Juggling, Organising, and Holding it All Together - 2011

Triggles

Okay. DH's first day back at work today. He's doing a slightly different job than previously, and he really enjoyed being there today. I'm hoping this will remain positive. I think he got a big boost out of being at work again too. Feeling more productive, getting out of the house, not stuck in a rut. :j

Another basics item tried:
- basics cider in 2L bottle - not bad, we mixed it with basics apple/blackcurrant squash for cider & blackcurrant. Perhaps not quite as smooth as strongbow but it wasn't bad. And soooooo much cheaper!

Starting to make headway in cleaning our bedroom. It's generally the last room to be cleaned, so can be a bit :eek: but really making progress. Most of the summer clothing are put away for the season (although had to keep a few out for this warm weather we've been having). At least we haven't had to turn the heating on! :rotfl:

Starting to think about sorting things for Christmas as well. We're debating whether or not to make a Christmas cake (good thing DH brought it up before I bought the stuff for it!!), and perhaps try a pudding instead this year. I'll do some browsing of recipes and see what is available.

Other than DH back to work, things are pretty much the same. We're getting back into school routine. DS3 is firmly locked into the terrible twos :rotfl: which we're dealing with, and I'm trying to be better about money. (well, WE're trying to be better)

I purchased some soda pop as it was on sale. I try to either buy inexpensive store brand or on sale only. I won't pay full price for name brand soda pop - I'm too cheap!:D So I'm off to have a nice cold drink now.

Triggles

DH's last day of the work week today. I think he feels much better being back at work. He's certainly showing more flashes of a better sense of humour and occasional relaxing, so I'm allowing myself to feel a bit more positive. He rides his bicycle to work, so he's getting out and getting some fresh air and exercise as well. I'm glad he made sure he was ready before he went back though. He was off work due to stress quite some time ago, just for a short period, and he pushed himself to go back before he was ready and I think this has helped. Even though it has been more difficult in some ways having him home longer (too much togetherness LOL).

We put a few items on ebay, so I've been addressing the packages now that they've sold. Not a huge amount of money, under £20 actually, but it clears up some clutter and gets us a small amount of money in the process. Still have a few more things to put on ebay this week. We freecycled a couple baby items, and then gave away some baby clothing as well. It just isn't selling on ebay, so I figured it was easier (less hassle!) to just give it away. I'm putting together another bag of baby clothing this weekend (and I think that's finally it until DS3 outgrows more clothing!) and we'll probably put it in the local clothing donation.

I've noticed it's much colder today! brrrrrrrrr!!! But I don't mind bundling up for awhile. Not turning the heater on yet, as it's still comfortable inside the house.

We've finally come to a decision regarding our windows. We'd been going back and forth, looking at replacing them as we have to keep them locked when DS2 is home as they are not safe to have open around him (or DS3 for that matter). But after looking at the prices of windows, we've decided that we are going to purchase an small-medium air conditioning unit that we can use upstairs on the hottest days of summer, and just continue as we are. It's much less expensive, and we're hoping that in a few years it won't be as much of an issue. We can always revisit the idea of replacing the windows, but right now it's an expense we're not ready to pay out for when there is a more viable option. So we'll take our time over the winter, watch for affordable units, and hope we can find a good bargain over the winter when they're not in demand. :cool:

After digging all the winter clothing out, we've found that we have plenty of winter coats for the boys this winter! :j What a relief! DH & I can both wear our coats from last year as they are in good order, and since DS3 can wear hand-me-down coats that are in brilliant condition and DS2's coat was purchased slightly large last year, it's all good!! Plenty of gloves, mittens, hats, and scarves. The only purchase we're looking at is fleece lined waterproof dungarees for DS3 to wear on the school run, as he is in a pushchair (and is not horribly cooperative regarding the rain cover :rotfl:), so he stays dry. He can wear them under his big coat, so it keeps most of him dry and if he's walking and suddenly sits down, his bum is still dry.

