Changing our lives....

BubblyBo

Sending hugs to you.....must be so awful to be in so much pain and no light at the end of the tunnel.

tattycath

Hi Sessie. How are you? Hope you are feeling better. ((hugs)) xx

Sessie

Thanks for all your good wishes.

It's FINALLY starting to ease off a bit, should be back at work next week though I'll be taking it easy for a few days yet. Will be making YET another appt with my GP to see whether we can get any further regarding the operation but I'm not holding out any hope.

Not much to report on the moneysaving/house front as obviously I've just been sitting around reading and watching TV - still, have now watched everything that was backed up on the Sky box so we can now get rid of that (well, keep it in the garage as a back up in case the new FreeSat one ever dies on us!). Am really impressed with the new box, have already set up some new recordings and series links and watched something on iPlayer and given I'm not the most tech-savvy person, the fact I've been able to work that out without even referencing the booklet speaks volumes about how easy it is to work.

Bought a few snack type things for the children today - all reduced or on offers at the local Co-op and some milk and sugar. Still don't need anything else so spending is right down to a minimum.

Hopefully will be back with something worth saying in the next few days, once things get back to normal.

Sessie

Still in a good deal of pain, made a rather rash promise to work that I'd go back on Tuesday, now wondering about how wise that was.

Will be trying to get a doc's appointment on Monday - partly to have a rant about how this can't just go on indefinitely and also to get a sick note for work - maybe he/she (you never know who you'll see at my surgery!) will tell me it's too early to go back and give me one for longer - at least then work will have it on doc's advice that I can't go back then. It's been really quiet at work so it's not like they'll be suffering for me not having been there but I always feel guilty being off so at least if I get a doc's note I'll feel a bit "better" about remaining off.

Managed to make tea from stores last night - we usually have a "fish and chips" Friday but I made the chips from spuds we had in and the kids and Mr S had some sausages from the freezer. I just had the rest of the tin of spaghetti that the kids didn't have as I'm not very hungry at the moment given I'm just sitting about all day and not burning any energy off (except in swearing fits!! ).

We are going to ma-in-law's today so I can just sit and talk while the children play and then later we have a birthday party for one of the children in their class but it's at a soft play place near home so again I can just sit and have a coffee (wait.... more likely to be a hot chocolate!) while they run around. Quite pleased it's late in the day (4-6) as by the time we get home and into pyjamas they should be quite tired so hopefully bedtime will be easy.

Need to go to supermarket for a few things today (mainly fresh stuff and a new water bottle for school as Girlchild has lost the lid to hers) so off to write a list. Children currently happy playing computer games (only on a weekend) and Mr S still snoring his head off (I do mornings, he does bedtimes).

Let's see if I get a "surprise" lie-in in the morning.... * cynical face*.

Thank you for all of your good wishes, it's nice to see. :T

BubblyBo

Good to see your posts returning to normal.
Sorry to hear that you are in so much pain still. I would certainly make sure the GP knows that you are not able to continue like this and the powers that me are making you unable to enjoy a normel life by refusing the op.
Take care

Sessie

Thanks Bo,

Have been back to the docs and there's just no chance of me having the op. He says there's just no point even writing (again) to the Exceptions Panel to try to plead my case, the money just isn't there. I can't even ask to go to another area as the lack of funds is effective everywhere.

Still, my back is waaay better than it was. I'm on a TON of medication now but it IS better. I am going back to work NEXT week for sure.

We are still pretty much living out of the freezer and cupboards although the freezer is now getting on the low side so we will need to do a shop maybe in two or three weeks. I will be doing a meal plan based on what's left and what I can get from that great butchers I go to locally though.

My savings tin has had a few notes stashed away in it lately too. Mr S hasn't realised that as Girlchild is now taking packups we are only paying half the school dinner money every week so I'm stashing away £10 a week each week as I take out £20 to cover them both. Bless, if he actually thought about it he'd realise but ... all the more for me to save and produce at the end of November with a flourish eh?!

Plan, possibly for next week, to ease myself into moving around a bit more, is to sort out my clothes and get rid of either "don'f fit" or "know I won't wear again"s - probably to the charity shop as I can drop them off at the same time I go to the butchers.

Also, need a ride out to B and M - will ask my older sis as she loves going there for cheap stuff too!

So, all in all, things are slowly getting back to normal and I'll be setting myself a few more challenges and whatnot soon.

Sessie

So, been gone a little while ((!) but am back now. Have been a regular lurker the past few years but as things are "all change" chez Sessie, I think it's time to start recording things again!!

