Cheekychinchilla's food and stuff

Have got till January before the car is paid off. Have been playing with the idea of getting a 0% credit card and transferring the balance. Without having to pay interest if I keep paying the same amount I should finish it early. At this rate though everything will be new and working!! I've never had a credit card and would only use it for paying off the car! Although if I got a Sainsbury's one I'd get extra points and stuff on my petrol, which I usually buy from Sainsbury's anyway. Just don't know how it all works tbh :eek:
If this costs me £250 it'll have had £1,100 worth of work done to it since I bought it last Jan :confused: I'm so f*cking angry with the place that sold me it :mad:

I'm hoping I manage to stay on-plan and get another fast day in. That's the idea anyway. Will see what happens lol!xx
That's an awful lot of money to pay out :(
It's it a hard call, like you said you would get it paid quicker if you got a card but it's so easy to spend what you haven't got.
x x
 
I can honestly say I am REALLY good with money! I always save, I don't have an overdraft, never had a loan, etc... The car is the first proper finance I've ever gotten because I save for everything. I put £700 down for the car as well.
Luckily the warranty paid for around £500 of that big job I had done last year. But it's still a lot of money for me to lose when I had 8 months of earning virtually nothing. Paying for this job is going to leave me very tight as I just haven't had time to replenish my savings yet. Have had 2 proper pays so far but they missed off money from my last one and last week cost me over £200! So I'm really feeling it at the moment.
Me and Mum have decided to put out Oct holiday on hold and see what happens. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, once this job is done on the car there can't be much else major that could go wrong with it. Will just have to see what happens.
But I am tempted by the 0% credit card because I know I'm sensible. I'd pay off the car quicker with no extra charges and I set aside money for petrol each month so if I used it for that I'd just pay that off at the end of the month too. Hmmmmm.....
 
Was having a nose round and seeing if some of my symptoms are ME related - alcohol intolerance, cognitive function down the toilet, and muscle spasms. Well, they are lol! I don't know if I feel better knowing I'm a complete lightweight because of a medical condition ;)
Anyway, I really like this site and found it really helpful and informative, if anyone wants to have a look :) http://www.meassociation.org.uk/about/the-symptoms-and-diagnosis-of-mecfs/ Every single bloody symptom! It even mentions sore throat and tinnitus!! :rolleyes:

Right, today's food!

SW Green Day:

Lunch:
2 free Linda M Sausages
Cheesy scrambled eggs with mushrooms and red pepper (half HexA1)
Half a tin of spaghetti
Wholemeal toast (HexB1)
Fruity brown sauce (1)

Tea:
Potato chunks cooked in Worcester sauce, garlic salt, paprika, and oregano. With some red onion wedges and beetroot chucked in too!
A Quorn lamb grill
Small tin of mushy peas
Cheese (rest of HexA1)
Tomato sauce (1)

Snack: Small bowl of red grapes, blackberries, and raspberries.
Activia 0%
Chewy Delight (HexB2)

Drinks: Coffee. Squash. Coke Zero. Options made with Koko milk (half HexA2 + 2)

Syns used: 4
Syns saved: 24

Exercise: Quick trip to the bunnies and putting them in the run.
Quick de-poo of the garden.
And lots of brain exercising ;)
 
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Hey Cheeky, I don't really have much experience with credit cards but if you can use it to your advantage then why not? Maybe just re-talk it over with your bank (can't find English word.....bank advisor???) to get an expert opinion.

I think it's definitely good to do research. Unfortunately medical professionals don't really have the time these days to properly explain things, I find. I've had an under active thyroid which was diagnosed when I was 12 and I still google the condition now and then to learn a bit more about how it's affecting me and my body.

Sounds like a really good food day too!

