** Debtbusting, Decluttering and Married life by Mrs Orange Fairy :-) **

OrangeFairy

I definitely recommend the flylady thread Wendz. To break the jobs down and to make them a challenge!

How is everything with baby poppy is going well and you enjoy being a mum x

Well i really got my butt in gear last night. I was ready to sit down and read but thought i would clean the kitchen and do a little decluttering! I took everything out of the fridges, cleaned and decluttered the contents! Everything is nice and neat! My biggest annoyance for a while in our kitchen was the top of the fridge and it was mentioned on flylady to sort it. So i took everything off and binned all the rubbish and cleaned the top. All that is on there now is a neat box with cookery books in size order and the large water bottle we use. Also the magnets on the fridge has been straightened and are how i like them!

I also sorted on top of the units. When we bought a lot of smiroff ice OH put the 4 packs ontop of the units. It annoyed me that you could see them. So i took them all out of their cardboard and lay them singularly on top so they cant be seen. Then i sorted out one of my kitchen cupbaords and cleaned it out!

Getting there slowly! Thats 3 areas crossed off my declutter list. Got rid of 2 carrier bags of rubbish and a fair bit of recycling!

Booo to Next this morning! The PERECT dressing table was down to £60 in the sale! Was going to get it for DD2 for xmas! I knew it wouldnt be there by the time my slot arrived!! I ordered a couple of lightshades as we have been here for 8 months and still have no light shades in 3 rooms! Ordered the kids some cool wellies for xmas and then a couple of hoodies for them and me as we are low on jumpers! Ordered a pack of wine glasses and a perfeume set as cheap gifts to give someone!

Right i had better get ready - made a lovely loaf of bread last night so need to make sandwiches. I have been having porridge and soup at work this week which is fine but when i am the only one in the office i prefer something that won't be cold if i do need to get the phone!

OrangeFairy

**waves**

Havent been on for a bit!

Nothing much happening - just plowing on through my full time weeks! 2.5 days to go. And then i have earnt my 2 weeks off! woohoo! I will use them wisely.

My plans for the beginning of the hols is to declutter the girls bedrooms completely! I literally want to take everything out of their rooms and them sort it all back in - hopefully we will have a few binbags to put out! Then i need to work on my project to finish my AAT.Also hopefully we will get moving with sorting out the garden!

Hopefully will see what money we have left at the end of July. Then decide what we are doing with it.

We have a bit of a plan with MIL, FIL, SIL and BIL to take the kids to lapland next winter. Hopefully we will get a big log cabin to share. Would be great if we can do it.

Great parents evening with DD2's teacher this week. She is exceeding in everything and has had 3 headmasters certificates in 3 weeks. (she is 5) And here i was thinking she was under average

Went to see Harry Potter at the weekend. It was great. We took OH's son as well which as nice. Then we used our pizza express vouchers we got from Mr T to go for a meal. The kids had 3 course each, we have a pizza and a pudding each and only had to pay £15! Not a bad day.

OrangeFairy

Day at home finally!!

Except for popping out to take the kids swimming club later. Would be great to get through this week without spending anything on entertaining for the hols. That will be one week down ad 5 to go. I want them to have fun hols but not to spend too much. Monday they had a day with Daddy watching films and playing board games. Tuesday i babysat at my Mums house so they got to play Lego and run around the garden and trampoline with my bro and sis that are the same ages as them. Yesterday i worked and my Mum took them to my Aunts with my bro and sis to play cards and board games all day with our cousins! They had a great day. Today will be some craft activities and then swimming club. Tomorrow they are with SIL and FIL while i work. Then i was thinking the weekend we will bake some cakes and have a movie night.

Got an email from Music Magpie saying all our CD's were accepted and they are sending me out a cheque for £41.24 :j:j Wasnt sure whether to throw this at a credit card but then i though maybe we could use it towards activities for the next few weeks of the hols. We want to go camping, cinema, meals etc. Mixed with a few free/cheap activities like geocaching, walking, beach and crafts at home.

MIL and FIL are apparently taking us all out for a meal on saturday which will be nice. Though rather suprising for them.

Made a big decision with OH on tuesday.......we are not going to put decking in the front garden!! LOL. SIL and BIL lawned it as our wedding present! Such a great present as it has helped so much. We have a path that needs clearing and we are going to fill it with stones/pebbles and then add stepping stones. Then outside the house steps there is a patio area across the whole width of the house. We were going to deck all of that. But after a discussion with OH we decided it is going to cost around 200-300 and it is not our house and it is gonig to take a lot of work. Sitting out with him the other night with a drink in the sun made me want it done quickly. About 75% of the slabs are fine and the other 25% just need leveling. So we should be able to get it done in a couple of weekends and for not too much money!

The back will be harder work. It is weird but our back garden is more like our front garden. The nice size garden with the lawn overlooking a green is in fact the front of the house. Though only the postman uses this door. The way the house is situated makes the back where everyone parks so the back door gets uses all the time. Now that 'garden' is completely concrete with a dumping of slate stones and rubbish and a ugly concrete shed that needs knocking down. This will take more work as my Uncle with be paying for all of that. I just really want the front garden sorted so we have a garden to use. Looking forward to looking at stones and slabs at the wekeend. The back garden will just be cleared and tidied and then will have the wheelie bins, recycling bin, washing line and maybe some planters to grown some veg.

