13 Moons ... ( *** Off, I'm Fabulous )

taxi73

Am sure you'll manage to struggle through the month.It's amazing how little we can spend when we put our minds to it.

Lula-Hula

Morning all & thanks Taxi,

I'm sure I will too, the proximity of DFD is what's keeping me on track. I know if I had another year or so to go I'd really struggle but scratching around for just a few months is bearable, especially when it's the wintery months & then hopefully we'll have all summer to play .

My original aim was to be DF before DD starts at High School. Back then I did have lofty ambitions to have a camper van & spend the summer touring about as a last venture of hippie infused liberty .... that was back in the days of only working from home though, so clearly I wont be taking 6 weeks off work now.

Still aiming for a camper van of some kind though. Plans for the boat have faltered somewhat as there is no way I could afford mooring fees & rent on this place too so the long term aim is to locate & capture/ensnare a suitable male with a boat instead .

I'll be catching up with everyone elses diaries later on ( sorry for being so lapsed)

List of tasks to follow ...

Lula-Hula

[STRIKE] 5 loads of laundry[/STRIKE] ALL DONE
Ironing

[STRIKE]1 x weights workout[/STRIKE] DONE

[STRIKE]1 x yoga workout[/STRIKE] DONE

[STRIKE]Hoovering everywhere[/STRIKE] DONE

Cheap [STRIKE]shopping trip[/STRIKE] DONE, but not cheap

[STRIKE]Charitize unwanted stuff[/STRIKE] DONE

[STRIKE]Source gift for DDs friend[/STRIKE] NOT NECESSARY

Dig 2 large holes for tree planting - :whistle:

[STRIKE]Make contact with the real world of friends & family[/STRIKE] KIND OF, BUT STILL HAVE MORE TO DO

[STRIKE]]Create more slowcooker meals[/STRIKE] DONE

Declutter the pile behind the sofa - ISH, MADE A START ...

[STRIKE]Clean kitchen [/STRIKE]& bathroom DONE

[STRIKE]Wash floors[/STRIKE] DONE

Lula-Hula

Did the weights workout - it still hurts, but now only when I'm actually doing it.

Had a lovely indulgent bath & realised that in future I should only use the tanning lotion 2 times a week - My legs are in danger of clashing with my red dress at the moment :rotfl:.

Decided against doing washing until after DDs friends has left - wet laundry on display is not a good look - roll on spring & outdoor drying.

Got myself a dress on as DD is doing a short performance this afternoon & I like to look a bit decent on the rare occasions I grace the school with my presence . It's the one I bought with birthday money from Joe Browns & I really love it & have worn it every week so far.

Transferred £50 from Childcare Account to Current Account so I can keep that £30 in my purse as emergency cash & for window cleaner.

Headed off to next village & the delights of Waitrose & charity shops. Donated some lovely soft toys, a pair of trousers, cardi & a couple of books. There was a sale on so I had to have a look, but the place was rammed so I wandered over to the other one & found a lovely Next tunic/top/dress for DD that was just £2.95. I'm fairly sure she'll like it. I early bought 2 pretty cups & saucers for £3 but they had a huge made in china stamp on the bottom which put me off a bit so I left them for someone else.

Then into waitrose with my very strict list attached to the clip. I got a lot of reduced items & a couple of bogofs but still ended up spending ]£25 on groceries, another £3.40 on household items & £2.39 on treats for the girls. Well, I say they were for the girls but the giant chocolate bean cookies were 3 for £1 so ... that was my lunch :shhh:s.

Rather scary total for Groceries ( including today's treats) is now £ 95.02p.

Having bought 4 chicken thighs, 8 sausages & with a pack of bacon in the freezer, I know I can make lots of slowcooker meals. I will prob need to buy more potatoes but we have tinned tomatoes, carrots, leeks & plenty of stock & gravy.

The optician called to say my contact lenses are now in - so will have to shoot into town at some point, probably sunday & may well do another Waitrose scout too for any reduced veg, milk & bread

Off to do some hoovering & put a coin in the sealed pot too

taxi73

Soundslike you've had a busy but nice day.

Karmacat

I'm glad you put the china back - you don't *need* it, and your budgets are tight this month. I hoofed it over to Joe Brown's website - and I've found **my ** shop! Thank you! I'm educating myself about clothes for the first time in my life, really - those are lovely!

