MF at last! Now for the £300,000 'Mansion' Fund.

earthgirl

Hi All,

Having a great weekend so far. The Austrian student is really nice and a perfect house guest. I spent yesterday doing a ms and tidying up a bit, and playing with Earthlet as I miss him so in the week. I am providing evening meals so cooked last night.

This morning I have taken the houseguest to the park and ride so that she could get into town quickly. I have then been foraging, and I will hopefully make some blackberry cordial and some chutney later.

I love it when the sun is shining!

earthgirl

Right well got side tracked by the ebay free listings, and now have 15 items on there.

I must go and feed ds, and make our tea and spag bol sauce for tomorrow, and if I get time, some chutney and blackberry cordial (if not they will get thrown in the freezer for a crumble).

Finally I will pack the bags and lay out clothes for tomorrow, and then relax!

CathT

Hope ebay sales go well. That's some decluttering if they sell.

I can't believe the Summer holidays are over, that means it's almost C*****mas!

gratefulforhelp_2

Thanks for the book tip.

earthgirl

Fab day had here. Really busy but managed to drop student off, drop baby off get to work, have a packed day of stuff to do, started lunch duty as well. After work pick up baby, do a tutoring class, pick up student, and then cook us all a meal. Phew!!

The good news is that now I have started tutoring again, I have got a bit of extra money coming in, and one of my students wants to up from £25 /week to £40/week, and as I am already there, this will be great!

The student house guest is leaving tomorrow and so I should get £70 from her (musn't forget!)

I am still quite a bit away from the £1100 extra I need this month, but I will see what I can do. I don't have to pay childcare as I have it saved up in childcare vouchers. When I get a minute I'll work it out, but I really want to go and relax now.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Brilliant efforts, you have so much energy!:j

earthgirl

Thanks, I sometimes feel I am really pushing things a bit far. Yesterday I got paid from the student, dropped her at the station, rushed around dropping the baby off and then to work, meetings, dropping the baby off with oh so I could do another hour and a half of tuition... I'd left tea for oh, so at the end of the day I didn't really talk to oh and I could count the number of baby cuddles I got on one hand! Boo. I will have to think of some other system to get quality time with my family on a Tuesday.

Anyway, today was much better. I had just one hour of extra tuition, no student staying, so now I can relax with my family. Still need to work out my projections for this month, to see if I can meet the target, but I am having NSD. Tomorrow I will do the weekly shop and am going to try not to spend over £15.

CathT

I wish I could do a weekly shop for £15 - I am popping for bits to top up later but know this will be at least £20. Have got a slow cooker though so hoping that will enable me to make cheaper meals.

I don't know how you fit in so much during the day. Remember a target is simply that, if you don't reach it, it doesn't matter but time with family does.

earthgirl

Thanks Cath - good advice. Coming back to work on Monday makes me assess just how much time I have managed to spend with the family. Although we wnt for a family picnic on saturday, with a bottle of wine followed by a snooze on the sofa I didn't get much quality time yesterday as I was working on OHs business and making a gift for one of earthlets friends (birthday party on Saturday). And then there are the chores to do, it just seems a bit thankless and endless at the moment to be honest.

I am going to try to plan my weekends a bit better so that I get as much quality time as I can.

On the other hand, I did a new tutoring client on Saturday, which should be a long term thing. I also cooked all weekend and didn't get a takeaway instead I made lovely pizzas and we pigged out! (ok not so good for the waist line). I also sold 7 items on ebay - all ready to be posted. I am enjoying my challenge but its a lot of work!

I over spent on shopping by £10 - bulk buy of breakfast cereal on special offer, an ice cream that we didn't need but is lovely and a big salami which will do us loads of meals with pasta and on pizzas. So not too bad.

Despite not wanting to take on more responsibility I have decided to take on half a HOD role temporarily, and for no money, just expereince. Who knows if I do it well, I might get a promotion, and it will stand me in good stead for the future. Trying not to worry about it but they are merging two schools in the area, and it could be ours, so job losses could be in the pipeline

Task for this week:
5 tutoring clients
List more stuff on ebay
Do work tasks and chores quickly and efficiently to allow quality time with family
Plan weekend activities
Finish making present for birthday party on Saturday (stuffed felt name badge for door) and make and wrap cookies.

Other things I'd like to make/do when I get a chance
Washable Baby wipes
Washable Baby hand and face wipes

Possibly mooncups? Is that too much information?:) ) I think that it would save quite a lot of money and is relevant to me reaching my target.

Hope to catch up with your diaries soon.

earthgirl

Hi All,

Work is manic and is taking over my brain, my body and my entire life!!! Courgette you are so right!!

Anyway, I don't have a choice, so I am trying to make the best of it an get as organised as I can. I miss reading diaries but I will catch up at the weekend. Knowing that CathT is about to have her baby, and courgette is living her dream with its ups and downs of not working full time, I feel I am missing everything!

We have managed the week on the £25 shop, and I plan another similar shop tomorrow. I have used tcb vouchers to get y 130 nappies for during the night from Amazon, and I am still using washables during the day. I am trying not to spend any money on ANYTHING!

House is a mess, but the money is rolling in - £120 from tutoring so far and £25 due on Saturday. I have been doing lunch duty everyday and cooking every night, and I haven't been late for collecting earthlet (£2 fine per 15 mins!!).

So onwards and upwards! Looking forward to realxing and catching up with everybody in a few days!