New username .... new debt .... new diary ..... new start !

majjak

Well the sun is still out here ! Finally the weather looks good for the whole week .

We achieved loads in the garden yesterday but we were out there all day and quite a bit of the evening as well. To say we were 'pooped' would be an understatment :eek:. But, the greenhouse is now in situ and the shed has been moved. Garden tidied and I even managed to get my Xmas potatoes planted :j.

I did have a 'spend' though yesterday but it's something that I've been making do without for ages and it is a bit of a necessity when you 'grow your own'. I bought some greenhouse staging (previously had wooden shelves made up by DH but they're so old, they've rotted and they don't take too kindly to being sprayed with water everyday ). However, I have a 15% discount card for Focus DIY so what should have cost me £56, only cost £47 so I wasn't too dismayed at having to spend out for it.

Today is a bit of a 'housework' day although I'm not going mad on it. I'll have a 'deep clean' once the kids go back to school later this week.

I've listed 5 things on ebay this morning, hoping to sell some of my summer clothes that no longer fit (expanding as opposed to shrinking ) - hopefully I'll make a few £££s to pay for my winter wardrobe, fingers crossed !

I shall have to pop to the shops today for a few bits (eggs/bread). I think I can manage to cover the first day's packed lunches for school on thurs/fri but I might need a few ingredients for some H/M cakes and some fruit. I hope the kids aren't going to find it too hard to adjust to no crisps/choc bars in their pack-up. From now on it'll be pasta/rice with various things added such as tuna/peppers/chicken, a piece of fruit, HM cake and some cheese or yoghurt.

I also have some paperwork to do later today but I'm trying to put that off until this evening so that I can do 'outside' stuff while the weather is good.

Food today is cereals for brekkie, jacket potato for lunch and spag bol for tea (hoping to save a portion for my lunch later in the week).

Aspiration I hope to see you over on the Grocery Challenge thread - we can keep tabs on each other . I'm not counting today's groceries towards my Sept total though
Hope everyone had a nice B/H, catch up soon :beer:

majjak

Back to school today (well 1 of them ), the other 2 go back tomorrow.

I noticed a real nip in the air when I let the dog out at 6am, the season is definitely changing ..... but it's one of my favourite times of the year coming up. I'm definitely an autumn person .

So, with that in mind, I'm going to try to read some of the 'preparing for winter' thread and see if there's anything I can do to help cut down on the heating bill a bit/any other preps I could be doing. I did briefly read a bit and it mentioned about getting a 'car box' ready for bad weather (blanket, snack bars etc) and now I've got my own car, I think I shall have to invest some time in doing that.

Had a bit of good news this morning, my energy bill was online and ready to view and they've cut my DD by £15 a month. I just hope it won't leave me in a deficit over the winter months but seeing as I've not long gone over to DD monthly, I think I'm just going to have to sit it out and wait and see.

Grocery challenge is going well, spent approx £55 so far but that's the first week's shopping in Sept. Hopefully the kids will get used to the new style packed lunches quickly .

I've got a few bids on Ebay so my winter wardrobe money is on the up .


Today's plans are:

• Take DS to school (and remember to pick him up ! :rotfl:)
• Bit of digging the new raised bed in the garden to help out DH
• Finish catching up with all the washing :mad:
• Make bacon & onion flan for dinner tonight

Ohhh I almost forgot, I managed to pick up a MS for Saturday evening - me and DH get to eat out and it's free (only petrol to pay for). :j DD is babysitting for free too (she gets paid to do my ironing instead ).

jwil

Hope you remembered to pick up your DS majjak

majjak

jwil wrote: »

Hope you remembered to pick up your DS majjak

Yep, but I had to set the alarm on my phone (just in case !) :rotfl:

Plodding along nicely here, having a BBQ tonight, making the most of the weather !