I spent a couple hours in the A&E the other night. All I can say is "blue tack does not go in the ear"... and I said it repeatedly... to DS2... after he put some in his ear and pushed it in too far too safely retrieve without medical assistance. :eek: I'd like to think he won't be doing that again any time soon... but we've done some adjustments in his room to help avoid that again.

Triggles

Hmmm... how many times do we tell ourselves "okay THIS time I'm going to get it right - I'm going to save money and be good!?!?!" Yup. Most people probably quite a few times. I am no different. Turning over a new leaf, making some adjustments in my thinking and my time.

I've realised I spend far too much time stressing over things that are minor and not nearly enough time focusing on things that are important. It's so easy to fall into. But now I'm making an effort.

So far today I've done:
- washing up
- folded up dry laundry and put in basket to take upstairs
- school run
- to friend's house for tea and let our toddlers play for a bit
- stopped at shop to pick up a couple items
- took care of some paperwork re a debt that needed to be done today
- emailed a friend I've been meaning to contact who had surgery recently
- put DS3 down for a nap
- spent a bit of time cleaning kitchen, swept kitchen floor
- cleaned toilet

Feeling good about getting some things taken care of. Have some laundry to do, but it's upstairs and right now I don't want to wake up DS3, as he's been ill and not sleeping well.

Hopefully will be able to get more done as well. As soon as I've finished my coffee.

We went to Asda the other day, as there is a new one in our town. Did the price guarantee/challenge thing online, and it showed them cheaper. Do I trust it? Hmmm.... I will need to sort what is cheaper there and what is cheaper at Sainsburys as that is where our discount is. I guess that means familiarising myself with Asda's regular prices and sales. Busy busy busy!

We did pick up thermal vests and long johns for DS2 & DS3 at Asda. Those at Sainsburys weren't as nice, and prices were fairly comparable (not to mention Sains didn't have DS2's size, which was annoying). We also purchased a few jumpers (school jumpers) in other colours (green, grey, blue) as they are nice and inexpensive. We just need jumpers for the children to wear around the house (and sometimes out and about) and I resent paying £12 per regular jumper when I can get plain school coloured jumpers for £2 and £3.50!!

Triggles

Oh my god, I have a social life! :j A couple friends and I have gone out to bingo at the local club. It's lovely because it's a free bingo book. We just pay for a drink (either soda or alcohol, depending on how much you want to spend) generally, and that's it! Cheap evening out for the ladies! (And last night I won a tenner, so very happy with that!!) DH is quite happy to stay home with the boys (especially since I leave just after they're both in bed ) so he just relaxes at home while the boys sleep. This is the first time in years that I've managed to get out fairly regularly and just be myself! What a difference it makes in the stress levels!! :j DH is going out with one of his mates next week for the evening, I think he'll be glad of it as well.

I put my receipt information in the Asda price guarantee site, and got a 55p voucher to print out! :j I know, 55p isn't that much, but hey, 55p is 55p, right?

I'm going to have to balance my grocery shopping between Sainsburys and Asda. Some things are cheaper at Asda and some are cheaper at Sainsburys (when we factor in DH's discount). I'll probably get more groceries at Sainsburys this week as employees have a bigger discount this week. There are some products at Sainsburys that I prefer as well.

Oh, frustrating. We got a bill from the council regarding drainage. One of our toilets got blocked up. They're saying it was blocked at the manhole by wetwipes, which we don't use in the toilet (we use wetwipes when changing DS3's nappy, but always put them inside the dirty nappy and throw the nappy in the bin), so I'm a bit confused how that could be. But because they're claiming it was blocked by wetwipes, WE have to pay for the drainage and cleanup. £108 bill in the post today. :mad: No way to prove they are incorrect. Not a clue what was actually blocking it. We've had ongoing problems with that toilet since we moved in (which we've called about before). Unfortunately, I think we're going to have to pay it this time, but if it happens again, I am going to make a complaint. I'm going to have to look closely at the budget to find £100+, as it says invoice date is the 6th (over a week ago, posted on the 12th), and demands payment within 14 days!!! I've called and left a message for the person who handles this department, but apparently she's not back in until Tuesday (2 days before it would be due). I pointed out to the person that I spoke to that this type of delay of a week to post when there is a 2 wk deadline for payment is unacceptable. If they're going to delay posting the invoice for a week, then minimum due date should be 3 weeks, especially since the person working on this is out of office for a few days, so unable to be reached to discuss payment arrangements. :mad:

Anyway.... breathe breathe....

