Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

• I think the four mugs of fruit tea is pretty ingrained now.
• I'm finding the papers dull, so there's not much excess reading going on..
• Over the past 10 days I've been focussing on what I can't do, forgetting completely that there are things I'm getting right. the real success is, surprisingly, switching the light out at midnight that has transformed us, and that'll be a permanent change becasue we both really like waking up early.
• I didn't spend as much time on the kithcen as I meant to, so drawers and the last cupboards still need to be done, along with a bit of dusting. Nothing onerous, but then ours isn't a particularly big kitchen. I bet when your family is all about you love having such a big, lived in, room.

Honey_Bear

• Four fruit teas drunk.
• Probably no more than 30 minutes due to their dullness.
• I've started falling asleep before midnight after a decade of not doing so until well gone 1.00am. It's made a huge difference.
• The kitchen is finished and sparkly except for the oven and I'll do that today. I've removed a few things that weren't being used so that's created a bit of room for manoeuvre which always feels better.

How you doing, Happy?

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Two-lawns Happy?! Sorry, couldn't resist.

Chocolate and pizza, I couldn't agree more. As for porridge, OH is extremely good at making it so it's breakfast in this house, too, but only in the colder months. It's the only breakfast that keeps me going until lunch time, nothing else works.

Four-lawns actually . I would love a ride-on mower one day. It'd be so much easier and would keep Mr H entertained all summer.
Breakfast! Porridge every day here regardless of season, except on those rare occasions when we go away. I love, love, LOVE hotel breakfasts! Best meal of the day and always the part I look forward to most. Bring on this weekend!

Honey_Bear wrote: »

• Four fruit teas drunk.
• Probably no more than 30 minutes due to their dullness.
• I've started falling asleep before midnight after a decade of not doing so until well gone 1.00am. It's made a huge difference.
• The kitchen is finished and sparkly except for the oven and I'll do that today. I've removed a few things that weren't being used so that's created a bit of room for manoeuvre which always feels better.

How you doing, Happy?

Wowza, you've had a good few days. Go you! I completely agree about the difference a good night's sleep makes. Back in late 2011 when I first realised/acknowledge we were broke I had lots of sleepless nights. Then I kind of came to terms with it and slept well for a while. Now it varies. It was on my original Fab Feb list to spend between 7 and 9 (I think) hours in bed each night and I'm going to re-start that because it did make a difference.

HappyNow

I haven't managed to get on here for a couple of days, and tomorrow is our taking-my-parents-away weekend so this will probably be my last update until Tuesday.

1. Money. Such a bad month....

The plumber has finally picked a Wednesday and he will be here next week to do a proper mend to our toilet pipe plus replace the cylinder and immersion heater. We will once again be joining the 21st century with hot running water but I will still hardly use it. I have no idea what the bill will be, but I'd guess around £150.

My car just scraped its MOT on condition it had some essential work done so it's going in today. I will collect it (and the bill - maybe £200?) next Tuesday.

Our old wooden troughing on three elevations of the house have rotted and are leaking quite badly which is contributing to the damp in our house. Mr Happy is capable of replacing them, but he's scared of heights and even if he got up the ladder he wouldn't dare let go! So a builder-friend is coming within the next few weeks which will cost £270.

We could have really done without paying for this weekend away. It's the only way my parents can get away for a couple of days though and I wouldn't dream of cancelling. They have no idea we're in debt and I am going to keep it that way. It's costing £255 plus petrol but there'll be nothing else to buy other than a few drinks, which my dad will probably get.

BUT - there are a few small money-positives to offset the trauma.
We won £82 on the lottery! Mr H insists on playing every week so we will have spent WAY more than that over the years, but this is a really good time to win!
My Quidco £50 Christmas bonus has finally paid out.
My bank switch went ahead yesterday so that will pay out £125. It will be in M & S vouchers, but it will ease the clothing/chocolate cake pressure for a good while.

