Janey's Journey to Becoming a MFW

ljaneyr · 24 September 2016 at 9:25PM

Evening all,

When I finally dragged myself out of my gloom today I actually had quite a productive day.

Finished lesson planning and resources
Ordered LED bulbs for our new bedside lamps
Tidied the pile of bags and boxes in the corner of our bedroom. These contain things that don't have a home yet...
Cleaned my riding hat! It gave me a rash on my forhead last week so I got some cleaner of fleabay - so far so good - will test tomorrow...
Picked up a new dressing gown from N£xt
Updated our Mr T order to be delivered tomorrow
Cleaned the bathroom and gave the floor a good scrub after the aforementioned H@bitat bathmat thing stained it
Batch-cooked a curry for tomorrow night and the freezer

DH grouted some more of the bathroom and tiles half of the kitchen floor which meant I couldn't get in there until he'd finished.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it on here but I finally sold my wedding dress on ebay for exactly half what I paid for it. Not bad considering I bought it two years ago and it was second hand then! So my mum can now fully open her spare bedroom door where it has hung for over a year and I've spent the money filling some gaps in my wardrobe.

I'm going to look at new cars now - yawn...:o

smallholdingsister · 25 September 2016 at 8:31AM

Hey Janey. Approved Foods have CBFMs for sale. Bizarrely. Xxx

ljaneyr · 25 September 2016 at 6:18PM

smallholdingsister wrote: »

Hey Janey. Approved Foods have CBFMs for sale. Bizarrely. Xxx

Wow! That is cheap! If our car wasn't about to cost the earth I'd probably get one.. We're going to start treatment after xmas and I'm not looking forward to it. Not to mention juggling work and appointments :eek:

ljaneyr · 1 October 2016 at 2:37PM

Hello, me again

Well this month has been a bit of a roller coaster. Work has been insane with a new headteacher and the dread of ofsted. I have worked so much in the evenings and am really feeling the strain.

I had a bit of a meltdown last week and cried at work and then on and off for about fours days

A combination of another failed cycle and a new pregnancy at work. I had stupidly gotten my hopes up this month and now everyone will be talking about nothing but babies for the next 7 months

Oh well, nothing I can do about it!

In other news - I just bought a new car!!!:eek::eek::eek: The coolant has finally stopped leaking in my car and the garage suggested I move it on asap because apparently that model are prone to expensive problems in the coolant system. New car is from a local dealer so no more traveling half an hour to the garage and back. They took my old one part ex and new one is £5800 (after DH haggled a bit :smileyhea )which is almost all of our emergency savings. It has a years warrenty though and much cheaper tax, better mpg etc.

I just checked and I have spent over £1000 repairing my car this year so we are well shot of it!

Apart from the car, this month should be quite quiet financially so hopefully should be able to start building up the savings again.

My main goal for this month is to try to resist the work stress a bit more successfully and try to lift my mood by getting outside and exercising more. I'm hoping this will help me feel less depressed.

Right, I'm off to join the October NST thread.

Janey x

ljaneyr · 1 October 2016 at 2:40PM

October Challenge rules copied so I can remember them later:

• The Challenge will commence on the 1st October @ 00:00 and end on the 31st October @ 23:59.
• Kat Essentials
• Set your DFD (Debt Free Day)
• You will pay towards your debt / savings FIRST and live on what’s left. Choose the amount now.
• Set all budgets before the start of the month, think ahead for any birthdays, outings etc.
• Random Rule for September Celebrate your achievements with a Victory dance
• Other Rules
• Aim for 15 SFD (Spend Free day or No Spend day)
• Extra cash – share any ideas which work, trawl the other threads for something you haven't tried recently.
• Learn something new (might be fun)
• Weekly mini challenge (details in later post)
• Food budget should be set realistically (ideally at same level as last month or lower unless you have extra mouths to feed). Base your purchases around basics range and yellow stickered items.
• You will NOT use any of the following; restaurants, cafes, work canteens, vending machines, takeaways ( yes really), Starbucks, Costa, Nero or any other chain cafe!
• Lunch to work everyday and plan for appointments and days out (last chance for picnics and bbqs).
• Travel budget – petrol or public transport for work, leisure, hospital appointments. Can you walk/cycle? Can you combine journeys – shopping/ work/ gym?
• Any other regular budgets – children's activities etc.
• Healthy eating – up your fruit and veg. If you are already getting your 5 a day (if not why not?) go for 7. Will make you feel better (especially if free or ys) and may help ward off all those annoying bugs which come with the changing seasons.
• Make a food bank donation (3 items or £3) or alternative charity if preferred
• Exercise 5 times a week, newbies and poorlies start with 10 minutes a day, get outdoors wherever possible.
• Regular check ins – daily if possible.