Doing my meal planning for this week. So far:
Friday: spag bol
Saturday: tacos for adults (later in evening), fish cakes and veg for boys (as they won't eat tacos anyway)
Sunday: roast chicken meal
Monday: soup (using chicken bones to make stock)
I need to prowl through the freezer a bit more and see what we have that needs to be used up. I'm pretty sure we have some pork ribs, so we'll probably have bbq ribs and rice next week later in the week.

More bargain items tried. These are Asda items (smart price or store brand).
Dr Thunder (supposed to be like Dr Pepper) - tastes like cough syrup. Not going to buying that again.
smart price bacon (£1.67) - the vacuum pack I think might have been overdone. It was welded together and came apart shredded, quite a pain to deal with. Plus I'm not sure but I think that's more expensive than the Sainsburys basics cooking bacon - so will probably stick to Sainsburys.

Ah... just sorted the tension over the council bill. Our water bill is due this month as well, and they're happy for us to pay half this month and half next month. Thank goodness! I HATE juggling things! :mad: But at least it's all sorted now! :cool:

Alright. Off to finish organising some paperwork, write a couple letters, then I've got to clean the kitchen and get laundry started. busy busy busy....

Is it too early to start playing Christmas music???? :rotfl:

ETA: Appointment made to trim the dog as well and get his feet/nails checked. And working on getting appointments for both boys and DH for seasonal flu shot (they all have respiratory issues, so need it). I will arrange to get mine at a local pharmacy for £5. Money well spent.

Triggles

DH & I had a long discussion about things last night. He is quite frustrated because all the debts are in his name, and as I am keeping track of the finances, he never knows quite where we are financially and feels like he has to ask before spending any money whatsoever. I can see his point, however, I explained that for the last year I have tried to get him involved in what's going on, but due to his depression, he hasn't WANTED to know. He's studiously avoided any attempts at bringing him in on what's up with things, especially debt stuff.

So now that he is actually taking an interest, I am going to slowly bring him up to speed on where everything is. We've talked about opening a joint account and slowly switching everything over so that our bills are coming out of that, then he has his own account and I have mine, for any separate spending of our own. It's just a matter of sorting it all out. It will just be a basic account, we don't want an overdraft on it.

Oh, DS3 is awake from his nap, so off to do things. Will have to finish up here later.

Triggles

Yup. Never got back to post. Busy evening? I suppose, but just relaxing a bit as well. Won a free fiver on a bingo site, and played it quite happily for a couple hours. Free entertainment and chance to win money! :j Plus DH & I were watching a bit of telly together, so that was nice.

I'm really pleased he's at least starting to take an interest in the household finances again. He's agreed that we need to sit down and go over the state of the finances and the debts on at least a weekly basis, plus discussing anything that comes up during the week.

DH is happy to work with me on the mealplanning as well. I had let it slide a bit, as lately it seemed whenever I took something out to thaw for tea, he'd say "well, I'm not really hungry for that, can we have something else?" :mad: Which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't asked him twice the evening before if there was anything in particular he'd like for tea the next night and he would just kind of grunt. So after a rather heated conversation the other day when he made some comment about too much food being wasted, I pointed out that if he either:
A- helped with the mealplanning and then stuck with it or...
B- didn't help with the mealplanning, but then shut up and ate what was cooked...
that it would decrease the amount of food wastage rather spectacularly! :rotfl: Point taken. He is now on the "mealplanning committee." :cool:

I am knitting again, after a horribly long time away from it. I used to quite happily knit jumpers and hats and such (a skill learned from my mother when I was about 8), but just haven't taken the time to do. Out came the knitting needles, and I looked on the Ravelry site. Wow! Lots of free patterns!! So I'm currently brushing up my skills by doing a simple patterned dishcloth. If it turns out nicely, I will try something with a bit more work to it. Slowly slowly....