You sound like you're managing, Lula - and doing it on purpose, what with home job not bringing in so much and wanting to be debt free so soon. So kudos to you, I think you're doing brilliantly.

Lula-Hula

Thanks Karma -

I am mananging - as long as I have fuel to get to work & decent food to keep us healthy we can live without the frills for a while. DDs life is so busy at school & with homework & clubs, that like me, she's happy to just potter & chill at the weekend when the weather's not great.

She enjoyed having her friend over yesterday ( lovely girl; genuine, polite but not creepy, eats everything & always says thank you) & has also said that she doesnt really want to go the party of this other girl next weekend. She doesnt really know her very well & isnt over keen on her crowd of friends so I'm not going to force her.

I've done 2 more loads of washing but am struggling to get beyond my pyjamas & into the garden to dig holes. Have a lot of slow cooking, meal planning & baking to do as well ...

I think my motivation is hiding under the duvet

fedupandskint

Thanks for saying this Lula - 'we can live without frills at the moment'

This is what I need to remind myself 'I can live without frills for now' - stop browsing amazon and stay out of the shops again. And finally missus - 'use up what you have stocked up and don't buy anymore until you run out' It will be worth it in the end to be CC and DF then I can work out how to do my house up and pay for a campervan!

Just needed to type it out to make it real, oh well time to start cleaning the LR while Ireland and Italy play

Lula-Hula

All the washing is done & I made a start on the baking but now have tray of burnt edged flapjacks stinking the place out :mad:

The windy weather may be bad for digging holes, but it sure is great for helping to waft burnt smells away.

Still half in my pyjamas & getting rather bored with DD who is just lolling about in that way that only the preteen hormonal can. Seems to be incapable of standing without a surface of some kind to lean on/against & is both stroppy, moany & argumentative all at the same time. Funny how on days like this I dont worry at all about the future & living on my own :rotfl:

As well as a No Action Day it's been a No Spend Day & as I dont actually need my contact lenses I shall not bother going into town tomorrow. Will get up early, do all the ironing (& Febrezing away of any lingering burnt flapjack smells) & then prep & cook & clean.

There will be a chicken casserole, leek & potato soup & something sausagey too - probably hotpot like the last one but this time using real sausages . there may well be another attempt at making something for DDs lunch box too. I'm starting to see the benefits of her using the cafeteria when she goes to high school ... must investigate the cost though.

I'm away to light a scented candle to vanquish aroma.

Must get a new oven, must get a new oven, must get a new oven ...

Lula-Hula

Ok, the aroma of burning just wouldnt go & further investigation revealed a certain unidentifiable dead & cremated item on the bottom of the oven. Nope, I'm definitely not an avid oven cleaning enthusiast & I admit it has been 'a while' since the last time ... :whistle:

The discovery of the dead thing created a bit of recycling dilemma; we are meant to put food waste into the green bin for weekly recycling collection, however this 'thing' didnt resemble any kind of food that either DD or I had seen, & as I used to live in Africa & she once had a school dinner I think we are fairly qualified in the forensic identification of food that doesnt look or smell anything like food.

We believe it may be flapjack overflow ( from the last attempt back in 2010 :shhh:) but as it was both rock solid & charred to the blackest of black & therefore almost certain to never grow mould or let off methane, we decided it no longer qualified as food waste & should go in the normal bin.

The formal identification over, I set about eradicating all evidence of the crime & the only way to do that was by washing down all the walls, cupboards, counter tops & the floor.

All this with the windows wide open but still our clothes, (ok pyjamas is actually what we were actually wearing) still stank so it looks like I'll be doing more washing tomorrow.

Eventually sent DD to bed & treated myself to an hour of yoga & then sank into a delicious bath with the book I'm trying to tear myself away from. Unsuccesfully.

There is too much list left & not enough weekend so the chance of crossing off everything is remote. Ah well, yet again I've learned that alcohol doesnt really agree with me much, it makes me very lazy in the mornings.

The wind is howling & the snow is outrageous. Not exactly true but the wind is howling & I just cant say one bit without the other. I offer a virtual flapjack to the first person to recognise that !!!!!!!ized lyric