Oh dear not a good start

 Regarding husband's med sorting into his dosette box weekly....it was suggested that we could get the pharmacy to do it.  I did a bit of research and it seems that there's quite a high incidence of mistakes being made by the pharmacies when doing this, and the patient may not know about it if they don't check the meds - or get their carers to check.  It was also reported that some pharmacies are doing away with this, due to time constraints and costs.  I rang our new GP and asked the pharmacy (attached to the surgery) - they ummed and ahhed and said they would rather not, unless there was a clear clinical need for it to be done, as they are often understaffed and sorting/filling individual boxes for patients takes a lot of time.  So we'll carry on doing it ourselves....it's a bit of a boring job but only takes 30 mins or so, hardly a huge chunk out of one day a week.

Betty had her ears checked yesterday, the infection this time hasn't cleared as quickly as usual so she had another dose of meds, she also had her claws clipped.  I've signed up to the vets pet plan - it's not an insurance but a way of spreading the cost (by monthly payments) of her regular flea, tick and worming treatment, annual health check and vaccination.  It works out cheaper than paying them all in one go, and she also gets an extra health check every 6 months, plus nail clipping, and 10% off any other meds she might need (such as ear treatment).  So it was worth doing, saves some money.

The mattress on my bed isn't that old - about 4 or 5 years I think.  However, since we've moved here it's just not as comfortable - and it creaks like mad.  Whether it didn't like being stood up on end in the removal van, or whether it's a result of Betty jumping around on it....which she does tend to do sometimes, when she's feeling playful or restless.....I don't know.  I didn't really want to shell out for a new mattress just yet, so ordered a thick, good quality memory foam mattress topper online - it was £25 off in a sale and had a few hundred good reviews.  It came yesterday morning and, as recommended, we unfolded it (it was hard getting it out of the vacuum packed bag!) and laid it out on my bedroom floor all day, for it to plump back up.  Which it did beautifully....I kept the door shut so Betty couldn't go treading all over it.  Slept on it (on the bed, not on the floor 😂, I'd never get up off it!) for the first time last night, it was really comfy and cut down on the creakiness a lot.  Betty seemed to like it too, she slept well.

So unfortunately for my trying to get our savings back up again plan, this month so far has been quite a spendy one - what with vet bills, the Multichef packing up and having to buy a replacement electric pan, and the mattress topper.  So I am more determined than ever to cut down my food shopping spending and stretch out the food we already have in, for as long as possible.  It'll be even more important also to get at least one raised veggie bed constructed - on the subject of which, our neighbour told us of a local firm that regularly gives away pallets, so we'll go and have a look soon.  Growing veggies, especially since we do now eat a lot of them, should save a bit.  We'll grow some in large pots too, there are a few here left by the previous tenant which are a bit tatty and not particularly pretty enough for flowers, but will be fine for veggies for at least one growing season.