The Final Furlong

Good afternoon fellow frugalers
Thanks Beanie, I do seem to panic usually and then use a credit card, but not this time.
Another NSD today, however tomorrow I'll be food shopping again so need to make a list this evening.

What a strange day it has been here weather wise. One minute heavy showers and then warm sunshine - that's British summertime for you though. At least the garden will get a good watering.

A friend called round for coffee and a catch up today which was lovely, we need to do it more often and not let life get in the way. She never comes empty handed and brought spring onions, cherry tomatoes, broad beans and French beans from her husbands allotment. Also 2 tea cakes which were promptly toasted while the kettle boiled.

Tilly and I dodged the showers to take a walk in the sunshine and bumped into GS who lives about 5 minutes away so ended up sitting in his garden chatting before setting off again and later I finished my book with a coffee.
As I was determined that today would be a NSD, breakfast was soaked oats with fresh strawberries and almond milk and soft white bread with hm beetroot hummus for lunch. Tea (I'm northern) will be omelette and I think I will cook the beans my friend brought with a dressing to go with it followed by strawberries and soya yoghurt. Lovely !!

Budget update:

I paid the Car tax rather than waiting so that's done and have made another £50 from private work today.

groceries £200/£140.89 left (3 weeks to go)
petrol £60/£21 left
personal spends £100( this will take a hit on Monday when I go to London)
Private work £110
NDS@s 7/30

All in all I'm pretty pleased with that.

Have a good evening all whatever you are doing
Dottles x

Hi Seasidegal M&S was one of the cards I was looking at. I too by all my underwear from there and I can always find something for xmas/birthday presents if needed so will keep it in mind. I think I'm going to wait a little to make sure of my budget before committing as I need to be absolutely sure I can pay it off each month and not be tempted but it does make sense to me to make money on essential spending if you can. At present I have my gas, electric, landline, mobile and broadband through Utility Warehouse which gives me a discount for having them all together. I also get a top up card on which I put my groceries money each month so I can see what is remining and I also get a little bit of cashback which comes off my gas/electric bill each month.

Re Tilly's vet bills, that is something I need to look into this week. She is getting on a bit (9) now and has also had a major eye operation a few years back so I assumed that she would be difficult to insure However I will get some quotes and see what the outcome is as at the moment my only option for anything expensive would be a cc and that can't happen. I might have another look at where can cut back to cover the cost.

I have sorted out a few things to sell so plan to take photos today and get them listed before I'm back at work on Wednesday. I mainly sell through FB but have some items that need to go on the bay as are unwanted/unsuitable xmas presents and I wouldn't want the gifters to see them for sale. The way I see it though is that someone else will get the pleasure as well as me getting a little cash for them

I shared pizza and salad at my son's last night. It's always lovely to spend time with them and my DIL is so welcoming to me. I feel quite blessed.

Evening meals are sorted out for the week an snacks purchased for London trip tomorrow. So today will be another NSD and tomorrow will come out of personal spends. I have £113.33 in groceries pot to last until last day of the month and, wait for this.....my current account is still in he black !! Now that IS a first !!

It's looking quite bright outside so I think Tilly and I will have a wander before the rain comes back, that's if I can get her out of bed. Then I shall plan my day over a coffee.

Have a wonderful day all
Dottles x

Thanks Beanie, we had a fabulous time, despite the rain. My GD is such good company and grateful for everything given to her, I want to spend time with her before she gets older and is busy with her own life.
It was a spendy day but I was expecting that. Tickets for the Tower were more expensive than was stated on the web and they put on a voluntary contribution without asking me (well not clearly anyway). It was worth it though, such a lot to see and I haven't been for many years.
All in all, my rough calculation of the damage is £120 but will know for definite tomorrow when it all shows in my banking app. As I had £100 left in spends I'm pleased with this. I will take the short fall from private work done last week.
I am expecting another £50 this week and have also received £5 from a FB sale. All in the right direction.
I'm back to work tomorrow so will be taking lunch with me and am planning the next 2 days to be NSD's.

Today I arranged insurance quotes for Tilly. The best one was £61.40 per month. This would give me up to £7000 for vet's fees per year but would give me 20% of the premiums back each year if I don't claim. I calculate this to be £589.44 per year. This seems a lot to me and I'm debating whether to put extra money into the emergency fund each month to cover instead. Any thoughts?

Right, I'm off to cook ratatouille for evening meal as have everything needed in already.

Dottles x

That's what I thought, and I haven't yet told them about her eye op and the lump she had removed. I'm guessing it's because of her age and the expectation that she may need more treatment as she gets older. Having said that I had a Labrador who lived to be 16 years and though she did have things wrong towards the end, thy were mostly little things that I could manage financially like water infections. I'm not sure what to do yet so going to mull it over before I make a decision.

Sleep well
Dottlesx