Boarding the Bus of Positivity (for 24 months of travels!)

sugarcube84

debtfreesomeday wrote: »

Oh sugarcube, shame you bought some vests already, I would've happily sent you some, we seem to have so many! Sorry to hear your little one broke his wrist too, poor little thing. Hope he recovers quickly. I didn't realise that was the biggest vest size to be honest, our boys are getting to be big boys already! Ds is one in a few weeks, looking back now, time has flown even though times have been a real struggle. We simply wouldn't be without our little man, he is amazing; even on hard days like today!

That's a huge saving with the antihistamines chocs, great find. It's definitely worth ordering in bulk at that price.
I know what you mean about the weather today, I think the grey drizzle seems to seep into the bones today. Keep warm xx

aww thats a lovely thought!!:)

I have just found some vest in mothercare in age 2-3 but they are £13 for 5, the ones i bought were 7 for £7.50 so a big price difference. Might keep a look out in the sale and if i dont get any, big boy vests it is.

You never really understand the 'they grow so quickly' comment that you get off people until you have had a baby and it is so true!!

At 6 weeks they have alreday learnt to smile
At 6 months they are eating solids and started to roll/crawl
At a year they are crawling/walking starting talking
At 18 months they are saying 'no' to you and throwing a strop but also giving kisses and hugs and dancing.

Sorry to hear your ds isnt a happy bunny, make sure you have a kip if you can you will feel better for it.

Chocforever

Ah, I really do feel for you. If I'm tired, it takes hardly anything to set me off crying. You must feel shattered and emotionally drained.

At what age do they think DS will grow out of it? I know it doesn't make it any easier now.

I really hope things go well with your Mum. She has had a tough time of it.

There has been talk of redundancies at work which is now the number one topic of conversation. I am trying to focus on the positive money (and life) things happening at the moment. And today's nice surprise was a £25 cheque when I got home for a Premium Bonds win.

Take care x

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

I hope your mum's surgery went well today and that this is the start of things improving for you and your family.

Have a lovely weekend x

debtfreesomeday

Thanks guys x
Well, the surgery was both good and bad really. Good in that there's presently no sign of cancer, but bad in that they found several other problems which they can't really do a lot about and also increases the risk of bowel cancer. Mum is home but in a lot of pain and feeling very down which is understandable. She has an appointment with the Gp today and specialist in a few weeks.

We are all feeling at a low at the moment.

Today Ds is at nursery so I was planning on blitzing the house again, getting everything put in its rightful place and continuing the decluttering mission, but haven't achieved much of that so far. I've been out to the shops to pick up a few items we forgot at the weekend; bought using the gift vouchers so technically no money spent there. I did pick up a kitchen tool I needed to make Ds's birthday cake which cost £3.49 and also spotted a lovely (and fairly educational!) toy for Ds's birthday which was reduced to £14.99 from £34.99. It's one of those wire and bead type table things which they often have in banks and dr surgeries I notice! There's a smaller one in a cafe we sometimes go to and Ds loves it, so I have been looking out for one. My parents have asked me what they can get him, so I may suggest this and they'll give me the money for it, as we really have already bought enough for him.

I have also phoned OVO energy again who have sent me yet another bill, even though they never supplied us with gas. They are driving me mad, they're useless.

I had a surprise sale on amazon at the weekend too of a book I listed long ago. I've wrapped it, just need to address then send off. It has bought in just over £5. I have a few other to list on there too now but am waiting until feb to list those and the eBay stuff as I am going home with Ds for a week or so soon.

I really have to get off of my backside and get motivated to do some work now... I need a kick today!

X

debtfreesomeday

Well, I've managed to get a few jobs done, but not as much as I would've liked. The washing's all done, one load's in the dryer, the second will go in there when the first is dry.

I have wrapped and put away lots of birthday/Mother's day gifts that had been lying on the spare bed for a while now. I've put Ds's new trike together for his birthday and will try and wrap that sometime soon. Some more bits have been thrown in the charity shop bag too which I'm going to try and drop into the shop this week. I now almost have the spare room back... Good job, as we have visitors stating for a couple of nights next week.

Chocforever

It sounds like you achieved more today, when you feel like you need a kick, than I do on a normal day! Seriously though, it is difficult to focus on menial tasks around the house when your mum is having a nerve-racking time.

I know just the toy you mean. There is one in my GP's office and it always catches my attention. I think she'll give me a strange look if I sneak over to have a go with it.

Someone has shown some interest in my flat today so I hope that comes to something.

