301k in debt and morbidly obese - things aren't great!

MrBloater

"You can't go to the bins today Daddy, cos it's raining" cackled my DD as she and her mother left for a hairdo/shopping combo. I can't seem to get through to my loved ones that scrabbling in bins for cardboard, selling records on ebay and staying up all night to revisit material written in a different lifetime in order to knock some stuff together for kindle is NOT fun. Neither is getting up at 4am and running. It's just a necessary evil and I can either let the burden of debt and previous stupidity crush me or I can vent on here and try and put a lighterhearted spin on it. Oh well, preaching to converted here. I know you lot understand....

nat21luv

Bought a Peppa Pig felt picture toy thing in Sainsburys today, caught sight of the Mr Bloater pig and thought of you

gallygirl

nat21luv wrote: »

Bought a Peppa Pig felt picture toy thing in Sainsburys today, caught sight of the Mr Bloater pig and thought of you

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:someone at work gave a colleague at work a Peppa Pig game for his daughters & I went 'oh, it's Mr Bloater' without realising :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Karmacat

Poor MrB. We *do* understand .... staggered through the first triumphs of cancelling unnecessary stuff, and cutting back, and substituting, and going down a brand, and paying off a credit card in full (ha!) but its hard work, no mistake. Scrabbling about for cardboard, whether its for the garden, ebay packaging, or a dinosaur, probably *does* look like fun to a little one - your OH will soothe your fevered brow, you can rant about dinosaurs, then hey presto, you'll make a million from your writing, and whoosh, problem solved.

You can do it. Remember that at these sums, you're in it for the long haul, sadly, so take care of yourself.

All the best.

Pennies_in_Case_of_Rain

Mr. Bloater, You convinced me to pull out boxes of china and get it posted on eBay. I am in the States -- so my free listing days may be different from you. But I spent the last 2 days listing and have up 52 auctions -- all china. Listing fees were $.07. I've been dreading listing all that stuff, and I still have 52 more auctions at least I can do the next free listing day. I'm going to box as I go along, though. And luckily, I already have the packing materials I need.

I also dug out a bunch of old 45 records. Are they the same thing as vinyl? While I won't post them for awhile, I am spending a little time each day scanning them.

Hey! I need to start my own thread, don't I? I think I will. You've so inspired me to start saving a little more and clearing out some of the things I've stored away.

Best of luck on your projects! I'm not sure where to start a thread, though.

MrBloater

Despite all the grief and teething troubles with only 3 items left to complete tomorrow, the Bloater funds are £300 to the good for the small return of 36 records I would never have played again anyway. Not looking forward to the packaging tonight but maybe wine will help. Will list some more next week with a Thursday night end so I can send them off on the Saturday, as both me and Mrs B got a buzz out of seeing the auctions end and I actually saw some last minute activity this time.
Got the bank codes and so Kindle is one step closer to reality, have done all 5 covers (including one for the new book which hasn't even been started yet) so that's also progress.
If I manage to get a run in tomorrow morning I think I will have been temporarily elevated to the state of saintliness.

miggy

I can see your halo glowing from here Mr B... :T Your little 'un is just looking after you, she doesn't how much you are looking after her with all this Ebaying, Kindling (I suppose I'm using that word imprperly?) and of course the 4am runs which are not only providing you with material for your well-and-truly enthralled audience, but helping to ensure she has a Daddy around to provide for her when she's 14 and very grown up and is trying to dissuade you from bin-diving because she will die if any of her friends sees...

You are just her dinosaur-provider. You can put that on your CV.

Keep up the good work.

(Are there any prizes for long sentences round here?)

Butti

Pennies_in_Case_of_Rain wrote: »

I also dug out a bunch of old 45 records. Are they the same thing as vinyl? While I won't post them for awhile, I am spending a little time each day scanning them.

.

45's are vinyl. Our more common one's are a faster revolutions, but 78's is all I've got stuck in my head and they are REALLY old.
I think I need to take a leaf out of your book and start recording a bit a day. Don't know what to record the records on to though!

Never mind Peppa Pig, M&S's Colin the Caterpiller 'He is what he eats' always reminds me of the ex-boyfriend who couldn't understand why he was overweight.

B

MrBloater

Am getting lost in the world of forums here, now I've (ha-ha) cracked ebay I'm delving deep into the worlds of kindle and grow yr own. But, cos underneath all the bluster I'm a polite kinda guy who can sometimes say the wrong thing - I'll ask here rather than upsetting the legions of hoe-wielding folk in their own backyard - I would just like to know how moneysaving growing your own veg is? It just strikes me that the amount of effort (physical, mental and logistical) to plant onions far outweighs the 99p for 3 or 4 lovely ones that I can buy as and when at the supermarket. I don't dispute the health, enviromental and metaphysical virtues of growing your own, I just wonder how much of a good use of time it would be for someone like me?

scotdebs

Hi Mr B not posted on your diary for a while but here are my thoughts on it. We dont have a huge amount of space - if this is the same for you dont waste time, money effort on things you can buy pretty cheaply in the shops ie onions! Also dont devote lots of space to stuff you dont eat loads of ie potatos (we like potatoes occasionally so do a couple of potato bags that dont take up much space of the nice early summer varieties). Where I have found big savings is growing cut and come again lettuce and other salads items during the "summer" this can amount to a lot spend in the supermarket of your choice and you can add it last minute and fresh to any meal..
We also grow stuff the kids will enjoy baby carrots, fresh peas, strawberries etc things they can help plant and then eat straight from the garden (perhaps with a quick wash for the carrots!) not sure how cost effective that part is but something warms the soul when you see your 2 yrd old sitting on an upside down plant pot eating fresh peas out the pod
I know from your diary your the kind of person who like results NOW - but give it a go and accept it might take a couple of summers to work out what works best for you all