Sorting through my rubbish

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

I hope you are all making the most of the lovely weather we have been having.

I have had my op, all went well and I came back to work yesterday after two weeks off. I ended up in the private section of the hospital, only 12 ensuite rooms with a dedicated chef who cooked whatever you fancied. Not sure why I was there but think my surgeon may have had something to do with it! It was lovely and I could have done with a few nights in there, not just the one I had! DH has been a wonderful nurse and cooked us some lovely dinners etc.

Money wise I have tried to be good. BUT we have booked a holiday for later in the year, just myself, DH and DD as DS and his g/f have plans with her family. We have got all-inclusive, 4* in Greece, flying from our local airport with transfers for £1000 which I thought was pretty good as I've seen the flights alone on other sites for £400+ each! I have got DD a couple of bikinis etc from Primarni in readiness but we don't need to buy much else as we only take carry on and pack light.

I am back on the budgetary bandwagon now, DD's room is done and she is listing any unwanted toys on Facebook, I am trying to clock up the No Spend Days for June and pay down some more debt. DH didn't use much of the food I had organised for while I was off sick so the freezers and cupboards are pretty rammed so I will try to live off of that this month, just get fresh bits where needed. last night we had meatballs, coucous and garlic bread, all from the stocks and tonight DH is making a korma again from stuff we have in.

Must dash as I have a lot to catch-up on

Have a nice day

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Hope you have all had a nice relaxing weekend.

So far this month I have not spent anything apart from on food, really pleased as I did slip off of the wagon in quite a spectacular way at the end of last month, too many trips to Big Town with DH and DD! Anyway back to money saving in earnest. We have been eating healthily and from stocks where possible, Friday DH made a yummy chicken balti, Saturday I made salmon with steamed veg, boile new potatoes and hollandise sauce and yesterday we had a lovely mixed salad with tuna, boiled eggs, mexican rice and loads of other bits, it was lovely. I need to meal plan for this week.

I have managed to pay an extra £550 off of my credit cards this month and hope to pay a bit more by the end of the month. I should be going back to my bit of cleaning for my little lady this weekend, that will be almost 4 weeks after my op and if i take it easy it should be ok. That will mean £30pw for groceries which I have really missed, I use the cash she pays me to do the shopping and have a transfer of £30pw set up from my current account to a savings account which I then use for holidays etc, I didn't cancel the standing order for the last three weeks so its been a bit tight!!

I need to keep reminding myself not to buy anything, I do think I am a shopaholic and I seem to need to stockpile, even when I have no money! Our cupboards and freezers are full to bursting, we have ample toiletteries, we all have plenty of clothes etc, I need to STOP!!

I have made a start of sorting through cupboards, I tackled the baking tins (threw out loads) and the cleaning cupboard this weekend, swapped them around and that seems to be working better. Thoroughly cleaned the oven, it was disgusting (I can't remember the last time it was properly cleaned:eek:!!) it gets a cursory wipe over every day but the bottom of the two ovens, glass door, shelves etc needed a good deep clean, it looks so nice now. I also deep cleaned the bathroom and tidied the lounge, so not a bad start. I helped DD sorting through more of her 'stuff', she is still trying to organise her room and parting with more and more of her belongings, which is great. She made herself another £40 this weekend by selling things on facebook, more money for her Paris trip!

Any way must go and do some work, have a great day

321 xxx

smallholdingsister

Glad your op went well.xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Thank you Smallholdingsister, recovery is going ok, couple of stitches haven't dissolved yet and keep catching in underwear (ouch:eek:) and a couple of small spots are being slow to heal but apart from that all good.

Things are a bit up in the air at the moment, hence I have not been on here for a while. A close relative sadly passed away last week and my husband is nok so is having to sort out the rather complicated estate/funeral etc. There is a property to clear as well. We may try and move into the property and need to market our house so we have been frantically clearing our loft and tidying inside and out.

All of this clearing and tidying is good for the spending though, so far this month I have had 12 NSD's and have only spent £49, mainly on lunches/drinks out to meet with people and Dad's Father's Day card and pressie. I am being really strict with myself about not buying stuff, especially after seeing how many bags we have taken to the charity shop! I am also going to be careful about how much food I buy as we will obviously need to clear the two freezers if we are moving. The thought of moving both excites me and terrrifies me but as the new property is empty we should, in theory, be able to move things across gradually.

So a busy weekend ahead, more tidying/cleaning tonight and tomorrow but a nice Family Day planned for Sunday. Hoping to get the house on the market by the end of next week.

Foodwise I have been using up stocks as much as I can, so this week we've had a lovely fishpie, using up various fish and colcannon (all YS to pennies) from the freezer, last night I just did the kids pasta with sauce and cheese (DH was working and I didn't have dinner), tonight we are having pies (YS 30p for 4 deli pies) from the freezer and fresh veg from the fridge. Off to see family on Sunday, doing a shared lunch, will probably make a crustless quiche (I have all of the ingredients) to take, along with a dessert from the freezer. We are one child down all of next week so will 'make do' as much as possible and eat up some stocks, especially if DS2 decides to stay at his g/f's, it will just be me a DH then!

