7th August 2022

I decided to buy another £5 of Bitcoin. I do think it’ll go up again eventually – maybe not #ToTheMoon lol, but I do think its here to stay in one form or another.

~*~

I definitely overthink the dog’s enrichment sometimes. I just shoved one of his boring old toys inside the cardboard tube of a toilet roll and he is HOOKED

But also, I bought him a lick mat from wilkos haha

I do distinguish between “toys” and “puzzles”, in that puzzles need a human to set it up, but toys he can just play with himself, a ball or a teddy. The Lick mat really pushes that definition but I think it works for planning spending. I dont buy Sherlock toys often anymore, he has plenty.

Unfortunately (?) he didn’t take to the lick mat. The question mark is there because I quickly discovered it is an absolute BASTARD to clean, the texture they used to make it interesting to lick is a bunch of crosses, so it’s basically all corners and I cannot get the peanut butter out of it. I tried it twice and he doesn’t like it, and the damn thing is too much fuss to try again, but I also feel like I can’t just toss it in a cupboard with peanut butter still on as it’ll go mouldy. I’ll try put it through my partners dishwasher but I may just have to throw it out.

~*~

The first week of the month is often taken with buying little things I’ve been putting off. I do need to buy a clothes airer rack, which is not ideal, but I found one in wilkos for only £15 where the Argos ones I was looking at were £25.

I bought two redbubble notebooks – one for recipes and one for taking notes in meetings for the trans charity I’m facilitating with.

I also bought some vegetable choppers from Amazon. My food processor already slices but it’s very thin, and its has a grater attachment, and the puree blade minces onion and garlic fine, so I was really only looking for something that can do chunky cuts. I was originally looking at this one, but I was worried it wouldn’t cut chunky enough, so I ended up getting an apple corer and a crinkle cut blade. Next week I’ll be able to test them and see how they work.

I also bought some old childhood books I loved by Tamora Pierce, I bought three out of four of the Circle Of Magic books. I want them in a particular cover art style to match childhood memories so I’ll dig up the third book eventually.

~*~

A recruiter spotted my CV and wants to help me find a job. Which is good, except he’s calling me every. single. day.
I’m still at work! He’s already lined up two interviews for me, so that’s promising. Except now I actually have to do the thing I said I wanted to, lol, how rude. Kind of nervous about interviews but I’m sure it’ll be fine. They’re for generic Finance Admin Assistant type dealies.

~*~

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2nd August 2022

This post is technically late, by like one day, but work has been I-N-S-A-N-E so you’ll have to forgive me haha

So here we are, (they day after) budgeting day!

~*~

On 31st July 2022:

My Bank Accounts Net Worth was £13,248.47

£1,502.87 was in my “Next Month Income” category

£3,107.53 is in my “Emergency Fund” category

£2,615.13 was my H2B ISA (House deposit, though I’ve got a secondary category I’m trying to save a little more for the house deposit in by the end of the year)

£1000 was in my “Next Move” category

£870.44 was in my “Gym” category, waiting to see is I can get any help with that and move this money elsewhere

£870 was in my “Next Laptop” category

£719.01 was in my “Next Phone” category

£500 was in my “Canal Boat” category

And then the rest is in smaller categories

Banking Net Worth July 2022

My Investing & Pension Net Worth is £13,424.10

£12,895.69 of that is in my work pension, to which I am currently (that is, from my March Paycheque) contributing 8% and my employer is contributing 12.5%

£426.56 is in my bank’s Investment service, I put £25 a month in there and some fund managers do hopefully smart things with it. It’s telling me that over time my investment through them has gone up in value by £3.61

£74.40 is in my Freetrade Account, where I like to pretend I know how to day trade. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £71 in it so technically I’m making a profit.

£7.37 is in my Paypal Crypto account, where I like to pretend I know how Bitcoin works. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £15 in so I am making a loss at this point.

£20.08 is in a Crowdcube account. This doesn’t seem to change in value so I think it was more of a GoFundMe rather than an Investment.

I haven’t had been tracking data long to do much of a graph for Investment Net Worth, but here we are

Investment Net Worth July 2022

~*~

The HSBC switcher offer came due for me so that was an extra £170. As result, I have £80 left over even after filling all categories. I put £40 into a category for ordering some books (I want to pick up some Tamora Pierce books I loved as a kid), and £40 into a category for some notebooks off Redbubble, but I’m not 100% committed to those yet, I have the nagging feeling I should be putting it into the house deposit.

