The Force Be With Me on my Debt Free Journey

jediteacher

Right I've sewn on all the labels but have run out of labels! My hubby said I didn't need to sew them on all her socks, vests and knickers but I have done so. :rotfl: Have ordered some more.

Been looking at holidays and have managed to find a cottage in Norfolk at the end of August for just under £250 - not great but with a baby I wanted to have a proper roof over my head and be able to come and go as we pleased. To be honest we should really forgo the holiday this year as we are really skint but just feel like we need a break (we've had a tough year - father-in-law diagnosed with cancer, I had 3 miscarriages before we had little one, neighbours from hell making our life hell!)So, we will see.

I have got a few more mystery shops lined up - not much but I'm slowly getting back in the game.

Really need to sort out the ebay thing as the stuff I have to sell is just getting bigger and bigger. I would go somewhere else but unfortunately ebay have the monopoly on online sales and it here that most people buy from.

Little baby has been really suffering with the reflux but hopefully this new medication that we have for him will start having an effect soon.

The house is still in a state and I still have not completed the list I made at the beginning of this thread - I really need my butt kicking into gear. The living room floor has almost disappeared and the clean laundary is in piles all over the place just waiting to be put away.

Poor hubby is sleeping on the sofa and has the baby with him as our little girl is in our bed with me. She's been very clingy and quite poorly so we've let her (this is the first time ever she has slept in our bed) but we will need to make her go back to her room as this could end up being a habit of hers.

Anyway, must go and sterilise more bottles. Hopefully be back soon.

needingaccountability

A cottage for under £250 sounds very :money: and just what you need, don't feel bad about it, have a lovely holiday.

jediteacher

Decided to go for the holiday. Hubby and I are going to sit down this weekend and sort out a budget. As it's self-catering we can save on meals and I can pack picnics for the day. To be honest with the baby and our little girl we wouldn't go out anyway in the evening. Will be nice to just get away from it all.

Lots to do today.

1. Doctors (my throat is still as painful as it was last week - don't think the antibiotics worked).
2. Drop daughter off for her play date!
3. Two mystery shops to do and input the results.
4. Sort out bank - payment taken twice for a utility bill.
5. Look at opening a new joint bank account as Halifax are charging far too much for overdraft.

That does not include the houework. Already had two loads of washing in but have not been able to hang outside as the teenage boys from 2 doors down are playing with their motorbikes and it stinks of oil and fumes. They also seem to have some sort of fire and there is a lot of smoke.

Must also look at our telephone provider as this is costing us a lot of money yet we hardly ever use it!:mad:

Right off to feed the baby.

jediteacher

Thought the doctor would just send me off with some more antibiotics but instead had to go and have my bloods taken for glandular fever, white blood cell count and diabetese! Will get the results later this week. I'll be fretting all week now - I hate not knowing. Just wish I could make the pain go away with my throat.:o

On a more positive note I did my 2 mystery shops and resisted the urge to shop! I did go into the local Polish shop to stock up on a few bits and spent £13 which wasn't too bad. Feel very pleased that I resisted the lure of all the shops and their sales!

Tomorrow another manic day with more mystery shops and also another play date for my little girl.

Need to get the exhaust sorted for my car as it is making a very funny noise. Hope it's just come off it's bracket.

Have my baby boys jans tomorrow which I'm dreading as they make me so upset. My hubby had to take our litle girl but this time he couldn't get the time off work. Will have to just be brave!;)

Right two posts in one day must be a record for me - now need to go out and sort out more bottles to sterilise!:eek:

jediteacher

It is far too hot today! I have to confess I am not a summer person at all - infact I would go as far to say that I hate the hot weather. I love the autumn and winter and especially the rain.

Had a bit of an up and down day today. Did my mystery shop which was a bit of a pain as it coincided with little ones milk time.

Had to take baby for his fist jabs today - they are 2 week late as we've been poorly:o. The nurse/health visitor was soooooo rude that I ended up having an argument with her! She was not only rude to me but also to my daughter which really got my back up. Needless to say I did explode and have got her name and will be writing an official letter of complaint to the surgery. This is the second time I've had a run in with a member of the nursing team at this surgery and will be going to the sister surgery from now on as I find them much more amiable.

Little baby boy fast asleep now so am in the middle of cooking dinner. Little girl is playing with her cuddly toys and making them have hair clips. She does make me laugh.

Was meant to spend the morning with some of the children and mums from my daughters nursery but no one turned up and my little girl was really upset. Apparently it was too hot for them and they just thought I would not turn up due to this!:mad: To be honest I don;t care about me but it was very upsetting for my little girl. Ah, well.

Had to buy petrol today and treated the little girl to a Mac D which we very rarely do. However, I again resisted the shops which I am very proud of.

Will have to go out later tonight to get some more bottles for my baby boy as we have been experimenting with the Dr. Brown ones and did not want to buy lots incase he didn't take to them. However, he loves them and so we need to get some more as otherwise the steriliser is on after every other feed! They have also helped a little with his reflux.