Well done!

x
 
Everyone originally thought I had an underactive thyroid. Which I haven't! BUT last year I had thyroiditis which they only realised after I had badgered them to death about my TSH results rising up and up and up (highest they got to was 10.0) but everyone saying it was fine. My neck ultrasound even said I had a nodular thyroid that suggested infection. But they only realised after it had gone back to normal and my TSH suddenly dropped to normal levels. I was so annoyed!! All the Dr's had spent 6 months telling me my thyroid was fine :mad: Ahem!
Also, I'm still yet to be officially diagnosed - unless you count the heartless letter I got in the post. So no one has specifically sat me down and said "You have this illness" or told me what it is or anything. So still doing my own research as it's very probable I do have ME/CFS. Just p*sses me off that I have been ill for over 12 months now, been investigated for every illness you can imagine, been through some pretty horrific things, had to come up with my own treatment plan and phased return to work, etc... Have told endless people about my symptoms and really complained about my sore throat and painful, noisy ears. But everyone just keeps kinda going *shrug* :rolleyes:
Good job I have a sciencey/medical brain really and I can sensibly research stuff.

I honestly can't be bothered booking a meeting with a financial advisor. And I wouldn't want a credit card from my bank anyway, I'd get better benefits from the Sainsbury's one to be honest. I shop there and buy the majority of my petrol there too.

Aye another good food day :) Fast day tomorrow and I'm going to be stuck at home doing work and hoping the garage can come and get the car. I find them more difficult when I'm at home doing bugger all lol! So will be a test :) xx
 
Thyroid issues suuuuck!

They really mess with your head! Must admit my treatment has been so much better in France. They are very quick to send you to do xrays etc and to see specialists if you need to. The only problem is that you pay upfront and get re-reimbursed a week later, rather than money not being involved. My experience with GPs in England was quite poor, they never referred me to the hospital for any problem and I ended up leaving stuff until it became a mega problem and having to go to A&E! (They didn't even send me for an xray when I broke my foot! They refused to believe it was broken, it 'healed' badly and then broke again 6 months later but the break took aaaages to heal. Same story with my gall bladder...wouldn't believe I was in pain and ended up being rushed to A&E and getting morphine!)

I find I snack so much more when I'm at home... good luck for tomorrow!!x
 
Hi! Your progress at work really impresses me! You are doing amazing and it must be so disheartening to not get the full support you clearly deserve. Cars are a nightmare they are so costly! I have had 4 New cars over the years from 2 Mercedes to a skoda and the skoda was by far the best!!! It never needed anything but a service or tyres for 10 years it was great and only sold it reluctantly because it was getting older and thought it may start to be a problem, my other 3 new cars spent more time in the garage than on my driveway. Food has been good again this week for you!! I hope you can get some rest tomorrow to prepare your self for the weekend. Xxx
 
Sophie: I can safely assume that some of my symptoms last year were down to the thyroiditis! What a joy that was to live with!!

That's an odd way for healthcare to be run - paying first but getting your money back. Is there a reason for this? Sounds almost like health insurance in a way!

I pestered 2 GP's to death until they referred me. They admitted there was something odd going on and sent me on. I do believe that my actual GP was right and that I did have a depression crisis which probably lead to this :(
God your broken foot and they wouldn't even send you for an x-ray?! Bloody hell! My Sister had a sore hand and they sent her for an x-ray straight away! I must admit our GP surgery is fantastic :)

Louby: Thanks dude! I'm not impressing myself right now because I feel like my brain's trying to escape from my face! But I suppose I am a bit impressed with what I've managed to do recently. How, I have no idea! Stubborn moose syndrome and determined to show work people I CAN do this. Even if it actually kills me. I will qualify as a VCA before it does me in ;)

You know I desperately want a Skoda Citigo and there are some fantastic offers on them right now - 0% finance and maintenance packages and stuff. Could actually work out less than what I'm paying for my sh*t-mobile! Plus the tax and insurance would be infinitely cheaper too!! It's so very tempting, but I keep thinking if I get a new car now or soon I still have a big chunk of finance to pay off and all the money I've spent on the bloody thing would feel wasted - if that makes sense? But I am seriously thinking about it and I'd love to go test drive one!!
My friends have a Skoda Fabia and it's lovely :) I'm a big fan of all things Scandinavian and the Skoda's really appeal to me ;)

