Keeping up appearances.......

HappyNow

Hi Muddy Walker, thanks very much for dropping by and for your lovely comments. You are very welcome to join in with our targets and 'monthly improvements' (love that term!) although to be fair there's not been that much improvement happening this month. But that's December/Christmas for you - it's more about getting through it all with a smile on your face. Here's mine ->

Time for my update:
1) Glide serenely into Christmas
All shopping FINISHED! Apart from..... cream. Our local Tesco has completely sold out of cream. I realize that this is 100% a first world problem and we will possibly/probably survive even without a trifle topping, but nevertheless I WANT CREAM!! So, while I am sat here sipping a glass of wine and catching up on my diary, Mr H has gone on a mission to source double cream. He's a very determined man, Mr H, so I'm sure he will come up with the goods. Even if it takes until Boxing Day

Managed the shopping trip with Little Miss H today. We bought her Christmas presents (shoes, leggings and dungarees) then went to Pizza Hut to get our strength back. Very nice too.

2) Whole house to be cleaned this month. Didn't do our our bedroom and i don't even care. It's not that bad and no-one apart from us will be going in there. Tomorrow I will have a wazz round everywhere with a damp cloth and that's the lot.

3) Groom the dogs every day Nope but I still have Good Intentions for tomorrow.

milann

Hope you find some cream - a trifle needs cream dontcha know :beer:
Have a lovely Christmas and thanks to you all for your motivation which will hopefully make a re-appearance in my new year:T

Dolphin1

Welcome Muddy Walker, nice to have you onboard!

Happy Now - Well done for getting all of your Christmas shopping done with a day to spare (assuming Mr H got the cream of course). I will be braving the shops today for some fresh bananas to go with our traditional Christmas morning american style pancakes but I'm sure it will be fine.

milann - Hope you have a lovely Christmas too! I'll be here in the New Year with new targets.

Dolphin1

Final update on targets for December...

1) Deep clean as much of the kitchen as I can but at a minimum clean the oven which is well overdue - The kitchen is nowhere near finished so this will be back on my January list but at least I managed to get the oven done.
2) Do my back exercises at least once a day - Erm, no.
3) Limit myself to one treat a day - Definitely no, I've just started on my second Yule Log of the month and I've had copious amounts of other crap along the way and we have so much chocolate in the house that we will be eating it until March at least.

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone! :xmastree:

Muddy_Walker

Thank you for the lovely welcome!
Have a wonderful Christmas xxxx

Honey_Bear

Sorry I've been playing truant. I had a note but I lost it.

Merry Christmas to Happy and all the rest of the gang.

Muddy_Walker

In the twilight zone where you aren’t sure what day it is or even the time!
Apart from the lurgy we’ve had a nice couple of days, some lovely presents and far too much food....
Rest day today but I do need a blast of fresh air and dogs need a run so wellies and field it is.....

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Sorry I've been playing truant. I had a note but I lost it.

The dog ate mine.

HappyNow

Thanks everyone for the Merry Christmas wishes. We did indeed have a lovely time - and Mr H eventually came up trumps with the double cream, thus saving the day/trifle.

So, today is the 8th anniversary of starting this diary. If all had gone according to plan the unsecured debt would have been cleared ten months ago and I'd now be chugging my way through the mortgage. As it is, the unsecured debt still stands at £24902. It doesn't frighten me the way it did eight years ago and financially we are in a massively better place, but nevertheless it's time for a re-focus. I've done a new budget today and I feel we can afford £700 monthly off the credit cards. That will clear the debt in three years - which just about coincides with Mr H's 66th birthday when he will claim his retirement pension. So, that's the plan and now I just have to stick to it! I'm actually quite looking forward to the challenge

milann

The plan to pay the ccs sounds workable. You have such a lot to show for it though - by the sounds of it a beautiful home where you can enjoy life. You have come such a long way in the time since you started your diaries. The pressure of not telling your family must have been immense....and here you are now discussing things together.