The YS cabinet was very uninspiring tonight so I ended up buying quiche, sausage rolls, dips etc for a mini buffet, it wasn't cheap but there are enough leftovers for us both for lunch tomorrow. I also bought full price raspberries and white chocolate buttons, I am tired and needed a treat.

DS has been applying for jobs so fingers crossed something comes of it all. I found another last night I've told him about and he's going to apply for that too.

I had a reply from Zapper saying the first of my cheques will be posted tomorrow and the other 'shortly afterwards', this is for trades sent nearly a month ago

The busiest few days at work are done and it should be quiet for the rest of the week, it makes the day drag but maybe I can do some surveys

Have a good evening all!

Morning quick post for me before springing into action. I have had a terribly stomach pains for the last few days. But it's more like the outside of it is really tender rather than a sickness thing. I have been debating taking time off work to go to the doctors it's that painful. I have appts all day today and tomorrow. Might call the gp and see if I can get a late appt and leave a bit early....

anyway! Things for today:

* quick shower. Will tie hair back rather than wash ;-)
* make mine and madam's lunch
* NSD? maybe...
* water plants/repot a couple/ sow a few things
* make father's day card with madam this evening

Ok that's all I can think of. Have a great day x

You absolutely shouldn't feel guilty about this CCL - you have an extremely busy and stressful job, and you get little support from the rest of the household, so it is only sensible. You cannot and should not do everything, you will make yourself ill You may have to cut down a bit on other areas of spending to pay for this help, but you do need it!

I am sure your Mum doesn't look down on you - anyone who does clearly has no idea of how hard you work, quite apart from the additional stresses and strains of your job, and the personal pressures you have been under. Huge numbers of teachers are quitting because of the burden, but you are hanging in there - you should be proud, not ashamed! Thank you for what you do

CCL - get a cleaner. If it helps, we have one - she comes for 3 hours a week which is enough to keep on top of things. As Dawn rightly says it is not lazy; you have a busy, pressurised, job. I don't wish to pry but I would guess that not too many hours of tutoring would cover the cost.


*soapbox alert* - it really annoys me how in society there still seems to be a tacit assumption that being female = taking responsibility for majority of domestic / household management in various forms. (Climbs off soapbox).


Seriously, get one. You'll feel better in yourself that your home is clean and tidy and you haven't got the cloud of having to do something you hate hanging over you.

Good morning guys .. Sounds like a busy day for a few of us ��

I've already made a start on the list
Workouts done (3hrs of my DVD sessions)
One load of washing out and another in the machine.
All meal plans done and going to plan (so far lol)
Paperwork for second job all finished

Still to do
PAD yesterday's ebay
Hunt some new ebay stuff / mebbies get listed if time
Put out second load of washing when finished.
Off to second job tonight so back late .. Feed kids before I go and prep my dinner for getting back.

Think that's it for me so hopefully not tooooo bad lol

Afternoon (just ) Lots to do here, so quick post to keep me on track:

Lots of washing, but it's started drizzling, so bought it in, might give it another go in a minute
soup from YS soup mix (plus saved my hand having to chop up a BNS)
Cooked some rice whilst stove was on for HM fried rice for tea
soaking frozen odds of bread for bread pudding later
WFH - lots to do
Pop to shop to make use of last day of DH increased discount
builder coming later to look at work and give quote
pack and post fleabay item
text friend about popping in tomorrow for a cuppa on way home from meeting as I'm in the area
pop and get fathers day cards and maybe fruit from market (this might have to be with small after school depending on how much time I have)
out for walk with friend tonight
check banking, surveys and FPL

Enjoy your day folks, perps.

As I am still new to this, please bear with me.

I have parcelled up 2 ebay items and posted.
Looking at doing the PAD challenge but still getting my head around it. I have 2 credit cards that definitely need reducing. £4.86 now paid to one which leaves my bank with a nice round balance. Hope this is how its meant to work.
Done a load of washing and hung out - fingers crossed it stays dry til I get home
Maybe takeaway for tea as hubby and me were up most of the night as my MIL was in hospital and he had to take her back again this morning.
Sons taekwondo grading tonight - already paid for so no cash needed for that.
Checked online banking - all OK.

