PennyGrabber's Path to Pecuniary Positiveness!!

Suffolk_lass

Hi PG, it's good to see you back posting in your DFD.

I also removed a load of food and stored it in plain sight but I have found that only works for a limited time. After a few weeks the windowsill in the kitchen has become my new storage area for ood tins (what did make me think I needed three cans of creamed coconut, or two tins of condensed milk?) - I really wish you luck with this approach :T

I have taken my relatively large monthly target and plotted it across the year and worked out the percentage against an overall figure that is slightly higher than 12 times the monthly (to allow for Christmas) and I seem to be OK with that because I have now done three huge weekly shops in a row. Perhps I need to re-inventory the freezer as it seems to be meat that is my worry bead.

I went to a garden centre (well 3 actually) and bought just two cheap troughs and three bags of compost as I couldn't bring myself to pay what they were asking - similar to your concert I think - so although I am struggling with the GC I can see changes in my attitude to money in other areas.

Have a lovely week (I'm guessing you are on HT)

SL

PennyGrabber

Hi!

Yes, I am on half term - I love it! I don't think I could do a 'real' job now, I would hate having to organise holiday times. Even though I can only have emergencies during the holidays, at least I don't have to organise childcare etc. I love that I work 6-8 weeks, then have at least a week at home with the children/on my own to do jobs.

The shove-it-on-the-dining-room-table system seems to be working so far. I have used up a few things, and used up stuff in the pantry and restocked with stuff from the table. However, i was supposed to have a use up dinner, but didn't have time to cook (having had to bury the guinea pig this evening), so I've just eaten two pieces of cheese on toast.

So, cheap dinner! Children are back tomorrow, so that'll be great for me - I miss them sooo much when they're not here...

Positives for the day:
- had a fab lie in, reading a book in bed til gone midday
- did some more tidying in my room, including getting the massive pile of sheets and duvet covers from my room onto the top shelf of the airing cupboard.
- spent some nice time with my friend - I rang her and asked her to come and get the pig out of the hutch for me, as I'm too much of a baby, and she stayed for tea and toast. She's had/having a few dates from pof this week and next. I'm on there, but haven't got up the oopmh to message anyone. Don't know if I really want to yet, to be honest, except that I want to be in the comfy part of a relationship. Shame you can't skip straight to that part!
- I've lost 3lbs in the last week (only 53lb to go!!)

Going to do the weekly shop tomorrow morning by myself, instead of with the children at the weekend. Don't need very much, and I will aim to run in, run to the right aisles, and run out again (after paying, obviously!) Short list so far, including two things which aren't urgent, but I'm starting to look out for offers for. That's margarine and dishwasher tablets; they are getting low, but not desperate for them yet.

Can't decide whether to have my bath tonight, or in the morning. Hmm, decisions! No, I'm going to have it now, so that's one less thing to do in the morning before the children come home.

PG x

cleggie

Hi PG.
Sorry to hear about the guinea pig- do the kids know yet?
My kids were away Sat-Wed at their dads and i missed them loads too, but its nice to have a break isnt it!

Well done on your weight loss! I am aiming to lose a stone, but if i carry on baking so much, it'll never happen!

Hope you enjoyed your bath!

Suffolk_lass

Sorry about the Guinea Pig. I hope the kids take it in their stride. Have fun over the last few days of half term
SL

PennyGrabber

Thanks guys. The children don't know yet... DS will take it in his stride, even though it's his pig, but dd will bawl, and be sad for around a week, I expect, if past experience is anything to go by. After the other pig and the cat go, I'm not having any more pets - I can't deal with death very well. Friend was amazing, though, and put her in a box in my shed, ready for me to bury today. Only problem is, I cant remember where the hamster is buried, and I don't want to be digging that up, so I'm having to wait until lunchtime when children get home, as dd will remember.

We're swimming with my ex-sister-in-law and her children this afternoon, which will be nice. We tend to meet up every holiday, and catch up. This time it will be just us, whereas often, we incite other friends too, so I'm looking forward to that. She's due her third baby in six weeks, and it's kind of weird, as I won't be that baby's auntie, but I am the first child's auntie... They still call me auntie, but it's weird!!

Jobs for today:
bury pig
do weekly shop
bit of cleaning
tidy children's rooms with them
bit more tidying in my room - it's looking better every day. I'm doing a kind of flylady thing, by doing 15 mins every day.
check bank
update sig, for spends and pig
get out some cash to pay for swimming and pocket money
Spend less than £20 on weekly shop

Just had a text, children back in ten, so I'm off to do something quickly before they get here.

