Sorting through my rubbish

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Hope you have had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine.

Quick catch up with food etc, Chilli on Wednesday and put 4 servings in the freezer. Thursday we had a quick and easy puttanesca from the stocks, Friday I went out for lunch with my work mates and ate rather too much so no dinner for me and the kids just had food from the freezer (rubbish really but they liked it), DH was working. Saturday we had some of the chilli with nachos and cheese and yesterday DD and I went for lunch with a friend (2 mains for £10) and DS2 had some more of the chilli with rice (he had been away saturday night), again DH was working. Tonight we are having Chicken Chasseur which will use some of the chicken from the freezer and the mushrooms from the fridge, we will serve this with potatoes and veg from the fridge and freezer.

Had a fairly frugal weekend, despite taking DD shopping for wallpaper, I got off quite lightly, she chose some that will go well with cream paint which we already have and she didnt find any other furniture etc that she liked. We have seen a beautiful, large, solid wardrobe which is a return to a catalogue shop and therefore very reasonably priced and in a local shop, we have also sourced her bed through a local shop too. We had lunch with our friend yesterday, sat in a beautiful beer garden, we were good though and chose something from the two for £10 menu.

I did buy a dress and a pair of trousers in the sale at Asd@, the dress was £4 and the trousers were £2 and both were two sizes smaller than I usually buy and they fit me! I was so happy with that, must keep up with the diet!

I did a very small grocery shop on Saturday, just needed bread, milk etc. Did manage to get 6 x 10 wash surf powder at 82p each and 4 x 18 surf capsules at £2.50 each, I like the powder for all of our whites and use the capsules for darks. Always like to stock up when I see laundry products at reasonable prices.

The kids have gone off with their bagel pizzas and savoury eggs again in their lunch boxes, happy kids!

So that's me caught up, have a great day

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All,

Another beautiful day here, washing is out on the line!

We had the chicken chasseur last night (one of the 'bung it all in a bag' jobs that I bought on offer) and it was yummy, we had it with dry roasted potatoes and vegetables so fairly healthy too. Tonight we are having a sausage pasta bake, one of the meals DH can do really well, and again all the ingredients are from our supplies. DS1 is home for the long weekend and will probably have his g/f staying too so I will need to buy chicken, bacon and toilet rolls on Thursday, I have a voucher to use so will make sure I do a big 'monthly' shop to get over the £40 I don't need to spend anymore than that as we still have generous stocks of most things. If there is more of the reduced Surf I will take advantage of that. The freezer stocks are definately reducing which means if I see a real bargain I can take advantage of it.

Payday today :jso have made a £500 payment to one credit card, £100+ to another and will make a £400 payment to another slightly later in the month. It is a scary amount of money going out which I culd be doing really nice things with but I got myself in this hole and now is the time to crawl my way out of it. This will make things tight but doable I think and I have my emergency fund to dip into should I need to. Feels good to be addressing things and I feel positive this month. I started making the 'odd penny' transfers to my online credit card yesterday and will do that each day, nibbling away at the balance, the nice thing about that one is that I can see the balance reducing daily and its very tempting to 'just pay off a bit more' to get the balance below the next £100. Hoping the psychology works!

Following my spends at the weekend, I have already completely spent my budget for clothes this year (£260). However, for that I have got 30 items, including a new smart winter coat (75% off), long leather boots (75% off), several cashmere and merino blend cardigans with big reductions, 2 cashmere scarves, long leather gloves, sheepskin slippers and pjs and underwear. I am happy that the items I have got compliment my existing wardrobe and are good quality for what I have paid. Several items are in smaller sizes that I would previously bought (including the winter coat) and are snug now but should fit nicely in the coming months. I certainly don't need summer clothes but may need some more ballerina shoes in due course. I will attempt to sell some of my existing shoes etc to generate funds to cover this and any others items I may need by the end of the year to ensure my net budget is £260.

So thats today, payday, money in, money out and a NSD!:T

Enjoy the sunshine

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Morning everyone

Another glorious sunny morning here.

