Cherry takes the reins

Bobarella · 20 March 2017 at 3:53PM

Your train drink story reminded me of the time I was taking a long train journey, Paddington to Cardiff! And the only coffee on the train came in a tea bag!!! Completely foul...

Cherryfudge · 21 March 2017 at 12:09AM

Bleargh! (As Snoopy would say).

Well done on surviving that one intact Bobarella.

Cherryfudge · 21 March 2017 at 12:24AM

It's been a work day but I did some shopping first.

Spends:
Housekeeping (non-food) £5.98
Food £8.07 - tins and greengrocer. There wasn't time to go to the supermarket, that's supposed to be tomorrow.

MS:
Had to be in a coffee shop for work and managed not to buy anything.
Finished up yesterday's tin of tuna for work tea tonight instead of a cooked meal.
Treated the guinea pigs to melon rinds. They love them!

No run (for about a week

) but a couple of miles of brisk walks and half an hour spent pushing someone in a wheelchair so I have had some exercise.

Cherryfudge · 21 March 2017 at 12:38AM

I am not doing too well with food planning and as I mentioned recently I'm on a slightly lower food budget this week so I'm going to use this space to try to map out a dinners menu for the next few days. (If I think someone might read it, it becomes more real, somehow).
Tues: Toad in the hole with ratatoille - need to buy all ingredients, feed four.
Weds: Savoury crumble at work - need to buy mince, feed just me but freeze some too.
Thursday - take overnight oats (breakfast) and salad (lunch) as I'm on early shift. Need to buy a tin of peaches and some salad items. Dinner: Mackerel with cous cous & veg, feed two. Need to buy fish.
Friday: Corned beef hash & beans? Need to buy corned beef & beans, feed three.

I might have to revisit some of this to work in stuff we already have but at least it's a start.

Cherryfudge · 22 March 2017 at 1:41AM

Today (actually yesterday) was a day off - I think I needed it. Had a lie in and didn't do much most of the day. It was freezing cold out, gorgeous sunshine interspersed with strong wind and hail. I stayed in till gone four.

MS:
Made marmalade
Made macaroni cheese with ham & peas - double so I have some for work.
Bought tinned peaches instead of frozen fruit for my overnight oats.
Found £5.50 in supermarket vouchers which we'd forgotten to open in January.
Scrounged around and found poly-pocket files for DS so he doesn't have to buy any.
Went down a brand in coffee - how long this will last I'm not sure but I won't know if I don't try.

Spends:
Magazine £3.40
Food £17.29

This covers all my food and some of the family's till close of play on Friday - apart from mackerel for Thursday and bread. How come I missed bread?! DH says he's motored through his share of the food money, helping out DS2 who is an impoverished student. I am going to have to rethink Thursday's meal (tuna pasta I guess as we have the ingredients) as there's only £2.29 left of my share of this week's food money.

We won't starve but clearly need to shape up a bit if our spending on food is going to obey us rather than the other way around.
The positive side of it is: surplus sausages in freezer from tonight's meal - will help feed DS2. Big bag of oats for DD and me, and possibly some flapjacks too. Plenty of salad - DD will eat most of it but I'll try to have some too. Lots of eggs and baked beans for a couple of weeks.

Yes, I bought a magazine when I've just bought four books but that's a different budget (or none: I don't really have a 'fun' budget). No piano lesson this week so that's £10 not spent.

Cherryfudge · 23 March 2017 at 4:50PM

Yesterday (cold and wet) I was a bit downcast over not having put any extra towards the mortgage, with only a few days to go to the end of the month. We still have the big insurance payment to go out of that account, though, and I don't want to risk OD if I've somehow got the sums wrong.

I was going to go for a run and decided to shave my legs, as one does... where did I put the shaving gel? A search ensued, no gel, didn't realise how much clutter had been sitting in my room looking invisible. Then the weather changed and became highly unsociable so instead of running I made small inroads into the clutter mountain, which had made me aware I need to show progress there too. (Found the gel today in with the spare shampoo. Go figure).

The most positive thing I did before heading off to work was to save some groceries from extinction: using stuff I already had in I made four little pies to freeze and take for work dinners and a banana cake (yes, another of 'em). I got all work meal stuff together including some cereal bought for DS which he never touches - so a 'freeby' breakfast for me this morning. Yesterday's tea was mac & cheese from the other day, lunch today was overnight oats.

So yesterday: NSD

Today was supposed to be an NSD too but I accidentally bought a coffee. Oops. It was nice though and perked up my flagging energy, so not such a bad thing. £3.80

I've been at work so not much opportunity to do stuff around the house but I'm just deep-conditioning my hair then I'll wash and trim it (it's long so it's easy to do it myself). Then I'll go and make inroads into the garden... it needs TLC.

And in bigger financial news: the Probate office has emailed me to say they've got the application and I can now do an affirmation and move onto the next stage of sorting the estate.

