New beginnings...Down but not out!

Igamogam

Well done with the assignments and getting your mo-jo back:) Fancy doing my ironing - I avoid it as much as possible - my excuse is that is uses electric;)

[Deleted User]

Happy September Not long until the start of school. Talking of school, I have an appointment with a school local to me to discuss volunteering as a TA a few mornings a week, granted it’ll only be two hours as I still have to work but it’s a start and means I’ll get my foot in the door so to speak.

The next set of DD’s have come out of the bank with only one left to go on the 7th. DH rang up to find out about his expenses and apparently it is a company wide problem this month, the lady who does them is or was off sick and they will be paid shortly. Why they can’t get someone else to do them I’ll never know but at least we know that they will be paid at some point.

I rang up about a bar job yesterday but had to leave a message for a call back, hopefully they’ll call today if the job hasn’t gone already. DH and I were discussing about me ‘temping’ but it would mean giving up the TA course/job which I don’t really want to do if I can help it.

Maths coursework is on the cards for today and I think my tutor is due to call too not forgetting I have housework to do as well. The washing I did yesterday has dried so that’s good, we are trying not to use the TD as we can’t really afford to so washing is literally being hung everywhere to dry lol.

Off to get dressed and motivated, have a good day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Morning world, so glad it’s Friday today.

DH and I were talking last night about the life we have at the moment and ways in which we want to improve it for us and as a family. DH said that he’d read about the report that states 20% or more people will be living in rented accommodation rather than in their own houses and he’s adamant that he doesn’t want that to happen to us.

So small steps, he said that he’s going to give up smoking again. Those of you that know me will know that something bad happened last year which resulted in DH starting smoking again and I know it was just a matter of time before he was ready to stop again.

Then we as a couple are going to tackle our evening drinking, not good for our health or finances.

I in turn am going to carry on looking for another job to go with the one I have, I have put feelers out for a term time cleaning job as well as looking for a bar job. One thing I thought about was babysitting? I’m CRB cleared so that shouldn’t pose a problem, just not sure how I go about getting a babysitting job though.

Tonight I am going out with my old colleagues, I’m driving and am picking up a friend of mine so won’t be drinking…looking forward to it as it will be nice to catch up with them and find out what they are up to since the dept was closed.

In other news, my maths course is going well. I’m enjoying it so far and even though I am getting frustrated with some of it, it’s not as scary as I first thought and I think I may even get a qualification out of it this year.

I’m getting back into the swing of MSE again now and feel confident that we are moving in the right direction. I need ideas to make money, I’ve given up with E-bay at the moment but am considering doing another car boot sale or two and getting rid of some junk but need some other ideas to generate some income.

It’s funny how you look back and think of what you should have done and didn’t, we made some big errors but need to move on past that now and try and correct them.

I am going to change the title of my diary now to something more positive.

Have a good day everyone.

Lula-Hula

Morning,

good work on little steps forward & I like that positivity. I'm sure there are baby sitting agencies about, failing that you could advertise on gumtree or put cards in newsagent windows.

Office cleaning pays quite well & is usually evenings or early mornings.

Good luck
xx

[Deleted User]

Morning, it’s Saturday

DH has gone up to the flying club for a check flight, he’s got plenty of tach time so it only costs us for the landing fee, he’s working up there next Saturday so he’s accumulate more.

Weather here is fairly warm and I have put some washing out the back door to dry, just means I’ll have more ironing to do once it’s dry but hey ho can’t have everything.

I did go out last night and had a lovely evening; it’s nice to catch up with friends. Granted I spent £20 but it could have been worse; I need plenty of NSD’s over the next few weeks though as I’m meeting a friend of mine next Saturday for a catch up oh and I’m meeting another friend and his wife on Tuesday for lunch.

I have started entering competitions again; I figured there was nothing lost in it and may mean that I will win something and I have started saving my change again and as such I put 18p in the demi-john and 20p in my hippo bank, not had any £2 coins for a while though.

Talking of NSD’s I wonder how many I can accumulate this month? I’m back at work on Wednesday, kids back at school on Tuesday and DH working at the flying club twice this month. Hmmm…I think I will unofficially go for 19 this month but we’ll see how it goes.

Lula – thanks for popping in, will let you know how I get on, on the job side of things

Right off I must trot to get something else done, have a good weekend everyone.

Igamogam

Babysitting agency is probably a good bet - not sure how they work though. Cleaning jobs - how about a school cleaning job? You have some school contacts I seem to remember - might fit in with everything else - if not permanent maybe as a relief cleaner? Just a thought

[Deleted User]

Here it is…the last day of the holidays, I can’t get over the fact that my baby is going to be in Yr1 and my DS is going to be in Yr3. How time flies.