Had a really good day yesterday, NSD despite it being payday. Hubby cooked dinner from stores, which was delicious, he suggested getting garlic bread to accompany it but I said no so he made some of his homemade garlic butter to put on the bread we had. I think it will be something quick and easy for me and kids tonight, will see what falls out of the freezer!

I took the dog for a lovely long walk on the hills, was so clear I could see for miles but the wind was a bit chilly. DH and DD tackled a bit more sorting out in her room, we are at the stage where we can start getting rid of her old furniture (some of which is the baby furniture from her nursery!). DH is trying to sell it on facebook and anything we make from that will go towards her new furniture which we hope to source through a local clearance shop, the owner is really helpful and keeping an eye out for what we want.

Had a lovely hot bath last night after my walk and did a bit of pampering, hydrogel face mask, body exfolliation and moisturing. I'm not very good at using body moisturisers, but I am making the effort now, I alsways moisturise my face, neck and decolletage so why not my body?? I have bought some soap nets, you place a bar of soap inside and they produce the most beautiful lather, I have heaps of soap so the £1 spent on 10 nets should help me use up the bars rather than buying body washes. I have put another £1 in my tin for the used up face mask and there will soon be another £1 for an S&G bubble bath that has about 1 more use in it.

I had a lovely surprise this morning, finally got below another stone, I've been plateaued at one or two pounds above the stone for a couple of weeks and today I was one pound below it, happy days:j I need to keep up the momentum now, lots of walking and exercises to keep it shifting. I have also been taking Inul!n since 18/4 (as recommended by Angela Rippon on the tv recently) so that may be helping.

Must go as have an appointment due, have a great day all

321 xxx

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Hi well done on weight loss

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Thanks for the message BEAT THE DEBT, I'm really pleased a bit more weight has finally gone, has given me added motivation.

I am off to Birmingham tomorrow for a days training, need to leave home before 6am to drive 25 country miles to Big Town station to catch by train at 7am and won't be back home until 10pm! It should be worth it though. I have been ultra organised, have my change sorted for the station car park and have been and bought fruit, baby sweetcorn, carrot batons etc plus a couple of treats some brioches, marmite cheese bites and rice crackers and so that I have enough for breakfast on the train, lunch at training and dinner on the train coming home, saving expensive food and drink at the station plus I know what calories I will be having.

I put a large spagetti bolognaise in the in the slow cooker this morning before work, bulked out lean mince with grated carrot and lentils along with the usual mushrooms and onions, it will feed DD and I tonight and DH, DD and DS2 tomorrow while I am away, one less thing for DH to think about. Last night DD and DS2 just had beans and cheese on some Tiger bloomer toast, I had some lovely crusty bread with some Blacksticks Blue Cheese and a large glass of red wine, I needed it! And despite not taking the dog for a long walk I was still under my calorie allowance for the day and felt much better for my indulgence! Tonight I need to walk the dog, prepare for tomorrow and have a bath as well as encouraging DD to tidy her room some more, good job dinner is organised!

I have again done my 'odd pennys' transfer to my credit card, little by little I will clear this debt.

I wont be posting tomorrow but will try and update over the weekend. No great plans as I am oncall all weekend so will see my 'little lady' on Saturday, probably a grocery top-up after that and then some much needed tidying and organising at home. DS1 will be around and I have to do the airport run on Monday afternoon, I'm hoping the traffic won't be too bad. I plan a couple of nice long dog walks and some quality time with the kids.

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All,

Hope you have all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, I have as I had all of the children home, including the girlfriends, I love having them all under my roof.

I have been very good and frugal despite it being payday last week and me going to Birmingham on Friday! I took my food with me and ate breakfast on the train, Fresh fruit, chocolate chip brioche and a coffee. I had packed a lunch but the trainer said we could have a panini, cake and a drink from their cafe so I had a chicken and pesto panini and carrot cake which was a lovely treat. I was going to eat some of my lunch on the train home but wasnt really hungry so treated myself to a Starbuck Chai Latte instead, got them to put it in my travel mug which saved 50p PLUS kept it hot so it lasted for most of the 2 hour journey home. I was very restrained around the shops in Brum too, spent £7 in B&Ms and £5 in St*re21 on a bag DD wanted to match her suitcase ready for her trip to Paris, I couldnt get the bag in our local stores. I haven't bought anything else over the weekend so quite pleased with myself.

