Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Karmacat

This sounds lovely gorgeous image of your niece crawling towards you

themadvix

It's amazing how days pass, despite my best intentions to post every day! DH spent Sunday night being ill, so has only just gone back to work today - it was a rubbish way to spend his birthday!

I'm still feeling okay, although have discovered that I do still have limits on fitness. Have had my referral come through - the appointment is for mid-Feb though, so I am not impressed. I'll be ringing the secretary when my appointment comes through to make it clear I'm happy to have a cancellation.

Work has been quiet the last couple of days and today's I can't seem to access (it's online) - will have to wait until the Americans are up before I can query that though. Am very aware that it's getting colder and without work I can't have the heating on with merry abandon (things aren't that tight, but I don't enjoy spending money on heating!). Have got my thermals and extra socks on today (although as I speak heating is on - it was just too cold!). Sadly my willpower failed on Monday evening - with DH ill and me feeling fairly rubbish I decided we'd have takeaway. As always, the guilt prompts renewed vigour in the money-saving department!

MS things:
* SBs - lots; VB polls and surveys (payout should be c. £15 now), MM surveys; PA - anything that comes through the inbox basically
* Comps entered (although enthusiasm is waning a bit at the moment)
* Am working on Christmas presents with an eye to the budget. Sister's family is sorted; may have a no-present agreement with one BIL (the other was horrified at the thought!); am trying to put together a very low cost hamper for DH's Godparents (I wish we didn't do presents with them, they have no idea of our interests etc., but I can't see a way out - they don't have children and presents are a big thing in DH's family).
* Trying to use stuff up still, although did do a top up shop yesterday. Think I'm probably over the £75 budget, but need to retrieve the hypermarket receipt and do some calculations.

Gratitudes:
* Cinema tonight with DH to see Paddington
* Thermals
* Mince pie slice

themadvix

Have struggled with motivation to post recently, but then over the last few days I've been busy with work (hooray), so that's my excuse for then.

We had almost no food left in the cupboards, so I've just had a big food delivery - £112 of shopping for £76 with offers and DH's discount. Cupboards and freezer are now super-well stocked and won't need anything (except two bits which are on the Christmas order - going to MiL's) except fresh stuff until mid-Jan at the earliest.

MS things:
* Faffed excessively with SBs the other day - have sussed a couple of extra ways to earn and claimed another £5 Am voucher
* PC survey done
* Bing clicks done - nearly enough for a £10 Pizza voucher
* Quite a bit of work done and some more still to start - it had been dire recently, so happy to have some!
* Offers on lots of stuff we'd normally buy from supermarket, so have saved in the long term
* Christmas cards written so we can hand out as many as possible rather than posting!

Gratitudes:
* DH back safe and sound from gallivanting around Switzerland and Italy over past two days with work
* Lots of niece cuddles recently - I'm very popular!
* Fun day on Sunday making a photo calendar with sis and cousins for my nan
* Dinner at mum's last night
* Kitty cuddles as I type (I think he's heard rumours about a cattery visit and is trying to persuade me otherwise!)

Off oop north at the weekend - it won't be cheap but I'll try my best to keep spends down.

Watty1

In awe of you having stocked cupboards until mid Jan .....

themadvix

It's not all planned out Watty, but as I buy quorn, it's all frozen anyway so it can just sit in the freezer. I'm sure there'll be odd bits I've missed, but my aim is to try to use it all up again before I buy more, like I have done in Nov and Dec. We're not at home for Christmas and will be away for a few days from tomorrow, so there's less to actually cater for too!

Busy_Mee1

It is good to hear that you are back on form after your illness. I am always impressed with the amount you make on surveys, I just don't have time/find them so tedious zzzzz.
I have quite finished my Christmas food shopping yet but I have been buying extras every week, so I am hoping I won't need a massive shop Christmas week.
Hope your trip oop North goes well......wrap up warm- we are expecting snow this weekend brrrr

Karmacat

Wonderful stuff!