I've also requested DH stop turning off my alarm in the morning. :eek: He's doing it to be helpful, as he gets up quite early for work. We've had a few late nights with the boys, and I think he's trying to be considerate and let me sleep in until 5 or 6am. :rotfl: But the problem is that then the boys are awake and I can't leisurely have a cup of tea and organise DS2's school lunch and book bag and school uniform. I'm running around trying to do everything at once. It's chaotic that way and makes me stressed. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of sleep and enjoy that bit of quiet time where I can drink my tea, organise myself for the morning, before the boys wake up. It just sets me up that much better for the day. So cheers to him for thinking of me, but he now has instructions to stop it. :rotfl:

DH is definitely doing much better going to work now. New responsibilities at work, less stress and more enjoyable job, same company, new hours that are much better for not only our family life, but for his meds as well, which is always nice! I think when you're off for something like depression, being off work too long can lead you to stagnate a bit, and make it harder to get out and such. Obviously I'm not DH, so not always sure what's going on inside his head, but he SEEMS to be coping well with work, and the return to a routine seems to be helping him. He made a comment the other day about how nice it is to be out and about during the daytime in the sunshine (not sure where he's seeing sunshine outside lately, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt ) so he's obviously feeling it's a change for the better. Personally I think his body clock could not deal with night shift anymore, which was making an already bad situation intolerable.

Coffee morning this morning after school run! Can't wait! Popping over to a friend's house that I haven't seen in quite awhile - we've both been busy with various things and are looking forward to having a catch up over a brew. :j And our little ones (DS3 and her DD) can play at the same time.

Our diary lately is filling up with appointments! And I still need to set up an appointment to get the chimney swept before we can have a fire in the fireplace. We've also caved in and turned the heater on - just in the mornings when we get up, so that it's a bit warmer for the boys in the morning. DS2 doesn't register the temperature changes - he can be cold and won't say anything, so we have to watch that closely. We have gotten long johns for both boys now, so at least when the weather is quite cold, they can wear them to keep warm during the school run as we walk.

Well, DS2 has been up for a bit, but being quiet in his room. He's now making a bit more noise, so off to get him sorted for the morning.

Feeling a bit positive this morning... been awhile since I could truly say that... feels good....

Triggles

Woooohoooo! I won £25 free on bingo, played with a fiver of it, and ended up £225 ahead! Cashed out and that is now being put aside to pay for Christmas! :j We usually spend £50 on the two youngest children, and £25 each on DS1, DD, and DIL. The extra £25 each for the two youngest includes a few items such as a new pair of pajamas (Christmas tradition), a few books (another Christmas tradition), and a few stocking stuffers. Obviously our older children are in their 20's and a bit past the "new jammies" stage. They also have children and families of their own, so they are not with us right at Christmas. Well, DS1 & DIL live a couple hours away, and while they generally come up and visit us around Christmas time, they stay at theirs on Christmas, and I fully understand their desire to stay at home on the day and start their own Christmas traditions. Besides nobody likes to travel on Christmas day - you're supposed to be able to relax!! Anyway, I digress....that's £175 each. Another £25 each for the grandchildren, and that's £225!! So basically children and grandchildren's presents paid for!

That's a rough estimate, obviously. If we find something on sale, it just saves us money which we will put aside. Then we generally spend about £25 on ourselves (as a couple) for a gift, about £20-25 for MIL, £20-25 for my mum, and then just postage for Christmas cards, which I will mostly make, although I do have one pack of purchased cards that I bought through our local RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association), as it's a group that provides horse riding for DS2, so I like to give a little back by donating here and there when we can. A little extra (perhaps £50) to the grocery budget for the month, as we tend to do a bit more baking as more family and friends stop by during December due to the holidays, plus Christmas dinner. So that means we still need ideally about £150 more. We can easily rebudget and spend less on everyone, including ourselves, and not add as much money to the grocery budget. But if we CAN, it would be nice. That puts us at roughly £375 for Christmas, which seems a bit high, I know. I will keep tabs on it and see how we do. Maybe I'll add it to my signature and see where we end up. :cool: So far I've spent £2.50 on that pack of Christmas cards.