Hopefully I am on the right lines to get back into this but if anyone can offer me any more pointers it would be great

Just back from a meeting.
DW on, washing about to go on.
Banking all checked and spends book is up to date......and then i go to Home bargains to get a storage container to pack things I want to keep with operation back bedroom and end up spending more that planned on bits
While I'm well within my grocery budget this month, I don't like the bitty shops as this is what causes me to spend money, although DD is still going on the odd YS run and picking up some useful bits for her lunch, which is saving us some money.......and no doughnuts
My IVA payment was supposed to go out today,but as I had saved and payed extra so it wouldn't run until August I wanted to make sure that everything was okay.
It is finally starting to dawn on me that it is over, when there was nothing by next payment date and payment owed £0.00
It feels humbling though considering all the events that have happened in London, my heart goes out to them

CCL never feel guilty for getting a cleaner or having a gardener. Sometimes we all need that extra support and u work damn hard. U haven't got a time machine, there are so many hours in a day and u don't want to be running ur self into the ground. If a cleaner helps, never feel guilty, I think u are amazing with everything u do and keeping ur household running
Going to get my wheels in gear and do some bits that I never got round to doing yesterday.
Have a good afternoon everyone x

Afternoon all... quickly dropping by to say hi and hope everyone is well. It's a WFH day today so have been juggling work and home stuff.
Also, suffering with a cold and was up most of the night with a tickly cough...so annoying!

Today's list:

* Check banking - done
* Get in a workout during lunch - Done
* Go to dry cleaners and give the living room curtains in and DH suit. Curtains cost me £40 to dry clean! but they really needed doing
* Quick shop in Tesco's and use my £6 off voucher - Done
* White wash on and outside to dry - Done
* If I have time I'll try and get on Swags

That's all for now. Have a great day!

Still below par, but managed to achieve a few MSE things today
Blood test again this morning - usually I walk the mile to the surgery, but energy too low atm
Went to sales unit while I was out with the car. Did some tidying, added a couple of items. It really needs restocking, but this realistically isn't going to happen this week
Started a shopping list, decided I didn't need to go today
Not spent anything
Must go tomorrow though!
Folded dry laundry
Washed and dried another load
Our own vegetables for dinner
Sorted fridge, which was in dire need as I haven't been on top form for more than 2 weeks. Had to throw a few small bits away, sadly
Salvaged a bag of cherries that DD left, these are currently cooking on the stove, and will eventually be cherry pie
Finished tidying back garden, much better now Freed up some space by deciding to part with 2 old corner plant stands. These can go to auction when I can get them there, should make good money as people love old garden things

Evening all.

Very spendy day for me today as both DS and I were in dire need of some new underwear (and socks for DS too), I also bought myself some summer pyjamas

We also had a takeaway curry for dinner tonight but we shared everything so not too expensive.

Work has been good though I accidentally quit a page without saving after three hours work Luckily it only took about 45 minutes to redo it as I remembered where everything went.

I am now provisionally booked for 3 weeks in July (waiting for the money people to give the go ahead tomorrow) and I've decided to take the other week as holiday to generally potter around, maybe do some work on the house and catch up on stuffs like getting tradespeople in which I can't do when I'm at work.

I've just done another WBB trade for around £7.

Invoices went in today and, because of the way the dates fell, I will be paid for 23 days this month which is a lot better than the last couple of months!) I may look at prices for replacing my dishwasher as I seem to spend my life washing up!

Have a good evening all and hello Brednall!

Happy Friday!

So glad Friday has rolled around and the end of the working week is here. Still suffering with this cold but could be worse.. could have it during the winter months then I'd be even more miserable.

Todays plans:

* Hoover and mop floors downstairs and quick dust
* Put away the clean washing from yesterday
* One lot of washing on and out to dry
* I finally got my £25 cash pay out from Swagbucks
* Need to return an item to Next but also pick up DS new prom shoes from DP but I got 30% off them
* Kids having pizza tonight - pizza express ones that I got for half price but I'm going to have a low cal version and have pitta's topped like a pizza instead. Watching the calories prior to our break away However, I'll have a couple of V&T's tonight
* May try and get in a home workout if I have time today
* Need to write to Santander who told me to pay money into my old account which I don't even have anymore!
* I do need to pop to Costco but may go at the weekend as not much time today

Have a lovely day everyone!

Morning ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Friday!

Dawn sorry to hear you're still not 100% hope it goes real soon x

Cat get the cleaner! If you can afford it. Life's too short to be beating ourselves up! x

small plans for today:

* work, work, work and then work some more! final push now & think by the end of next week I'll be back up to date - 3 more crucial things as well as client work to get done
* made madam's lunch, just need to finish packing her bag
* nip to sm and pick up milk. Will pick up things for the party and a birthday present for a kids party tomorrow
* load of washing in machine and hang out
* water veggies in a minute
* I hope to have the energy to finally do my potting on/sowing after work
* have polished the lounge just need to vacuum before wfh for a few hours before going off to meet a client at 11.30
* contact mil and see if she will have madam on Tuesday so I can go and do a free forgaing course
* need to make something to take to the party tomorrow evening - maybe a tabullah and a bean rice salad

Ok that's too much! Happy Friday guys x

its nearly the end of the week .. whoop !


