Trying to make my dreams a reality!!

Peonie

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your puppy. I don't care what anyone says, pets are members of your family and it hurts when they are gone. Hugs.

TwinnyD

So sorry to read you lost your puppy, must be such a hard time for you xx

icontinuetodream

Peonie wrote: »

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your puppy. I don't care what anyone says, pets are members of your family and it hurts when they are gone. Hugs.

TwinnyD wrote: »

So sorry to read you lost your puppy, must be such a hard time for you xx

Thank you both so much it is very kind of you...it is a devastating time for me and all our family - he was a really special, mental puppy and it has affected everyone who ever came into contact with him However, his infectious happiness will not be forgotten and eventually I will get to a point where I can think about him and just smile without following it by bursting into tears.....

I am trying to get back to normality - I still have his sister and it is important for her that she lives in an environment which isn't full of stress and sadness...I know that she is missing him but we are trying our best to keep her occupied and happy, she hadn't spent more than a day away from him before this all started so she is taking it pretty hard

I have started to put things back to as normal as they can be, I have cleaned the house today, took her for a very long walk and also paid £27 OP from the refund I got changing my electricity supplier :j

I am hoping that the work on the house will be finished by the end of this week, the plasterers are back on thursday to finish the front room and the rest of the kitchen and the new hob should be delivered then as well, so we should have a kitchen by the end of next week considering I haven't had one since the end of September, it will be very welcome!!! It will also make saving some cash on the food budget much, much easier!!

I have signed up for the MFW 2013 challenge as well as the MFiT-T3 which basically means that I am looking to reduce my mortgage by 16k per annum :eek::eek::eek: it is going to be a really difficult challenge, but I feel that having it to focus on will really help me

Anyhoo.....no more doom and gloom from me, I am just going to get on with things, pick myself up and realise that I have been incredibly lucky to have had my puppy, even if it was only for five years.....he was a major source of joy to me and not everyone gets to have that in life

icontinuetodream

First day on my own today for several days, so have been laying in bed all day with my puppy (she is still very sad and clingy) and my dvds on but I have spent a lot of the day reading the boards and getting re-inspired for my MFW journey

Tomorrow, I am going to venture into my spare room which is still holding all my stuff from my kitchen and do a bit of a food inventory :eek: I am absolutely determined to use everything I have in store before I go out to buy anymore food (except fruit, veg and milk ).... dh has put a worktop in what will be known as the utility room and that means that I can do some proper cooking, retrieve my breadmaker from the spare room along with the food processor and start making a dent in the food budget again :j its a small element of control back in my life which I think will make a lot of difference to me at the moment - I am not expecting miracles but I know that the little things have a lot of impact

Budget and health wise, these past couple of months have been a disaster....I think that I have smoked close to 30 cigarettes a day, drunk about 5 bottles of brandy a week and slept less than 6 hours a week....add to that an enormous quantity of take-outs for the family and financially and physically its total meltdown However, it has got me through and frankly, I don't regret it....it has kept me going when I wanted to give up so it was worth it....but it has to stop.

I have spent a lot of time in thought about it today and from tomorrow, I have to change it...I have ten cigarettes left and about a quarter of a bottle of brandy which will all be gone by the morning. I am going to make sure that they are the last....I don't celebrate christmas and I don't feel like celebrating solstice this year so I can just get on with making the changes.

Once i have done the food inventory tomorrow, I am going to sort out my budget - I get paid on the solstice so I only have another 11 days left on what little I currently have in the bank and then I can get back on track financially

I am going to have a fund for my puppy's spot in the garden, I want to get it sorted in the spring/summer - the first two dogs I had are also in the garden and it took me until this summer to properly sort out their spot with the edging, stones and lights due to financial constraints (although I had put up a rose arch and planted the roses when I lost them) - at least I am now in the position where I don't have to wait that long this time, so I am pleased about that I just have to decide what to have there.....I'm not sure about the permanent planting, but will definately get some pansies as he loved waiting until I had planted them and then going and peeing all over them!!:rotfl:

Right, off to have a fag (making the most of it while I can!!!;))

patrick_bs15

Hi - very sorry to read about the puppy...

It's such a good idea to do a food 'inventory' - I know I often buy food I don't really need because I don't use up all the rice, pasta & old tins of food. Hope you are successful

I'll follow your thread with interest (I have recently cut back on drinking myself - and on the amount of meat I eat) - very much want you to do well.

icontinuetodream

patrick_bs15 wrote: »

Hi - very sorry to read about the puppy...

