Midnight's Debt Mountain

Midnight_Sky_2

Pay day at long last - it's been a long month! Still on target though, so I'm please about that. I've gone through the budget with a fine toothcomb (twice!!) and, providing nothing unexpected crops up, we are definately on target. I'm going into town tomorrow to pay the solicitor and other odds and sods.

I've worked out a menu planner which I intend to stick ridgidly to this month and hopefully I'll be able to shave a bit off the food bill. I'm also going to see if I can cut down on the petrol a bit this month - stop using the car for silly, short journeys and start walking a bit more.

Next thing to be tackled is the gas and electric costs - I've been going round the house turning off lights till my arms ache, but I think I'm fighting a losing battle, because DD still insists on lighting up the house like Blackpool :rolleyes:

Well, I'm off to see if I can grab forty winks because I'm working tonight.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

lunar

My OH is the light monitor in our house, sometimes he will turn it off while im still reading in the room, he will also go into the kitchen after me to check ifthe hot water is on and if it is why? so many times i have put it on to have a bath to find out later that he turned if off after 2 mins. a shower just isnt the same this far pregnant!

How is the meal planning going, im a nightmare at sticking to mine.

Midnight_Sky_2

Hi Lunar - I know exactly what you mean about the benefits of a bath so late on in pregnancy - pretty difficult to explain to the menfolk thought . As for the meal planning I'm actually finding it really difficult to stick to this time, mainly because we are all working such daft hours. It very rare that we all sit down for a meal at the same time, what with OH having a strange working routine (he also works an on-call system which is very unpredictable), and DD and me both working nightshift it's pretty difficult to actually plan means. For example, it's pretty pointless roasting a chicken if it's only me who is in that night to eat it. Even plating up food and keeping it aside doesn't always work because sometimes if it's very late when OH gets in he may only want a sandwich or something light for his meal. Nevertheless, I have to try to stick to it. Ahh well...

Just off to bed now after the last nightshift of the week Yay!!!:j I'll be back later to tell you the rest of this weeks saga.

Midnight x

MrsPorridge

Hi Midnight. I've a suggestion about your meal times/planning. I do a big shop once a month after payday and then cook up batch meals. Over the years I have collected lots of small casserole type dishes which are suitable for one portion. I still scour the charity shops and bootfairs for them as well. I then batch cook meals in one portion. For example, cottage pie, lasagne, meat and potato pie, etc., etc. You could also cook up veggies, mince etc and freeze in one portion sizes perhaps in bags. Then you can defrost however many you need and add extra veg, pasta, potato whatever to it. I find this works really well when there are different working patterns and you are not sure who is sitting down to dinner. Only thing you have to be organised with the defrosting side of things. Or if you have a microwave you could defrost in that. Sometimes I have taken out too many dinners but that is OK as you can always eat the extra one the next day. It doesn't really matter if you all eat something different. Hope that helps.

Midnight_Sky_2

Thanks MrsP - that's such a simple solution to things, but I never even thought of batch cooking and dividing it up into individual portions - I'm going to do a whole load of batch cooking tomorrow night so I'll put it into individual portions and freeze what I don't need for tea tomorrow.

Well, things haven't been going too well this week. We got a letter from the solicitor to tell us that our secured loan company is planning to file to have the case brought to life again - this is after they agreed to give us time to sort things out and make an attempt to catch up on the arrears, but it seems that they are getting impatient. Our solicitor is going to speak to them to see if we can avoid it having to go to court again - I'll be mad as hell if it does because that's just going to cost us more money that could be used to put towards the debt. It's already cost us £600 in solicitors fees. :mad:

Our house has been on the market now for what seems like an eternity, but it today's uncertain economic climate no one is in the least bit interested in buying houses. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

DH is up and down like a fiddlers elbow at the moment - one minute he's fighting tooth and nail to sort the mess out and the next he's saying it would be easier to let them take the ruddy house. I know he's just tired and grouchy but it doesn't help :rolleyes:

I should know what's happening tomorrow. It's horrible just waiting to see what side the coin falls on, but that's exactly the position we're in at the moment.

All doom and gloom just now at chez Midnight I'm afraid.

Midnight_Sky_2

Thanks Mrs P - I never even thought of that , but I'm going to be doing a whole load of batch cooking tomorrow so I'll freeze everything in individual portions.

MrsPorridge

Hi Midnight - I know I can't help much, but just wanted to say that I am thinking of you.

*zippy*

Yes me too midnight hope everything is ok (((hug))

Thank you for the tips mrs p :T

Midnight_Sky_2

Thanks both of you. It's great just to be able to vent without being judged - which is the great thing about this site :T .

Well, nothing much has happened over the last couple of days - still waiting to hear from the solicitor to see if the case is going back to court or not. No news is good news, so they say .

Things are starting to look decidedly uneasy at my main job - some of the staff (including me) are being asked to reduce their hours slightly and so far this week I've lost two days - which means my money will be extremely tight next month - just in time for Christmas:eek: . Not much I can do about this as I'm not contracted just on a casual basis.

So I've given myself a good shake and decided that I need to get myself another job pronto - one that will give me a contract and a bit of security. OH still insists that I should look for something that's offering enough money so that I don't have to work in a second job. I've applied for a couple of things so will wait and see what happens.

Just off to have a bite of lunch then fill a hot water bottle and cosy up on the sofa (feeling a bit fluey today and I'm working tonight :eek: )

Midnight_Sky_2

Still no word from the solicitor - I thought I might have got a letter this morning, but nothing yet.

I've decided not to brood on it and just get on with things. I've been getting organised for winter. On Thursday I looked out the thick winter duvet and the hot water bottles - I'm on an energy saving drive this year, so no electric blankets . The heating is on but I've turned the heating down to a very reasonable level. I've been through the wardrobe and looked out the winter woolies, but I had to buy a couple of thick jumpers today which cost me £12 but necessary I'm afraid because my old jumpers are too small :rolleyes: .

I've been to the shops today and I'll do some batch cooking tomorrow and freeze what I'm not needing immediately.

Not managed many NSD's this week, but I have had a couple of NCD (no car days) so that's saved a bit on petrol.

Well, off to organise tea then to work for the nightshift.

Hope everyone has a good evening!