Morning guys .. a busy one for me today ..


at work at the minute then I have my second job tonight.


things to do today


workouts
bake cakes for tonights job
tidy/hoover
scrounge bags to make a PAD today lol
pay bill online
go to second job tonight then home and chill ready for work again tomorrow morning.


im hoping at some point to go through the freezer and do next weeks meal plan using as much out of there as possible .. I don't hink I can possibly fit any more in lol.


so .. hope you all have a fantastic Friday and hopefully this sun will stay out a wee bit longer

Welcome to Brednall and Spatton
Trying to get myself motivated today, but soil cleaning up is very much needed after one of the cats attacked the geranium in the kitchen and I have a big stick in a pot that was ready to go to the skip ( was a very nice plant until attacked by the cats) that has been knocked over....more soil
So the plan is to get the geranium into this pot and outside without further going soil going everywhere as at the minute.......it's everywhere.
This wasn't the plan for today at all.
Cat cleaning all done
Banking all checked.
Tesc@s later to stock up on cat food. Have a voucher to use. Have deliberately held off on cat food until paid today. Always do a big cat food top up when paid making use of any vouchers.
Going to try and flick the duster around and hoover if I get chance later.
Two bits of paperwork to do but not vital.
Off to up date my grocery book.
Have a good day everyone x

CCL - My thoughts (for what they're worth!) on your cleaner & gardener:
I love gardening so am happy to do all of it (except the heavy stuff & lawn-mowing). Yes, I grow quite a bit of food, but gardening is still one of my main hobbies.....like you do your crochet, I do my garden. If I wasn't a gardening-lover & worked full-time, I'd probably pay for lawn-mowing & basic clearing/weeding as I still wouldn't want to look at a mess.
Re cleaning. You say you don't like cleaning. Does anyone? I certainly don't! I do it once a week on Friday (which is most likely why I'm on here today, lol!) & deep-cleaning rooms happens when I think they need it, which is about twice a year. I spend about 40 mins first thing each morning doing daily kitchen jobs.....washing breakfast pots, wiping surfaces, checking fridge for stuff that needs using, getting stuff out of freezer for that night, setting bread maker, etc, that's it! The difference is that I'm not working. You are, & that's why I can understand where you're coming from. When mr f & I were both working full time (includiing 1 Saturday a month) plus both of us had over a 40 mile round trip commute too, we did find that we spent a lot of our weekend doing household tasks. We'd usually go & get the grocery shopping on Saturday morning, do banking, post office, all the stuff we couldn't do in the week, then when we got home, we'd have the house to clean & all those domestic jobs. So that'd usually be Saturday afternoon & we wouldn't sit down until it was someone's turn to get up again & make dinner. That would leave just Sunday......if we didn't also have essential garden tasks. I think this is the norm for many, many working couples. And I'm talking about an equal relationship on the domestic front. When we were both working, mr f always shared the cleaning, ironing, cooking,shopping,etc, equally with me, & he still does some of it now, though I felt it only fair to take over most of it.when I stopped work. I know from your posts that you don't get this level of help. So I wouldn't judge you for hiring a cleaner. If you just get someone for minimal hours but INSIST that everyone puts their stuff away & keeps the place tidy, you may find that the costs are partly offset by freeing up some of your time for more money-saving activity.......i.e shopping around, batch-cooking, crafting to make gifts, etc. It's obvious from your posts that you need to free up some time for yourself in your daily life & if you can't get your family on board to help regularly, hiring somebody is probably the answer. Good luck!
F x

Brednall/Happy Kitties - Re naughty spending on craft supplies. Yes, I have to hold my hand up to this one too. I've been really bad with this in the past. I'm primarily a knitter these days, but have done all sorts of crafts in the past - needlepoint, patchwork, jewellery, pewter, Christmas decorations, etc. Last year, I was no longer able to get the lid shut down on my yarn stash & decided I wouldn't buy any more yarn until I'd completed all the projects possible from my existing stash. This has gone quite well. I made lots of knitted cats, advertised them to my Facebook friends & sold about 20 - I also gave some of them as gifts to catty friends. I knitted up small oddments of colourful sock yarn into baby socks & sold quite a few pairs of them too. I have been gifted loads of nice self-patterning sock yarn & am currently knitting that up into socks for Christmas presents for people who I know really like them. I also rediscovered an expensive needlepoint kit I bought years ago to make a little bag - am thinking I will finish that (I only stitched a tiny corner, what a waste!) & pop a nice bottle of perfume inside to give as a gift. There could be lots of potential gifts amongst your crafting stashes, so why not have a sort through & see whether if you started now, you could produce a few gifts to reduce your spending on presents later in the year? That's what I'm doing.
The only yarn I have bought since my self-imposed yarn embargo is 6 balls of sock yarn from the Tiger shop because they were selling it for £1 a ball instead of the more usual 5 or 6 times that. At 2 balls per adult pair of socks, that was well worth having - I sell my hand-knitted socks too, so I get a better return on them if I've got the yarn for a good price.
But yes, we crafters can be very naughty indeed with spending our cashola on more tempting stuff!!
F x