Serious cleaning in my dining room today! It's far too overcrowded at the moment! A huge stack of ironing (which I was going to do last night but was tired and ended up avoiding it ), 4 pumpkins (bought for £1 at Asda as our boys and a friend's boys are going to carve pumpkins - with safety cutters of course - next week for Halloween!), a laundry basket of clean clothing to take upstairs and put away, and two of clothing to be washed. My poor washing machine is going to be running steady for awhile, and it takes forever for clothing to dry!!! Winter is truly here, isn't it? I have many times considered that heated clothing rack thing from Lakeland but am too cheap to buy it! Plus no room for it really! I will have to be creative about where to put the clothing at night to dry.

I think (yes, back to the Christmas discussion) that I will make a mini-goal of trying to spend less than £250 if possible. I can do a few things to work towards that - such as looking for pajamas for the boys on sale or perhaps at Primark. And watching sales carefully. I've already cut down somewhat on Christmas card expenses - unfortunately, I've had to go to a festive email to some of my family and friends in the states (postage is very expensive and adds up quickly!!), but then, I know that some of them are also trying to cut back, so as long as we keep in touch, I'm not fussed if they're not. It's generally the older generation (my mum, my aunt, etc) that we send the cards to. (improper grammar alert, ending sentence in a preposition ... to whom we send cards?? my most common error, I would say) And I will post those locally with a second class stamp and just make sure they are sent well in time.

Goodness, perhaps I overthink this Christmas thing? Surely I'm not the only one who agonises this much over Christmas expenses. I do lurk on the Christmas threads on the forum, but rarely chat on them, as they all seem to know each other quite well, and I feel that if I join the thread, I should be posting more frequently than once a month or so. :rotfl:

Anyway... off to ponder my strategy for cleaning today. Nothing so far other than: DS2 to school after RDA, and then clean when DS3 taking his nap. :rotfl:

B-J-D

triggles you are sounding so much happier in yourself and its great to read, keep up the great work and keep smiling xxx

Triggles

Wow. Another breakthrough. DH went out and had lunch with one of his mates and a couple pints. And he is actually looking forward to his mate's wedding next weekend. Still some arguments here and there, and low points. But at least I feel like we are slowly making some progress.

I think I need to clean out my laptop keyboard. It's not working very smoothly right now, and the space bar is a bit wonky. So excuse any typos today until I get that done.

STILL haven't done my ironing. MUST do it today. Although I've got all the gloves, mittens, hats, and scarves out and ready to wash, so they'll be ready to use as soon as they are dry.

I have a lovely recipe found online for a pumpkin guinness cake that I am quite looking forward to trying. We bought a 4pk of guinness (okay, a store brand, as it was £1.50 cheaper! ) and will be using one for the cake, so DH has volunteered (he's so gallant, eh? :rotfl:) to get rid (drink) the other 3. So he had one last night, and I think it was slightly memorable for him, as that was what his father used to drink (he passed away 2 yrs ago). :rotfl:

I'll be making a countdown calendar today for DS2 as he wants to know when we can put up the Christmas tree. I've told him we put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving, so he'll be able to mark off each day until then. And then after that we'll be doing the Christmas countdown. He loves countdowns!! :cool:

I'll also be getting the laminator out and getting some of his visual prompts done that we need to put up around the house for his use. DH & I had to discuss it at length, to figure out exactly what DS2 needed and where. We also need to put a toothbrush holder up in the downstairs bathroom this week. As I'm getting the boys ready in the morning, it's a real pain to drag them both upstairs just to brush their teeth when we can just as easily do it downstairs. Just makes more sense to have toothbrushes both upstairs and downstairs for convenience.