We also bought our little girls bike yesterday (it's for her birthday in December) as it was half price and then we got an extra 20% off so what would have cost us £99 actually cost £30ish. Hubby was keen to get it as such a good price as even the cheapest ones we've seen cost at least £50. It's a Ben 10 bike (she loves him) which is good as it will also do for the baby boy when he's older. It's lucky she's a tomboy most of the time!

Right off to finish tonights dinner.

jediteacher

Feeling a little panicky today at the amount of money I have to repay for my debts especially in relation to what is going on. I know that my job is very secure unlike most people but at the moment I'm on maternity leave. Sometimes it all just gets too much and I feel really panicked.

Right, need to take a big breath and really sort out what is going on. Will need to figure out how much realistically we can live off.

Going to go now and have a look at our finances.:eek:

jediteacher

A complete no spend day for me - no not even a penny.:j

Been glued to the television watching all the updates on the truly disgusting behaviour of yobs in London and other main cities. There is no excuse for it at all but I shall leave my rant for another day.

Got a phone call from the local Surestart centre where I get my son weighed to say that I had won £25 worth of Morrisons vouchers.:j This will come in very handy.

I was also very pleased with my T*sco shop yesterday as I managed to get a £62ish shop down to £36ish. I had various money off coupons for a certain spend (including the Daily mail one).

Mother-in-law rang today to offer us a weekend break the same weekend we are now booked to go away. They were going to treat us to a short break in Norfolk (they would come too). Ah well. As a consolation they have offered to have our 4 year old little girl next week for a few nights so I can have a bit of a break and tidy the house!!!! Considering my little girl keeps asking when she can have a sleepover at her grandparents I will definately take them up on that offer.

Sorted out the toy drawers in the living room and have now gotten rid of the 'tat' that my daughter insists on keeping. I convinced her to go and play in her room upstairs and did it all without her seeing! Honestly, she keeps the most amazing stuff - pebbles, bits of string, empty snail shells, dried daises, used envelopes to name a few. When I've tried to get rid of it in the past she has insisted they are her favourite things and put them back. :eek:

Just put some sausages on for dinner (whoopsied at 59p from T&sco) and then will add the veg (whoopsied at 7p from T*sco). Quite a cheap but delicious meal for tonight.

Hubby was pleased as I had got him apples (9p), muffins (7p), ready meals (20p each) for work for the whole week. He has a fridge and a freezer there and a microwave so all can be kept. This will save him spending £3ish a day on sandwiches.

Right back to the grindstone. Washing to put out.

Hovel_lady

Well done on a NSD :T
Yay to Morris*ns vouchers, whoopsies and an excellant Tesc* shop :T
You're doing brilliantly :T
And one more :T for good measure!

jediteacher

Two no spend days in a row - a small miracle for me.

Thank you Hovellady for the words of encouragement.:beer:

I have 4 mystery shops to do today. One I have to go to town for and the others are all phone calls so can do those in the warmth of my own home.

Will try and get more tidying up done today but at the moment this is proving a little difficult as the baby is very restless and wants holding all the time and my 4 year old girl wants my attention all the time. It's pretty hectic here. If the baby would sleep for a few hours I could give my little girl some attention and get something done. He's gone from sleeping through the night to waking up again which is very frustrating.:(

Need to sort out my car tax today - well where I'm going to get the money from. Will have to try and dip into various pots of money and see if I can at least cover most of it and then will have to go into the overdraft I'm determined not to add more the credit cards. Will also raid the piggy banks that I've been putting my loose change into.

Right back to the grind of trying to settle the baby boy. Have resorted to DVD for the little girl.:o

jediteacher

Been a busy few days. Lots of mystery shopping and trying very hard to at least keep up with the laundary.

My little girl is going to her grandparents until the weekend tomorrow so should give me a chance to get a few more bits done.

Had to buy her school shoes today and spent a whopping £32 on the shoes! I don't even buy shoes for myself at that price. As she has such narrow feet we are very limited in the choice of shoes she can have. She actually fell in love with a shiny pair with a t-bar but they were far too loose. The problem was that she measured at a bigger size than actually fits her. The guy in the shop was very good and convinced her that the shoes that did fit her where special ones for princesses and gave her some stickers.:A She now loves her new shoes and refuses to take them off!:rotfl:

Also have lots of birthdays coming up so went to the Card Factory I picked up all the cards I needed for £1.99. Very pleased with that result. My sister has agreed to go halves on my brother's present so that is good and we're actually doing my brother's prezzie as a joint one with his wife so makes it even cheaper.

Need to get an appoitment at the doctors for my baby boy for more of his medicines. Not 100% sure they're making that much difference but will wait to talk to the doctor.

Have just got to get my little girl some black shorts (which seem to be like finding gold dust) which actually fit here. Hmm, not sure where else to go as have tried all the main shops and most do not have any black shorts let alone ones for very skinny little girls.

Right, off to pack the little girl for her little holiday with her grandparents.