Saturday I went and saw my little lady and then we went and ordered DDs new carpet, a friend will supply the underlay and fit the carpet so that helps. Took the dog for a nice long walk on the hills. DS1 and his girlfriend were going to cook us dinner but they got caught in traffic on the motorway so we all chipped in for a chinese when they got home. Sunday morning I made everyone bacon and egg baps for brunch (I just had 2 bacon rashers, no egg or bread) and then didnt eat again til dinner when DD and I ate up the left over chinese (we were the only ones at home). Yesterday we had YS Croissants and Pain au chocolate for breakfast, I made chicken and bacon pasta for lunch (all from stocks) before taking DS1 to the airport for his flight back to base. The traffic was horrendous! By the time we got back we were all tired so I just had some baby sweeetcorn and houmous for dinner, the kids made themselves a sandwich each.

I havent done a food plan this week so need to look at that. There is a large chicken breast left over from the pasta so the kids can have that in a curry tonight (hubby and I are out with friends, payment for him doing some electrical work for us, only 'Spoons but will be nice to catch-up).

We are making headway with DDs bedroom, she has been selling some of her things on Faceb00k and sold her collection of Monster High dolls for £80 yesterday, she is very happy! We have the plasterer coming tonight to price up her ceiling, just a reskim so I'm hoping it won't be too extortionate!

I am keen to get the house clean and tidy in the next two weeks as my op is on 16th and I know hubby just won't see the dirt and mess and it will drive me mad whilst I am recupperating and unable to do anything!

I have a couple of birthdays this month so will check my present stash and see what I have that is suitable. I am also going to donate a lot of little 'filler' gifts I have to the local foodcupboard for them to use in their Xmas boxes as they are so helpful to my clients it will be nice to give something back.

Must go now, enjoy the rest of your day

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Another glorious morning here.

We didn't meet up with friends last night in the end, so DH cooked us all a lovely curry with peshwari naans (YS from the freezer) and then I walked the dog and called on a friend for a glass of wine and a catch-up, back home for a nice bubble bath, face mask and dyed my hair. Hair cuts booked for Thursday evening, we go to a friend and she only charges £18 for me and DD.

DH and DD have boxed up what is left of DDs room, including her clothes as the plasterer is coming to do the ceiling on Friday (£300 as it need re boarding, more than I had hoped to pay but it would be a shame to do the room and have the ceiling let it down). We have told DD she may have to make do with her hanging rail for a while longer rather than a new wardrobe.

I have made my 'odd penny' transfers again this morning so another £1.08 paid off of the credit card. I also received a 20 mth 0% bal transfer offer this morning so will make use of that, just need to work out which card to tansfer the balance from.

My op is less than two weeks away and there is so much I need to do before then as I want the house clean and organised (apart from DDs room obviously! I will also do a meal plan for DH for the two weeks or so I am recupperating, otherwise he will go and spend a fortune rather than using the food we already have.

Dinner tonight is spagetti and meatballs, some 'posh' fennel and chilli meatballs YS last night to 49p! We will use one pack tonight and there is another pack in the freezer. I did well last night, only popped in for milk and bananas but as well as the meatballs I got 2 packs of cod steaks for 49p and a pack of fish pie mix for 45p, there was a tub of breadcrumbs reduced to 25p so guess what I'll be making, yeap fishcakes! I love it when I get some real bargains to pop in the freezer.

Nothing more to add other than I wish I was out in the sunshine rather than sat in my office, but hey, gotta pay the bills somehow!

Have a great day

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Not so sunny here today but the forecast is for temperatures up to 20 degrees!

We were up early this morning to finish emptying DDs bedroom ready for the plasterers, they arrived at 8am! I'm glad I am at work and have left DH to it. We are going to start the decorating this weekend and the carpet fitter is booked for midday Thursday so not a lot of time to get it done. This means that next weekend we can put everything back in her room and I can clean and organise the lounge etc prior to my op. DH can then sort out the new bed, blinds etc whilst he is home looking after me! The local discount shop have sorted out the daybed DD wanted with a trundle at an absolute bargain price which means I can afford to get her two new mattresses for it (her mattress was secondhand with her old bed and DS2 used it before her so it is really worn out), they are also trying to source a wardrobe for us as the owner knows what we are looking for.