~*~

I did finally get that doctors letter confirming the EDS diagnosis, and emailed it to everyone who needed it (and maybe a couple who didnt lol). The physio team have given me some new exercises based off that. I’ve also had a recruiter spot me on Indeed and is talking to me about some roles, so we’ll see where that goes. Though to be honest, now I’m anxious about how I’ll get to all my doctors appointments if I’m working Mon-Fri 9-5. I’m not sure how to resolve that one.

~*~

~*~

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26th July 2022

I’m very proud that I survived the UK heatwave without a migraine or passing out or throwing up (though I may have just saved the migraine for a few days later). With my various health conditions there was definitely a non-zero chance I’d end up in the Emergency Room, but I didn’t.

My self care has come a long way the past few years

I did end up sleeping on the sofa for two nights in the room as my bedroom is a converted attic and just collects heat like nobody’s business. The first night I tried to sleep in my room, but Sherlock kept panting, so I let him out so he could sleep downstairs, but he kept coming back up to cuddle. And I wasn’t sleeping anyway so I gave up and went downstairs.

Tuesday I just spent most of the day in front of the fan. It was too hot to play computer games, even, I couldn’t think straight. I just lay there.

I was getting up at 5:30am to walk the dog but even at 9pm or 10pm it was still too hot to walk Sherlock, but he needed to go toilet, so I ended up picking him up and carrying him to a patch of grass that was safe to walk on, but even though we were only outside 10 min he was still panting but the time we got home.

I did have a slight hiccup where I ran out of standard ice cubes mush faster than expected trying to keep the dog cool, so I went Aldi at 8am on the dot to try get some, but they were out. I ended up paying £5 and deliveroo-ing a single bag of ice for Sherlock. If it had just been me I probably wouldn’t ahve paid that, but. Got to keep him cool.

~*~

My work has announced an additional 4% pay rise, on top of what they’d already announced a few months ago. I dont think it gets up to 9% still (UK inflation, by some measures)(some measures have it higher) but I appreciate the gesture. Many workplaces are doing less.

Unfortunately I got declined for the fancy tea shop job. I need to start cracking down on job hunting I think

~*~

I still haven’t got that doctors letter confirming the EDS diagnosis, I keep chasing them about it. They told me I’d have it within a week. I need to add it to my PIP file.

~*~

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18th July 2022

Well, its starting to happen. I was told yesterday they cutting the overtime rate from 2x hourly rate to 1.5x hourly rate (2x rate still applies on Saturday)(but my days are Wednesday and Thursday)

~*~

I swam the entire length of a pool whilst holding my breath the other day!

~*~

I’m in one of those parts of the UK expected to hit 40°. I’m trying not to think too much about the risk to myself or my partner (we both have chronic health conditions) and I’m pouring all my worry into the dog, especially today, as I’m at work and cant keep an eye on him. Tomorrow I’m home and can watch him.

So far my ideas, sourced from various friends, are

A fan, on a timer plug so it’s not going ALL day

A cool mat, which he only figured out he’s meant to sit on last night (Weve had t a year)

A cardboard and tinfoil construction blocking the window so Sherlock doesn’t sunbathe and hopefully to reflect some heat away from the house

And a loaf tin sized ice cube to lick all day

I’m walking Sherlock very early in the mornings and later at night (like 6-7am and 8-9pm) when its cooler and theres shade and its usually below 25°

Not really sure what to do tonight when it’s still expected to be above 30° at 8pm

I’ve had a migraine flirting with me for a couple of days but it hasnt been too bad, yet, but I forgot to order my meds on time so I’m on a 1/3 dose of amitriptyline right now, hopefully it’ll be ready tonight when I try collect

Getting into work will be ok it’s the getting home I’m worried about for myself

~*~

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13th July 2022

I’ve applied for a job at the fancy tea shop I like. Fingers crossed for me!

I did go into the store and have a little chat with one of the employees before I applied. They do know me (and Sherlock) by name there so I’m pretty hopeful of an interview, but obviously beyond that it’s anyone’s game, I don’t know how much interest there has been in the role.

I found an ice lolly mold in Aldi so I’ve given tea ice lollies a try. I cold brewed some “jelly and ice cream” and then froze it. The ice lollies went well, there’s strong potential here, but I need to work on my technique a bit. And it definitely needs to cold brew overnight before freezing, I only brewed for 4 hours. I might try milk next time I think!