It's such a good idea to do a food 'inventory' - I know I often buy food I don't really need because I don't use up all the rice, pasta & old tins of food. Hope you are successful

I'll follow your thread with interest (I have recently cut back on drinking myself - and on the amount of meat I eat) - very much want you to do well.

Thank you pbs

LAM2011

so sorry to hear about your puppy. Have been thinking of you and wondering how he was doing. x

Good luck with your mortgage reduction.

icontinuetodream

LAM2011 wrote: »

so sorry to hear about your puppy. Have been thinking of you and wondering how he was doing. x

Good luck with your mortgage reduction.

Thanks LAM

Haven't managed to do the food inventory today as have spent 3 hours on the phone to the kitchen company :mad: I was meant to have it delivered on 29th November, they turned up with some of it but there was a lot missing - they then turned up last Thursday with what should have been the remainder but half of it was still missing, so on the advice of the delivery driver we refused the delivery and I called them today.....spent an hour on hold, was then cut off, another 45 mins on hold then a 15 min conversation with someone before being cut off again...then another 35 mins on hold before getting through to someone who obviously bypassed any customer service training and kept me on the phone for another 20 mins!!!!:mad::mad::mad: The rest should be delivered on Thursday - I will take what they give me but if there is anything missing this time, they won't be getting the balance until its sorted

Totally fuming with it and have smoked as a result - no, I didn't have to but was going to either have a fag or break something!!! DH had brought fags and brandy home last night so both were sitting there and tempting me However, I have avoided the alcohol despite wanting to reach for it to go with my fag!!! :A

Anyhoo....will perhaps do the inventory once dh is home tonight - not really easy to do without him here as my little girl dog is a bit of a sheep since we lost her brother she is happy at the moment though....my dd bought her a new load of toys today and within ten minutes she has managed to completely annihilate her squeaky pig!!!:rotfl:currently have a snowstorm of pink latex all over the sofa!!!

On the fag front, I will try to do better tomorrow...no point in beating myself up about not managing it today....I have only smoked 7 today which is a huge amount less than i have over the past few months so at least I am heading in the right direction

Tomorrow, my MFiT-T3 starts and I have to get seriously sorted for that - I really want to try my hardest on this, focusing on getting rid of the mortgage has become one of the things that is keeping me sane and it will hopefully do so for some time to come!!!

icontinuetodream

I have done the inventory of the dried food in my spare room!!! :j:j:j It is posted on the vegan storecupboard challenge and I don't intend to buy anything other than fresh stuff until it is all gone :A I reckon that I have enough there to get me through the next 4 months relatively easily although I may struggle with my totally miniscule amount of tinned tomatoes :eek:

I have 'lost' a box somewhere though, so hopefully I will have some more in there...along with pasta flour, spelt flour and some tomato puree as I know I had several bags & tubes of them when I packed up the kitchen!!

If not, well, I'll just have to be a bit more inventive....:think:

icontinuetodream

Well, the MFiT-T3 challenge starts today and I have updated my starting balance....better than I thought!!:j

Its going to be a really tough challenge to meet my targets but I am determined to do it, I am both excited and apprehensive!!

Once this week is finished, I should have a really good idea on where I am financially - I have plasterers coming in from tomorrow and I can't remember what they quoted me I have still to buy a few kitchen items (mainly some pans which will work on the new induction hob I have being delivered!!) and I have spent money on my cc over the past few weeks which I need to clear :mad: However, it should be gone pretty soon - I will transfer some cash from savings to it as some of it is kitchen related stuff so that will bring it down considerably

I have decided that food wise, I am going to set myself a tight budget of £20 per week for fresh stuff and the rest has to come from the dry store cupboard.....I'm going to see how long I can keep it going - if I can manage it for the next few months, it will have a huge impact on the mortgage overpayments I am reasonably convinced it can be done - just have to get DH to stop going to the shops!!! :rotfl:I will join NinjaSavingKats January challenge to help me with it....I had to leave the NOvember challenge early due to the puppy and obviously couldn't participate in Decembers but I know that it will help keep me on track in January!

Anyhoo, I have rambled enough....good luck to everyone on their journey's :D:D