Dinner had to be quick last night between people viewing DDs old bed and us having our haircut; so I made my take on Burritos, a YS pork shoulder (£1.95) cooked in the slow cooker and then shredded with fajita spices and mixed sliced peppers. I mixed this with two packs of mexican style rice and rolled it up in wraps with some cheese and baked in the oven. Yummy. Hopefully DH will cook something for dinner tonight, there is plenty to choose from in the freezer!

After our haircuts I came home and had a nice soak in the bath with another of my bargain facemasks and slathered on some mango body butter from my stash. Quite pleased with myself as the haircuts are my only spend so far this month (bedroom expenses is coming from our joint money).

Must go as I have work to do. Have a fabulous weekend.

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Where has the sun gone??

So, the bedroom is coming along nicely, walls all painted with three coats, ceiling dried out really well, wash coat yesterday morning, I put the second coat on last night and Hubby is putting the final coat on today. Some of the glossing is done and I'll finish it later and then just the wallpapering tomorrow. Carpet being delivered tomorrow afternoon and fitted Thursday. Then the massive move to get everything back in and clean and tidy the rest of the house before Monday! I still need to order her new vertical blinds and decide what other furniture she is having.

Food wise I have been using up what we have whilst still doing my diet and trying to kick start my metablolism by doing the 5:2. Friday we had pizzas from the freezer (really naughty and definately not diet friendly). Saturday I made a slimming world crustless quiche with the new cheese and pancetta flovour pasta, it was lovely, we had it with a salad. Sunday I had a fast day so I made everyone bacon and egg muffins for brunch but only had two rasher of bacon myself. Then they had pepperoni and cheese potato skins (YS to 19p per pack) with salad for dinner Yesterday I did a full roast dinner with a huge pork loin (YS to £3.49), stuffing, yorkies etc, it was delicious. We only used half of the pork so hubby can make a curry or sweet and sour with the rest on Wednesday. Tonight we have fishpie, using some of my YS fish from last week, I par boiled extra potatoes last night while doing the roast so they are mashed and in the fridge ready to top the fish. I also cooked some of DDs pizza twists for her lunches and made a mexican bean pie to be sliced and taken for packed lunches. The pie is a receipe I used to make years ago but lost, while we were sorting out the loft recently I found some old recipe books and rediscovered this one.

I have had 6 no spend days so far this month, Saturday was my friends birthday drinks, we had a our haircuts last week and yesterday was my pre-op in Big Town so I had a coffee with DS2 before he went to college and I went to my appointment. So pretty pleased with myself so far.

I've had to find 3 birthday gifts this week and luckily they were all in my stash, bought in the sales with these people in mind, cards and wrap in the stash too, happy days. We have a wedding at the end of the month but I think they would like Euros for their honeymoon so thats easy.

Must go, I have a busy week at work as I need to leave everything as up together as I can for while I'm on sick leave.

Have a great day

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Just a quick catch-up.

I have made a list of meals for DH to cook for the next two weeks and details of where to find the ingredients. There is plenty of food in the freezers and cupboards that he should not have to go out and buy anything, apart from the fresh bits ie bread and milk.

We are having more fish pie tonight and pork curry tomorrow. Possibly salmon and broccoli pasta on Friday and no idea what over the weekend, think DH may do us a steak on Sunday prior to my op.

I did the glossing last night in DD's room so tonight is wallpapering and then tomorrow a friend is coming to fit the carpet plus I think DH is going to arrange delivery of the new bed. I can't wait to get everything put back in the room, I am fed up of the house being in uproar and am itching to give the lounge a really good clean. I also need to tidy our room and organise some easy clothes for after my op.

I'm going to have a pampering session after the papering, nice hot bath, face mask, body butter, the works! I need to sort my overnight bag for the hospital too.

Well that's it for today, nothing ground breaking to report!

321 xxx