~*~

I had my first flat viewing yesterday. It was alright, there definitely needs to be some expectation management in terms of how “pretty” I can buy. The place I viewed wasn’t great but it seemed liveable, only two points concerned me, there was a tiiiiny patch of what might be mold, and there was a patch on the roof where they had clearly previously been a leak.

The main criteria for the property are a section 20 I need to get more info on, and whether the property allows dogs in residence. I really thought that wouldnt be an issue anymore if I owned, but apparently building management is still a thing.

If you dont know what a section 20 is (I didn’t a month ago) it means I’ll have to pay for some repairs to communal areas in the time after moving in. It’s not clear how much I need to pay or over what timescale.

I think its going to be a long slow search, which will come to an abrupt when something suddenly comes available and I need to pounce quickly.

~*~

It’s been roasting here, it got up to 31° the other day and its due to get up to 34° next week. I may die. The dog refuses all cooling mats, bandanas, etc, and I am unashamedly using them. I am draping wet towels over my fan whilst its going. I am not taking the dog out as often as I know he likes 😦

~*~

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6th July 2022

I thought I’d write a brief summary of my trip to London haha… it was mostly to keep me entertained on the train to be honest

~*~

12pm:

The train ticket turned out more expensive than expected, but I didnt know my return time so I had to buy a day return at the station

It’s not ideal but I just took the extra money from my Human Groom, Clothes, and Birthday of the Month categories (it was about £60)

3pm:

I bought a ticket to the slightly wrong station. I bought for St John’s (National Rail) instead of St John’s Wood (underground)

A nice staff member let me out of the gates anyway, I’ll just have to buy an Underground ticket on the way home

Arrived at the hospital 45 minutes early lol

5pm:

I’m out of the apt now

That was almost anticlimactic lol didnt take long at all

As expected, I have hEDS

I’m not sure how I feel yet. This was extremely expected, but I did the thing where I focused so much on getting the diagnosis that I didnt give enough (any?) thought to what comes next

£500 I’ve spent today, not including a morale boosting costa

7pm:

Back into my home city. Getting a celebratory McDonalds on the way home for surviving another train journey.

~*~

2 days later:

Feeling surprisingly down. I dont think I gave enough thought to what to do after I get the diagnosis. In a week or do I’ll get a letter to attach to my PIP application.

In the immediate this doesn’t change how I live my life. It’s not cancer, this wont affect how long I live. But it’s also not something that gets better. As nice as it was to be taken seriously, it also would have been nice to be wrong.

~*~

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3rd July 2022

I literally called the London EDS doctor’s office yesterday to confirm my appointment tomorrow, and I am still plagued by the idea that somehow I’ve got the day wrong, because I dont have a piece of paper or email I can refer to and reassure myself

My brain keeps trying to activate ADHD/Autistic “waiting mode“

I dont need to leave the house until 11:30 tomorrow

~*~

In regards to the house/flat search, unfortunately theres not many properties out there in my criteria so this is probably going be something of a longer search

I am looking for a flat (or bungalow I guess) under 90k, and I want to remain relatively close to city centre. Within 2 miles of my work is the search I’m putting into most sites.

I have a dog, so the building owner/leaseholders would need to allow dogs in residence.

And anything that says “cash buyer only” or already has a tenant in, I can’t do

This leaves about 3 properties ha

~*~

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1st July 2022

Budgeting is not very exciting this month. Just filling up all the categories. Right now the most important thing is to get as much into savings categories as I can for the next few months – it almost doesn’t matter which categories, as the categories will be torn to hell when I find a place to buy.

There were a few categories I couldn’t fund: Hobbies, Online Shopping, RPG Night, FA Diploma, Future Baby, Vacation Misc (about £110)

I have enough money for a better shopping trolley, I think, but I’m waiting until after the EDS London Doctor trip to be certain. It’s a little tighter than I’d like.

So, yeah, this is a bit of a dull update. Sorry about that, it seems inversely proportional to how overwhelming my life has gotten haha. Be thankful for small miracles I guess – if budgeting was too exciting I might not be able to keep up!

~*~

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30th June 2022

Here’s my Net Worth at the end of June!

When I refer to my “Net Worth” in a post, I’m usually referring solely to my Banking Net Worth. I view my Investment Net Worth as comparatively inaccessible, as theres no card I can take out and spend from, so I dont regard it as usable or relevant to my day-to-day budgeting.

