Trying to take the stress out of the debt - little steps

beanielou

I know where you are coming from.
Went into Sainsbury for one thing & came out having spent £18~eek.

Triggles

Another new morning. Repair person coming to put door hardware on our two bedroom doors (ours and DD's). We'd have done it ourselves but I don't relish having it all done and realising we've lined it up improperly. We live in a council property, but we try to do any easy/inexpensive repairs ourselves if we can. But things we might mess up and make it worse, I prefer to have them do it. We got our house in a house swap - we had a 2 bedroom bungalow in Devon and got lucky and found an elderly couple living in the area we wanted (Gloucestershire) that had a 3 bedroom semidetached that wanted to swap (as their children had all left home). But for house swaps, you pretty much take the house "as is" which means we have tons of stuff to do on it ourselves. We've scraped off all the wallpaper in some of the rooms (still have some to do yet), painted a base coat, and done some minor repairs. The council has done some major repairs that we found needed doing once we moved in - replaced ceiling in two rooms as they were sinking, replaced door locks on house as couldn't be secured (not a comforting thought! felt MUCH better after that was done!), repaired the fireplaces in the dining room and the living room, as they were in serious need of repair - we asked them to plaster up the dining room one as we knew we wouldn't use it and it was just losing heat to the outside. It's a nice decorative one now. And we can still have a fire in the living room fireplace if we'd like.

I bought some glace cherries the other day, so probably tomorrow or the next day I will make scones for DH's work lunchbox. He likes a little something sweet in his lunchbox, so I will make scones with glace cherries chopped up in them and some chocolate chips thrown in. It's a little decadent, and he likes them. And not nearly as rich as a chocolate bar or something like that. And tonight and possibly tomorrow, he can take a piece of the pumpkin pie I made last night, so that's sorted.

I'm planning on doing some cleaning and organising in my dining room today. I want to reorganise our paper cabinet (it has drawers, with incoming bills, rent info, kids red books, envelopes, jiffy bags, colouring books and crayons for kids, receipts, warranty booklets, all sorts of stuff) as it's getting a little messy. And I want to spend a little time sorting through my craft cabinets to decide what I want to do for some of my Christmas cards. I'll probably use the handprint idea suggested for some family cards, but still use some stamping stuff for other cards. Plus I have some birthdays coming up in the family and want to check my supply of "already made" cards and possibly make a few to add to the supply. (And besides, I enjoy doing the stamping/scrapbooking, so I like to take some time to do it occasionally). I have some shredding to do while I'm in there and also some filing of paid bills. We just got the info on the child trust fund for DS3, so I'll probably read that over tonight before bed, just to refresh my memory on what we need to do with it.

I've got boneless skinless chicken filet strips thawed out for tea tonight. DH used them a couple nights ago for curry (he used a couple jars of the 4p basics curry from Sains, a drained tin of pineapple, a drained tin of mushrooms, chili powder and paprika, cooked it all together with the chicken in the Remoska, then served it over rice - yumm!!), but I think tonight we will have them cooked in the Sains basics sweet and sour sauce (28p a jar!) with some drained tinned pineapple (basics 13p) and chopped up fresh carrots. Then once it's all cooked well, we'll have that with rice. Again, yum!! I like cheap and tasty meals! :rotfl:

Triggles

We've changed our mind on sending the items to the cash for gold place. I looked up online approximately what they would pay us for a particular gold bracelet, and we could fetch more on ebay. So we've listed it on ebay instead, with a reserve set. We've already had someone offered to buy it well above the reserve if we'd end the sale early, but we told them they'd have to bid. I hate it when people try to go around the process of bidding, so we never end the sales early.

There were some eggs reaching their date, so everyone is eating egg mayo sandwiches for lunch, and DH is taking one for his lunch at work tonight as well. And I hard boiled some extra and am making some potato salad, which can be eaten tomorrow at lunchtime, as we had a bit of a glut on potatoes that needed to be used too.

