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

Triggles

Wow. We put together a huge list of little things to get done today. Little things that we have been postponing for ages. And so far, we're really plowed through the list and gotten a lot done! :j We are both feeling so productive and pleased with our progress today!

Items listed on freecycle, so hopefully they will go quickly. DH is currently deflating the mini-bouncy castle and packing it away for the winter. I cleaned off the "junk shelf" in the living room - it's now looking relatively sparse, with a lovely mulled wine candle burning on it! DH's bike has been relocated and secured in shed in rear garden, as DH took time to clean out his shed. Laundry is up and drying. Did a few "winterising" things around the house. Crushed all the cans in our recycling bin with our new handy-dandy can crusher from Lakeland. :cool: We found a lovely fireplace box tucked back in the corner of the shed, left by the previous tenants. It's a pale gold colour with a black silhouette of a ship (with rigging) on the top. Very nice! So we're going to clean it up and put it in the living room by our fireplace. All the usual stuff done today for the kids - dressed, fed, bottles done, steriliser fluid done. DH just put a huge chicken in the oven (silly thing was too big for the Remoska! DH claims it was a pterodactyl! :rotfl:) to be ready later this afternoon. Just a few more things to get done and our list will be completed!

- make apple crisp (10-15 minutes prep, then baking)
- make banana bread and freeze (10 minutes prep, then baking)
- organise presents in sideboard (5-10 minutes)
- set up cotbed for DS3 (5-10 minutes - is all put together, just need to put in bedding and set up Angelcare monitor)
- hoover living room (5 minutes)
- clean carpet in upstairs hallway and area rug in bedroom (15-20 minutes)
- hang a couple pictures (15 minutes)

We have a couple pear ciders in the fridge and are planning on relaxing this evening (well, other than poppng out to the kitchen to take out stuff that is baking) and watching a movie. Can't wait!

slm6002

Sounds like you are having a really productive day. i make lists each day but there are some things that just keep getting rolled over to the next days. I will have to post on my diary what i plan to do so that i cant not do them!

Enjoy the pear cider

Triggles

slm - I am definitely a list maker!! And some things do get rolled over, but if I do that, I put a star by them, then 2 stars if they get rolled over one more time. Generally then I get it done - otherwise too much risk of having a list with items with 20 stars next to them! LOL But it does help me keep track of what is being postponed repeatedly. It's usually some type of "call so-and-so to get such-and-such done" as I hate making calls. That is why I have been posting what I need to do or have done - incentive to do it, and satisfaction going back and seeing that I AM actually getting things done.

The carpet cleaning and the picture being hung have been put off until tomorrow. Poor DH is knackered. He worked all night, now has worked most of the day. He needs a rest!

I'm going to try a local playgroup again. I had some issues with it previously, but to be fair I'm going to try it one more time and see if I can't be a bit more open minded. It's certainly the least expensive one in the area, and close enough to walk to on a good day. DH & I are planning on taking DS2 to a different soft play place, as we have heard good things about it.

Triggles

Ok, more small things today.

I was going to buy a loaf of bread from the bakery, but decided that was silly when I have a bread machine at home, so I will be making HM bread today to have with our HM soup tonight for tea. So £1.50 saved!

DH & I discussed buying another bin for our recycling (£10 per bin) but I have realised we have a good-sized plastic tub that will work just as well, and that's free! And we can tuck the magazines/catalogues/thin cardboard recycling into a Sains bag for life right next to the plastic tub, and set it all in the same little cubby hole corner that the main recycling bin is in. So another £10 saved!

It seems silly, I suppose, to be so cheerful over little bits saved here and there, but I guess I have to save where I can. I have my birthday coming up, and I am seriously thinking of purchasing a small portable hoover from Lakeland that has really good reviews - it's approximately £60 - but I usually get cash from MIL & I can put that towards it. Because of back problems, I often have difficulty dragging the main hoover into the living room, much less upstairs if needed up there. But this one is much smaller but has great suction/power (is mains operated, not battery), so I can easily carry it upstairs if needed and can keep it stored in the living room in the small wooden box we have there, so the kids can't get to it. Now it's just getting DH to agree to buying it for me for my birthday - he hates buying household stuff for me for gifts - but I look at it as a luxury, not a necessity, and that's fine by me!

Aniya

Just stumbled upon your lovely diary...