Have a good day

PG x

PennyGrabber

Ok, so the pig is done, the bank is checked (okish for this time of the month, the end of the month will be TIGHT). We went swimming yest pm, and the pool was freezing! I mean, my nieces had blue lips when they came out! I swam a few lengths, and had fun, but we couldn't stay in for too long as the children were perished. Ex SIL's mum brought some biscuits for the children for after swimming, so that saved me two of mine (dd had one of mine as well!), so that was a few more pence saved. And, she didn't want me to pay for my share of the pool, so that's another £5 saved.

Positives for today:
- nsd
- went to town and only spent on what was planned (ds haircut, dd shoes)
- had a lovely lie in (really must start up the slave labour and get them to bring me breakfast in bed!!!)
- had good snuggles with both of the children, together and separately
- did some using up today. The piles on the table have gone down a little more, and I used up some milk, a packet sauce mix, a half empty custard pack, two small swiss rolls and a three pack of cream eggs.
- was really pleased with myself yest when we did the shop, s I only bought the fruit that I know we'll eat next week. If we run out, that's ok as I have loads of dried and tinned. I don't know why I have always got myself into a tiz about fruit!
- the weekly shop was £17.37 (I know that's from yest, but didn't write that down yest!)

Money is getting really tight now for the rest of the month. I've worked out, though, that it's because I bought those blankets and a few other bits before I had a real hold on where I was moneywise this month. Must do better next month!

Won't need food from now until I run out of milk or fruit, as I can make do without other bits and bobs.

The cat tried brought a mouse in tonight. Luckily I was sitting on the stairs at the time, as she brought it through the kitchen into the hallway, goodness only knows where she was going to take it! Luckily when she saw me, she went into the dining room to her usual dead spot, and hid there. I got ds to shut the kitchen door, and then I chased her out, complete with mouse. :mad: She's such a nuisance!

Right, off to plan for a frugal day tomorrow. No food spending, maybe cheapo cinema, maybe catching up with a friend, but def lots of housework, which is free!!

PG x

PennyGrabber

So, so far today we've had a lie in, breakfast, bought cinema tickets online, went to te$co to get sweets and drinks (£2.43), watched the film, come home, had lunch. Now we're about to go off to a friend's house who has recently moved, via a$da to get her some flowers. Today is a good day! Although I'm spending money, it's not a lot, and I'm really enjoying my day with the children.

Hopefully will be able to finish off the month's budgetting etc tonight, to see if I can pay off a tiny bit of the cc. Even if it's just £10, that's a step in the right direction. Even thinking of taking the stupid thing out of my purse altogether!

PG x

PennyGrabber

Positives for the day:
- olb looking ok, except I forgot that I have a trip to the dentist coming up the day before payday next week! Should just be a check up, but I haven't been for at least 3 years... (That's only partly me being a slacker - I asked at lots for nhs places, but only found one last month)
- went to te4co and a4da today, and only bought cinema sweets and drinks in t and flowers for my friend in a! Very happy with myself, as that makes a gc nsd!
-cheap day - cheap entertainment and cheap food!
- really really wanted kfc or similar for lunch, but resisted
- I have done my homework for the half term holiday. Usually I do a bit of it, and then tell myself I'll do the rest soon, but soon never comes... Well, I've gone and done it! (Hopefully my boss will notice, as I need to impress her so she makes my 1-year contract permanent next year. Never too early to start making her think I'm indispensable!!)
- Had los for dinner, not the best, as slightly overcooked yest, and then microwaved today, but tough! The rest of what I make is good, so we all put up with it today.
- Eaten less carp today - really need to lose weight, and that will only happen if I eat less!
- Planned out the lunchboxes for the week. This is an experiment. Usually, I get to the night before or even the morning, and then think what shall I put in the sarnies? What else shall I give them? So I have done a plan, using the oldest fruit first, etc, to make sure everything gets used, and I don't have to think too much! It seems to be working so far, as the lunches are already made for tom, all I have to do is get them out of the fridge and put the plastic boxes into their lunchboxes.
- lined up a spare babysitter for tomorrow night. My mum got me a ticket to see Dave Gorman for my birthday, and the show is tom. First sitter may not be able to do it, car trouble, so i've lined up another. Honestly, I hardly ever go out, and when I do, it's when the children are at their dad's, yet this week, I'm going to need two sitters!! Still, I have to have a life... I already have the ticket that mum bought, and I won't need to buy anything there. I may take a bottle of water or something.

