Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Oh well back on dh's work laptop as my family keep kidnapping my lovely new ipad

Surveys done 0 , op 10p not exactly life changing mfwing

Oh well, I've made my own pizzas and colslaw tonight and prepped the veg for tomorrows roast, so far so good with the meal planning. The new blazers I ordered for the boys from m&s turned up today but were not really very nice, so I've had to take them to the specialist uniform place in town and but them there instead which will work out dearer.

Back later to read diaries after I've eaten my pizza.

newgirly

No surveys today but £6.19 op made I have managed to fill one side of an A4 pad with this months ops already Can't wait to see how long the mortgage statement will be at the end of 2013 :rotfl:

Have spent the whole day sewing on stripes/badges etc onto the twins new blazers and taking up new trousers and still have some left to do.

The boys have been arguing a lot lately , most of it over really minor irritations like being noisy when they are doing different things in their bedroom, its so frustrating I am seriously thinking about getting the loft done asap. (or having one of them adopted :cool:)

newgirly

Onepoll survey done 15p, larger op made of £7.91 as I am deducting 1 weeks pocket money from the twins for bad behaviour. If they continue it may end up knocking a few months off the mortgage so its not all bad

Today I am working form home to help dh out and doing some flyladying - serious bathroom clean and tackle a room of doom (that's my whole house at the moment ) Need to get organised as I have a some friends coming for a lunchtime afternoon tea tomorrow and I am making cakes.

Also need to sort out iron and pack for us all a we are going to visit dh's brother and family as they have moved to lincoln , £19 room booked a few weeks ago so it should be one of our cheapest breaks ever, leaving the kids with my parents this time :j ( I do love them really :rotfl:)

megela

Hi Newgirly,

We've taken the plunge and 'invested' in annual Merlin passes for us all. As the resident expert can you tell me which park is more suitable for younger kids? From Alton Towers, Chessington & Thorpe Park.

Just trying to work out which one to take 8 year old niece with us to?

Thank you

Megela

newgirly

Hi megala, I would have a look at the ride heights online and see how tall she is first, and does she like bigger rides? Chessington is more suitable for younger ones , thorpe park is more thrill seeking rides, but there are still rides for younger kids. Alton towers has a wider range of rides that covers kids and adults, it depends where you are based really, my lot (who are 12, 12 and 15 ) prefer alton towers , one of them won't go on big rides and two will, but we go there less as its an overnighter.

There are less rides at chessington, but it does have a mini zoo there too, Plus chessington and thorpe park are close to each other if you have to travel to make a weekend of it.

Sorry I am waffling a bit :rotfl:

megela

Thanks newgirly, we really intend on visiting all 3, was just trying to decide which would be better to take neice with us. Chessington sounds the better option for that.

All are about 2-3hrs from us, although DH also had a driving voucher for Mercedes Benz world which is also close to Chessington & Thorpe Park, so we might make a weekend of it.

Visited Warwick Castle at the weekend which is nearer to us, just under an hour. We all really enjoyed that and will return several times. Girls also really want to go to Madame Tussauds in London, and we'll try and get to Blackpool for the weekend.

Hope you enjoy your time away in Lincoln, quite often go to the Christmas Fair there.

newgirly

Hi again, if you are staying overnight it might be worth a look at the chessington hotel as you get a good discount with an annual pass I think, they also do rooms that overlook the animals. There is also a premier inn right next door to one of the parks , I think it was chessington.

newgirly

newgirly wrote: »

January'mini challenge:

• Stick to a grocery budget of £150 for the month
• Make an op everyday even if just 10p
• Keep a spending diary of everything I spend (impossible with dh he would never agree, but he has his own money!)

Thats it. I think a max of 3 things is enough, but I will also try and batch cook, do surveys, make washing gloop and anything else I can think of

This was my list of challenges for January, I managed to do two out of three, op's every day and also kept a spending diary, but i failed on the grocery budget and went over by £43 which is not too bad really for 5 of us , 2 cats and a dog, less than usual anyway.

never_too_old

wow £193 is amazing.well done:j:j:j:j

newgirly

15p onepoll, 23p OP today.

It's been a very busy day today, did a few hours work for dh, took the dog out on an extra long walk, did lots of washing, batch cooked veggie chilli, made a Spanish omlette, took dd to shops this evening to but 16th present for her friend, popped round mums, and spent the evening trying to help dh fit out new (to us!) leather suite from eBay.

After a stressful few hours we managed to fit the large 3 seater in the living room by sawing the bannisters out :eek: It's done now and the bannisters are back in almost as good as new. I'm very pleased with it, we got a 3 seater 2 very big armchairs and 2 pouffees (sp?) for £430 and they are in really good condition in brown Italian leather, ful price about £5k and only about a year old. not sure yet but am hoping we can fit the old L shaped one down the garden in the log cabin as its bigger than the one we have in there.

It's so much more enjoyable getting new stuff when you got it a at knock down price, I don't know why we didn't do this years ago