I don't really have any plans for tomorrow. Will need to add a couple of things to my case study before I send it to my tutor to review. I need to know my work's surgical rate for fluids and my friend (who's a VN) is trying to come up with a paragraph about the vets findings and why it could have "influenced" the illness. I can't think at the moment lol! Tbf I've written almost 2,500 words by myself so a little help wouldn't be too much to ask :p

Just watched The Conjuring. Had forgotten how good it was!! Saw it once at the cinema and I remember it being a good, proper haunted house/possession film. It's directed by the guy who did Insidious, which I love too, so not surprising it was good. You can definitely see the Asian influences in both films actually!
I tend to prefer foreign horror like Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, so nice to see a bit of an edge on an American film. I'm not a fan of slasher type gore fests and think "group of teenagers being chase by crazy guy with a knife" gets old very quickly. I like a good story!!

Anyway, I should really probably head to bed. Have had a mentally exhausting day and I can really feel it now. Also my hips and knees are seriously playing up today. Going to assume from sitting most of the day doing work at the laptop! Have had a couple of days off from dog walking too, to give my joints a break, but the sitting seems to have made it worse! :rolleyes: xx
 
I would say go for the credit card and get your loan paid off; you'll pay if off quicker if you've no interest BUT, check the small print of your car finance first to make sure that there is no penalty for early repayment. As you've got a good garage man, you could ask him for advice? And if you try a site like We buy any car, you would get some idea of what you'd get for your car in part-exchange. I would suggest that you don't change it until the p-x value is enough to cover the remainder of the finance (as a minimum), or preferably until it will give you a bit of a deposit. My boss (who does a high mileage) is on his third Fabia, that I know of; he has nothing but praise for them.

Your food for yesterday sounds fantastic - I particularly like the sound of the potatoes so I'll be trying that!

Hope your poor joints have recovered a bit overnight. You are doing incredibly well with your course, despite all your problems and the lack of support from work. It sounds as though you have a good chance of finishing ahead of schedule if you get through the exams that quickly.
 
Hey Patty!
I think if I ask for a redemption fee I don't have to do it, but it'll show me if I have to pay extra stuff. I was told I wouldn't get early re-payment penalties, but not like I can trust the salesman!
I was thinking the same as you, I want the car paid off so I have a bit of weight behind me in a part-exchange! I reckon the car's worth less than £1,500 now and I probably have about that left to pay - with all the interest and stuff. So if I part ex'd now I wouldn't have a deposit :( I just have to hope that nothing else major happens before I can pay it off. Such a big mistake!! :eek:

I've only been doing between 2000-3000 miles, so far. But that was even with the trip to Wiltshire/Somerset last year. So I reckon if I got a newer car it'd last me a good long while! I think a lot of the new cars say you have to do less than 10,000 miles a year before they charge extra and I don't even do half of that!
I really, really like the look of Skoda's! Seriously want a Citigo! ;)

I do like doing the chunky potatoes. I'm rubbish at cutting chips so do chunks :p

My joints are so bad :cry: They kept me awake a bit last night as well! So much bloody pain!!

Got a letter from the hospital today. I have an appointment next week at the Linda McCartney Centre (cancer!) at the infectious diseases clinic. It doesn't say why I'm going just who I'm seeing. So my first thought was "Oh what now?! What have they found?!"
So I googled the Dr, his name is Mike ;) And the list of his clinical stuff is impressive but terrifying! I gasped more and more at each one! Here's what he does: Viral hepatitis and HIV; general infections and tropical medicine; infectious diarrhoea and infection control; chronic fatigue syndrome/ME
Why on earth is CFS/ME at the end?! Put it BEFORE HIV people! :8855:
So that's that! And quite quick too! I'm in work till 1pm that day, unless my rota has been changed! And the appointment is at 2, so will ask to leave 30mins early.

Also, the car's been picked up. 2 guys in a big f*ck off Range Rover came to tow it to the garage. Hope, hope, hope it is *just* the clutch!! Everything crossed please!!!xx
 
Yeah your symptoms really do seem to fit with M.E. Hooray - you have an appointment!! About time. Go prepared with all the information they could possibly need and get some useful information out of them. The joint pain is familiar - I don't have contort myself into some strange positions in bed attempting to get comfy (pillow under bum, between knees, arms resting on cushions etc - bet my hubby finds me a joy to share a bed with!)
 