What a lot of garden talk!!

Right i am off - firstly to print 'register' sheets for DD's school game they are playing and then to clear up and clean the kitchen before i start the BIG declutter of DD2's room!! looking forward to it actually!!

OrangeFairy

Hello Diary-land

Had a good productive day at work today. So i am pleased

My aim for this evening is to do and inventory of the cupboards to create a meal plan tomorrow.

I also wanted to cross another declutter area off my list - even if it is only a small area. Will have a look through

Yesterday i completed the decluttering mission of DD2's room! I took everything out of her room. It was completely bare except from her curtains and her bed frame :eek: The look on her face was fantastic!! Then i sorted everything and put it all back in using the new under bed boxes. I went through everything down to her jewellery and checking all her socks and tights for holes!!

This has left me with a binbag so full it is nearly ripping for the wheelie bin, a binbags worth for the charity shops and about 10 things to sell on ebay. A good effort - DD1's to do now which has far more rubbish in it!!!

Just got my groupon code for a 20 inch by 30 inch canvas for £20 plus delivery. Usually costs £85 plus delivery. I have ordered my fave black and white one of OH and I from our wedding day. Can't wait to recieve it!!

We had a guy come round to quote on demolishing and getting rid of our shed. He is going to ring OH over the weekend. Hopefully he is not too expensive!

Update on declutter areas. DD2's room and clothes done

1. [STRIKE]cd's[/STRIKE]
2. catalogue shelves
3. [STRIKE]top of fridge[/STRIKE]
4. [STRIKE]fridge[/STRIKE]
5. [STRIKE]medicine cupboard[/STRIKE]
6. [STRIKE]underwear collection[/STRIKE]
7. my clothes
8. DD1 clothes
9. [STRIKE]DD2 clothes[/STRIKE]
10. cutlery drawer
11. Plastics shelves
12. Cups and glasses
13. Under sink cupboard
14. [STRIKE]Bread cupboard[/STRIKE]
15. Baking tray drawer and pots and pans
    
16. My bedside cabinet
17. Under the bed and linen shelf
    
18. DD1's room
19. [STRIKE]DD2's room[/STRIKE]
20. Bathroom cabinet
21. Bathroom cupboard
22. Under the stairs!!!!! :eek:
23. DVD's
    
24. Paperwork boxes - declutter
    
25. The garage
26. OH and my shoes
27. Declutter garden of rocks and rubbish!
28. Ebay corner
29. Coats
30. The dreaded LOFT!!! :mad:

Getting through it slowly!!

Spent only 55p today and that was to treat myself to some Werthers Originals!!

Need to arrange to pay back my Mum £150 we owe her from the wedding. Will sort this over the weekend. Also need to find a good priced present for my friends little boy who is 5 on monday.

OrangeFairy

What a grey sunday morning. Though looks like the sun is trying to crack through the clouds - hopefully it does and we can try and sort out the garden a bit more. Though OH was poorly last night so i have left him in bed. He may not be up to it.

Decluttering moving forward

Decluttered two more areas from my list - my underwear collection i sorted on Friday night and then the medicine cabinet yesterday. Getting there slowly. Not looking forward to the loft and garage though!!

MIL and FIL took us to dinner last night which was nice. We got the kids one £7 meal between them, i have a kids turkey and ham pie with chips for £7 (i know from experience this is a huge portion - i could never eat the adults) and then OH had a £9 meal. So we only cost them £23 for 4 of us. SO i am pleased with that. We bought our drinks but that made a cheap evening out for us. Invited them and BIL back to ours for cups of tea after.

Had arguments with DD1 again. We are clashing a LOT at the moment. She drives me mad. When MIL is around shes soooo rude to me. She does it under the protection of MIL knowing i won't properly tell her off in front of them. Ill tell her off but if i was at home she would be sent to her bedroom and told to go to bed. She wouldn't dare speak to me like that without MIL or in front of my Mum. At the pub she was rude to me. Then in the car on the way home i told her off and explained i was getting fed up of how she is in front of MIL. She apologised and hugged me when we got out. Then in our house with MIL she did it again 10 mins later! I was furious.

I am thinking we will have to find a way to punish her when she does it. She is 8 so i am thinking to withhold pocket money etc. I do think maybe she and I need to have a bit of quality time together on our own. Like shopping and lunch somewhere. I think is would help to enjoy ourselves together with no distractions. ...cos at the moment i much prefer to be in the company of DD2 and that is a horrible thing to say x

OrangeFairy

Oh and another thing crossed of my 101 list

Buy 50l good quality boxes and use them as a photo box and a memory box for the loft.

Spent a good 2 hours filling these boxes in the loft. Would have taken about 30mins if i hadnt looked through the photos!

OrangeFairy

It's been a few days.

Nothing huge happening.

