Bounce-back Cash

So it was only last week that I as feeling rather low about all the money that we'd had to spend last month (had to ??), well, what a strange week since my last posting.

Firstly, our lovely neighbour came round this week to ask if he could pay for half of the fence work...and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.  Who's boundary is who's has always been a bit of a mystery to me, everywhere we've lived, but always going dutch seems a great solution!

Secondly, whilst at work this week I had a phone call from the bank.  They are returning my NI payment into our account, as HMRC has contacted them to say that the bank account no longer exists!  First reaction: wow...all that money back.  Second reaction: I now need to call HMRC and try to get to the bottom of it.  Third reaction: how ludicrous that you're sent a letter with an April 2012 deadline (admittedly several years ago) and then close the bank account that you want payment into...I'm sure I'm not the only one that's left it to the last minute to send money.

So it's not like all the money's come back, but it has been a strange week!

I was also feeling uneasy about the expense of sorting the digi-box, but this week I've felt the need to do something for Lent.  (I don't normally give anything up.)  There are a couple of things that I really want to invest some prayer into, and fasting is a great way to focus the mind, so I'm thinking of giving up TV for 40 days and using some of the time when I'm not watching, to pray and some of the rest to do some of the creative projects I'm not finding time for.  I don't think I'm going to inflict it on the kids this time, as it's quite a major aid in getting us out of the house on time for work & nursery, and bedtime when we've just walked in the door (think removing that would tip me over the edge, let alone them ;-).

Note re: Waste - my eldest had her first sleep in a terry's nappy last night...wanted to know why she was wearing a 'baby nappy' rather than a 'big girl nappy' aka: disposable, but was up for giving it a go...slight leakage, but definitely worth trying for a while (might even help motivate her to stop wearing them at night all together).  So we might have a disposable free house soon, and weekly bin bag weighing less than 1kg!