This is the credit card I'm looking at - has the best offers for me with the petrol :) Sainsbury's Bank | Nectar Credit Card

Could anyone have a look for me? And if I were to pay the car off is that a purchase rather than a balance transfer?

Hey Katie! Lovely to see you :)
I'm pretty much settled on it being ME now. Yay..... I think this appointment is for me to see the consultant so he can send me to the clinic? Hopefully! I don't need more endless consultations. I assume this is what we're dealing with now, so let me deal with it!! I am still giggling about my reaction to the letter LOL!

I seem to suffer more with joint pain than muscle pain. I do get muscle pain, very generalised, all over, but the joint pain is far worse!! My hips and knees are the worst, but I also get it in my ankles and feet as well as from my elbows down. My neck and shoulders are always sore, but I think that's more down to the scar tissue issue I have.

Hehe I'm sure your husband doesn't mind too much. Probably sees it as extreme sleeping ;)

Oh yes! So glad you agree. Foreign/World Cinema if we want to be politically correct :p Is so much better, generally, than american stuff. Some British horror is quite good tho, I really like The Descent. British horror tends to linger around the "thriller" section tho I reckon, more than genuine horror. But yeah, can't be doing with slasher teen screamy girl stuff! I'll watch most things, but I prefer the stories ;)
Have you seen Guillermo Del Toro's fillums?xx
 
And if I were to pay the car off is that a purchase rather than a balance transfer?

I think transfers normally refer to moving balances from another card, but Sainsbos might do it. The best thing is to contact them.

Grrr to the pain - hope it eases before your weekend of work. How scary about the hospital - bet that gave you a start! OH had an appointment letter sent from our local hospice which, thankfully, started off by saying not to worry, this doesn't mean you've got anything you haven't already been told about! It was just that he was suffering from lymphoedema and that's where the local specialist clinic's held.

Seriously, it's good that you've got an appointment and it sounds as though it's with someone who has a lot of experience with ME/CFS. Let's hope it goes well for you.

For the record - I hate, hate, hate horror movies. And, whilst I'm talking about films, I'm very disappointed that Amazon's film/video streaming doesn't support subtitles (I checked with them). As a Prime customer I do have access to this as a 'freebie' - but it's no good to me. Bah humbug...
 
Just read all the symptoms on that page and it's everything you've been experiencing, that's scary. I don't understand why they're dithering over diagnosing you.
You never cease to surprise me with the amount of course you get done, you're doing really well.
I have the say the Skoda Yeti we have now is the best car we've ever had, we're already planing on getting another one next time I love it :)
I hope you have a productive day x x x
 
Patty I guess it doesn't really matter with the card as the 0% is for balance transfers as well as new purchases. Just there's a fee for balance transfers - which you get back in Nectar points. So I guess would technically be better for me if it were a new purchase?
So if I were to pay off the car with that card would I just call the finance company (Santander) and just pay over the phone? Yes, I am hopeless because I've never had one :p

I don't know what's going on with my joints at the moment. I'll start taking the pain killers and anti-inflammatories tomorrow in prep for the weekend. I don't like taking them all the time so save them until I know I'll need them. Not that they do much, but takes the edge off a bit. Could be placebo, but whatever, as long as it does something. Wish they'd give me some actual pain relief!

I'll be going in with a list of symptoms and asking about pain management. It's taking the p*ss now, it really is!

Hehe horror is my favourite genre really. Have been in to thrillers and horrors since I was around 12/13 I guess. I tihnk it's my Dad's fault for making me watch Ghostbusters when I was about 3 ;)
That's awful that the amazon streaming doesn't support subtitles. Why not?!! That is ridiculous :confused:

Hi Barbette :)
I dunno either. It made me laugh in an angry way that those symptoms are on the CDC list and are no doubt on the WHO list too, yet they've been faffing around for over 12 months. And I know they have to rule all the other stuff out, which they have, but apart from the evil endocrine tests, they stopped investigations way back in Sep/Oct I think. Until I saw the consultant in Dec who ordered a second MRI.
Just quite sad that there are probably hundreds of people suffering from things like this who maybe aren't as stubborn as me and wont push for a diagnosis and just think they can get on with it.

