Gonna get there.....

hp48910

Busy day at work but haven't really gone back after Christmas with the feeling that I want to be there:( but I'm not exactly sure why. I've also got the feeling I've forgotten something major I have to do, although I haven't (but then how would I know , if I'd forgotten:eek:)

Came home, walked the dog, had dinner (homemade soup with part baked baguette) then went to Zumba. Big mistake eating before:mad: nearly had a second helping. Stupidly thought I'd eat early then have a snack later, next time I'll have the snack first, dinner after.

Tired again now, wondering if it's a lack of drive. It was a real boost at the beginning of the month to make payments off all the cards etc. Now we're just ticking along, managing fine and sticking to the budget but I just want to concentrate on debt busting. Pay day can't come quick enough;)

Hope you guys are having a good evening.:)

ps DH's meal ideas were simply 2 x packs of fresh ravioli with a jar of pasta sauce, this has split into 4 lunch sized meals. He's having this with fresh rocket or watercress. We also bought 2 x fresh soup which was on offer. This will equate to another 4 meals. Fresh Panninis in Mr A, 4 for £1 will go with the soup or be used with left over salad leaves as a posh sandwich. Sorry if I made this sound exciting but I was more impressed about the fact that so little had covered so many meals. Planning/making packed lunch has got to be one of my worst jobs!:rotfl:

hp48910

Good day at work despite not having got that 'wanna be there' feeling back yet:o.

Unfortunately it wasn't a NSD. Heating engineer came to check part of the oil pipe which had a tiny leak. Managed to replace the pipe but it cost £55 in total:eek: Shockinlgy £50 was the call out and £5 was parts. The good news here is that we had kept £40 of OH's ticket refund aside and as that money was effectively 'free' I guess we could say it actually cost us £15. £14 if you count the £1 I found outside the gym earlier:T

Had home made steak and onion pie with mash and cabbage for dinner.:) Made the sensible decision to eat a snack rather than dinner, before tonight's Zumba. Far better than feeling dinner's coming back up whilst you're jumping around:p

Been swimming too although I was Duty Officer for half the session which meant I didn't get as long in the pool as usual. Still, it's exercise nonetheless and I need to get back on it.

Hope you've all had a good Wednesday:)

kerri_dfw

Hi HP have you tried just having a banana 30 mins before exercise? Theyre really good for slow release energy and something about the potassium too that I can't remember

hp48910

Thanks Kerri, I came back from work starving and tried the banana trick before walking the dog. It worked a treat! I think when I get that hungry, I never think fruit will do anything, so go for something more substantial (that I obviously don't need).

Have only just recently sat down after work, walkies, dinner, pick up DD from dancing, bath smaller DD/reading book/bed. Guess what I got at the end of all that?........A luke warm bath grrr

hp48910

Not a bad day at work today. Mainly on account of it being Friday:j

Has been a NSD for me too, unless you count 20p on a freddo for DD. Money was found in bottom of work bag and was destined for the 'Every Pennie's a Prisoner' pot but I feel I can whole heartedly justify that as a MSE treat.

Apart from that there has been a rather less MSE plan for the coming weeks, although not as bad as it could have been so I will list the hurdles and then my MSE attitude towards them:

1. Car 1 going to garage Monday for brake discs and pads. purchased Vauxhall parts from eBay. We can't do the job ourselves because of an annoying tool needed which we don't have, otherwise we would
2.Car 2 going into garage Tuesday ( after picking up car 1 Mon:eek:) to investigate weird noise when reversing. DH thinks it's a stone in the brakes and may be sortable at home, fingers crossed

3. Planning Birthday disco for DD1:eek: Having a joint disco with friend so costs will be halved. Already called round and knocked £80 off original dj quote:T They have chosen cupcakes with edible photo cup cake toppers for Bday cake. I found Mr S are selling the Fabulous Baking Boys cupcakes @ 75p Half the normal price:j so have ordered 7 boxes of white choc and 7 boxes of milk choc to come with my online shopping tomorrow. These will serve over 80 guests for under £20:j

Can't think of anything else at the mo but will update as I do cos it's making me feel a lot better about the whole spending malarky if I can see the results of my savings:rotfl:

I think I have git a bit obsessed with saving money to the point of begrudging spending any. I need to accept that is not maintainable and that some spending is necessary:o it's just being more conscious about what I pay and making sure I get the best deal.