It ended up being an expensive weekend as I had an impromptu visit to London to see a concert (it was sold out but a friend just happened to check the website on Friday night and discovered a few tickets had been returned) and we stayed down there overnight. It was fab so very pleased that I went. Frightening how much money can be consumed in two days with no physical goods to show for it!

It's good that you have a week at home to look forward to. I can't believe DS is almost one!

This post looks rather disjointed. I didn't sleep much last night and it is starting to show. I think it's time I headed off to bed!

debtfreesomeday

Sounds like you had a lovely weekend chocs, and fingers crossed they'll be some good news on the flat too.

Today I've been busy again... After taking Ds to nursery and dropping DH at work I gave the kitchen surfaces a good old scrub. I rolled some marzipan and icing out on them yesterday and no matter how many times I wiped them they were still sticky. The rest of the kitchen has had a bit of a wipe down too.

I continued my decluttering mission by tackling four cupboards which have drawers of 'stuff' in them. All sorts of little bits and bobs that seem to get thrown in drawers has now been either thrown/recycled, charity shopped, put in the eBay pile, or put away in order. Three of the 5 drawers are now practically empty and the others are tidy. I have plans to tackle two more cupboards this afternoon.

I've also hoovered downstairs and the dishwasher's on too. This afternoon I need to finish some ironing, pack a couple of bits back in the loft and hopefully get those other drawers done.

I finally had an email reply from tesco about the letter they sent us without a stamp. They will be sending us out a £5 giftcard. Considering it cost us £2.13 to pick the letter up, plus the drive to the sorting office, I'm really not that impressed with their generosity!

debtfreesomeday

Payday today and we forgot hubby's pay would be short due to november's strike day. We have managed to adjust the budgets though and the tesco giftcards which will contribute to the groceries, £40 from quidco and £15 taken from the birthday gift savings (as have already bought some gifts) will cover it. We were £119 overdrawn too, but ad we don't pay council tax this month, that will almost cover the shortfall as our c/tax is £118 a month.
I've spent an hour filling in the budget planner for this month which will become January's house rules! No deviation allowed!

Yesterday, whilst tackling the drawers of 'stuff' I found a £10 clubcard deals voucher which expired in 2010. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. How annoying. However, I also found a £49.50 credit note that hubby forgot he had, so guess it's not too bad. Unfortunately the shop in question is very expensive and rarely stocks hubby's size as he's very tall and broad, but at the worst he can buy a few gifts for a male relative with it.

Washing's done and in the dryer, house is pretty tidy now too after all the cleaning lately!
Today I plan on returning two sleepy bags we bought for Ds which look like they won't last him long, despite by for a 1-2 year old. Also, returning a top I bought with a debenhams gift card after Christmas, so should receive a credit back on the gift card for that.

Have a good day all
X

sugarcube84

Its a juggling act isnt it, when you have to try and rebalance finances. I had to put money into husbands account as he was near his overdraft limit plus had the mortgage going out and a cheque he had paid in hadnt cleared and now im having to transfer the money back! But the positive thing is that we have paid off £200 off one of the accounts!


I had a day off yesterday and managed to get a load of washing done, sort items to ebay, pack up clothes to give to a friend who is due an day now and sort out the toybox. I feel much better today knowing that im going home to a tidier house
I didnt find anything exciting though like voucher/credit notes just a couple of pennies!!

debtfreesomeday

£200 is a great chunk to have paid off sugarcube.

Isn't it a great feeling when you know your house is a little tidier eh?! I really need to get started on the ironing and photographing of the big eBay pile I have, not looking forward to that job.

Well today I met DH at lunchtime and we bought a sandwich from the staff discounted cafe (money duly taken out of the 'eating out, fun and not a lot of frolics budget!). Ds and I then popped to tesco to pick up some more of his yogurts as we've run out and use them to mix his drugs in mornings. We picked up some more nappies whilst we were there as they were even cheaper than before. We're still using the gift cards too so no cash spent there.

Next we popped to tk maxi as I read on the grabbit board that they have reduced their prices further. Glad I did, as managed to buy lots of gifts for very little pennies! I picked up a barbie baking play set for £2, from £9; 2 packs of dragon battle card things for 50p each from £9.99; a beautiful girls cardi for £3 from £24.99; a summer top for £1 from £10 for my little cousin; a postman pat game for £2.40 from £8 and a jumper and snowgloves for Ds (in much bigger sizes) for £3 each. That's my cousin's two little ones sorted for Christmas and one of their birthdays now. :0)
I had bought a barbie tea set in the sale from tesco for £6.50, but will now be taking it back after picking up these bargains! Plus, it looked very plasticky and cheap when it arrived, not impressed.

Ds napping again so just having a cuppa and updating the budget sheets with today's spends.