Combat the Christmas Crush with the NSD challenge

jintyb

Good morning everyone!

Well done Chris, that's some achievement, especially in December! Good for you:T
Thanks for your comments Spoon and Beanie re the NSD for yesterday, I am therefore going to claim it and my total is now 7! Quite chuffed with that actually!:D
Today will be another as, although there's a thaw on, I've no plans to go anywhere. I'm going to make a start on my wrapping today, have decided to split it into two lots. I get too overwhelmed when I try to do it all at once! I'll get the radio on and just get cracking!
OH is home tonight, yay! That's the London job finished, so after Monday he's on hols till 5 Jan. I've got lots of little projects for him to do, so he wont be bored;)
The other thing I've decided to do is enrol to become a "befriender". It's run by our church and it's basically visiting vulnerable people on a regular basis and spending some time with them.It's something I've been thinking about doing for some time now and I think this bad weather has made me realise how isolated people can become, esp if they have mobility issues or no family nearby. I'm looking forward to it!

Have a lovely day everyone:)

beanielou

boult~hope you are ok.
jinty~great idea.
Day 14.
Will see what the day brings.
Would really like to try to get out today.
I need more stamps & some bits n bobs & just cant keep asking people.
Need to go to the bank.

jintyb

beanielou wrote: »

boult~hope you are ok.
jinty~great idea.
Day 14.
Will see what the day brings.
Would really like to try to get out today.
I need more stamps & some bits n bobs & just cant keep asking people.
Need to go to the bank.

Hey, Beanie, hope you manage to get out today. Major thaw going on here, so hope it's the same with you. Fingers crossed for you!;)

cw18

All thawed out here - it rained all yesterday afternoon/evening, and appears to still be doing so slightly now.....

Finally figured out the rota at work for 20th-26th Dec. Store is closed 25th/26th, so I knew folks that normally work the w/end had to make up some (but not all) hours during the Mon-Fri. But when the rota arrived in the dept earlier this week none of us had our full hours. I'm contracted to 29 hours (Mon thru Fri), but had only been given 27 so my initial panic was I wouldn't get full pay. Bakery manager said we all only had to do a %age in order to get full pay, so I wouldn't lose money - but I couldn't see why I had 27 of 29 when another lass who works Mon thru Fri only had 25 of her 35, and the bakery manager didn't have a clue how it had been worked out either (the rota she'd sent down to HR had all been changed, so the reduction in hours wasn't her doing) As I arrived at work yesterday I saw one of our HR ladies in the locker room, who asked (in general passing) if I was OK - to which I replied 'fine, apart from getting a headache trying to work out the Christmas Week rota'. Turns out we all get full pay for working 60% of our contracted hours (which means I get full pay for working 17.5hrs), and anything we work above that is treated as o/t. So my additional 9.5hrs will be paid at flat time over and above my normal pay, so extra money in my next pay cheque (which is due on 31st) :T I also get to start a half hour late on the Wed & Thur - and on 24th I'm working 12-3pm instead of 1-5pm, which means I can check out all the reductions this year :T (the store closes at 5pm, so if I were on normal hours I'd not be able to shop)



Yesterday was a much bigger spend than anticipated.

Managed to get my TV from A!di. (As this was from my sealed pot it didn't count as a spend though.) Not actually convinced it's big enough for my living room now I have it up and running - struggle to read the menus from the couch! - and the sound is 'odd' compared to my old set, but I can return it in it's packaging within 60 days for a full refund if I don't get on with it. But I think it would be a great size for my bedroom or office/craft room (currently have one old portable set I have to move between the two rooms), so may just wait until I have the money for a larger one for the living room and then move this one upstairs. (My old one is a 21" screen, this one is a 19". A!di also had a 26" set left from an earlier offer so I checked the measurements of that last night - at £250 it's a bit out of my budget just now, but it's also too big for my TV unit anyway. Will probably keep my eyes open for them having a 22" on offer, as by getting from them it comes with a 3 year warranty, although the store manager at work has said he's hoping we'll have some 22" or 26" S@msung sets in soon - currently have a 32" on offer, but that's waaaaaay too big for my room never mind my unit ).