Received an e-mail over the weekend to say that I have sold something on Amazon this hasn’t happened in ages, so a bit more to add to the pot.

We spent too much this weekend, accumulation of it’s the end of the holidays and if we’d have gone away we’d have spent it anyway…not good but I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

Washing up has been done and the freezer part of the fridge/freezer has been defrosted and cleaned, oh and I have put another load of washing on with the aim to get that outside to dry. I need to change the kids beds and get DS’s room tidy as well as hoovering upstairs and cleaning the bathroom.

Not planning on doing any maths coursework this week as it’s going to be hectic enough as it is with school and work.

I applied for another bar job over the weekend; I didn’t hear anything from the last place. As for the school cleaning, it’s a good idea but over the holidays you need to do more hours than what I’m doing at present and during term time, I can’t take my two with me whilst I do the cleaning and it’s not worth while getting someone to babysit until DH comes home from work.

I told DH that I am going to cut down with the drinking at night from today, I’m fed up with feeling crap and although we had a late night last night I think that I would only feel tired today and not like my brain isn’t part of my body.

Okay off to get more motivated now and get up to speed with the house. Back later.

[Deleted User]

A bit of a late post for me but it is the first day of a new term and a new school year

I found my last diary and have reassessed my plan, which did look like this:

“Meal Plan: As I seem to spend an exorbitant amount of time in Tesco’s (so much that one of the staff knows me by name) I need to change this. I need to get back into meal planning for the month and reduce the amount of trips to Tesco’s; this should reduce the amount of money spent in there and should save us a fortune.

Grocery: I am the one that buys the food and the alcohol for the month, so I need to try and stick to a realistic budget; I think we have been spending £400+ per month lately when I did manage to reduce it to £300, so this is my challenge for May.

Car: As the weather is getting nicer, I need to walk more with the kids. They enjoy walking to and from school and as they do I think I should encourage this more. I need to stop using my car for unnecessary trips and ensure that once petrol is in the car and it is filled up I make it last for the month.

Money: I need to keep saving any change, this hasn’t been happening recently. I have been putting the change and £2 coins in the bank every month as they have been needed.

I am still in need of another part time job, I love the one I have at the school so don’t ideally want to change this unless a position comes up at the kids school. There will be something I just need to bide my time a while.

Christmas: I seriously need to budget for this. I have some points from Tesco and would love to increase this so that the food is covered in December. I need to put money aside so that presents are sorted too.

Savings: We have a bit but not much, I want to build up enough so that the overdraft can be paid off in full, this will save us a bit once it is as we won’t be paying overdraft charges.”

---

Some of it still applies, but I think that the savings one will need to be put on hold. I think the saving side of things needs to apply to getting rid of most of the credit card.

But the previous plan will move us on for next year. My mind has been buzzing with plans and ideas for what I want to achieve and as such can start with earnest, just got to keep the momentum going and avoid the family lol.

Plans are in place for a bar job, I have applied for one local to me to which I should find out in the next week or so if I have been successful. If not, nothing is lost I will just apply for another one as I’m sure that there must be others out there.

On to today, I have done a few errands and bought a few bits that we needed and sent off the parcel for the item I sold on Amazon; I’m meeting a friend of mine for lunch today but am aiming to not spend too much and I have a phone call from my tutor this afternoon before I go to collect the kids from school…I still need to wash up and sort the kids lunches out.

Have a fun day everyone.

Igamogam

Do you ever do your food shopping on line - we spend about 25% less when we do it like that which off sets the delivery charge and they will carry it straight into the kitchen - did ask once if they would like to put it away too but I obvioulsy got Mr Grumpy delivery man that day It suits us because I just hate shopping and resent the time it all takes

[Deleted User]

I do the monthly shop online but I always find that I need something. Which 9 out of 10 times I probably don't.

I had a great conversation with my math's tutor yesterday, she said that I seem to have got the hang of everything and that unfortunately percentages, fractions and decimals are part of the exam but she did say that once I pass the level 1 exam, she won't hesitiate to put me on to level 2.

On to today, the weather seems to have sorted it self out this morning so the kids and I are walking to school...hopefully it will remain that way and we can finish the week walking again.

Washing up has been done this morning and I am aiming to make that a regular thing that it is done before school.

Oh and I am back to work again today...the good news is that I've now been there a year the bad news is that I am beginning to hate the job, I know its a salary but I so want to do the Teaching Assistant job its just out of reach at the moment so I need to bide my time.

Have a good day everyone.