Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Well surprisingly the problem eBay buyer has turned out not to be a problem after all and we've arranged pick-up and payment in cash at the end of the week.

Not much has happened on the money front, although eBay is still going strong so I should be able to add to savings pots at the end of the month. Still haven't got very far on OnePoll - only up to £37.40 but should be able to hit the £40 pay out by the end of the month (fingers crossed!).

Feel like I've lost my organising and decluttering mojo. having a real CBA day, bit of a CBA week really. Generally feeling a bit despondent about everything - money, house sale, not socialising the children enough. I'm going a bit stir crazy stuck in on my own with the children for 10 hours a day and walking around our tiny village just doesn't help I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon but it's really draining, feeling like this.

claireforest

hey, thats great about e-bay- ive never sold on e-bay before, thinking bout doing a car boot though. ive joined one poll and im almost up to £4.00 so thanks for letting me still that idea lol i joined a few others aswell.

i know how you feel about living in a village and feeling stuck- im feeling really lonely at the moment- ds is 18 weeks old and we have a good routine going but when we go anywhere it messes him up completely, also i live in a village and cause we are trying to save money we have one car which oh has most days but even when i have it i dont want to use the petrol, so i am staying in and not going anywhere- because i feel like this my diet has gone out the window and the house is a mess- no motivation, i have joined the flylady thread and managed one day- small steps and im making myself go to a baby group on thursdays.

from your posts your doing really really well with decluttering- so its ok to have some time off and im sure you'll get your mojo back soon

White_Iris

claireforest wrote: »

hey, thats great about e-bay- ive never sold on e-bay before, thinking bout doing a car boot though. ive joined one poll and im almost up to £4.00 so thanks for letting me still that idea lol i joined a few others aswell.

You're welcome;)

claireforest wrote: »

i know how you feel about living in a village and feeling stuck- im feeling really lonely at the moment- ds is 18 weeks old and we have a good routine going but when we go anywhere it messes him up completely, also i live in a village and cause we are trying to save money we have one car which oh has most days but even when i have it i dont want to use the petrol, so i am staying in and not going anywhere- because i feel like this my diet has gone out the window and the house is a mess- no motivation, i have joined the flylady thread and managed one day- small steps and im making myself go to a baby group on thursdays.

This could be me exactly! Same with the car, the routine, the petrol! Except we don't even have a baby group in our village, there might be one starting in September, maybe! DH works hard but I don't think he quite understands what it's like to be speak to no-one, have almost constant noise in your ear and do nothing except childcare for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week! He teases me for having the TV on/being on the computer all the time during the day but he just doesn't get how lonely it is!

White_Iris

One eBay problem resolved another begins. An item has turned up damaged - not high value but the thought of having to resolve a problem and a potential conflict makes my stomach knot -up. The buyer seems quite amicable but he's stalling sending me a photo of the damage so I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it works out.

claireforest

White_Iris wrote: »

This could be me exactly! Same with the car, the routine, the petrol! Except we don't even have a baby group in our village, there might be one starting in September, maybe! DH works hard but I don't think he quite understands what it's like to be speak to no-one, have almost constant noise in your ear and do nothing except childcare for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week! He teases me for having the TV on/being on the computer all the time during the day but he just doesn't get how lonely it is!

how old are your children? my baby group isnt in the village but its bout 30 mins walk or 5 mins in the car- but im forcing myself to go. I know what you mean about dh's- mine works really hard and even works some evenings and weekends which is great cause we need the money but then i get no break from ds(who i love completely) but i do need some not incharge of him time and my dh doesnt really understand that. i do feel bad though because he works so much its my job to cook and keep the house but i cant be bothered i just cant... its so much easier to sit on here and watch tv and i know it all needs doing but whats the point, i have friends but its kinda outta sight out of mind- i dont see them at work so they have kinda forgotten me, and even on the internet i seem to be talking to myself half the time.

thats the reason i dont sell on e-bay id be worried about stuff going wrong and conflict and stuff- im such a wimp lol

White_Iris

claireforest wrote: »

how old are your children? my baby group isnt in the village but its bout 30 mins walk or 5 mins in the car- but im forcing myself to go.

I've got twins who are nearly 13 months old. They are quite well behaved, I think I could have had it a lot worse, but it is exhausting. My nearest group is in our nearest town which is about 10 miles away across a busy A-road - not walkable sadly!

claireforest wrote: »

i have friends but its kinda outta sight out of mind- i dont see them at work so they have kinda forgotten me, and even on the internet i seem to be talking to myself half the time.

Most of my friends still work and have their own cars so aren't really in the same situation as me. Plus they're spread out all across the county so we don't really see each other except at weekends. We've got no family nearby so it really us me on my own almost all the time:eek:

claireforest wrote: »

thats the reason i dont sell on e-bay id be worried about stuff going wrong and conflict and stuff- im such a wimp lol

TBH I've only ever had one other problem with something I've sold and that was sorted out easily - hopefully this will be as well. It's not something that I usually sell and after this I won't be selling anything like it again!

claireforest

your lucky- my ds seems to be hardwork and your right it is exhausting! shame about not being able to walk to the group. i dont want to go back to work but i didnt realise how lonely i would feel.

some of my friends drive but they can afford to go out and they can afford to drive places and tbh there is only so many times they will come to my house so we are slowly losing contact. maybe id be happier going back to work and having more money but i really really dont want to- i had my son to look after myself and that was always my plan. childcare cost so much aswell!

White_Iris

claireforest wrote: »

maybe id be happier going back to work and having more money but i really really dont want to- i had my son to look after myself and that was always my plan. childcare cost so much aswell!

We decided a long time before we had the twins that I'd stay at home and once we worked out how much childcare for two babies would cost we quickly realised that I couldn't afford to go back to work at my old job (I was only working part-time). I sometimes think about getting a new, full-time job (more social contact and more money would be great) but, like you, I don't want someone else to bring up my children and I think that I'd actually have less free time trying to squeeze in time with the children and household chores around the time I'm not working.

White_Iris

Another broken eBay item...that's it, I'm never selling anything breakable again! I'm sticking to nothing but baby clothes from now on!

White_Iris

Not feeling good this morning, in fact feeling very sad and guilty :-( DD is currently obsessed with one of our dogs who really deserves a quite life without constant poking and prodding from a one year old. The dog is becoming increasingly snappy with her (understandably) and although I never leave them alone together, it seems she actively hunts him out to harrass him at every opportunity. Our other dog is much more tolerant of the children but DD seems to prefer the one who wants to be left alone. The upshot is that the dog spends most of his time behind a baby gate in the kitchen (he does have access to the garden as well - he's not cooped up) as it's the only place he can get any peace and when they are together I am constantly worried he'll end up biting her the next time she lunges for him.

I know what needs to be done and it needs to be done quickly before the decision is taken out of our hands but I feel so guilty to thinking about re-homing him. I would ask the charity we got him from to take him back as I don't think it would be fair to give him to family as we would still see him every now and then and he would want to keep coming home with us. I'm in tears thinking about it - I'm being selfish but the thought of him going back in to kennels is horrible. He was waiting for months before we took him on and he's had a comfortable life with us for over 2 years now, I don't want to send him back.

I'm not really seeking advice, I'm just venting as I have no-one to talk to about this until DH gets home tonight (another downside of being at home alone - I go over worst-case-scenarios in my head, over and over and over again).