Grocery spends are going really well. I stocked up on toothpaste and mouthwash this morning (Mr S, 1/2 price) so that should do us for at least a month, maybe longer. Grand total of £2.36 :j.

I've a loaf of bread in the breadmaker ready for when the A-levellers get home for their lunch (first day back today and they're already in and out, lots of free periods - I think my house is going to be like a train station for the next 2 years :eek: ). Got some rock cakes in the oven too .

Ebay sees £22 towards my winter wardrobe, not much but it's a start and I would have either freecycled the 'redundant' clothes or chucked them away :eek: so I'm pleased I managed to get something for them :j

Going to spend this afternoon doing a bit of housework and working out what to eat over the weekend.

Might not update until Monday now, so have a great weekend, wherever you are :beer:

majjak

Had a good weekend here, not spent too much (just a few groceries, mainly baking stuff that I need to keep the kids fed with HM cakes for packed lunches).

The new raised bed is now done, just needs a bit of 'working' to dig in all the compost and break up the earth a bit before I plant anything. We must be nearing 1/2 an allotment in our garden now, I shall have to measure ! Winter lettuce has sprung and our spring cabbages are just poking through. Nothing showing for the Xmas potatoes yet.

Didn't go and do my MS last night as weighing up the mileage and the extras like drinks and having to pay for his starter and main, it would mean spending more money. So, I released the job and congratulated myself that I'd probably saved money in the long run. Spending time together is important to us but we're off to a party in a couple of weeks so we'll class that as our 'date' .

Meals have been cheap and cheerful this weekend, cereals and toast, soup and HM bread for lunch and SC lamb leg roast tonight (enough lamb left over for byriani tomorrow :j).

Tomorrow sees me joining the 'flylady' thread so that I can get the house back in some kind of order after the chaos of the school hols.

DD1 has a day off college tomorrow (no lessons, nice start to the school year :rotfl:) so we're off for a bit of a shopping trip to the next town. I've got the party present to buy, my mum's b'day present and FIL birthday too. I'm aiming to keep these spends as low as possible .

Also have some ebay wrapping/posting to do so that'll keep me out of mischief for a while.

Right, off to make kids pack-ups ..... catch up soon

majjak

Well, present spending yesterday was 0, zero, yadda, zilch ! The shop I wanted to get pressies from was in the process of moving to another shop premises just down the street . So, i've got to go out again either later this week or early next. More upset that I wasted petrol than anything else !

Spent a lot of yesterday 'flying' with the ladies (flylady thread) getting the house spic and span. Living room looks great (yesterdays list), kitchen today and I'm half way through already .

A bit of grocery shopping needed today (potatoes, milk, dishwasher tabs and fabric conditioner - dropping a brand on these to save money :money:).

I've got a busy evening (helping a friend for a couple of hours and then a meeting to go on to after that) and out most of the day tomorrow (second part of helping friend out). It should keep me out of the shops at least !

I also have an appointment at the Docs this pm - burnt my foot on an apple pie a few days ago , dropped it coming out of the oven and I have myself 2 lovely huge blisters, one looks a bit yuk after bursting so going to get it checked out (hope no one is squeemish ! :eek:).

So, need to be super-organised for dinner tonight. Meatloaf, mash and veg - will prep meatloaf this morning so it's just got to be re-heated, DD can pop the potatoes/veg on while I'm at docs cause we need to be eating at 5pm !

Ebay parcels are being posted today too so I'll know exactly how much 'profit' I made. I'm in two minds ......... to put towards c/c or put towards winter wardrobe (I have no winter clothes yet:eek:, last year's don't fit due to weight ). Head tells me c/c as I think the £20-odd wouldn't get me many clothes anyway. Ho hum, decisions, decisons !

Right off to mop kitchen floor, have a great day everyone ......... hope those of you getting the 'tax' letters it's good news and not bad xx (ohhh wonder if we'll get one ????) :think:

majjak

Morning from the land of majjak

Phew, I've had a busy week !

