Mrs. P's Diary

MrsPorridge

No NSD today and DS and I went to the cinema to see G- Ïorce about hamsters saving the world. From the trailer it looked quite good - but was actually very daft and only slightly entertaining - still it was a very foggy day today and I felt that I owed it to DS to do something with him as he has been fantastic with me the last couple of days re. my teeth and the dentist bill - today is the first day I haven't burst into tears about it.

I have started to make my own terrimundi (if that is the correct spelling). Its the pot you buy to save money in and you can't get at it unless you break it. I was inspired some time ago when I read about people making them from papier mache on the old style boards. I have started to cover a balloon and have cut up an egg box for feet and ears - DS and I have decided its going to be a pink pig. I think its going to take a week or so to complete - I'm not very good at art and craft and I got glue everywhere! Its drying out at the moment.

Dinner tonight was my own invention and I'm pleased to say it was a success a really cheap and cheerful dish which went down very well with the family so will now be a staple in our diet:

I layered a lasagne dish with cooked sliced new potatoes, then some baked beans, then some chopped tomatoes. I then topped that with cooked bacon lardons and some grated cheese and heated in the oven. I suppose it was a bit like a pizza but made with potatoes.

buddiebabe

Hey MrsP glad you enjoyed your dinner invention.... i would never think of doing anything as creative as that! As for making your own terrimundi that sounds like great fun..... i wanted to make one of them ages ago but ended up buying one from my birthday money. I save £2 coins and the occasional £1 coin in it but the way things are going am tempted to break it but i really like it!!

Am glad you had a good day yesterday even if the film wasn't as good as you hoped.

Buddiebabe x

Horace

Glad you had a good day yesterday MrsP with the cinema although the film wasnt as hoped. Your dinner sounds yummy and I wish I had the intelligence and the confidence to experiment like you:D

Such service from BMW - I filled in their online form asking for a brochure and my local dealership rang me up today inviting me for a test drive, I had to decline because of my eyes (still waiting for the new specs) and the nice lady went through the models and the tax - it seems that the diesel one has the £35 road tax whilst the next model up is £120 and the one above that is £125. I have never driven a diesel and I don't know if I would do enough miles for it to be cost effective - anyway I shall have a read of the brochure when it comes and arrange a test drive when I am ready (heck, it means driving around Birmingham City Centre and I never drive there:eek:). I love the fact that they have run flat tyres too - its something they pinched from Rover as all the metros used to have run flat tyres:cool: I shouldnt really complain about BMW as they gave my mum a good payoff when they made her redundant (after they took over at Rover) plus she got to keep her pension unlike the other poor beggars who worked for the phoenix four as they got nowt:rolleyes:

MrsPorridge

Horace - once you have your test drive you will be hooked! The run flat tyres are fabulouse - it means if I get a punchture on one of our many narrow tiny twisted roads at least I can get home and DH can sort it out for me!

Had a lovely day yesterday - went for a bbq on the beach, really cheap and cheerful just bangers and hm bread rolls and cups of tea done on one of those throw-away bbqs. Then we had a paddle and a nice walk and guess what - it cost nowt!! So an NSD for me yesterday.

MrsPorridge

Saturday - forgot to weigh myself yesterday - did it today and by some minor miracle I've lost 1 lb.:j

Spent money today on some fruit, milk etc. Only luxury item was a frog which has a motion sensor in it and croaks if you walk past - it was £1 from Poundland. He is now sitting in my garden near the hole in the grass which is going to be a pond.:D DH and I worked on the rockery this afternoon and DH dug a few more spadefuls of earth out of the pond.

Dinner tonight is HM curry with naan bread and poppadoms and cider (I'm not worrying about the diet on a Saturday night).:D

MrsPorridge

Sunday

Sorting out packing for hols - we go on Saturday. However, feeling a bit down today. Had another set-back at work on Friday and am feeling very over-worked and under-paid. Still very down about the cost of my teeth and varying between I'll get it done and I'll leave it. DH has got very cross and says I have to get it done. However, that's not really the point. I am feeling very bad as it means we will not be able to do anything else and there are so many other things we need to buy.

OK - going to try and put it behind me and just get on with it.

Am going back to the dentist on friday morning to talk about what I'm going to have done. Will see if there is anything he can trim off that price. Will just have to have the work done as and when I can afford it.

Positive stuff:

Have cashed in the premium bonds and now have no overdraft. :j:j Not sure if that was the right thing to do, but I really hate being overdrawn.

I've enough now to pay for the holiday and have budgetted for £400 spending money. I have never, ever set a budget for a holiday before and I am determined to stick to it. We are self catering and already I have two great Tescos jute bags full of stuff from Lidls.:T We are going to eat out some nights but will have to eat in some nights too. We are planning to do lots of walking but also want to go to Snowdon and one of the castles (which will cost) and also have a couple of rides on the various steam trains too.:D

I have put £730 towards my teeth and hope to make that up to £1,000 by the beginning of September. (I'm putting to the back of my mind that that should have been a grand off one of the CCs - or at least trying to). In desperation I did two scratchcards yesterday and had a £1 on the lottery - a complete waste of £3 and I don't want to start going down that road.

Have done a bit more to the papier mache pig - put him a nose and two eyes on now and another layer of paper. We have decided that he is going to be an Olympic pig and we will smash him open on the day that the Olmpics start in London. That gives us 3 years of saving loose change - hopefully it will give us a weekend away. However, DS says he will be almost 16 by then and won't want to come away with us;) We'll see.:D

There is some bread in the bm at the moment and tonight we are having fish on the bbq.

MrsPorridge

Monday

Feeling much more positive today.

Telephoned a friend re. thinking about changing my job (but am going to be careful because of the climate etc., - don't want to end up in the fire):eek:

Bought 3 matchpots of shocking pink ready to paint my terramundi pig tonight.:j

Only three days left at work and then I'm off for two weeks.:j:j

Lunch is ham salad and dinner tonight is left-over hm curry and friend rice.

MrsPorridge

Friday

Good Points

1. Went to dentist at 8.,30 this morning and had a long chat about my teeth money etc. To cut a long story short a compromise has been reached. Dentist has re-jigged the bill and brought it down to just under £2,000:j:j I told him that was all I could afford to spend. I told him not to worry about the cosmetic side of it. HOwever, he has now said he will "throw in the cosmetic bit as he wants me to have a nice smile" - I cried! He has restored my faith in dentists. I will still have to break out the old CC but at least it will be more manageable. I can't tell you the weight that has now lifted - I was awake at 5.30 this morning worrying about it. I can now go on my hols and forget about it.:j

2. I'm going on my hollies tomorrow.:j:j

3. When I come back I shall be starting the debt-busting with a vengence.

4. When I come back I shall be starting my diet properly this time:T

5. When I come back I shall be using this diary properly to record all CC spends/payments and to record every penny I spend of my weekly spend.

Horace

Well done with the dentist MrsP.

Enjoy your hollibobs:D

Money_Fritter

Hi MrsP.

Good news about the dentist.

Hope you have a lovely holiday.

The pig you are making sounds great and I think that is a really good idea to smash it open at the start of the olympics.

I just have an old fashioned big bottle that I put my 1p,2p,5p and 10p in. I have it on a shelf in the living room.

I also have a money box upstairs in my room that I try and put 20p and £2 coins into.

Oh well, have a great time and at least you can forget about the dentist stuff and enjoy yourself

Take care