Right, I'd better go and do some work

Have a lovely weekend

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

OK, so we have decided to sell our house and buy the place that we have been left a share in as it's bigger and has loads of potential too. So we have had a busy week, decluttering the loft and the house in general, bits of diy that have been put off and put off and generally sprucing the place up. I'm terrified of the whole moving process though and wish I could hibernate until it's all done.

So far this year we have taken 80 bags to the charity shop:eek:, not just from our house I hasten to add, some were from a relatives place that we have been clearing. We have also rehomed a few items to friends that we know need/want certain items and sold a few more items on facebook. I have been cleaning and tidying and shredding. I am trying to get the rest of the family to keep everything clean and tidy and presentable for viewings (not actually on the market yet but trying to get the trained). I've got some new bath mats and hand towels for viewings, reed diffusers dotted around as well and excess items boxed up and stored in the garage of the other property along with some of the lounge furniture to make the lounge appear bigger!

I have had 16 NSD's so far this month and only spent £79 apart from groceries.

No great money saving advice today, DD has been away all week on a school trip so we have just been eating up bits and pieces between the mad decluttering. Payday tomorrow and instead of repaying creidt cards I am going to clear my Argos and Next accounts, back to the credit cards next month!

321 xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

Sorry I have been MIA lately, had a lot going on what with the funeral, clearing the property etc and getting our house on the market.

Our house was 'launched' onto the market on Tuesday and we have so far had three viewings, on the whole positive feedback but no offers

I am finding the whole process extrememly stressful as I know how much DH wants this move to happen and I feel as though it is all down to me as he has never sold a property before and works shifts so never seems to be around for viewings etc. The kids think I am going mad with all the cleaning and nagging. I think they are right, I am obsessing about selling our house day and night and finding it hard to concentrate on anything else, its getting silly!

Financially I'm doing ok, trying to run down stocks of things in anticipation of moving, therefore, keeping spending to a minimum. I'm clearing as much debt as possible incase we need to remortgage (really hoping we won't though).

No great money saving words of wisdom to share but I will try and post more frequently inbetween the chaos that is currently my life!!

321 xxx

trixiepix

Hello lovely lady,


I've gone AWOL again!!


Haven't had the best few months but it's time to dust myself off and get on with it - I'm going to cram read your posts and be back in touch soon ☺xxx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi All

I havent posted since June last year, almost a year ago and what a year it has been; quick update;

We finally moved at the end of January and have settled into our new home well, we have had to have quite a bit of work done (boiler, flooring, drive, structural bits and bobs) and have done a lot of decorating and clearing of the gardens ourselves. Despite the new place being bigger we seem to have less storage and have got rid of bags and bags of 'stuff' that had been held on to 'just in case', it feels really good to have removed all of this excess clutter from our lives.

DS1 is out of the forces, moved in with g/f and has a reasonably good job sorted.

DS2 is off to Uni in September, in the capital, so bracing ourselves for the financial impact of that (less Child Ben, no maintenance and supporting him through his studies).

I'm doing my degree through a blended learning course and despite not having a financial implacation (work are paying) it is added pressure on my time and energy.

Money saving/menu planning etc have once again fallen to the wayside! I have continued with my savings pots and recently emptied them, I had £300 of £2 coins for DH's 50th birthday tcelebrations and £50 in my '£1 per toiletry used up' which I used to replace some of DD's clothes she had outgrown.

I need to really work on my planning/spending/debt repaying and saving. My finances will change a lot with DS2 off to uni and I need to be a lot stricter with myself and work at making regular payments to my debts whilst also allowing enough money to support him. Our bills should decrease as he and g/f won't be at ours and I can be a bit more creative with meals as it will only be DH, DD and myself to worry about.

I will start a spending diary again as that worked well for me, as did NSD and I will continue with my saving pots.

So that's me, all these years on and no further forward with my debt repayment:mad:. Something has to change.

321 xxx

GeorgianaCavendish

Hi 321! Your diary is very interesting - I love the idea of a "£1 for every toiletry used up" pot, I might pinch that idea!
Good luck with renewed spending diary
GCx

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi Georgiana - glad you are finding it interesting and I am not just rambling away to myself! The '£1 per toiletry used' pot works triply well for me, I have way too many toiletries so I am decreasing my stash, saving money and pampering myself all at the same time! I had originally thought the money saved would replenish my stocks but as I still have loads of items left I decided to buy DD some new clothes (she keeps growing:rotfl:).

Just been awarded the 7 year badge on here, which is great in many ways but also a bit depressing as it means I have been treading water for the last 7 years!!:o

No earth shattering gems of wisdom today, its a friend's birthday and I am treating her to lunch, so no NSD for me today.

Quite a frugal dinner last night, used up 2 large chicken breasts, chopped up with some sliced peppers and cooked in one of those bake in the oven bag things with spices etc (bought reduced - of course!), chucked all of the sad looking veg from the bottom of the fridge in the oven too so had yummy chicken with mixed roast veg. Served three of us amply with enough veg for hubby to take to work with diced leftover corned beef for a kind of Hash effort!

Not sure what tonights offering will be but had a bonanza shop in Mossies the other day, timed it with reduction time, got several pies for pennies, four pizza bases for the grand sum of 38p, some chicken breast strips and a few other bits and bobs to create meals from. I will have to do a lot more of this once DS2 leaves as with less of us to feed it will be easier to be creative with whatever I buy cheaply.

Hopefully I will update daily to keep me on track.

321 xxx