Changing our lives....

Sessie

A rather unwanted moneysaver today - got a text at 2 pm to say that the night out wasn't happening tonight. Honestly, I kinda expected it, people are always arranging these things and then dropping out one by one but as I'd got a text yesterday saying it was still on I was hoping it might actually happen. Ah well, I suppose I can put the £30 I'd put aside for it in the savings tin so all is not lost. If I don't do that it'll just get swallowed up in day to day essentials buying.

Have to buy a bottle of brandy and a birthday card for Mr S's grandmother and take that to her tomorrow as it's her birthday next week but that and some milk aside, we shouldn't be spending anything else.

Monday we are going to play at a friend's house - and assuming it's not raining we will walk there, it's only about a mile away - and then the children are having their hair cut in the afternoon (£8 for both of them in total as we have someone come to the house who's good and cheap).

So, going to watch Black Mirror that I recorded on Monday and have a cup of cocoa before an early night as the kids were up at 5.10 am this morning! :eek:

Sessie

Busy day today and a NSD to boot! :j:j

Had a bad night with my daughter who was poorly so I had her in bed with me until gone 1 am. Though I'm sad she was sick, it was actually quite nice to snuggle up and whisper-talk about the stars we could see out of the window and make up stories until she fell asleep.

Even though she was awake until 1, they were both raring to go at 6 am this morning . Let them play computer games (only allowed on a Sunday) whilst I did all the ironing and put it all away. Aired their beds and tidied all the toys up (they have TONS that have to be all sitting on their pillows at bedtime and are always, without fail, all over the carpet by morning!).

Went into the back garden and swept all the leaves and twigs off the trampoline and both kids bounced their hearts out while I raked a lot of the leaves up from the back garden. I will need to do it again a couple of times as it's pretty thick out there but I didn't want to pull all the grass up. Boychild "helped" me by carrying the leaves from the pile to the green bin.... ONE AT A TIME! :rotfl:

Had lunch from the cupboard and freezer, then cut up a ton of their magazines and comics and stuck pictures from them all on the kitchen wall near the table so they have posters of numbers, letters, telling the time etc... to look at whilst they eat and so we can talk about those sort of things every day without them realising they're learning! Sneaky mummy!

Decanted all my change from two jars into the savings tins (well the children did!) and one is already half full :T.

Bathed them both separately so they could stretch out and "swim" in the bath and then a picnic tea (again from the cupboards) before an easy bedtime (they pretty much fell into bed!) for once.

Now about to watch a film (if I can stay awake!).

pennywisepoundstupid

Sounds as though you had a lovely day Sessie.

Well done on the bargains from the 99p shop.

Sorry to hear your sister has lost her job. My sister is very similar, always been babied and never really took responsibility of her life,recently something major happened to her, i told her that now she was in her thirties she needed to get a grip and sort things out herself, I would support her but wasn't going to pick up the pieces for her, smetimes a bit of tough love is needed.

Hope you have a good day.

Sessie

Thanks Penny. That's pretty much what I've said to my sister, "I will support you but YOU have to sort this out, YOU have to find another job, YOU have to accept that the reason you're in this mess is because YOU did something you KNEW was stupid so why SHOULD anyone else make it right?". Problem is she will now have to move back in with my parents who aren't exactly rolling in money but will have to keep her until she DOES find something and somewhere else to live which could obviously take months. They have just put their house on the market as they need to move somewhere smaller and nearer to civilisation (they live out in the sticks and are getting too old to do the huge garden and keep the house) and now my sister's stuff will be all over the place when they have viewings.

They just don't NEED this at their time of life - I know they will take her in, just as they would any of us in our hour of need but she won't be out every day trawling the streets, Job Centre, Agencies or going shop to shop handing out cvs to try and get back on her feet quickly and out of their house again. She'll just see it as, "Well I loused up but I still have somewhere to live so ...". Grr. Anyway....