I buy quorn too, I often try out some of the new lines they bring out, but don't like many of them, or they're too (relatively) expensive, so I often stick with my standbys. Got some in the freezer right now, it's so great as a vegetarian to have something that's cheap and nutritious and easy!

michelle09

Looks like you've been busy! I'm not vegetarian, but I love quorn mince. Mostly because I'm super picky about fatty/gristly bits of meat which means buying expensive, or using fake meat.

Has kitty successfully dissuaded you?

themadvix

Hey all! Lots to reply to here - I didn't seem to get notifications that you'd replied.... very odd!

BusyMee - I have strict criteria for surveys - they have to be under 10 minutes long (except YG/NV /PCas I find them to be generally less boring/better paid), otherwise I lose interest very quickly and get disheartened. It helps when work is quiet and that I'm my own boss - I suspect if I was working in an office environment I wouldn't be doing anywhere near as many.

KC and Michelle - Quorn is a godsend as DH eats meat but is happy to eat veggie but it means we eat meals that are recognisable to him. And it's so easy to use - there's always a couple of bags on frozen mince or chicken pieces in the freezer.

Well... we had a lovely few days away - Saturday to Wednesday. Saw DH's nan and his uni friends on the Saturday (not all together :rotfl:). Went out for a meal with the uni friends in the evening. It was... interesting. Two other couples and we went to a very nice pub-restaurant (which conjures up ideas of a chain, which it definitely was not). The food was very nice but neither DH nor I could believe that the steaks on the menu were ~£20 and came without any accompaniments!! Chips and veg had to be ordered separately at £3.50 per dish! :eek: My main and starter came to the same price as the piece of meat the others ordered and I think DH's gammon wasn't much more (and came with an actual plate of food). Neither of the other couples seemed to flinch at paying £100 per couple for the meal (however, they are lovely people and we didn't split the bill evenly - DH paid ~£60 for us, which was fair for three courses and wine).

On Sunday we visited the Christmas markets in Manchester and while we did buy food for ourselves there we also got lots of Christmas shopping done - they had lots of locally made things, as well as the stalls from the continent. The Monday to Wednesday we spent in the Lakes, enjoying the beautifully snowcapped fells and marvelling at how much snow everyone had at home, while we only had enough to make everything pretty! It was lovely to get away for a few days, we got most of the shopping done and really relaxed (we ate quite a bit too and spent quite a lot on food, but it will come out of holiday fund and the summer holiday will just have to be cheaper!).

I used to find I suffered with SAD come the autumn, especially in November, but since we've instigated a trip away in December each year, it has definitely helped - it gives me something to look forward to and takes the focus away from the ever-shortening days. And now we're back, it's only a few days until the days start getting longer again!:D

So Christmas shopping is now all done (just waiting for the last few bits to arrive in the post), most of the wrapping is done and the house is (semi) decorated. We've decided to have a go at making a pallet wood Christmas tree that we can mount on the wall - the cats have a tendency to knock our proper one over, and one chews the LED lights :eek:. That's a work in progress, but we've got the wood and hopefully the paint - DH will cut it tonight and we just need to buy some hooks, screws and something to hang it on the wall with.

MS things:
* Erm..... I've done a few surveys?1
* Dropped cards to local people instead of sending them - also meant we got a quick catch up, which was lovely
* Have saved on presents where possible and got cashback on several bits too
* DH used the Amex small business offer to reduce our spends in a deli while we were away

Gratitudes:
* At this time of year we all have so much to be grateful for - I did donate a bag of items to our local women's refuge yesterday (including two early gifts I didn't need - passing on the chocolates was a big deal for me!)
* My Brownie parents clubbed together to get all the leaders M&S vouchers (and chocs for the younger ones) - this really touched us as it has never happened before and it's so lovely to be appreciated, even though we do it because we love it!
* Time with friends and family
* A lovely time away.

It's so easy to moan about small things, it really helps to remember how lucky I am!

Jessy103

Sounds like a lovely few days away! I really like the idea of having a little trip away to help combat the SAD, i will be suggesting this to my DH. x