Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

Apple called, they completed the work but discovered that something else is wrong and needs to be done in order for it to not turn itself off. DH persuaded them that this should also be included in the exception..... so, more free parts to be replaced but the part they need isn't in stock, so we should have it back next week......

lulabelle1

Still no news from apple in regards to our MacBooks state of health, I guess we will here something Monday/Tuesday.... I just hope that they can get the poor thing working again.

Clarins emailed me today with a £15 voucher, no strings attached. So have purchased the lipstick/gloss that I'd been waiting to buy. Cost me £1.50 instead of £16.50 plus they will also send me 3 x little sample things which I chose myself. Super!

Still need a few more lotions and potions but rcvd a postcard fom John L, so will wait until the promo starts and buy the things I need then, this way I get lots of things for free. Excellent.

Off to our friends for dinner later, so no need to cook which is a blessing in itself. DH is cooking the pudding though and trying out a new recipe so fingers crossed that it tastes as good as it looked on the tv earlier this week.

Away with work wed to fri this week, but nowhere warm or exotic. Well, not at this time of year at least.

Spends are all in order so to speak but I just had a little house treat of a couple of Yankee candles this morning. I do like to have a candle or two around the house at this time of year. And, there are some new smells available so hopefully they will be lovely and sniffy. I went to the cash and carry so I dont pay full rrp.

Caught up in some work emails just now so I feel that the bottle of wine that is chilling in the fridge will be well earned. I shall head over to our friends soon and enjoy a glass.

Enjoy your afternoons/evenings, L x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Well done on your bargain shopping, sounds fab. Hope the dessert went well and have a good week.

Fingers crossed MacBook gets fixed quickly.

Best wishes, Tilly x

lulabelle1

And home again....

Ds2 in bed, ds1 stayed on to play for 20 mins.

Dinner was lovely, wine was great, pudding was, well, how can I put it....... Interesting.

Feeling very yawnsome now so may need an early night. Cosy jammies on already!

lulabelle1

Needed a few things from Clarins and was going to take advantage of the John L promo to get new stuff, but had a little think about it..........

So, instead of join to John L to get more free stuff that I don't really need, I decided to:

1 - Use the voucher I received for my lipstick, so, it cost £1.50 instead of £16.50
2 - Purchased a half size bottle of the cleaner/toner that I use for £4.50 on eBay instead of spending approx £18
3 - I still have some eye cream left, so will use all of this up before replacing. Also, with the lipstick I ordered, I get 2 X samples of the eye cream, so this will make do for a couple of months as a tiny bit goes a long way.

Result - Spent £6, saved £65. No super sized freebies, but I checked my little bag where all of the freebies I receive are stashed and I already have plenty of the items that I would have got more of anyway.

Received a chq from my old credit card. I used to have a rebate card and then decided to stop using it after many years. Anyway, I must have spent some money on it earlier this year, so they sent me a chq for £10 something, so I've popped it in to an account where I put various bits of money as the month goes along and then add it to my next OP.

On the subject of the rebate credit cards - I know many of you use these and they are a great way of getting some money back on spends that you would have made anyway, but for me personally, I used it for years and found that it made it easier to over spend. I would always pay it off at the end of each month but for me an increasing debt balance at the end of the month didn't put me off spending quite so much as an empty "spending" current account does..... So I just stopped using them and find that I spend less now.

Sausage casserole is bubbling away in the oven. There is enough to feed a small army for a week, so I'm sure that DH will be eating some of it while I am away later this week. Some of it will also find its way to the freezer for a quick and hassle free meal sometime in the next few weeks.

Just finished my conf call with the (potential) American client, this, like the sausage casserole, is also bubbling away quite nicely. I should know within the next 2 weeks whether a deal is likely to happen. Please cross your fingers and toes for me!

Oooh, just remembered a not very MSE spend...... It's half term soon and we thought it would be nice to do something fun with DS1. So we're going "sliding" at the snow dome. Sounds and looks like great fun, but it cost £46, OUCH!!!!!!!!!! Need to go and transfer the money from the entertainment fund to cover the cost. Since there is only £50 in the entertainment fund each month, we shall all need to amuse ourselves until the next payday. I hope this sliding malarkey is worth it!

Had a few snowflakes this morning. Hoping that there is no more this week as I need to drive to Gatwick tomorrow lunch time and then back again Friday lunch time and I can only imagine the chaos that will prevail should more than a cm of snow fall.

Over and out, L

frugalfrog

Fingers crossed for your new client! I know how you feel as my other half is self employed and we get all excited for new clients!

We went to the snozone in Milton Keynes on Saturday for my brothers birthday (I just went to watch ), a lot of the kids went on the sliding sledging thing & they loved it! Have a great time! There is no point budgeting and not spending fun quality time with your kids, after all they are the most important part!

lulabelle1

Ahh, thanks for your kinds words frugalfrog, it's always an exciting/nerve wracking time when trying to get a new client on board......

And, you are so right, money saving is great, but got to have some fun along the way. I'm really looking forward to it. We shall even go wild and have our lunch out too, lol!!

Thanks for stopping by, L

lulabelle1

Back from my travels.....

Trip went well, was to see an existing client and they are super happy, so all good there....

It was really cold though and I wasn't kitted up for winter, so spent three days feeling cold. Cold weather in countries that are meant to be warm is never good. I had a bath one night just to warm up!

Eagerly awaiting the snow arriving. Kids are hoping to get the sledges out in the morning and I've just been and spent a small fortune on new gloves for us all! Got some ski gloves as they will come in handy for the snow zone in a few weeks time....

Had a lovely lunch with a girlfriend earlier and DH has taken the kids bowling. Not a very MSE weekend so far!

Oops, I may have also bought a new dress whilst I was at the airport! Got sidetracked on my way to the lounge.....

Was very happy to update my OS mortgage balance earlier, so happy to see it coming down, makes it worthwhile.

Enjoy the snow everyone!

lulabelle1

Yay - the snow started to fall at around 4.30 yesterday and continued in to the early hours, the result of which is that we have tonnes of the stuff. Have already been out with the kids and enjoyed it.

Hurrah for my mum who lives in Canada - she sent Ski jackets and salopettes for the kids, so they are doing a terrific job of keeping them warm. They have been outside since 8am and have just gone off with the rest of the neighbours (and dads) to some nearby hills to go sledging. I had already come in before the sledging trip was decided so am missing out. There will be more of it this afternoon though after lunch so i shall join them again then.

We might manage a NSD today which would be good for the finances.......

Have a wonderful Sunday

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning LB, sounds like your morning was similar to ours. Been for a huge dog walk and the kids and DH raced down the hills on sledges - fab to watch.

Enjoy the afternoon session.

Best wishes Tilly x