Mainly flyladying but the house is lovely and clean now, ready for a nice relaxing weekend. It's our annual Town Show tomorrow afternoon so we'll be heading down to the green for a free afternoon of entertainment (some things not free but the kids have their pocket money for those ). Having lunch at home but I might have to buy a cake for afternoon tea while I'm there.

I have spent quite a bit this week but I've saved money where at all possible:

New Coat for me - £85 (I know that seems a lot but living by the sea, we need decent coats for the winter months). Had a £10 off voucher and free del so came to £75 in the end. Still have to buy DDs coats but they haven't seen one they like yet.

I managed to book £9 sale rooms at Travelodge for our annual Xmas jaunt up to Cambs - we can't stay with relatives as house is too small, especially with all the Xmas decs they put up :rotfl:. 2 rooms for 4 nights for 5 of us was £72 so I'm a happy bunny about that - we did the same last year, it saves us £100s !

Grocery challenge is still very much on track, helped by mealplanning and online Mr A deliveries. Kids are adapting well to their new packed lunches and seem to be enjoying the home-made goodies so I must be doing something right .

One spend that I really do feel guilty about is an osteopath appt. I've booked one for later today as my migraines have returned with a vengeance . I am on medication but it's not working (this has happened before when I've been on the same medication years ago - it just stops working all of a sudden). So, on the recommendation of a good friend, I'm going to see if an osteo can help. It's costing me approx £40 a time but hopefully I'll only need a few sessions. However, I don't smoke or drink so I'm trying to justify it to myself that way . DH keeps telling me you can't put a price on health and seeing as I'm laid up in bed for at least 24 hours when I have an attack, I'm hoping it will be money well spent. We shall have to wait and see I suppose ! The foot is healing nicely though, still dressed but it can come off after the weekend. :j

Have done a 1/2 monthly budget and things are looking really good. I may be able to afford an overpayment on the car AND the c/c next month - watch this space .

Right I've rambled enough, must go and get some kind of work done - not sure what yet, but feel like I shouldn't be sitting down doing nothing. Maybe I'll start tackling DS room ...... although I might not be out for a while :eek:.

Have a great weekend :beer:

majjak

Oops I seem to go AWOL for a bit there ...... nothing un-toward, just busy with life !

Hope all other DFWs are doing ok xx

Things plodding along nicely, debts are coming down, slowly but surely. I did manage to pay an extra £100 of the c/c this month :j but it hasn't hit my account yet so I'll take it off the total once it's showing.

No extra on the car loan but I'll chip away at that once the c/c is gone.

Ebaying is going swimmingly and I was given some clothes last week so I popped them up for auction and I made just over £43 (the person who gave me the clothes told me to put them on there so I have no guilt ).

Grocery spends have kind of gone a bit haywire. Mainly because I'm stocking up on offers - it's hard to stay within a budget if you're stockpiling . Lidl have recently opened near us and they've got some fantastic buys so I'm often found loading up a trolley only to get it home and wonder where the heck I'm going to put it :eek:. Baked beans, fruit juices and a fridge full of mull*r yoghurts are what we're living off for the next 6 months :rotfl:.

DH is plastering the living room at the moment so we've had a bit of expense there but it's all been budgeted for and paid with cash - need to save for the carpet, would be great if we could get it laid before Xmas.

I'll try and post a bit more often in future (not that I'm sure if anyone reads ) ...... first sign of madness you know .... talking to yourself :rotfl:.

Oh, and I've started my xmas shopping (sorryyyyyyyyyyyy :rotfl:)

romylou_2

Hi Majjak

Just to let you know that you are not speaking to yourself.

Im a Lurker and float from thread to thread.

I am toying with the idea of a diary, but this will not begin until 2011. I need to get this year out of the way first.

Loving your diary, keep up the good work.:T

Buffythedebtslayer

Me too I read! sorry I haven't posted yet, all looking good so far xxx