Had another day of eating out of the freezer and cupboards. Walked up to the village with the children for a playdate and had a nice chat with the other mum whilst they tore around. Walked back and the kids had their hair cut (£10 total).

Had to get £40 out for the two holiday club events they're attending this week but also managed to nab two close-to-date loaves of Warburton's bread for 29p and some knock-down pasties (Reggae Reggae thingies, too hot for me) for a quick Mr Sessie tea one night. They've all gone in the freezer so already need to alter the inventory when I print it out at work tomorrow!

My sleep's all over again at the mo. I go to bed at 7.30/8pm as I can't keep my eyes open to read/watch anything, then lie there for two hours frustrated as I can't sleep and end up getting up again when I find I'm too tired to do anything!! AAARGH! Don't want to take sleeping tablets as I worry I won't wake up and hear the kids in the night (Mr S sleeps the sleep of the dead so it's down to me on a night). So.. on that note, as I'm struggling to stay awake now, I'm gonna grab my duvet. I'll TRY to read but I bet I don't last long...

Sessie

Woohoo! Quiet day at work so logged on to Tesco's website to check whether I had any unused vouchers after reading it on one of this site's "Things to Check To Make Money" threads.

I have £12.50 in unused vouchers! So printed those off quick sharp and am now off to see what I can swap them for in the rewards!

Am having soup and crackers that I already had at work for my lunch and tea will be something out of the cupboards as the children are at mum's tonight.

Dad has got some broken pots and bricks for me to put in the bottom of my bags for growing my fruit and veg which saves me going begging at a local building site (though I would have done it if he hadn't had any!!). Also hoping my SIL (who works at a garden centre) might be able to get me a few "breakages" either free or for a few pounds too.

Anyway, off to Tesco's site again - just had to report the good news!

Sessie

Not much to report today but having a bit of a think on yet ANOTHER really quiet day at work about things I need to do in the next few weeks:

Continue tidying the garden.

Raking the leaves and picking up pegs from their deeply-hidden in the long grass hiding places and putting them back in the basket as I need to start making myself hang the washing out now rather than just defaulting to the tumble dryer.

Sweep the patio/decking and throw away the broken pots.

Do final count of what pots, compost, bags etc.. I have so I can cost out what I need to buy to grow this year - need to do this soon so I can get on with the early things like potatoes!

Sort out my wardrobe - there are a ton of clothes in there I don't wear any more and I'm always moaning there's no room to hang anything. Somehow I think there's a link between those two things!

Sort out boxes of old toys etc... in garage. Find out whether scrap metal people will take away the double buggy or if there's anywhere else I can send it before the landfill tip. It's had its day and is not suitable to donate to a charity shop, I think if the twins had got in it one more time it would just have fallen apart!


Oh, managed to draw out £20 today to squirrell away in my secret savings (if it stays in the bank it just gets swallowed up!) so it's up to £50 now. Hurrah!

Tea will be fish finger sandwiches for me and the kids (from stores) and a chicken curry (from a recent batch cook) for Mr S and my bro-in-law who is coming over tonight. Still have some stewed fruit that I found in the freezer left so if the kids need a pud, they can have that. They are going to a holiday club this afternoon from 1 to 6 so should be tired when they get back. Give them a nice full belly and some warm milk, here's hoping for a nice easy early night for them tonight!

Sessie

Have been making meals out of stores for over a week now and it's going really well! I actually think we're eating BETTER than if we just went to the shop on the way home and grabbed something!

I have a half-broken tooth just to the right of my two front ones, which is rather precarious so have been restricted to porridge and tinned spaghetti today - and probably for the next few days as its doubtful I'll get in to the dentist until late in the week. It doesn't really hurt atm but I think if it actually breaks (and I can see the potential line where it will!) things will change on that front so am being very careful.

