Learning to live my dreams not trample on them

savingholmes

Hi guys well just got paid today - I got about £300 more than I expected - I'm assuming that's because I got tax back... Great news tho... Let's hope it isn't a mistake... Our payslips are all electronic and only accessible from work - I could ring payroll and check but don't have their number either... I think I will just trust its ok. It may be partly from being paid one day's worth of holiday too rather than sick...

Hopefully be back in work on full pay next month. I also need to organise making a claim on my insurance which I think will give me around £475 pcm (not including first month).

OH's appointment has come thro for next week for the ECG which is good - hopefully we will therefore know quickly whether there is anything other than his weight to worry about!

savingholmes

Hello all

Well made it to church (late again LOL). Brought DD's friend home with us - cooked a quick fish and chip dinner before heading out to my favourite national trust property - where we did a walk of approx 2.5 miles. Pleased with that. DS and I also did a 2 mile walk last night to use my pizza hut voucher LOL for a free pudding.

Had jacket spud cheese, beans and a bit of salad for tea... I think sometimes I forget the cheap simple things like that and "try too hard"

Oh well need to take DD's friend home now and then catch up on all the washing

milann

Hope dh is ok sh.

This whole cleaning thing sounds very stressful. How hard can it be for a cleaner to clean a house lol - if I have to I can whizz around but the more time I have the longer it takes me LOL - I'd be no good as a cleaner - or maybe I'd be ok as I'd have to shape myself in allotted time. Is it me or does the agency seem to take a very big chunk and the cleaner herself not get that much of your cash. Maybe that is where the motivation (or lack of) for the cleaner comes from!!!

Take it easy and listen to your body Mrs SH!!!!!

savingholmes

Hi Milann - yes I think the agency take a disproportionate amount... In the past after a while I dumped the agency and paid the cleaner direct but don't know whether that will be possible this time. I then gave the cleaner a payrise so we both won. I also normally give my cleaner a xmas hamper too - and pass on useful items so normally I win their loyalty LOL. It was a very stressful experience which is why I'm settling for a good fortnightly clean rather than a bad weekly clean... We will still have to do the lounge and bedrooms ourselves but at least the toilets, kitchen floor and hall stairs and landing will get done...

OH has tests at the hospital Tuesday, and blood test Wednesday - but we should find out straightaway if they are worried about his heart. His friend's ecg was clear so let's hope his is too! Won't get the rest of the results for a couple of weeks...

I've just done another online grocery shop - and have reduced spend to £90 this week - and drum roll please - delayed the stuff arriving to Thursday - which means last week's shop will have lasted at least 10 days which is quite good for us... My tins cupboards are fairly full but unfortunately they are fairly full of stuff we don't use much!! I think when I go back to work I will be eating lots of rice pudding LOL (it was on offer a few months ago and I seem to have shed loads)! I also need to use up the sugar free jelly and put some tinned fruit in it to use some of that up to. Perhaps let DS make pancakes one night - as long as we have lemon juice as we have lots of batter mixes too.... Randomly I also have 2 xmas puds as you do but they will still be in date this year!

I've drived about 20 miles today with no real problems and done a walk (but not much housework) so definitely getting fitter and healthier again. Altho I'm not sticking rigidly to my budget or my diet - things are slowly improving. Me dieting seems to have meant that we are not buying or eating as much junk food (altho still some) which is saving us money. I've also got OH a bit more on-side with the concept that food has to last. I've also been doing a few more cheaper meals like porridge, omelette, jacket spud etc and getting the kids to have a bit more bread which is also helping...

Hopefully as I go back to work - the grocery budget should get more under control. I do like on-line shopping as you can start from your last shop - check the fridge take things out you don't need - and think whether you fancy a change from last week and swap some bits out accordingly. The if the figure looks too much - swap some bits out...

I'm meeting a friend for lunch/coffee tomorrow which should be nice... Something to look forward to anyway.

tirlittan

Sounds like things are starting to come together. Glad you had a nice weekend.

savingholmes

Hi Tirl yes things are improving - went out with a friend today - we were out nearly 4 hours. She has long term cancer - so we had lunch and then I took her to a load of shops she normally doesn't get to go to. She can't drive you see... She actually spent money where normally she doesn't spend anything... whether she actually keeps the stuff if a different question tho - I bet she takes at least some of it back. I also picked up some bits from Aldi but only spent about £6 so pleased with that...

