Reach for the stars...

niccatw

maneki_neko wrote: »

How's your Sunday been?

Well done on making a start on the ebay listings, you've motivated me to have a sort out - I'm going to aim to list 2 things a week for March and would like to make £80 which I think seems do-able.

I've had a 'back to my old ways' weekend - I'm still two weeks from pay day and have done really well for the first two weeks, so I relaxed a little this weekend, ended up going to waitrose and spent too much on food and picked up a couple of CDs too! I need to sort myself out over mid-month slackness!

Thanks Maneki. It feels quite cathartic . I can now see easily into my wardrobe. However, the pile in the corner is steadily growing (and my gaze is steadily avoiding it). My sort-out spiralled into a pre-spring-clean frenzy and no room was left unscathed! Which is why I've been AWOL the last few days. Had to self-impose a laptop ban if I ever wanted my flat to return to to a semi-presentable state!

Maneki; I've just had to change where I go for my "treats" or urges to spend! For example, on Sunday, my friend and I headed to our local (and apparently quite imfamous) car boot sale. I came away with a very new looking pair of Clarks wedges for £2 and a smug sense of acheivement that I didn't have to declare any cothes on the clothes challenge . We were astounded at the price of fruit and veg and I also got 12 tins of Heinz soup for £5. My friend got enough mince to feed a small army for a fiver. So we've vowed to give up Waitrose (despite all it's loveliness) and make a monthly trip to the car boot for those expensive household essentials, fruit and veg. and tinned foods. And satisfying our need to buy new clothes, shoes, bags, cushion covers... We'll see how it goes! :A:rotfl:

My friend also wants us to do a car boot but I'm less enamoured by the thought of getting up at the crack of dawn and standing in, what is bound to be, a freezing cold, rainy Glasgow day! She just thinks it would be easier than trying to list my bags and bags of stuff on ebay and I guess she has a point. We'll see. I have found a clothes swapping site "Big Wardrobe" http://www.bigwardrobe.com/. Perhaps I should give that a go, though I've not yet figured out how it works. If any of you know, please feel free to share your wisdom.

I'm feeling very frugal today. As part of my clearout, I came across a bunch of clothes which I like and used to wear lots, but that are now various shades of off-white. So two tops are now bright pink, one is turquoise and I need to get a black machine dye to grant myself two "new" pairs of work trousers. I think I'll also get a purple and dye my "white" duvet cover.

I will also make a mental note that white is just not my colour! Not only does it not stay that way (I won't be swayed by Daz adverts, it's soap pods all the way for me), but I have that classic blue-white Scottish skin tone, so I really do just become invisible when I wear white!

Spending diary is not going well... I can't remember when I last updated it. Again, I am justifying this to myself by saying it is because I am locked out of internet banking until my new pin comes through. But that doesn't mean I don't know I spent at least £7 on Sunday, £20 (not budgeted for at all ) on takeaway, taxi and beers on Monday (I received an unexpected invite to visit friend's I haven't seen since July last year) and £5 on food and £20 on diesel today. I think yesterday must have been a NSD but I really have to sit down and work it all out! my memory seems to be more erratic than it used to be. Or perhaps the word I'm looking for is selective!

I did get a second free trial invite from Credit Expert today though so my credit report has been checked, and it's not too bad and hasn't changed too much in the last few years. There have been 2 recent checks though - from the date it looks like both were by the kitchen company so not happy abput that as it definiely was not made clear to me 2 checks would be made. Grrr!

And the cards I have recently closed are saying satisfactory but are not yet settled so it still looks like I have a lot of available credit sitting on cards. But that should sort itself out at the next update. Besides, until I shift that N Rock loan, I can't move my mortgage anywhere and that's the only thing I should be needing a credit check for in the forseeable future.

Annoyed I can't get into my internet banking as I still can't update my sig until I have confirmed that the direct debits have been paid out and those debts have come down a bit... think I'll investigate what I can right now!

niccatw

Sig updated as far as I can do at the moment. Now I must sleep! Night all

niccatw

Feeling very sensible - trailed the many charity shops littering Glasgow's Westend today and I did not spend a penny! You heard me right - not one penny. It was tough, but I di it . That's quite a shift in my mind set as there were a few lovely things I could have got for a few pounds... if they're still there and I'm stilling thinking about them next week, then I'll allow myself to go back. But right now I'm astounded at my self discipline .

So I rewarded myself with 6 creme eggs (I only wanted one, honestly, but I was in Lidl for milk and eggs - of the less chocolatey variety! - and I could only find apack of 6... I'm sure I'll find them a good home...

Been back to the doctor's today. She's signed me off for another 4 weeks to give me time to go to counselling before I go back. And because she's not happy with my eating still. She is however, a very astute women and has seized me up pretty well. Instead of tellling me what I should be doing (beacuse I know that), she's challenged me to find some quirky recipes and cook 2 new recipes a week. I've to go back in a fortnight - and I wil discuss recipes and not even realise she is assessing my mood . Very clever women.

Got my new pin through for internet banking so I guess I should go and sort that out and check everything is in the proper and expected order.

Spending diary and pile of possible ebay stuff still being studiously ignored...

niccatw

By the way, has any-one used this site?

http://www.bigwardrobe.com/

I think I should look into it... though it might undo all my good working culling my wardrobe!

niccatw

Oh, I've mentioned that already. Obviously I've been raving about it to every-one and any-one, even though I still don't know how it works!

niccatw

I need to get up early tomorrow. Why am I still awake, nevermind online!?

niccatw

I spent £30 on a full leg and bikini wax (sorry if that's too much info for any-one ) and it was useless! I then spent the day visiting my pregnant friend - who is having the most horrendous pregnancy - with my jeans sticking to me and felt I couldn't really complain about the discomfort - she may well have lynched me given she can hardly walk and still has 3 months to go!

So I then found myself in the 24 hour Asda at 1am buying baby oil (for my legs), nappies and baby wipes (for said, nuborn baby!). Is there a *hands raised in the air, shrugging my shoulders* smiley? I'm not sure why. But it did freak me out somewhat when I realised no-one would bat an eyelid; they'd just think I'd run out of nappies for my newborn. Ok, so I might be getting to "that age" (direct quote from mum!), but I'm nowhere near grown-up enough! I think I'll stick to being an Aunty for the next wee while!

Not left the house today so so far a NSD. Dying all my off-white stuff black and still ignoring the spending diary - which I realy do need to sort out!

And my "new" oven doesn't seem to be heating up, which is a royal pain in the neck! The instructions helpfully trouble shoot why your sponge isn't rising but not why the main oven would just be blowing cool air and not heating through.

Sigh!

Lemon_Tree

have you looked online for any ideas about your oven? hope you find the solution.

niccatw

Thanks Lemon Tree. It's a double oven (thankfully) and the wee one is working fine. It's the main,fan oven that's not working so I'm guessing maybe the element has blown? Not sure who you get to fix that though? Electrician, I guess?

Lemon_Tree

i think my sister bought something to repair her double oven once, not sure what the prob was but it probably was that it wasn't heating up