Great news on the bread saving, it will taste SO much better for making it yourself too. :T

And definitely keep rejoycing in the little bits saved here and there, not silly at all - it's great news! :j

I have subscribed to your diary and will keep popping in to see how you're doing

Triggles

Woohoo! Feeling productive again today! I've found it makes it easier for me to stick to saving money when I am feeling productive as well! So far today I've done the following:

- kids up, dressed, fed - potty training in pants today instead of pullups :eek:
- free games on two bingo sites
- checked in on bingoport - need to play bingo during high pot times, lunchtime and evenings (also on Tues evenings as in one room if you win a full house on the free bingo, you win £5 credit for another bingo site, which gives possibility of winning some cash for free!)
- changed sterilising fluid
- washed, sterilised, made up bottles for the day
- finished organising the sideboard and updating our Christmas gift list
- ordered mini vacuum from Lakeland, along with a few items for Christmas presents that we'd been looking at - held off on the order til we had over £60 so we got free delivery and free set of vacuum storage bags (more ££ saved on stuff we would have ordered anyway). I don't mind paying Lakeland prices for superb customer service. Worth the £ if you don't like or have a problem with any items.
- cleaned out the recycling bin for glass items (was GROSS! yuck!) and found an unused plastic box with lid to use for crushed tins/cans, so that corner of kitchen is all cleaned up
- rent paid

Just a note of interest - Sains has big bags of basics sweets (chocolates, toffees, etc just like in the big tins of sweets) for £2.99! And we've tried them - they are yummy! So we've bought a pack of 30 Christmas decorated bags, and we're going to buy a couple bags of the sweets and instead of giving out a tin of sweets, we're putting together some sweets in a deco bag and adding it to a nice inexpensive thoughtful present instead. Less expensive, but still a nice pressie. :j

Few more things to do - have to get the chicken(less) soup started and the HM bread going. Plus some banana bread to toss in the freezer. I'm hoping to give the fridge a quick clean out before tea time as well.

slm6002

Very productive day so far. Good luck with the potty training. Thanks for the sweet info. I am doing a few of the american type bread baskets filled with sweets for a few people as they went down rather well last year. I normally buy the tins but this would be just as good and as you say for a fraction of the cost

Triggles

Wow. A very long night. DS2 has a cold and was up coughing most of the night. He's up in his room now, trying not to fall asleep for a nap. :rolleyes: DS3 is snoozing away.

Things done:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- bottles washed, sterilised, and made up
- sterilising fluid changed
- laundry washed and hung up to dry
- free bingo sites/scratchcards done

Just waiting for DS2 to fall asleep so I can then clean the fridge, as I didn't get to it last night. Then just a few general pick ups downstairs, and then I'm going to do some browsing through my craft stuff and play around with it for a bit (naps allowing, of course).

I need to have hamburger buns for tonight's tea, however, I am simply not up to dragging both kids out to the supermarket, especially with DS2 not feeling great. So I'll pop up there this afternoon when DH gets up, so the kids can stay home.

Ooops. I can hear DS2 saying "oh no" up in his room. Better go check. Can't imagine THAT's a good sign!

Triggles

Ah, long night again (as is usual with very little ones!) but have gotten a start this morning. Kids up and dressed, laundry going, baking in the oven.

Still need to do:
- wash, sterilise, and make up bottles for the day
- hoover living room
- hard boil a couple eggs for lunch for myself and DS2

We strayed from the menu planning last night and used some of our pin money to order pizza with the delivery codes listed here on MSE. I was just soooo tired (and so was DH) and just couldn't face more cooking at that time of day. We're getting close to the end of the month, so I'm not worried about using some of my pin money on that.

Back on track for tonight's tea though - sweet and sour chicken with rice. We're using the 29p Sains basics sweet and sour sauce, adding some chopped up carrot and basics tinned pineapple, and cooking the boneless skinless chicken filet strips in it, then serving over rice. Yum!! I'd add peppers too, but DH is not as fond of peppers in this meal, although he's happy to have them chopped up in spag bol or chili.

I'm eating cold leftover pizza for breakfast. :rotfl: Yum - can't let it go to waste!

slm6002

A treat every now and again is needed i think especially as you still used discount codes. OH is treating us to fish and chips tomorrow as its going to be a long day and i will not be home all day. he doesnt really do family cooking. Dont think pot noodle counts as a family meal does it?