I'm like buses this morning......not much all week, then 3 posts at once!!
Today's money-saving list:
*Think why my June budget is £23 adrift. Think I've solved it - it's postage for ebay items & a few other small items, I think. Still solvent, have re-adjusted, but looking forward to pay-day.
*Online grocery order coming later - pretty much stuck to budget & managed to get a £1 delivery slot by opting for between 9 & 10pm. The driver invariably rings us way before this time & says can he come earlier, so it suits us.
*Clean whole house using minimal products & washable cloths. In hand. Bathroom & kitchen done. Hoovering next.
*New washing machine delivered first thing. £25 saved because mr f reckons he can plumb it in fine himself. Another £15 saved by leaving the old machine at the end of our drive for the scrap collectors instead of paying to have it removed.
*Fridge checked for anything in danger of being wasted - an unused cauliflower & carrots now prepped, blanched & frozen for when we next have a roast dinner. Mustard & cress will be added to lunchtime sandwiches today.
*Big bag of veggie peelings, etc, ready to be added to the worm composter. They are gobbling through stuff like wanno at the moment - a whole jugful of free liquid plant food produced this week.
*Post 2 ebay parcels
*Need to nip to Co-op for 2 items - make sure it stops at 2 items. Even YS stuff is not good value if I don't need it.
*Might pop out to local farm shop cafe as have a voucher for free coffee & cake. Need to check when it expires.
*Water greenhouse veggies.
*Postie brought me a £5 giftcard from my CC provider (loyalty points) - I used it for paying for the washing machine too (while I decide what savings pot the money's coming from) so I think I will already have sufficient points for another voucher too.
*Take sourdough jar out of fridge & feed it ready for 1st attempt at making a sourdough loaf tomorrow. I don't have the usual proving basket for this, but have read that I can use a basket lined with a clean floured tea towel, so will try that as the no-spend option.
*Finish a crossword competition. I was doing really well with it but have noticed all the questions I didn't know the answers to are geographical. My geography has always been hopeless. Shall look up the answers as prize is a voucher for local butchery which would be useful.
*Knit more of current pair of socks for presents box. mr f has his eye on these, but I've earmarked them for his B-in-L who apparently loved his last pair.
*Might use £1.50 off voucher for a cheap 'Guardian', though if I don't crack on with this cleaning, I shan't have time to read it!
OK. I can't pretend it's still my coffee break. Onwards with the trusty vacuum...........which I mended ages ago with blu-tack & it's till working!
Love to all,
F xx

Aw you lot are lovely. Thanks. I really appreciate all of your kind and wise words. I know I shouldn't feel guilty asking and paying for help but I do. Realistically I know I work hard, and long hours and do the majority of everything at home and get no help from the family but guilt is what I do best, and I feel a bit guilty about it all. But it will make me feel better not having to stress about getting into a massive argument about the fact that the rest of my family are lazy and just expect me to do everything all of the time. You should have witnessed the argument that ensued in the house last night about chicken nuggets! Basically, ds wanted chicken nuggets and there were none left. He blamed his sister for eating them all, she blamed him. It turned out it was dh that had eaten them all, but obviously I should have known that there were no chicken nuggets left and bought some more. Even though I don't like chicken nuggets. Seriously. I just thought how typical that was of the fact that I'm expected to be completely responsible for everyone and everything - I was definitely tired but lost my temper about it as well.
Mainly because I'm still busy with work, and exam marking. The end is in sight for the first bit of marking, but round 2 starts next Thursday in London. Worth it when the cash trickles through
Other than that, very little to report. Busy, skint, bit fed up... Thanks for listening to my little rant.

Afternoon all.

All food from home today including leftovers from last night's takeaway, yum!

Keeping an eye out for the cheques *supposed* to be on the way from Zapper.

Pack and drop off package for WBB.

I have a big chunk of cheese sitting in the fridge so I'm thinking maybe a big ploughman's lunch for dinner tonight, I have all the trimmings, just need to buy some nice bread and some crisps to go on the side.

I've been checking out the prices for a replacement dishwasher and I think it might be doable on payday, this will save me SO much time and stress, I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. I'm hoping to buy from one of the big sheds and hope that they can install it for me as it's integrated so I don't think it's going to be a simple job.

Talk myself out of getting an integrated tumble drier at the same time as this will involve moving the sink and replacing the worktop and I will be back to step one with a maxed out credit card.

Catch up on last nights EastEnders before watching tonights, I fell asleep quite early last night, must do that more often!

Get DS to arrange when I can drop DSXGF's stuff to her new home, I'm waiting for a package to be redelivered for her tomorrow and then it can all go at once!