Whilst in A!di I had a mooch around, and also came out with 2 more Christmas pressies - and 2 packs of 4 pork steaks which were 50% off despite being on todays date (so £1.49/pack). These are one of DS's favourite meals (and I'm quite partial as well), so I thought I'd swap a meal the week he's home to use a couple (and free up something for me for later in my meal plan), plus gives me more in case he decides to come home again (or fills in some more of my meal plan gaps towards the end of 2011).

As I'd already spent I checked Whoopsies as I left work. Picked up a tub of Diane Sauce, two 'ready rolled' pizza bases, a pack of 4 coconut flavoured dairy desserts, a packet of bit sized brie and cranberry parcels in filo pastry, a family sized quiche, and a packet of 250g cooked ham. Total cost £2.49.

Hadn't been home much more than 15 mins when the window cleaner arrived for paying, so my purse is now empty (and he ended up with some of the 5p coins I've been collecting in my sealed pots all year) so he's paid up for this month/year.

Then I remembered I hadn't yet called my insurance company to pay for my home insurance. Thought it was due at 00:01 on 9th (which meant I was late) but turns out it was due at 00:01 today and my note to deal with it by 9th was so I wasn't late So that was almost another £350 spent :eek:



Today is another spend day as I've had a D/Debit go out of my bank, and I'm off out to meet some Internet friends (from the diet site) on Sunday so that will be a spend day too (bus fare if nothing else, but also hoping P/mark will have some fleecy PJs as I've not managed to find any anywhere else and I got my last ones from there). So I need to stay away from the shops tomorrow - even though there's a slim chance the cake I missed out on the other day will be in reductions, so it's gonna be tough

solventsoon

jintyb wrote: »

The other thing I've decided to do is enrol to become a "befriender". It's run by our church and it's basically visiting vulnerable people on a regular basis and spending some time with them.It's something I've been thinking about doing for some time now and I think this bad weather has made me realise how isolated people can become, esp if they have mobility issues or no family nearby. I'm looking forward to it!

Have a lovely day everyone:)

beanielou wrote: »

boult~hope you are ok.
jinty~great idea.
Day 14.
Will see what the day brings.
Would really like to try to get out today.
I need more stamps & some bits n bobs & just cant keep asking people.
Need to go to the bank.

jintyb wrote: »

Hey, Beanie, hope you manage to get out today. Major thaw going on here, so hope it's the same with you. Fingers crossed for you!;)

Agree with beanie, jinty, that's a great idea, think you'll be really good at that!

Beanie, really hope you manage to get out today, even if only for a little while, fingers crossed for you as well.

spoon x

IF

Good afternoon all :hello:

Spoony got my 8th NSD for yesterday thank you :A


Another Cartoon

beanielou

If wishes~I said yah to myself when I saw your name on the email notification.
I just love love your cartoons~thank you for taking the time to look for them & to post them

jintyb

solventsoon wrote: »

Agree with beanie, jinty, that's a great idea, think you'll be really good at that!

Beanie, really hope you manage to get out today, even if only for a little while, fingers crossed for you as well.

spoon x

Thank you both! Now that I've made the decision, I'm quite excited about it! I've sent an email expressing an interest, so I'm just waiting to hear from somebody!

Spent the morning doing a bit of housework and a bit of wrapping up, then I sat on my bahooky and read my book. No plans to go anywhere, so I'm bagging #8.:T

jintyb

After all this time - I found the other smilies:doh:

So its a :wave: to everyone !

beanielou

Hi jinty :wave:

Well news of the day is that I have been out :j
All Im going to say its scary out there!
The piles of snow are just awesome.
It was like in & out the dusty bluebells!
How long will it take for the snow to melt?
I went to the post office & posted some cards & a parcel so have made a start.
Went & picked up a few bits & bobs in Mr S (our only supermarket) & my mum paid :j
So NSD no 10 for me :j
10 in a row & never to be repeated!