We saw a mortgage advisor this past weekend with a view to moving to a bigger house. The twins are now almost 9 and with them being boy/girl they can't continue sharing a room indefinitely. Plus, we need a dining room/somewhere for them to do homework as the kitchen table is only very small and not really suitable. The house generally just isn't big enough any more.

There's also the question of my work. They are relocating next year and I can't follow them as it's too far away. Mr Sessie works away nearly all the time so they need at least one parent to be seen during the week! I work part time and am currently waiting to see whether I can work from home (fingers crossed, REALLY don't want to have to start looking for a new job now, have been with my employer for 20 years) so another room where I could do that from would really help.

I'm still quite the "yellow sticker" lady and rarely go shopping without checking what we have in and a list handy but we are going to have to rein ourselves in a bit more as most lenders now don't offer interest only mortgages (which we currently have, along with quite a good amount of equity so we know we can pay the current one off when we sell our house and still have a great deposit to put down on the next one) but most now insist on capital AND interest so the monthly payments are going to rise considerably. Having spoken to the advisor, we can afford the payments on the type of property we are looking at but as I say, things will be tighter so this is my record of how we are going to get there.

I did post last week on the Decluttering thread but as my remit is now more than just "getting rid" of stuff, I thought it would be better to reopen my diary. So here I am! Going to post this now (as I remember WELL typing reams of text and then losing it when trying to post!) so I'll be back in a few!!

Sessie

Today I got Mr Sessie (one of the few days he's actually home!) to go into the attic and get down our two massive files with all our paperwork in. We are going to need to sort out all the documents the mortgage advisor needs for proof of income, policies etc.. and I also need to thin it down as I reckon I have documents going back about ten years!! That's a job for next week as I'm on holiday from work and I can spread papers all over the living room floor whist I watch Wimbledon!!

I also went into the children's wardrobe and pulled out all the clothes that no longer fit. There was a lot!!! Have just bought bin bags to put them all in so I can get them stored. I was going to charity shop them but as I have a TON (and I really mean a ton! Think TWO of the mahossive Ikea bags FULL to brimming) of books that I also need to offload, I am thinking of having a car boot sale. Even if I only make £50, that's £50 more than if I just gave it all away. Before I make a final decision, I need to have an evening checking out what I'd get for the books on Music Magpie and/or Ziffit but I did check a few today and it doesn't seem like much, even for pretty new books so maybe the boot sale is more likely. There are lot of big ones near to us so... we'll see.

I was lucky enough to win a product test for some Sanctuary products on another website recently (which was fab as I LOVE their stuff but usually only get it with birthday/Christmas money as it's quite expensive) and I've got the comping bug again so have gone in for a few competitions over the last few days. Hey, not in it can't win it and they were email entry ones so no cost!

In the decluttering vein I also went through my email inbox and unsubscribed from a load of sites that bombard me with daily emails and drive me mad popping up on my phone every five minutes.

I'm inventorying my freezer and cupboards and trying to eat from them for as long as we can (there is a LOT of stuff in them!) but will still need to shop for fresh stuff, fruit, veg, meat, milk etc.. especially as the children both take packed lunches, but will be looking for best prices as always.

I need to pull everything out of the airing cupboard and be honest about what we need to keep and what we don't. We have a lot of REALLY old sheets and towels that I always shove to the back because they're so threadbare so I might donate them to an animal shelter and ask for replacements for presents.

The same applies to my kitchen cupboards (utensils etc). I have a lot of things I never use so again, need to pare down to what we need.

The childrens' are is more difficult because obviously they want to keep EVERYTHING, even things they haven't played with for ages so I think a little duplicity is required. This means moving them into storage in the garage and if they're not mentioned for a few months, out they go!!

We are still a ways away from actually moving, we need to get all the paperwork sorted and submitted to get the mortgage offer, get the few final bits of prettifying our current house finished, so we can get it on the market and the minor thing of FINDING ANOTHER HOUSE TO MOVE INTO!! However, what I'm keen to avoid is carting a whole load of STUFF to the new place. I figure if I start now - and have this place as my reckoning - I'll be well on my way to achieving that.

So, MSE, Sessie is back!! Bring it on!!

Sessie

Have made a shopping list which is JUST the fresh things and staples that we need (fruit, veg, milk, cat food, bread etc...) and also things that will make up meals from the meat and other things I have in the fridge and freezer. Am going shopping after work (where I am now) so let's see how good I am at sticking to the list!! It was quite scary NOT writing a list as long as my arm as I was going to check cupboards etc.. before I added something and often we have enough to last us the week. Normally I'd maybe have two deodorants in but buy another with the justification of "it'll get used...". No more of that Sessie!!