On the 101 things to do in 1001 days thread i have pledge to do 8 things from my list in August!!!

So i have been concentrating on this. This morning i finished -

18 Complete a coloring book

Now i am going to concentrate on reading Harry Potter - last book

Money wise - i have had 4 NSD's out of 5 days this week and today should be another one!! Only spent money on thursday when i played badminton! Not bad

I am only working 2 days next week, then a week off, then only 2 days the follwowing week and then another week off. So obviously costs will rise as i find things to do with the kids.

SIL took the girls swimmnig yesterday so they enjoyed that. Tonight we have OH's son to sleep so i expect we will have a film/games night which will only cost the price of some treats.

Got £41.24 through from Music Magpie! Chuffed with that. Found out wedding cake stand in the car yesterday- i bought it for £45 before the wedding party but OH forgot to take it to the hotel and then when we got there the hotel had already displayed them all. So it is unused. It is 7 tier. I am in two minds whether to sell it. It would be handy to keep for parties and a space saver for the table but would like money for it. Maybe ill put it on for £35 and if it goes for that i am happy if it doesnt then i will keep it!!

OrangeFairy

Woohoo completed Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows!!! All 7 books read now! Have crossed it off my 101 list! Feel a bit lost now they are finished! They have consumed me for the last few weeks!

Oh and i got my exam results through for business and personal tax and i passed both!! All exams passed!! Now just the project to finish and it will be done! AAT qualified! (and i can cross it off my list!!)

Havent spent very much lately. I have been keeping a record of it all. I paid back my dd's the £15 i owed them. I have had 5 NSD's now which is great. Had OH's sone round saturday night . They watched a film on saturday and then went to an indoor play area on sunday which with a BOGOF voucher cost £12 + £3 for tea. So not very much spent.

Am off for a picnic with my Mum and siblings tomorrow as i have the day off. Shouldn't cost too much . I have next week off and i am looking forward to it. It will be a mixture of quality time with the kids, AAT project and decluttering.

My biggest spend has been £20 on a new diary. I love the organised Mum range. I usually get a new one for Sept to Sept to run with the kids school year. My last one was the pocket version but i have gone back to the large version of their 'Life Book' to really get me organised and sorted! Can't wait to get it. An unnecessary spend but my present to myself for my AAT passes :D

Done well with presents. My sisters' birthdays (twins) and stepmum's at the end of August. I usually spend about £17 each on the girls and £20 on my stepmum. I went to a well loved jewellers and found then a gorgeous necklace each for £12.90. Same one but one in blue and one in purple. The packaging by this jewellers is fantastic - makes the presents seem so much grander than they are. Then i got my stepmum a £16 down to £8 wine glass set in the next sale. I will add a £4 pound box of chocs to go with it. So i have saved £16 over the 3 birthdays. Good purchasing! I need to start planning ahead (with help from my life book) so i can start looking for bargains in good time for birthdays.

Off to check banking. Hopefully it isnt too dire!

OrangeFairy

Today i am off to start sorting DD1's bedroom! Will take a while! I hope to get at least two binbags full out of there!!

Need to check banking as i want to pay my Mum back this month.

Shopping is going okay. £124 spend. I upped our budget to £220 from £200 to accomodate for higher prices. We dont have much left to buy for the month.

I want to look into the OU courses i fancy doing soon to get my degree.

Failed on my no sweets for a month challenge- i absent-mindedly accepted sweets from my DD2!!! Nevermind! Will have to do it another month!!

Off for a cup of tea

OrangeFairy

Didnt quite complete my task of DD1's bedroom. I split it into 3 sections and completed just one which includes her wardrobe and chest of drawers. This means all her clothes are sorted which was an item off my declutter areas. I went though all her hair ties and chucked out weak and fraying ones! She has about 300 so this took a while.

Today i will continue. I want to write my birthday budgets and xmas bugets in my new Life book diary and start planning. I am making some homemade gifts this year. I also want to make my own xmas cards. So need to start early!!

1. [STRIKE]cd's[/STRIKE]
2. catalogue shelves
3. [STRIKE]top of fridge[/STRIKE]
4. [STRIKE]fridge[/STRIKE]
5. [STRIKE]medicine cupboard[/STRIKE]
6. [STRIKE]underwear collection[/STRIKE]
7. my clothes
8. [STRIKE]DD1 clothes[/STRIKE]
9. [STRIKE]DD2 clothes[/STRIKE]
10. cutlery drawer
11. Plastics shelves
12. Cups and glasses
13. Under sink cupboard
14. [STRIKE]Bread cupboard[/STRIKE]
15. Baking tray drawer and pots and pans
    
16. My bedside cabinet
17. Under the bed and linen shelf
    
18. DD1's room
19. [STRIKE]DD2's room[/STRIKE]
20. Bathroom cabinet
21. Bathroom cupboard
22. Under the stairs!!!!! :eek:
23. DVD's
    
24. Paperwork boxes - declutter
    
25. The garage
26. OH and my shoes
27. Declutter garden of rocks and rubbish!
28. Ebay corner
29. Coats
30. The dreaded LOFT!!! :mad:

Getting there! x