I'm going to do a diary too :)

CathT

Looks fabulous. What a fab reward for being MF.

gerbiljo

I have been neglecting this diary abit lately mainly as I feel like we aren't being very careful with our money and theres just so much going on. I did a food shop the other day which came in at £65 which the most in ages, i am trying to make it last 10days and have gone back to doing a food diary to try and keep on top of this. My husband thinks he might have another £100 to contribute to the mortgage this month. We have been having more meals out etc mainly as we are having less time together as a family and we are trying to make it better quality time!

Generally the new job has been going well, I am getting time at home, my daughter has started swimming classes and I am going to try and get her enrolled in some street dancing classes, its just hard to have consistent times as my rota changes every week. I am finding it hard now though as I feel like I haven't been a proper mum for so long I feel I have lost the ability a bit, I thought I'd have the house all clean but i haven't managed to get much done so far, I need to work on this but at the moment I cannot find the motivation. I have found that I have quite enjoyed the nights. I quite like going through my jobs and making sure everything is in order, I like coming home in the morning and having breakfast and warming up the bed with the electric heater and having a good sleep, I sleep really well and so in that respect it has gone well, it feels like really good sleep as well! Its really hard though leaving in the evenings as my husband comes in and i have a run of about 5 weekends in a row and I feel like we aren't seeing each other enough. I also work some days but I don't feel like I am getting a shot at doing anything interesting, I feel like I've been sidelined a bit and that has made me feel a bit down. I seem to be working with lots of ambitious people and I'm not sure I have the energy to compete quite frankly. The major blow came a couple of weeks ago when I heard through the grape vine that my new company is taking on work/ forming an alliance with my old company. I felt really upset that I didn't hear this first hand, maybe even plans for it in my interview. It wasn't meant to get to us just yet and its only because of me still being friends with old colleagues that I found out but it will likely double our workload, I'm not too worried about this but I guess I don't want to end up in any way getting criticism from my old boss. I haven't left on bad feeling but I know if I see him he'll say how much better it is without me etc because I know that is how he is!! I feel down as it took me years to break away and now I'm involved with it again. I feel a bit like I'll be doing their donkey work which I had to work so hard to avoid after having my daughter.

My nan has also been very ill, she has just had a gut tumour removed and has renal failure. My dad has had mixed results from the doctors but I went last night and her notes say that the lymph nodes are affected so it can only mean bad news though I don't know about timescale. My grandad is still at home and my dad is tired trying to care for him, I feel for him as he is an only child and he is looking after my little girl though he says he needs her to keep his spirits up. My sister is on holiday and this has all happened suddenly and I think my mum feels bad not telling her but doesn't want to ruin her holiday.

On the other hand the mortgage is going to plan and the holiday is booked, we are accumulating a bit on the cards and am a bit frustrated with the halifax card as you cannot see your direct debit amount online or see that its been arranged, so its a bit worrying you cannot confirm it all without calling them every time! Looking forward to planning some gardening for the summer! will update again when we pay a bit more off;)

gerbiljo

an extra £100 from hubby £31750
£80 food shop this week, scandalous!!!nearly payday

gerbiljo

:j:j:j:j:j
payday, i did some extra shifts and had an extra little surprise in my pay packet!! Today we have hit 27,885. this is very exciting. I am now skipping months in my head thinking end of april 'teens' and then thinking about being in four figures!
Looking forward to the first of the month now that should mean another £4-500 off, just waiting for a payment amount to be confirmed. Hubby says he might have extra towards the end of the month, he likes to keep it by and be sensible, whereas I am the opposite!!
I am going to start slowing down on the surveys soon....i don't get much time and am really behind on them and my emails!!
Working this weekend but next weekend off!! disney on ice is booked our little girl is excited!!:cool:

gerbiljo

very excited!! new balance £27450

monthly interest £36.10, daily £1.24, £421.41 off the balance

2011 these figures were £86.86, £2.80, £370.65
2010 these figures were £127.45, £4.11, £330.06

Going to send official update now:j:j:j

gerbiljo

£50 food shop this week

gerbiljo

shopping this week- £75!!! i did treat myself to a twisty mop and my daughter a sweatshirt tho!

I have been coming to terms with the fact that my new job with more time off does not necessarily mean I will have a tiny house! The mess really gets me down and I struggle to have time and motivation to do it, having more time with my daughter is also cleaning-counter-productive! a lot of the problem is not having anywhere to put things, a lot of that problem is me not being able to throw anything away (not as bad as that hoarder on tv the other week tho!) and to start going through the loft and throwing things away just so I can hoover the floor seems like too much effort!!! I am going to try and clean the bathroom today as that room is not too cluttered and it might make me feel a bit happier

We went disney on ice the other day, our daughter loved it and her little face lit up, so well worth the long day and journey!

Got a busy weekend at work this week then my week off, can't wait, having a varied monthly rota definitely makes the months go quicker, then I guess it'll be payday again!! Looking forward to the update on MFIT later

CathT

Just catching up Jo, sorry to hear about your nan and then stresses with your new job. Glad to hear the nights are suiting you to some extent - I hate them as I don't sleep well in the day.

Your months until MF are really coming down now aswell. Your monthly interest is amazing!!

gerbiljo

Thanks Cath the interest is quite exciting, I have done some extra shifts this month and am rather excited about how much extra it works out, i don't really know my fixed amount yet, that salary calculator never seems quite right to me.

My nan has some how made a miraculous recovery not sure what happened, she had a huge amount of gut removed due to a tumour and kidney failure then she got better which is good, but it has been very stressful for my dad as they have returned home and really they cannot look after themselves, but that is a different story!

I think if you can't sleep after nights that must be awful, the hardest part is the weekends though because of the house being full. I am lucky I find the sleeping ok

Going to start signing off the survey sites, I don't have time for it now, going to check my points and see if I can redeem some vouchers, i definitely can on my survey

gerbiljo

summary!

Have just redeemed a my survey voucher, 110 points left in my account but i think ill stop at that

valued opinions £7 so need another 3

£2 til pay out new vista

loads on global opinions to go- always a bit slow that one

nearly £34 on yougov, i will see that one through out of principle!

£33 on onepoll, definitely not as good as it used to be

£7 tns, gonna stick with that one