Bike ride at 8.30 tomorrow, unless the ground is completely frozen which it looks set to be. Fingers crossed it isn't (is):p

SpagBol

I hope you got your bike ride, it's a beautiful day!

hp48910

Yesterday was a huge success in a lot of respects:

• 9 mile bike ride with DH
• DD2 great swimming lesson, passed level 1 and being moved up a group
• 3 mile dog walk
• weight down by 3.75lb, DH weight down by 7.75lb since starting the 'Get back into shape plan' 2/1/12:T

BUT......................... the best bit of all is that DH and friend managed to change the brake discs and pads on the car. This has saved approximately £70 on garage charges:j . He was so pleased because he didn't think it was possible due to not having a specific tool. Friend had one so all was well.

Even managed a MSE thankyou to said friend for the money he's saved us, by re-gifting a bottle of JD which DH had for Christmas. Perfect as it's friend's fave, DH has gone off this drink and is also off the booze in an effort to get back in shape quicker. Big huge smiles all round:D

The only slight downside to the day was that car 2 didn't have a stone in the brakes, the caliper needs replacing. The brake discs and pads could also do with changing too. After researching prices the lowest came out around £140:eek: We're still gonna have to spend some money but nowhere near as much as we would have had to.

We've made sure we recognised the success yesterday as it can be so easy to focus on the negative on this journey.:)

Off for a 10 mile ride now, catch up later.....

hp48910

What a fabulously productive weekend:D Very happy with all that has been achieved. We've had no choice but to spend money but we've done it with a very MSE approach.

DH has ordered the equipment to enable him to fit the brakes and the caliper himself, so although I'm gutted to have added to the credit card this month when everything I paid off had stayed off, looking at the bigger picture we are quids in. We'll be well equipped for future car related issues too, so the money has gone to a purposeful cause rather than paying labour charges to the garage.

Have cycled 20 miles and dog walked another 4, weight is also down slightly. Approx 7lb left to go to get back to my ideal weight. Wondering if I should set myself a goal date?

Bit disappointed with the couple of trips I made to the Co-op after forgetting to add certain items to my online shop but it was hardly breaking the bank and I'll plan more carefully next time, lesson learned there.

Night all, hope you had great weekends too :O)

hp48910

All on time this morning which is always a bonus.

Have a great day :O)

hp48910

Hmm.....bit of a blip all round:(

We seem to have hit a stumbling block mid-month after the initial "euphoria" of shaving a bit more off the debt on payday and allocating the monthly spends into envelopes. It's now the dull slog of staying on track and within budget and it's soooooooooo boring! I need to have a word with myself becsause it I was reading this in someone else's diary I'd be telling them to stick with it and not give in!

It seems that now we've put a bit on the credit card for the necessary car spending it's sparked off the mindset that I may as well give up trying to be careful. I've agreed to increasing the limit on the Next account so DH can order some new clothes and he's also sent a £50 cheque for his shotgun licence which we weren't going to do until his bonus was confirmed. I know it's not helping the O/D creep up by doing this but it's as if I can't be bothered to rein it in until payday is in sight. Quite annoyed with myself tbh can't really blame DH as he asked me if we could afford to do the above things and I said yes.

Also annoyed that after 2 whole weeks of sensible eating, exercise and weight loss, I've been tempted by Colleagues' Birthday sweets and cake. There would have to be two on the same day:eek: The rest of my meals were fine, just anoyed for the snacking.

The message screaming out to me is GET A GRIP WOMAN YOU AINT DOING TOO BAD but I feel like I've fallen off every wagon I was trotting along nicely on:(