Also - and this applies to N account not the one I deal with - DH is replacing the car (necessary for work).

Me... I'm dreaming of getting a greenhouse, digging a pond and building a hen coop. Not in the near future, though.

It would just be nice someday.

Cherryfudge · 23 March 2017 at 11:40PM

I'm all of a jitter this evening and I can't pin down why.

My hair is now treated and trimmed (for free

) and feels better for it.

I didn't manage much of the gardening I'd intended but I did plant a pot of spring onions and rescued three cloves from a superb bulb of garlic with the intention of growing them. My green fingers extend only to houseplants and herbs but I can manage a few soft fruits and I keep hopefully trying with outdoor stuff. Glad I don't have to feed my family from the garden but I hope this might be the year I break through and grow something else.

The house is in need of housework so I cleaned out the guinea pigs, tidied the kitchen a bit and have put some laundry away. I feel as though I ought to stay in tomorrow (no work) and make inroads but maybe I should go shopping as I've noticed some of my work clothes are getting worse for wear and I'd also like one or two things new for a hen weekend at the end of this month. I think jeans will do for the daytime stuff but I'd like a fun keep-fit type top for one activity and maybe a pretty top for an evening meal. My 'pretty' tops are a bit mumsy and go-to-comfortable and I feel like having a breath of fresh air. You guys will have to hold me answerable for getting rid of as many items as I buy (if I do).

There will be a train fare to pay if I do this little trip (can't get the lift with DS2 that I was hoping for: he's on nights).

DH is doing research into that insurance bill - it truly is out-of-proportion huge! He's found one that covers a year for the same as we're due to pay for 6 weeks. My fault really but emotionally I couldn't face looking into it while I had Power of Attorney and as the other person with PoA did nothing unless told they had to, well, nothing got done. I was so totally the wrong person to have PoA but in the long run it's those of us who had it who take the loss, so at least Mum didn't suffer from it. I was glad I was able to manage everyday stuff for her so she had nice little treats and stuff like that as well as the care from the nursing home. Anyway... doubt we can get away with changing insurers this close to the end of the month but maybe we can... very glad of DH's help because I really can't get my head round some of the stuff he's helping me with. I'm bright in some areas but this ain't one of them.

I have been doing a short course through work which deals in part with goal setting. I did the test for that section last night and got 70% - much better than school marks but much less than I usually get on this type of test, and I think there is material in there that might help me not to do my rabbit-in-the-headlights act, so I'm going to go back in there and make proper notes. May not be the best thing to be doing late in the evening but I know I'm struggling to find what to focus on right now and an hour of study (applied to my wider life not just work) then a bath and bed might help.

Cherryfudge · 24 March 2017 at 9:00PM

So I redid that section of the course last night and retook the test - this time I got it all right and eventually went to bed in a considerably better mood.

Today has been a spendy day:
train fare £8.20
lunch /coffee / cold drink £5.20 (Oops. Forgot to organise a sandwich).
clothes shopping £46.99
toiletries £1
powerbank and charging cable for my phone £11.50

MS stuff done:
planted my garlic.

DH has done a lot of phoning and found we have to give 30 day's notice but after that can change the insurance provider - phew.

I also managed a run, albeit a short one.

Cherryfudge · 25 March 2017 at 10:58AM

I've paid twice as much tax as I should have!

A letter from HMRC came this morning... I wonder how soon the cheque will follow?

If it comes early in the week (if...), then I might just be able to clear it in time to add to this year's mortgage overpayment.

Cherryfudge · 25 March 2017 at 11:55PM

I didn't personally spend today but gave the rest of my food budget to DH to get the weekend shopping - we are £14 over budget this week, but as we've been under for a couple of weeks, maybe that shows we weren't too far off?

How much is reasonable for four adults, two of whom are in their 20s and need a lot of calories/healthy stuff? In addition two of us work shifts and either grab food on the go (DS) or cook ahead and take individual portions to work (me). We are allowing ourselves £80 a week but it's tough. We have the money to allocate if necessary but it seems high to me. Been on the Old Style board getting more ideas.

A temporary massive saving as DH went to collect the car he was supposed to be buying but came home without it as they couldn't produce all the paperwork. We are still looking for another to replace our aging wheels. The good news is that although DH will be travelling more for work, they've asked him to use a work vehicle as it's cheaper than putting in mileage claims. Of course that will save on wear and tear on our car too.

I managed not only a run this lunchtime (glorious - sunny spring day but not quite too warm to run) but also dug out DS's ancient Wii and started my (almost equally ancient) weight loss/exercise game up again. I'm shattered now and have more than compensated for calories burnt off with calories found in the cake tin, but it feels good. No formal exercise planned tomorrow as we're going on a walk.

Well, I'm off to bed as we're losing an hour's sleep tonight.

Cherry takes the reins

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