Jamiedodger's Happy Times 2009 Diary

JAMIEDODGER

Thanks guys for your nice comments about the patio! I will be out there today on my lounger as the sun is back and its a beautiful day!

Didnt manage a NSD yesterday, spent £2 on choccy, my £20 is gradually going down!

Next week DS3 is off to his special needs playscheme for the week, he will go 10-3.30 every day mon-fri. He is also be collected by his carer on mon/tue and wont be home until 7pm. Still unsure as to what I will do this week, I may finish the filling/sanding down and painting of ds1&2 bedroom. Dont think I need to buy any supplies as Im sure I have got plenty in.

Suprisingly, my washing is up to date and the ironing pile is pretty small too, so I may finish that off this morning and then chill out for the day, I have 2/3 books sitting about just waiting to be read!

The kids are loving their new room! In fact DS3 spent most of the day in there yesterday, which is great as he has been wanting to spend a lot of his time in his room lately. He has been going through the disney dvds and watching them again!

I may pop into town next week and visit the charity shops to see if they have any good kids films on VHS as the TV is an old one and takes tapes. Should be able to pick up some very cheap.

Kids are still asleep so Im going to enjoy the peace before they all wake up!

hypno06

Sounds like a plan for a good day - enjoy the peace and quiet while you can!

jtb2412

Hi JD/et all

Back from hols - had a lovely time and stuck to our budget which was a first . Most of our money went on food, petrol and parking :rolleyes:. Had some fantastic weather and spent a lot of time on the beach. Back to normal now but feel well rested and newly focused on saving up for decorating the house .

Lots to do this week - little jobs and odds and ends so will be making a list later (I'll forget otherwise ).

Love the patio JD, looks great ! I'm sure there will be many a relaxed moment spent there and deservedly so !

Have to go shopping today as we've a wedding at the weekend and DD1 (teenager) has nothing to wear. Also need to buy some birthday pressies for family so could be an expensive day :rolleyes:.

I'll leave DH with the holiday washing :rotfl: although it's looking a bit cloudy, hope the sun burns it off.

Have a lovely restful day JD/everyone xx

JAMIEDODGER

i have no idea what happened to the sun!!! its just disappeared!:( It probably knew I wanted to sit out on the patio!

I have heard that september is supposed to be very hot!

JTB - glad you had a nice holiday:) Well done for sticking to the budget too:)

What are your plans for decorating?

jtb2412

Sun disappeared here too, in fact a huge black cloud outside my back door ! Grrrrrrrr I'll never get my washing up to date if the weather people keep getting it wrong - what happened to 27 degrees ! hahaha

Decorating plans are:

Living room - new carpets, new sofa, new furniture (office desk, tv unit, bookcase - matching ). Colour scheme will be chocolate brown and coffee cream (can't you tell i've already been mentally shopping ? ).

Hallway and stairs - laminate in hallway (have a dog and three kids so bit of a must-have) stairs carpeted, new curtains. Colour scheme, not 100% sure but needs a light colour, probably cream and brown similar to living room.

Kids bedrooms have already been done.

Bathroom, newly fitted last year but needs painting and touching in. Possibly light blue colour.

Our bedroom. Torn between black and white (sounds awful but if it works it will look fab !) or black, cream and purple. Wallpaper on one wall, rest painted. Need new carpet and furniture in here too (wardrobe, chest drawers).

Kitchen, newly fitted last year but needs painting.

Spare room. Needs new carpet, new wardrobe and painting. Teal and brown is colour theme.

So, rather a lot to do and a lot of money needs to be saved ! Concentrating on one room at a time and currently saving to do living room. I need to see what I have left at the end of this month but currently have approx £600 saved. Should be able to save more over the next few months and the plan is to decorate during January (sales ). I'm going to sort out a pot too for any loose change and open it on 1st January - will go someway towards soft furnishings etc :rolleyes:.

Sorry, rambled a bit - you did ask ! :rotfl:

Right off for this shopping trip - wish me luck !

JAMIEDODGER

Jtb - Hope the shopping went ok? You sound like you have it all organised with regards to the decorating! I cant wait to make a start on 'my' front room:) I almost know what I am going to have in there, I am planning on new wooden flooring or a creamish carpet. Dark grey sofa, grey curtains and I think green and turquoise accessories. I have decided on my new table and chairs, Just need to choose furniture now.....really finding that one hard! Anyway, good luck with yours...keep us updated please:D

I decided to take the plunge and am taking the children to IKEA (gasp) today. They have never been and we are going with my friend and her two kids. I want a rug for 'The Den' as the kids are finding it awfully cold on their wee bottoms sitting on the floor watching tv, There is only a two seater sofa in their room so two of them have to sit on the floor to watch tv. They are going to help me choose and also want some floor cushions and some boxes to store their stuff and streamline the clutter:D

DS3 is off to playscheme today and going to carers afterwards so we have a full day, so I didnt really want to spend it at home. The kids have been harping on for ages to come to IKEA with me and I have always put them off:D I know I can go serious shopping when they return to school:)

pixieface_3

Hi Jamie
bet the kids will love it there as its very children friendly, I think it's really reasonable for the kids stuff and they will have a great time buying things for their den...bet they are dead excited, my girls used to love going to ikea (my son hated it only bit he liked was the cafe lol ) have a great day hope you get loads of bargins.
Pixie x

JAMIEDODGER

Thanks pixie:) Im sure they will have a great time! The drive isnt too bad, takes about an hour, depending on traffic, they can play their ds's in the car. I took the roofbox off yesterday as I havent been with it on before and the carpark at Southampton is a multistory.

I do have a budget for their room, I already decorated in there, earlier in the year and they dont need any furniture as I have put all the pine in that room, its easy to keep clean with kids and looks good the more wear it gets:) So just accesories to buy really. Although I will replace the sofa but not until I do another furniture order as I want to make the most of the delivery costs.

JAMIEDODGER

I didnt get a chance to go back online last night when I got back from IKEA as I was shattered! Managed to get the kids a rug and some cushions for their room and a new lamp It looks really smart in the den now! Also got 4 boxes for on top of the dresser to hide away some of my craft stuff as it does tend to look a mess!!! Have only filled two so far, will do the others today.

Alsp managed to choose the sofa I want for my living room and the rug, table and chairs! now I know how much, I can start saving for those too!!!

Finally filled in the holes in the boys bedroom, need to sand and repaint, but might leave that for end of week or next week, when they are away!!

Plans for today:

Take ds3 to playscheme for 10am.

Post ebay parcel....It sold in the end:) Have relisted another one and it has one watcher!

Pop into town to charity shops, see if I can pick up some kids films cheaply.

Get something out of freezer for dinner tonight.

Have a sort out of dresser and a fling of clutter


Paid my £2 to PAD this morning as I forgot to do my £1 yesterday. Have £12 now!!

JAMIEDODGER

Morning:)


Paid my PAD for flooring this morning so £13 now.... £157 to go:j

Have started another savings pot for the other decking in the garden.... Need approx £430 so will be putting in money everyday to save for that.... So £10 today for me:)

Spent more of my £20 yesterday on parking in town, but couldnt find any good films on VHS for the kids:( Another £1.30 spent, but did pop into see a good friend at work so money well spent! Also treated the kids to some sweets, another £1.57 gone there! Its slowly disappearing:D

Plans for today:

- Am going tesco shopping tonight as ex is babysitting for kids so write a small shopping list and stick to it!

- Go back through freezer and pick out some more items to use for meals

- Try and have a NSD