On 30th June 2022:

My Bank Accounts Net Worth is £13,132.57

£1,455.57 is in my “Next Month Income” category

£3,082.53 is in my “Emergency Fund” category

£2,415.13 is my H2B ISA (House deposit, though I’ve got a secondary category I’m trying to save a little more for the house deposit in by the end of the year)

£1000 is in my “Next Move” category

£894.43 is in my “Gym” category, waiting to see is I can get any help with that and move this money elsewhere

£840 is in my “Next Laptop” category

£688.01 is in my “Next Phone” category

£500 is in my “Canal Boat” category

And then the rest is in smaller categories

Banking Net Worth June 2022

My Investing & Pension Net Worth is £12,360.51

£11,872.85 of that is in my work pension, to which I am currently contributing 8% and my employer is contributing 12.5%

£392.59 is in my bank’s Investment service, I put £25 a month in there and some fund managers do hopefully smart things with it. It’s telling me that over time my investment through them has gone down in value by £1.63

£68.88 is in my Freetrade Account, where I like to pretend I know how to day trade. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £71 in it so I’m making a loss at this point.

£6.11 is in my Paypal Crypto account, where I like to pretend I know how Bitcoin works. I dont contribute to this on a regular schedule, but so far I’ve put £15 in so I am making a loss at this point.

£20.08 is in a Crowdcube account. This doesn’t seem to change in value so I think it was more of a GoFundMe rather than an Investment.

I haven’t been tracking data long to do much of a graph for Investment Net Worth, but here we are

Investment Net Worth June 2022

~*~

I’ll be back tomorrow to discuss how I’m budgeting for July. I’ve spoken to a mortgage broker, he’s going to give me an estimate of what sort of budget property I can be looking at in the next few days.

Monday I’m going to London for this doctors appointment.

Busy Busy!!

~*~

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28th June 2022

Apologies for the brief absence, life went a bit stressful, and then I had a four day migraine that I’m only just coming out of.

~*~

I’m starting to look at housing options after an occupational therapy visit, they reckon I need some handhelds on the stairs but we need landlords permission to install those.

But so far the landlords response has been… lukewarm. And they’ve said maybe its time for me to look for a house better suited to my needs.

If I went and rented somewhere else it’s going to double my housing expenses easily and the only place to take that from is how much I’m setting aside for a house deposit 😦

On the other hand if I raided every fund except the job loss fund, I’d have approx 5k, which miiiiiight do a deposit on a small flat?

~*~

When I say “raid every fund” I do mean EVERY fund (except job loss). New Laptop. Canal Boat Training. Christmas. Pride. Gym/Swim. New Mobile. Career development study. Everything.

It would be nice not to constantly worry about being kicked out.

I did a couple of mortgage calculators from a few banks whilst walking the dog… With an annual income of approx 22k (I didnt have bonus figures to hand but the bonus isn’t guaranteed anyway) and a deposit of 5k, the banks that would do 95% mortgages would lend me up 90k ish

I’m not seeing any 2bed flats in that price range so a lodger probably isn’t doable

One thing that has occured to me, mortgages are fixed for 2-5 years ish, on the assumption that you will not move in that time. 2 years, fine, that can go by pretty quick, I’m not going to put any expectations on that timescale. But 5 years… what if in that time I wanted to move in with my partner, or my partner move in with me.

So I should think about that when looking at properties in terms of space, need to keep an eye out for a flat two people can live in without falling over each other.

It would probably balance out as more expensive than my current situation, but if I had to move, buying might be cheaper than renting? Unless a boiler breaks or something

Its all going to be more expensive than my current setup. But what’s the least more expensive

Mortgage payments *could* be less than my current rent, but not by much less as my rent is currently low

Mortgage payments would be less than rent elsewhere. But I will have to pay bills, council tax, etc. But I wont have to save up for a deposit anymore. But I will have to replenish savings.

~*~

The way I see it: it looks I am moving in the next year. I am have some choices about where and when to go.

My options are essentially to rent or to own.

I’ve been looking at both options, and both options cost roughly the same.

If I rent, I will not be able to save any more towards my house deposit.

If I buy, at least I will be on the property ladder, and it will be a lot easier to make adaptations to a property I own.

But then if interest rates keep going up, what if I get on the property ladder just to fall right back off a few years later?

~*~

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