Did all washing and ironing today, cleaned bathroom during and after children's Sunday night bath and also went to Mr T for a few bits (mainly new toothbrushes for all of us, some dental floss, fresh fruit, UHT milk for stores as was down to just one carton etc....). Got a few bargains:

24 "Weetabix" (but own-brand) - £0.94
Big box of "Cheerios" (but own-brand) - £1.05
Big box of Sultana Bran Flakes (but own-brand) - £1.69
4 x big Cottage Pies reduced from £2 each to £0.85 each - stuck them straight in the freezer though I think two will be coming out again in the morning for tomorrow's tea!
1 x tin of mandarin pieces - £0.23 (girlchild needs LOTS of fruit due to ongoing constipation problem)
1 x tin of peaches - £0.29
2 x tins of rice pudding - £0.15 each (one tin does them two if not three days worth of puddings as they only have a small amount to go with fruit)
Finally a huuuge box of Persil down from £12.00 to £7.00. I actually have a TON of powder in as I always buy when it's reduced - I go through so much of it with a site-working other half and twins so it's not like it won't get used!

Hoping to get a little more batch cooking done at some point this week as I have some veg left from last week in the fridge that won't last much longer. Probably won't be tomorrow though as I want to clean the fridge out (wash it and everything) and also sort the tins/packets cupboard, put the ironing away and wash the kitchen floor. After that, a quick hoover through and shower and it will be time to go and pick up the children from school. Goodness the life of a part-time working mum is just CHOC full of excitement isn't it? :rotfl:

Oh, after I've taken the children to school I'm getting the bus back home instead of the usual walk as I want to go a bit further towards town. There is a sweet factory shop that sells stuff for a fraction of the price in the shops. We get our popcorn from there as it's half the price of the supermarkets (in bags to make up in the microwave) and also often get boiled sweets etc.. from there in huge bags for a pound or two. Hopefully I'll be restrained as I can't actually risk eating anything because of my tooth but.. well, I can't make any promises! Boiled sweets don't go off do they?!

choogirl

Hi Sessie

I've read your diary and enjoyed it. I'm sorry to hear about your tooth hopefully you can get it sorted this week.

I'm subscribing xx

PS I think we live close

Sessie

Hi Choogirl, thanks for the tooth wishes! Have got an appointment for tomorrow morning so fingers crossed it can be repaired rather than having to come out. Actually quite enjoying eating lots of porridge - I think I must be one of the three bears in disguise!

Got the children safely back to school today with everything they need. Also took some of the school's spare things back that they came home in before the holiday (still having occasional "accidents"). Had got all their uniform, underwear etc.. ready and downstairs last night, washed coats and gloves and hats and they were on the hot water tank all warm and ready to step outside this morning. One of the mums offered me a lift back which was nice but meant I didn't get to the factory shop as I didn't want to ask her to take me somewhere else, especially as it's a dead end at the road where it is so she'd have had to turn round and go back the other way. (That might give you more of a clue as to location Choogirl!). Never mind, might get there before the dentist appt tomorrow.

This morning I have:

Sorted out the tins cupboard and washed all the shelves - there's not much in it to be honest but we have so much other stuff in the freezer and pasta/rice cupboard that it's not a problem.
Swept and washed the kitchen floor and skirting boards.
Cleaned microwave inside and out.
Cleaned glass door of washing machine which had dried on powder etc.. on it (I put the powder straight in the drum rather than in the drawer as the drawer tends to get all scummy for some reason).
Put the washer on with nothing in (except detergent!) on a 80 degree wash just to hot wash it through.
Put all the ironing away from yesterday and tidied the childrens' room.
Hoovered the living room.

Now having an hour or so's sit before I go off to pick up le children. Two cottage pies, some veg and half an apple pie defrosting in the kitchen, along with the remnants of a bottle of brown sauce which I'll swish round with boiling water before adding to the gravy - it's odd, I don't like brown sauce ON food but I love it in gravy!

Hoping to sneak out another £20 to stick in the secret tin this week but let's see what tomorrow's dentist appt costs first!

Pinky15

Hi Sessie - another one here enjoying reading your diary. You get sooo much done. I have upped my hours recently but soon am going to reduce them, as I seem to have no time to do anything.