2. Beach bod. Nothing to report!

3. Spring cleaning. No real progress on the kitchen because I've been focussing on the outside while the weather's good. Garden is looking OK. Masses of laundry done and dried. House tidied and presentable - both kids are here over the weekend looking after the animals so we will doubtless have a house full of their friends, and I don't want them reporting back to their parents that I'm a slob!

Back Tuesday :wave:

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Money. Such a bad month....I'd guess around £150 .... - maybe £200? .... £270 .... £255 plus petrol ...

Ouch! If there's anyone on here who can read that without wincing, they're obviously a tourist slumming it. I'm so glad you've got some positives to offset that all but it sounds like the kind of month that would seriously dent most people's bank balances.

I know Mr Happy likes his bacon butties and his lottery cards and in true MSE style they shouldn't be allowed but a bit of light-hearted indulgence can go a long way, as can £82 when it comes to buying a round of drinks or two.

I hope you both enjoy the break and come back feeling rejuvinated, ready for preparing the beach bod for your holiday later in the year. You're a lovely daughter.

Honey_Bear

Honey_Bear wrote: »

• Four fruit teas drunk.
• Probably no more than 30 minutes due to their dullness.
• I've started falling asleep before midnight after a decade of not doing so until well gone 1.00am. It's made a huge difference.
• The kitchen is finished and sparkly except for the oven and I'll do that today. I've removed a few things that weren't being used so that's created a bit of room for manoeuvre which always feels better.

Rinse and repeat, even to the extent that the oven still needs doing!

How would you feel about a Marvellous May? I'm getting quite a bit out of this and it's fun comparing rather different notes so when you come back after your break if you're up for it, that would be great.

Dolphin1

Have a lovely weekend Mrs H! Don't worry about what it's costing or you won't enjoy yourself and then it would be money wasted. Relax and have a fab time, you deserve it!

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear

I hope a thorougly good time was had by The Happy Clan Seniors and you're back feeling as though you've had a bit of a holiday.

• Four fruit teas drunk.
• Probably no more than 30 minutes due to their dullness.
• I think this goal was supposed to be new business related and just morphed into something easier to achieve. There has been progress but it's painfully slow ... because I'm not applying myself. Could do better, 0/10.
• Oven finally vaguely sparkled but what I mean by that is that the cindered gluey muck on the base has been disolved by evil chemicals and is now gunge-free. The racks still needs a bit of attention but I'm not too fussed about them.

HappyNow

Dolphin1 wrote: »

Have a lovely weekend Mrs H! Don't worry about what it's costing or you won't enjoy yourself and then it would be money wasted. Relax and have a fab time, you deserve it!

Dolphin1

Aaaannd - we're back! We did have a fab time thanks Dolphin, although not really relaxing because I felt constantly 'on duty' watching over my parents (one is partially sighted and the other has age-related mobility issues, so they can struggle a bit in a strange environment). The hotel was lovely and the food fantastic. The only spends on top of the hotel cost were for petrol, one round of drinks, two ice-creams (yep, we had good weather ) and some tickets to ride up a mountain.

Everyone enjoyed it and we are already planning where we will go next year

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Ouch! If there's anyone on here who can read that without wincing, they're obviously a tourist slumming it.
:rotfl::rotfl:Brilliant

I hope you both enjoy the break and come back feeling rejuvinated, ready for preparing the beach bod for your holiday later in the year.

Yesss, beach bod preparation starts in earnest on Friday!

Honey_Bear wrote: »

How would you feel about a Marvellous May? I'm getting quite a bit out of this and it's fun comparing rather different notes so when you come back after your break if you're up for it, that would be great.

Marvellous May sounds marvellous and I am definitely up for it. I think I will be re-visiting most of my Fab Feb targets, they seemed to work for me really well. I have definitely over-eaten while we've been away, and then I've come back to discover the kids have filled the cupboards with junk food and the fruit bowl is empty. So, once I have worked my way through all those Tesco chocolate muffins (should take me until 30th April) I will get right on with changing that.......