM survey stuff, every week, don't get me started). Quite pleased with it and it cost me nothing as I already had the fabric - bought a long time ago on a whim. Frugal win was reusing some wrapping paper kept at Christmas as it had a 1cm grid marked out on the back of it - who needs pattern paper?!

Saturday afternoon we went to a neighbour's bbq - really weren't sure about going, but actually had a lovely time, ended up staying until 9.30 and were fed to excess and had leftovers forced upon us! They did us both for lunch yesterday and there's enough for me for lunch today too - all Carribean food, absolutely delish! (So the theme of being fed by others continues this month :rotfl: )

Yesterday DH did some car stuff (including finding bits to ebay) and I went for a walk - with more new people! The introvert in me is so glad I'm working alone at home today. It was really nice to meet some new people though.

In bad news, the cats knocked my phone off the side last night while it was charging and now the charging cable has to be at exactly the right angle to charge.... it's not looking too promising for it's longevity at this point. I really don't want a new phone!

MS things:
* DH sold his old PS3 on the Bay
* Couple of other bits are selling, need to list more
* Free food! (And a bottle of punch - provided by the feeder neighbour for the party but was leftover - to enjoy tonight with BIL and GF)
* Comps entered, MS rw, SBs, and VB done
* S&S and FOTG done
* All survey invites done, PA survey done
* General frugalness being upheld while enjoying life

Gratitudes:
* For the opportunity to get to know our neighbours better
* For delicious food
* For a lovely walk yesterday with new people
* For lovely family time yesterday afternoon/evening

- truly feeling blessed at the moment

Have a good Monday everyone!

Morning all,

Thanks Karma - changed the phone cable and it seems to be working a bit better... fingers crossed! Didn't sleep again last night - hayfever is the culprit (and the wind-dried bedsheets ). Eventually came down for an antihistamine tablet in the middle of the night, but not before plenty of 'I'm nearly asleep, I don't need to do that'. So I'm exhausted, have plenty of work to do and several important non-work-related jobs to get done. Work is going well so far, I'll get to the rest later!

Have opened a FD RS, so will be bunging my buffer fund in there £300 at a time for the next year. Just waiting for the switch, which should happen today and then my Expedia voucher should start winging its way to me We'll be using this to book accommodation for our Christmas markets trip (flights already booked).

MS things:
* Used up some naff veggie sausages in risotto last night
* MS rw, VB poll
* FD regular saver opened
* NV survey done
* £1900 tax rebate due - which is good as my calcs didn't seem to be giving me much to put in my pension/LISA/S&S ISA

Gratitudes:
* Computers - for enabling all this money saving to be done without moving
* My car - got to send the PS3 today and it's too heavy to carry to drop off point from home
* The dishwasher - it may have been a bit rubbish lately, but first world problems!

Have a good afternoon all.... I may catch some zzzzzzs
x

Afternoon all,

Where did that week go? I'm not sure....

Everything continues as normal though. My FD switch has completed so will soon be able to book accommodation for our December break. I did get the cashback for my holiday - so when that arrives in the account it'll go straight in the savings, which is where I've just transferred my winnings too.

We spent the weekend (Sat and Mon, it rained all of Sun) replacing the garage roof. We're now both exhausted and achy, but the roof is watertight if not quite finished. It's cost us ~£200, so a massive saving on paying someone to do it. I cooked up a massive batch of daal and rice on Friday night and we ate this for lunches and one dinner over the weekend - it meant we didn't have to think about food and there was always something on hand - a plan I will use again when doing DIY projects.

We're off to our neighbour's for dinner tonight, which should be lovely. It's a pity we're both so tired as I think I'd rather be asleep, but hopefully it won't be a late night.

I've started on presents for Christmas (I know, I apologise for swearing, *especially* as it's only August!). The plan involves buying some bits from charity shops and knitting other items, so I *need* to start now or it'll never happen! I already had the wool, so glad to be using it and the charity shop items should cut the cost of the 'gifty' presents in half if not more, so very pleased with these bits.

MS things:
* Repaired a small hole in a t-shirt of DH's (thanks YT)
* Blanched and froze gifted french and runner beans
* Cheap meals all weekend
* Ebay sales, various, netting a small profit

Gratitudes:
* FIL and my Dad for their help (sometimes back-breaking) with the garage roof
* Our neighbour for her continued kindness and friendship
* DH for being as frugal as me, even though he's had to do much of the hard work

Will try to post more this week, but I can definitely tell that the summer is coming to an end in terms of volume of work!

Have a good evening all!