Right, far too late to still be up, as it's technically a school night! I can't wait for Sundays in September, when I won't have to work the next day!!!

PG x

PennyGrabber

Today was a nsd, even though I had planned on a bit of spending, as I left my handbag at home!! I was supposed to buy some hayfever medicine and some flea stuff... Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

Need to spend tomorrow, but not on gc food. My best friend's birthday is tom, and we're going out in a group for dinner. I have to get her a card, as I haven't set foot in a shop this week to do that. That's really good for me!

Positives for the day:
- nsd
- did really good lessons today, that were observed, and the person observing is going to tell the governors how great I am!! This can only be good for me getting a permanent contract next year!
- children ate loads of dinner tonight. I did a hm pizza and garlic bread, and they ate loads. I had the rest, and it was lush. All from stuff that was in. The toppings were tom sauce (freezer), pineapple (freezer), sausages (cocktail ones from the freezer), turkey (freezer), sweetcorn (freezer) and cheese (fridge). I have pizza toppings in the freezer all chopped up ready, and then it's an easy quick dinner.
- really enjoyed the show on Monday, and I keep remembering some of the jokes!
- children went to bed really well
- olb ok
- I won't get my overtime this month, but I'll get a nice wallop next month - about three days' worth!
- two or three people have commented this week about being excited that I'm returning to teaching
- My fridge is not full. This may not seem like a positive, but I often have a fridge so full that I can't fit anything else into it. This is silly, and how much food does my family really eat in a week?! For the last few months, I've been reducing this, and it's really satisfying to see the change in my fridge contents. And, I can actually see what is in there!!
- Freezer still going down.

On a sad note, I'll quote dd tonight: "Now the baby's here, she (stepmother) doesn't care about us any more, she only cares about the baby." Baby is a month old...

I knew this would come, and I won't say anything bad about their dad, but at the same time, aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!

I can't afford to put the whole amount of savings into my holiday and Christmas pots. Haven't done last month or this month... That means I need to find £150 for each pot next month if I am to catch up... Don't think that's going to happen, but I'll try!!

Still looking for a second hand bike on fleabay. May get one new from halfords if a can't find a decent one there. I want to be able to cycle to shops, work, school etc and save petrol money, but my current bike is not good. I want a mummy-bike with a basket!!

Off to bed for an early night now.

PennyGrabber

OK, so I'm really proud of myself today. I went into a$da today to get medicine and stuff (no food), and I went to the reduced section, obviously! I picked up some burgers and mince, but then put them down again and walked away! So proud!

Positives for today:
- My gc nsd
- didn't have to do a proper dinner, as we went to a party, so we just had some crackers and cheese for supper. Cheap!
- feeling good about my diet - 4 lbs gone in two weeks. Not really changing much at a time, just one thing here and there. This week I'm concentrating on my evening need to snack, by taking up my unfinished cross stitching.
- saw some friends I haven't seen since Christmas
- bought dd some new clothes as she only had two jumpers that fit her, and not many t shirts. For £18 I got her a thin short sleeved cardi, a short sleeved t shirt, a shrug and a joggy style zippy hoodie
- going to write a VERY short list for shopping tomorrow, then will go to a!di (the new one - haven't been there yet and it's been open for over a week!) to get the few bits.
- pleased about my visit to the dr yest. On the down aide, I have to take medication constantly for the next three weeks. On the good side, it's paracetomol and ibuprofen, so it's cheap! Won't even cost me the price of one prescription for the whole three weeks! I have something like patellofemoral syndrome or something like that. Basically a dodgy knee! They want me to take stuff to reduce the possible internal swelling, then if the pain doesn't go away I have to have physio. It's not all the time, just for a few days every now and then.
- Also while we were at the dr yest, three different people commented on how polite/well behaved my children were. Proud mummy!
- Although I haven't managed to add to my hol/Xmas funds this month, I am still in the black. I will try to pay back the overdue, but it's no biggy - I over estimated how much I'd put in, in case I couldn't do it now and then. And, it's still more than I'd have if I hadn't put any in.

I'm dropping the children off with their dad for breakfast in the morning, and they will stay with him until Monday morning, so if I feel ok I'll do some housework, and if not I'll veg and dose up on anything I can take!! Must do the shop though, as need fruit and yogs for next week's lunches.

Off to bed now - I'm so bunged up!!

PG x