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Forget Onwards and Upwards....Side to Side is much more fun
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Happy Friday,
I have no idea why but DD has decided that she is not going to sleep when she’s put in bed; it was 9pm when she finally shut up, hence a very tired little girl this morning.
Managed NSD #4 yesterday but today won’t be one; I’ve got bits and pieces to get.
Yet more tidying up to be done today in between school runs and work, DH is out for a few drinks after work, as he’s up in London he tends not to hang around too late.
5 days until DH gets paid, I can then get to grips with the new grocery challenge I have set myself and the budget for next month.
Have a good day everyone.0 -
Morning Tea,
Sympathies on DD not sleeping - mine was the same in summer, too much going on outside in the light evenings. The upside was that before she learnt to tell the , could have her in bed by 7 in the winter.
You know that I struggle with the groceries too, so am always trying to find a way that works to keep the spends low. How about doing a large monthly shop for all your store cupboard stuff like tins, pasta & household items & then just get your fresh stuff like fruit, veg & dairy each week.
Great that your OH is so helpful - I reckon you're a great team :T
Enjoy your weekend,
Lula
xx0 -
Morning,
Not done an update up until now as I have been waiting for DH's Payday, which is today. I have updated the finances and even though they are dire, I am determined that this month will turn out better.
I have set aside £400 for groceries and alcohol for the month and I am going to try and reduce this by the end of our month when DH gets paid again. Lula – If this latest tactic doesn’t work, I will try your idea. I need to go to Iceland at some point as I found their big blocks of cheese is cheaper than Tesco’s and we go through a lot of cheese in this house.
I have so far managed one NSD this week and today will be one too despite going food shopping and topping my car up with petrol (it’s included in the budget so I don’t count it). I want to try and get more in this week if I can but I am conscious that it is Father’s Day on Sunday and I must get DH something from the kids for it.
So I have been thinking about the future now the kids are in school and getting bigger and thinking of way of trying to reduce this debt further. I have been thinking about what I would like to do and what would make me happy and I said a long time ago that I would like to do something that helps someone else, after much thinking I have decided that I would like to be a Teaching Assistant, one aspect I thought about was helping children with special needs but will look in to that further before I finally decide.
I won’t be able to do the course until some point next year, I feel we need to reduce the debt a bit first, the course I have found costs £250 so I need to save up for it. My goal for 2012 I think
Right off to get motivated, have a good day everyone.0 -
Easy day at work for me today, the Year 2’s are round at the other side of the school today so our dinner numbers will be low.
Did food shopping yesterday and now I remember why I buy it online…bleeding nightmare! I got some food to last for the month and others to last a fortnight and the rest to last a week; I need to finish off the shopping today as I ran out of time yesterday due to a combination of work and the school run getting in the way. I need to go to the next town to go to Iceland. I think that I may do your idea Lula as I don’t relish going into Tesco’s again.
NSD achieved yesterday and I’m hoping I will get another one today.
Will update my sig once I’ve been to Iceland.
Have a good day everyone.0 -
Just a quick update before I go to work.
Iceland spend was £21.25 which leaves me with £152.93 for the remainder of the month, which if I am careful and don't go too mad should work out right.
Will update my sig later.0 -
Good work on the Iceland spend - we also get through a lot of cheese - I think DD must have been a mouse in her former life
TA for kids with special needs sounds like a great job, my sister does something similar & although it is hard work, very rewarding too.0 -
Yippee! It’s Friday, always a good day in my book :beer:
DH is on the lookout for another job, his company seem to be taking the pee these days; they made all sorts of cuts and took lots of things off their employees and instead of reinstating them like they said they would, 3 years later they haven’t and they are instead employing more staff and expecting existing employees to work longer hours for the same money; if he manages to get another job it is likely his monthly salary could increase by as much as £400 per month.
I have been reading back through my diary and it struck me that I seem to have become lost on my way, a few heavy and difficult months combined with not being able to log on has resulted in the credit card doubling since the beginning of the year and the house looking like a whirlwind has been through it.
I need to take control again and get ‘us’ back to or near to where we were at the start of the year, otherwise 2012 is going to be harder.
The credit card total has now been updated on my sig; I’m trying to figure out what the best way is to tackle it (I think it may still increase by the end of the month), I have been thinking of counting up the change in the demi-john and paying that off, in the short term I think it will help.
I am conscious that in August we have DD’s birthday, both kids need new uniforms and then Christmas is looming, bloody hell this year is going quick!
So after giving myself a stern talking to, it’s time to get back on to the wagon properly instead of hanging off and running to catch up :T
Back to Flylady will be a good start as will the NSD’s (I need more of these) and I seriously need to try and generate some more money, so will get back to looking at ways of doing that, I'm also going to cut back on the alcohol during the week again.
First things first get motivated and get the kids to school
Have a good day everyone.0 -
Quick update before I go to work.
I counted up the money in the demi-john and we had a grand total of £28, this has been paid into the bank and off the credit card.
I have been in to Boots and bought toothpaste and mouthwash, total spend there £13.00 so I need to adjust the grocery spend to reflect this.
Have been and bought wrapping paper, birthday cards and Father's Day cards using what change I had in my purse, grand total spent £9.00 as it is included in the budget for the month I can declare today a NSDHowever I do not have any money left in my purse lol
Had a lovely phone call with my mum, it's great to catch up with her as she's very busy at the moment. She has offered to give me the money for the TA course...I was a bit gobsmacked as I said she didn't need to but she said she wants to.0 -
Saturday and gosh I’m tired today, I think I slept heavily.
DH is working at the flying club today and as the weather looks fairly reasonable I think he may be busy up there as well.
I ordered and paid for my TA course yesterday after I spoke to my mum again to doubly make sure she wanted to pay for it, so I should receive it within the next 10 working days. The course will require approx. 1 hour study a day but that is if you do the course over a year, I’m hoping to complete it quicker so that I can get the qualification sooner. The kids school are always after volunteers to read etc to the kids, so I thought that I would speak to the Head and let her know what I am doing and see if she’ll let me help a few hours a couple of days a week to gain some experience.
Got a busy old day lined up for today mainly housework orientated.
First shower and get the kids dressed.
Have a good day everyone.0 -
Happy Father’s Day and Happy Sunday
Had a bad day yesterday with the kids, cue much shouting and tears; they are really testing me at the moment and as much as I love them, I hate it when they do this. DH came home early from the flying club due to not much flying going on due to the weather and he roped the kids in to clearing all their toys and rubbish out of the lounge and dining room as punishment and hovered through.
No further NSD’s have been achieved this weekendhowever I am aiming to improve on this, this week.
Fairly busy week this week, I have been asked to go in to work an hour early on Tuesday, so helps on the money situation.
My task list for this week:
Change kids beds
Get washing up to date
Clean glass
Polish
Clean bathroom inc floor
Clean microwave
Hoover through
Try and get some of the ironing done
Walk with the kids
Go through the freezer and try and concoct a meal plan for the rest of the month
NSD’s as many as possible
I really need to avoid spending anything this week except for anything essential but I figured with the housework etc it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
My aim for this week is to get the washing up done in the morning before I take the kids to school.
Have a good day everyone.0
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