DS2 is happily colouring on some inexpensive printer paper on a tray while watching Wonder Pets. DS3 is napping. Actually a few moments to myself! I've already done the laundry, changed the steriliser fluid, washed and made up bottles, did the washing up, reorganised the spices/baking cupboard, and wiped down the counters in the kitchen. I did some of the planned organising in the paper cupboard, but have a little left to do, maybe tomorrow. Addressed the envelopes for the birth announcements with pictures (yes, I know, this should have been done weeks ago - shame on me!), so I can get those sent out to family abroad.

Is it naptime yet? LOL

Triggles

Up and about at 5am today. DS2 has been waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 lately, but today is back to his usual 5am wakeup. *yawn* But at least I've gotten one load of laundry washed and hung up, second load washing now. Boys up, fed, and dressed. Washing up done. Steriliser fluid changed. Washed bottles and mixed up formula for the day. Put away clothes that dried yesterday and overnight. I have to write these out because this way no matter how downhill my day goes, I can look back and say "oh yeah, I DID get a fair bit done today still."

I've discovered one of my spending triggers. Frustration/irritation makes me spend money. Like a defence mechanism or something I guess, to take my mind off it. But then I feel more annoyed with myself for spending. (I know this because I got extremely aggravated last night and ended up spending £40 I shouldn't have spent! Now I could just kick myself over it!) So next time I feel annoyed or frustrated, I will come on here instead. Maybe it will curb those tendencies. What's that called? Retail therapy. NOT a good idea. But at least now that I am recognising it, maybe I can fix it.

More bits of organisation planned for today. I'm going to look at implementing No Spend Days to avoid going near shops when I don't need to. It will also mean I can plan to do things all at once on one day, which means less parking fees and petrol as well. So MSE all the way around.

Not sure what to make for tea tonight. I know we have eggs that need to be eaten (date is today on the box), so possibly omelets (with cheese, mushrooms, peppers) and toast. That'll be quick and easy and use the food that needs to be used.

I was going to make scones today, but I'm thinking I may make bread pudding tomorrow instead. DH still has some pumpkin pie for his lunch tonight, so pointless to do the baking until tomorrow so it lasts longer.

Triggles

Okay. New fun fact I've noticed today. If I get up early, get dressed, do my hair and makeup, instead of shlepping around in pj's, no makeup, and tossing my hair up in messy ponytail, I feel more alert and am more willing to get things done. Mental note to make effort every day to do this, even if it means waking up 15-20 minutes before kids wake up to get it done.

Plan on moving DS3 from moses basket to cotbed. Was going to do it the other day, but we got busy doing other things around the house and didn't get to it. DH has to help, as it involves some lifting (thin sheet of plywood to be placed under cotbed mattress for use of Angelcare monitor) and my back is JUST starting to feel a teeny bit better - I'm not risking making it worse again. Hopefully we can get it done this weekend.

Plans for this weekend include:

• Hang net curtains in living room and dining room
• Hang a couple pictures
• Get playpen out of attic (put 3 bags of balls and cane in attic)
• Freecycle toilet seat thing
• Put misc tool items in shed from dining room
• Mop kitchen
  Doesn't seem like much, I suppose, but it's all stuff we've been putting off. DH only has 1 day off this weekend, so I don't want to overplan - he needs to have some downtime as well.
  
  We're putting together a much bigger list for next weekend as it starts DH's week off work. He wants to get a bunch of DIY stuff done.

Triggles

Alright, am moving on from the stupid spending. I realised I forgot a couple items to put on ebay, so will get that sorted tonight. Shame I didn't get it listed on free listing day, but that's life, I guess.

I've got a £5 voucher code coming to me for Amazon from Bingoport this week. Redeems don't go through til tonight, so still a chance to get one more. Will go on there later this evening after tea, when the kids are in bed.

A couple Christmas presents we ordered showed up in the post today, so they have been tucked away in the sideboard with the other presents. I find it easier to keep it all in one place - otherwise I end up getting a nasty shock in February when I realise I'd hidden a present elsewhere in the house and forgotten about it! :rotfl:I've done that a few times in years past!