ljaneyr · 1 October 2016 at 3:00PM

NSDs - I lost track last month so plan to keep a note of them this month.

Extra cash – probably won't have time but will continue to use cashback sites and search out bargains wherever possible.

Learn something new - hoping to try zumba - does this count?

Food budget - meal plan done for the month and first Mr T order arrives tomorrow. Aiming for no late night chocolate runs!

You will NOT use any of the following; restaurants, cafes, work canteens, vending machines, takeaways ( yes really), Starbucks, Costa, Nero or any other chain cafe! - Oops! Had to have a therapeutic costa hot chocolate earlier to calm my nerves after the sudden car purchase :rotfl:

Lunch to work everyday - always do this.

Travel budget – again I always budget for this but have to drive to most places round here as it's so rural.

Healthy eating – up your fruit and veg. I'm rubbish at fruit in the colder months so will try really hard with this one.

Make a food bank donation will do this next week at our school harvest festival.

Exercise 5 times a week need to keep a record of this.

Regular check ins – will try to be better at this too!

And a personal challenge - record something happy every day. Look into mindfulness?

Watty1 · 1 October 2016 at 5:18PM

So sorry about the pregnancy news. I know it is a tough one.
Chin up - zumba definitely counts as something new, its one I want to try

ljaneyr · 1 October 2016 at 8:15PM

Thanks for dropping in Watty :wave:

I certainly don't begrudge anyone getting pregnant, but it is a constant reminder and I seem to cope best when I can forget it. Everyone around me seems very fertile at the moment!

I've had a nice day pottering around at home while DH tiles the kitchen floor downstairs. It's turning out to be an unexpected quiet weekend and is exactly what I need at the moment. I've done a bit of cleaning upstairs, sorted out our finances and done a bit of internet research on the next things we need to buy.

We had a naughty takeaway for dinner from the amazing american/mexican restaurant that only uses home grown veg - yum! We'll probably take the dogs out for a short walk before bed and I hope to read a bit of my new book - American Gods - before I go to sleep. Bliss.

Janey (feeling a bit happier) x

ljaneyr · 2 October 2016 at 2:51PM

What a lovely sunny day!

Today has been rubbish again in terms of spends and healthy eating because my kitchen is in chaos while DH tiles the floor. We have had pasties for lunch and DH asked if we are having spag bol. for dinner - er! No! We will be having something very quick like omelette!

My school work is all done and ready for tomorrow and now I'm going to get outside and find something to do in the garden for a bit.

Janey x

ljaneyr · 3 October 2016 at 7:55PM

Evenin'

I didn't spend too long outside in the end as the sun was already behind the trees and it was a bit chilly! We had a nice evening dog walk though and hung around in the back garden to watch the ISS pass over! It was my first time and I really enjoyed it! The best bit was settling down in bed to watch Poldark with a lovely mug of proper made-with-milk hot chocolate

Today has also been OK. I managed to get home early by 4.30 and not bring any work home for the first time this term. I made a quorn bolognese and we're going to walk the dogs again before I hope to get an early night.

NSD
4 out of 5 fruit and veg - must try harder
Exercise - 1.5 mile dog walk - a lovely evening walk is our best time to talk together
Happy - falling asleep while reading my book at ten to ten

Will finish my list later. Going to read my book for a bit while DH finishes off a bit more tiling.

Janey x

Janey's Journey to Becoming a MFW

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