There's still a lot of the course to go unfortunately. But I am battering it at the moment and hopefully the end will be in site soon! I'm sure once the case studies are done that's it for the written work in section 2. I have some practical stuff to do and 3 more exams. I'm studying for an exam atm, surgical and anaesthetic equipment, and the other 2 are on drugs and medication. But not too much left in section 2 I guess. It is the heaviest one I think because it's clinical stuff. Not looking forward to section 3 tho coz it has no interest to me whatsoever. I feel some passes or merits coming on for section 3 .... LOL!

I think it looks like I am likely to get at least an overall merit for this. Ok the competitiveness is starting to creep in and I suppose I would like a distinction. But a merit would be acceptable!

I REALLY like Skoda's lol I want a small car though, but will probably look for a 5 door this time. Makes so much more sense with the dogs and also Mum's illnesses and mobility. Wish she'd hurry up and be given high rate disability so I can get a car ;) I mean, no, that's it. I want a car :p I'd imagine we wouldn't have to pay much towards the likes of a Citigo or Fabia for a disability car. Shame I can't get one LOL! But yeah, I do like them!

Not really done much today. Didn't sleep very well and I feel really tired today. Too much worrying about the car!! So just doing some exam prep and studying. I kinda want to walk the dogs but I'm really tired and it's a bit cold today :eek: Maybe I could just do a quick 15/20mins each with them instead of the big walks we've been doing. Might help my ouchy joints if I get them moving a bit instead of sitting with the laptop the whole time.

Fast day is going well so far. Had my porridge! And I've worked out the cals for my Coco Pops treat later. I have over 200cals left for tea, so that'll be fine. I want my Coco Pops ;) xx
 
Patty I guess it doesn't really matter with the card as the 0% is for balance transfers as well as new purchases. Just there's a fee for balance transfers - which you get back in Nectar points. So I guess would technically be better for me if it were a new purchase?
So if I were to pay off the car with that card would I just call the finance company (Santander) and just pay over the phone? Yes, I am hopeless because I've never had one :p

I'm really not sure about the balance/purchase aspect - you will need better advice about that than I can give you. Normally, there's a box on the application form to tick is you want to transfer a balance and once the card is approved the company ask you for details of the transfer and they will do it for you (to make sure it's done, I suppose). If it can go as a new purchase, I guess you would have to go to Santander yourself so I think you need to make certain you can pay it off with a credit card.

Pleased the fast day is going well.
 
It's all very complicated. Some places are saying you can use a credit card but others are saying you can't pay off finance r a loan with a credit card. Seems like a lot of hassle! The plan was to save and try and pay it off a bit earlier, but with getting sick and being out of work it was impossible. And with all the repair costs as well, just doesn't seem possible now.
Might just be that I'm stuck with it *sigh*

Have just walked the dogs. Just quick ones today really. Was getting this big build up of almost like a pressure on the left side of my hip :confused:
Exhausted now :faint2:
 
I've just thought of something else to factor in: if you also use the card - to buy petrol etc - the money you pay each month will most likely be used to pay these purchases first, leaving the transferred loan to (possibly) accumulate interest if you don't manage to pay it off before the interest free period has passed. I seem to remember reading that if you get a credit card to pay of debt, you should not use it for other things until the loan is paid off. The interest free/low interest rateon purchases is designed to make the unwary use the card and explains how the company is able to make such enticing offers!



I think I saw this on Martin Lewis's website - am I allowed to mention the name on here?
 
Really sorry your joint are playing up, I agree with you about asking them about pain management, even if it's not ME (not likely though) you need some way getting the pain under control. Fingers crossed the anti inflammatories do the trick for the weekend and help you out.
Hopefully your mum will get on the higher level disability and you'll be able to get a car, ours cost just over £300 on mobility for the Yeti which was a lot cheaper than all the over cars we were looking at.
You should get your PJ's on and chill tonight, maybe watch a good horror :) x x x
 
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