I am doing a version of the Grocery Challenge in that I'm going to keep the receipt from today and from any other spends in the next month to see EXACTLY where our money is going and then try to reduce it by, say, 10% per month.


I've also started a list of "things I spend on every week" - ie bus fares to and from school/work (sometimes we walk to school depending on the weather but it's over 2 miles so it doesn't always happen with two reluctant 8 year olds!!), Slimming World (this is important to me, if I go to the class I'm much more motivated to stick to it), the childrens' pocket money, fresh things we run out of during the week (need to get into the habit of ONLY taking enough to the local shop to get THAT specific thing!!). I will total that up and then allow myself an extra £10 for the first couple of weeks as there's bound to be something I've not thought of. My plan is to take that amount out of the bank on a weekend and have it in my purse and then try not to use the debit card for anything for as long as I can. I thought about taking the card out of my purse but worry that something could happen in an emergency when I might need it. I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough to see it through but time will tell and if I'm not, then yes, the card will be left at home!


I'm keen to see how much per week doing the above will save us. I have an internal competition in my head as to how quickly I can get the balance in that account up to £1,000 (it's NEVER in the red, but sometimes it's quite close to the lower end of the black!).


As for work, well I'll be being made redundant at some point but we don't know when yet. I think it will be early Spring next year so another reason to rein in and back our savings up. I knew it was highly possible so I'm not surprised. I'm sad, I love my job but it is what it is. I can mope around but it won't change anything. I know roughly what redundancy I'll get and it will see us through for quite a few months, although I will start temping as soon as I leave my current job until I find another. I'm also not worried about finding another as I will do whatever it takes to earn my share. I've never been out of work in my life and don't plan on it now!


Going to post this and then add some more, always worry that I'm going to lose a massive block of text as it's happened more than once on here!

Sessie

I'm off work next week, mainly to watch as much Wimbledon as I can but also have many plans. As I said, Mr Sessie has got all our files down from the attic with all our paperwork so I can spread that all over the living room floor and get it all up to date whilst Mr Murray (hopefully!) powers his way towards the Final. A lot of the documents are needed for when we have got our own house ready to put on the market and need to apply for the new mortgage. The Financial Advisor told us we WILL get the mortgage we are looking for but obviously, we still have to jump through all the paper hoops to get it in writing!


I need to get out into the garden and cut back some bushes, mow and strim the lawn, put some more grass seed down and sweep and tidy the patio and decking. My mum gave me a lot of bedding plants which are growing nicely in pots and troughs so the garden will look lovely and inviting when we do get our house on the market.


I will be sorting through cupboards (think I've already mentioned this, sorry for duplication!) in the kitchen, bedrooms and both of our clothes as we both have things we haven't worn for years (nor will we again at any point soon as we're... well... somewhat more fuller figured than ten years ago!).


I'm getting rather good at NOT passing things by that I see now in the house. I've thrown quite a lot away in the last few days and I'm chomping at the bit to just GET ON WITH IT next week. There's something really satisfying about GETTING RID.


Two reasonably big (but expected) spends coming up are .... THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS!! Aaaargh. Both children desperately need new clothes (Primark, Asda etc... they don't stay in them long enough to justify "brands"). We usually do a clothes shop at the start of the holidays (t-shirts, shorts, leggings etc...) but it will only be about £100 for both of them (not each!!) and is already budgeted for.


The other, later in August, is new School uniforms, tights, socks, underwear, shoes, trainers/plimsolls, winter coats etc.. Though we again get most of the uniform from the supermarkets, the school jumpers are direct from the school as they have the logo on and are £10 a pop and I always buy their shoes from Clarks, I won't compromise on shoes as you can't mess with their feet! We do have an outlet Clarks shop nearby where we've gone for the last few years and that's cheaper than the main shop so will likely go there again this time.


That aside, there are the final few cosmetic things we need to do to our house before we put it on the market but I don't see that coming to much more than £200.


Need to find a mobile hairdresser than will come to the house after school hours. Having my hair done at the salon where I live is £30 (cut and blow) which I only have done about 4 times a year, but it's a bit straggly now. If they come to the house, I can get a wet cut and do the rest myself. Also both children need a good trim before the holidays - the salon charges £10 per child. I'm sure I can get it a lot cheaper than we currently pay.


Okay, I think that's me for now. Adios!