We put a few pictures up on the fireplace last night, on the existing picture hooks. We were laughing as the hooks are even, but the pictures are Thomas Kinkade prints that DH bought for me for Christmas a few years ago (different year for each one) but are in different style wood frames with slightly differing matt (although same colour). So hanging up they are not level, but it actually looks "right" if that makes sense, as one is slightly larger. We hung them up as a temporary measure, just to have them up and not propped up by the bookcase. But I think we'll leave them there, as they actually look nice that way. (plus it breaks up the fireplace bricks)

Oh, Homes under the Hammer saying a house is a "decorating nightmare" due to uneven plastering and wallpaper and such. I think they'd say the same about ours! :rotfl:It looks the same, which is why we're sloooowwwly working our way through it.

Well, off to do the menu for the rest of this week. I want to work with what we have in the house, and do an absolute minimal shop this week to save money as well as use some of the older stuff in the freezer.

Oh - also need to come up with place to keep DH's bicycle that he uses to cycle to work. It's currently housed by the wall in the dining room. Would REALLY like to have it moved outside (he DOES have a cover to put over it), but need somewhere secure and reasonably dry. We'll have to look into that, as I'm a bit tired of it getting in the way in the dining room.

Triggles

I've finished my meal plan, using mostly what we have in the house, so our shop this week and next is minimal.

Wed 16 Sept - omelets, toast
Thu 17 Sept - mince, beans, rice with cheese
Fri 18 Sept - fish cakes, peas, carrots
Sat 19 Sept - chicken goujons, chips
Sun 20 Sept - roast chicken, carrots, mash
Mon 21 Sept - chicken soup with dumplings
Tue 22 Sept - hamburgers on buns, chips
Wed 23 Sept - sweet/sour chicken, pineapple, carrots, rice
Thu 24 Sept - sausages with gravy and mash
Fri 25 Sept - fish filets, chips, peas
Sat 26 Sept - chicken curry with pineapple, mushrms, rice, peshwari bread
Sun 27 Sept - beef roast, potatoes, carrots, y puds

Planned baking:
Bread pudding with raisins
Apple crisp
Choc chip/glace cherry scones
Banana bread

And now I'm browsing through the DMP mutual support thread, as that might be an option for us if things don't turn around. Just like to be informed as to what it entails.

Lemon_Tree

blimey i feel tired just reading your thread you get so much done. Seems so much more than my went to work, came home life.

beanielou

Couldent agree more Lemon Tree.
Triggles your menu planning looks fab

Triggles

The menu planning is my desperate need to have something taken out the night before and put in the fridge to thaw, so I'm not panicking at 3pm thinking "oh god, what am I going to make for tea tonight?" :rotfl:

I really don't do that much though - or at least I don't feel like I do - if I did, my house would be soooo much cleaner. Some of the things I am horribly slack about:
- dusting
- sweeping the stairs
- sweeping in general (can you tell I hate sweeping? :rolleyes:)
- mopping the floors (there just never seems to be a good time to do this!)
- cleaning the baseboards
- washing the curtains (and to be honest, the bedlinens SHOULD be washed more than every other week, but I have to wait for a sunny day most of the time, as there's just nowhere to hang them inside!)

Seems like most of my time is spent organising (although once I finally get it all done I'll be set - we're still trying to claw our way back to organised after last year's house move!), laundry, washing up, washing/making bottles, potty training (you know - running 3 yo back and forth to the toilet, then cleaning up/mopping up because he held it and then peed on the floor instead! :rotfl:), hoovering, and feeding/dressing kids, with some cooking and baking thrown in. But hey, obviously I still get time to pop onto the internet frequently - for blurbs here and there. Usually during colouring, television, or snack time for DS2.

I'm determined I'm going to mop that stupid kitchen floor this weekend. It's been far too long since it's had a good clean other than a quick sweep. Ick ick ick !