We've done the Asda price guarantee thing three times now. Twice Asda was cheaper, even including the 10% discount DH gets at Sainsburys. And once it was more expensive so we got a voucher and used it next time we were in the store. Interestingly, it seems to just be one or two good sales items that makes the difference. So are the prices better at Asda overall? Not really sure - they seem pretty comparable, just always seem to have a couple more expensive items that are better priced that makes up the difference. But I'm keeping an eye on it. Sainsburys has some basics products that are cheaper and better quality, as well as better supply and variety of nappies, which is important to us. So I'll still be doing some shopping at Sainsburys, as while price is important, sometimes quality wins out even if slightly more expensive. And of course, we're still entering the daily Iceland draws, so hoping to get more £10 vouchers.

More nasty articles in the Daily Mail brought to my attention about disability and mobility vehicles. God, I hate the Daily Mail for misrepresenting things so badly. We don't have a mobility vehicle, as we have our own car, but I hate the way they make it sound like they are handed out like sweeties for free, when that simply isn't the case. It's a simple exercise at demonising the disabled, so when the government makes cuts of benefits for the disabled, the general public thinks it's a good thing - as they think they're all scroungers. :mad: Which is just not true. The vast majority of DLA claimants are simply trying to live as normal a life as possible on what little they have.

Heating was on for a bit, due to very cold weather here, but went back off when it warmed up slightly. We are doing alright with it off for now, so will leave it off again as long as possible. I'm afraid that while I like to keep the heating bill down, I'm not keen on having it so cold that DS2 and DS3 have freezing little fingers and toes. We've put their radiators on higher than the others in the house, so they're warm at night when the heater is on, and put a fleece lining on their window curtains as well. If we get a bit chilly in the evening downstairs after the boys are in bed, we can always have a small fire in the fireplace. Well, after I get the chimney swept that is. Really need to get that organised.

Lots of things to take care of this week. Vet appointment tomorrow for dog to get worming done (free, but they give it as we have a credit there and they've got the worming stuff), trim for the dog on Thursday, doctor's appointment for DS2 tomorrow for asthma nurse and flu shot. Pick up DH's suit and shoes for mate's wedding on Thursday morning. Some time in all that we'll need to carve pumpkins for Halloween - maybe over weekend? Next Monday DS2 had a paediatrician appointment as well. Then school starts back up on Tuesday. busy busy week! I need to double check my diary to make sure I haven't missed anything!

I think I'll go online and find some word searches for DS2 and print them off. He really seems to like them - maybe make them seasonal. He's discovered a few Christmas sites that he is really enjoying as well, when he has computer time.

Still no phone call from NHS regarding DH's phone counselling, but I suspect it will be another few months, they seem to take forever. Dreadful! He still is quite resistant to going to a counsellor in person, as he's had a bad time with a couple already - first one said he'd benefit more from a support group in anger management, but after telling him she'd help him find one basically bailed out and told him "you'll just have to look around for one.." :mad: Second one said first that she could help him, then said she wasn't experienced enough and abruptly cancelled. So now he is not horribly keen on trying again. It's frustrating as I've tried to get him to understand that it was simply bad luck that he had two that were irresponsible, but he feels now that he is "untreatable."

Better go get some things done though. busy busy :cool:

Triggles

Okay, we slipped a little a spent money we shouldn't have yesterday. A couple small toys for the boys while at ToysRUs. We stopped there to purchase a new monitor as DS3's monitor has died - it won't recharge and we've tried using batteries like we do with DS2's monitor, but it takes 4 of the AAA batteries and literally EATS them. With DS2's it uses 2 AAs, and we have rechargeable batteries so we simply swap them out, while recharging the others - works pretty well, plus we keep some new AA batteries (a pack from Poundland) just in case there's a problem. I'm going to look into another battery charger and what it and some AAA batteries (I suppose would need 12, as we keep 6 going for DS2's monitor - enough for 3 goes), and see if it's better than buying a new decent monitor.

Boys are sitting here nibbling dry cheerios (for some reason they like it better), milk in cups, and an apple for DS2 and a banana for DS3. Happily watching Fireman Sam. I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. :rotfl:

I'm taking DS2 in today for his flu shot and to see the asthma nurse. I'm not expecting a peaceful evening, as he will probably spend half the afternoon upset over the shot.

ah, boys getting rowdy. So much for peace and quiet....:D