Boots finally had the lipstick I wanted but I'd left my £5 vouchers at home so - decided to get them to save it for me and I will get it another day. Thinking of going hospital visiting tonight... Need to check what time they are open and see if I've got anything I could take with me

We are having an M&S chicken with lime and coriander and chilli - with potato and salad for tea. It's been in my freezer for ages so thought we'd use it up for a change... Need to go to poundstretcher extra for their toilet paper deal too...

Just given DD a pound to tidy the front room - it looks a lot better.... Always cheers me up. I've been tidying up the kitchen but because I've been making home made smoothies so it seems to take forever

savingholmes

Well tea was yummy

Friend in hospital was discharged so didn't go there - did nip to B00ts and buy a few more things I wanted/needed - using £10 in vouchers - and got £15 more in vouchers - Result! I've had another look at my xmas present stash and I have some ideas for what to do with my remaining vouchers - it is completely mad tho as you get another £5 voucher for every £5 spent so if you split all your purchases it becomes really cheap.

I got OH to hoover lounge and then I sorted all the clean washing into piles... I need people to take it upstair for me tho as if it just gets kicked over by the kids I will want to punish them!! I have also spent a couple of hours sorting out my study/junk room - and have filled a massive bin bag as well as giving OH 4 inches of paper to shred from a couple of years ago... I can finally see that I am getting somewhere with it altho TBH there is still quite a few hours of work needed in there.

I'm hoping that once I've cleared it - I can remake the study bed and put covers on it and then start doing my hampers on a clear surface...

savingholmes

Hi guys

Well the effects of the last few days caught up with me tonight - and I had a little sleep after tea!!:o I slept really badly last night but only took 1 painkiller yesterday - and have dropped the valium so think that may have taken effect

Today has been another busy day. Took OH to hospital for his ECG - they just did a basic one which looked ok to me:p, his blood pressure is good. He's having a load of blood tests tomorrow. He will have to go to another hospital for another test when he gets an appointment thro... She doesn't think he shows classic symptoms of angina so hopefully that will be okay altho his score was higher than she'd like.... His cholesterol was bad a year and half ago:eek: and they never bothered to tell us or do anything about it :mad:which is annoying as we could have been tackling that if we'd known. It's partly his fault tho as I would have asked for a breakdown of what my blood tests came back with whereas he treated it as no news is good news

If these tests come back clear we know we just need to focus on diet and exercise (with no excuses:p) - if there is something wrong - hopefully he can get treatment and resolve it....:cool:

On more positive news... DD did street dance today and enjoyed it - we caught the last five minutes or so. Costs £3 a week and is handy childcare as it is at the school. She is also volunteering to help on a school newspaper which is pretty much free childcare :money:every week one night a week and obviously educational and team bonding type stuff so good....:T It will make DS's life easier - and therefore also ours...

savingholmes

We had meatballs and spaghetti for tea - yummy and probably cost about £4! With smart price orange juice - approx 56p

(£2) 360g /20 lean meatballs - cut in half to make them go further
(30p) 200g of smart price spaghetti
(35p) passata
(50p) Mixed peppers half of red, yellow and green
(40p) onions
(10p) frozen green beans
(5p) frozen spinach
pinch of oregano and mixed herbs
(20p) some garlic from a tube
(5p) sesame seeds
squeeze of sweet chilli sauce, tomato sauce and teaspoon of sugar!

savingholmes

Hi guys - well slept really badly last night too - but was up this morning for 9.45 so not all bad! Had porridge for breakfast but had a little bit too little milk and sugar in and left it to stand a little too long in the microwave! Now having omelette for dinner.

I have also sorted the plastics/casserole dish cupboard so everything fits... The men of my house had used up the space with big plastic mixing bowls that only fit on top of the cupboard - and with an ice cube tray that should be in the freezer and a cold water jug that should be in the fridge. So I took all of them out. I also put a few bits in the charity bag so it will fit a bit better. I am planning to take a photo and stick it on the inside of the cupboard so they have no excuse for not packing it right - wish me luck!

I've also defrosted chicken overnight so we can have that tonight with some mash, carrots, broccoli and leek. My fortnightly cleaner is coming at 1pm so still have some bits I want to tidy away before then LOL but generally the state of my house is improving! I'm off work and I still feel like I'm rushing to get things done!!

OH had blood tests done today but it could be a couple of weeks before we get the results