Twelve Weeks To Glow

Rainbow_Bridge

Day 27 of the 12 week challenge and 91/365 - 24.9%.

Morning world,

I lost another 1lb yesterday and I have reached the 1 stone milestone . I am historically the world's worse yo-yo dieter, lose 3lb put on 4lb, so a steady 1lb a week loss is a first :A.

I have my eyes set on the next goal...... seeing 10 stone 13 lb on the scales. It's been years since a 10 came first and I thought those days were long gone with the onset of middle age spread, but I am not going to take my eyes off the prize. I am feeling so much more confident and energetic after shedding all that LARD.

I have just been testing a new recording device for a mystery shop that I have today. It is tiny and disguised as a keyring, but the sound quality is fantastic. The job pays £40.00 for an hour's work which is in keeping with my new strategy of holding out for better paid MS work.

I am going to park, for free, in the Modern Art museum, walk 15 minutes to the mystery shop. On my return i'll have a picnic lunch, while feeding the squirrels. Then I'm going to spend a couple of hours wandering around the new exhibition.

It should be another NSD like yesterday, that hopefully doesn't feel like one.

TTFN xx.

"Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume”Jean de Boufflers quotes

Rainbow_Bridge

Day 28 of the 12 week challenge and 92/365 - 25.2%.

Yesterday went as planned, except I couldn't find any squirrels to feed my nuts to, but I came across a lone, kilted piper, with flowing red hair, playing the bagpipes, and I ate my picnic listening to him, imagining he was Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

I have a similar day planned today. I am heading over to Glasgow to do a P*berry mystery shop, because I have been offered a heavily inflated fee. Knowledgeable MSE's on the local board have advised me where to park for FREE and that a visit to the Lighthouse, Scotland's national centre for design and architecture is nearby, worth a vist and FREE also.

I have my lunch packed and I'm ready to go TTFN x



"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”Henry David Thoreau quotes

NewLeaf_2

Rainbow Bridge well done on the stone! I am jealous(dot)com! Your day sounds amazing x

Rainbow_Bridge

Day 29 of the 12 week challenge and 93/365 - 25.4%.

The Lighthouse was excellent, full of exhibitions by talented locals. It made me want to do something creative, as a hobby, but I am going to put that on the back burner, until the new year, as I need to keep focused on my health and finances, until my new habits are firmly rooted.

I did my 1000th rep this morning, and yesterday at the P**berry mystery shop, the fitter said that the size 14 top was baggy on me and I was now a size 12 .

My weight LBM occurred 3 months ago, during my last P**berry MS when the size 16 top was too tight!!

I have decided to keep the top, which is shapely and a lovely, plum shade as a reward . That means the profits from the job drop from £35.00 to £7.00, leaving my £6.66 a day challenge at £70.00/£200.00, which is still OK for the 11th of the month.

One company has loads of funeral parlour visits, that they can't shift, so I might ring them Friday, to see what they will pay me to complete a few..... at least I will not be tempted to keep the product :eek:.

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away".
Henry David Thoreau

Fortune_Smiles

Well done on the size 12 Rainbow - that's brilliant!

Fortune x

Rainbow_Bridge

Thanks Fortune, if I was a betting woman I would have put no money on me achieving that and enjoying the journey, but here I am xx.

NewLeaf_2

I am well pleased for you with the size 12 top. you are still on track even with getting the top and tbh why not? on the funeral home.

I would love to do mystery shops. how did you get into it?

Rainbow_Bridge

Hi NewLeaf,

The companies I work for, on an adhoc basis, are Grassroots, Associa, ESA, Tern Consultancy, GFK, TNS and CPM, Oakwood, all of whom are reputable and offer a very wide selection of clients to choose from. There are companies out there that pay peanuts, but I try and average about £15.00 an hour by combining jobs or taking last minute jobs, but you probably would earn less than that to begin with as you got your head around it. I've been doing it off and on now for about 5 years.

If they need shoppers in your area, it is extremely easy to get into, the link below shows you how to apply for all the companies that I have mentioned.

I do enjoy them, but I use them for extra income, rather than as a main income, so there isn't any pressure to take the work, which can sometimes be feast or famine.

There is a Dior visit that I am tempted to go to locally, for £25.00, but I know that I would not be able to hand back any purchase from there, so I am not going to take it.......... yet!

Please feel free to ask any other questions xx.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4177927

Rainbow_Bridge

Day 30 of the 12 week challenge and 94/365 - 25.75%.

We break up for the half term holidays, today, so I will not be back at the school job for 8 working days .

I still have my other PAYE job to do, on three of those days, but the rest of the time, I am going to take off as holiday. DS has a friend staying with us for a few days and DH is taking a couple of days off, so I hope to organise a few MSE days out for us all.

This is half way through my month and reviewing my budget I have £185.17 left for food and entertainment, which is tight, but I am determined to stick within it, while ensuring we have a nice few days together.

I have got MS jobs booked in now for the end of the month, that will take me up to £170.00/£200.00 on my £6.66 a day challenge, and rather than take anything more on, I am going to commit to chasing up HMRC for the £35.00 they owe me, which I have been meaning to do for months.

I need to stay focused and keep my eye on everything I am eating and spending and hopefully I will be £400.00 richer in October than I was in September, at month end , and closer to my goal weight.

I have a £12.00 off £60.00 spend, code for Sainsbury's, so they are going to be the recipients of my money this week.

TTFN xx.

"At the beginning of the cask and the end take thy fill but be saving in the middle; for at the bottom the savings comes too late".
Hesiod

Rainbow_Bridge

Day 31 of the 12 week challenge and 95/365 - 26.02%.

Morning,

I was really pleased with my Sainsbury's haul, yesterday. They had a really good selection of organic produce on offer, so I took advantage of it, and only bought organic.

Their meat was 3 for £10.00, so I got three lots of mince and beef. A huge chicken that was on offer, 3 lots of fish, bacon and sausages.

I also bought most of my staples for the week. My total spend was £62.00, which was £27.00 less that it would have cost without the offers and the £12.00 off voucher.

So I have planned my menu around the offers, for the next two weeks, and it goes:-

Fish/Chips and Peas
Beef Bourguignon
Prawn stir fry/noodles
Fajitas
Vegetarian Curry
Sausage Caserole
Pasta Bake
Roast Chicken with Herbed Cheese Stuffing
Chicken Pie
Chicken Soup/Baked Potatoes and Salad
Spaghetti Carbonara
Beef Curry
Prawn and Asparagus Risotto.
HM Pizza.

I am left with £65.01 in my food budget, so I have decided to take advange of today's offer, in the mirror, of £10.00 off a £60.00 spend, at Morrison's, to stock up on washing powder, toothpaste, toilet paper, dishwasher tablets, tinned goods, fruit and some goodies for the boy's holidays.

I will take my calculator along and if I stick to the £60.00, with the £10.00 off, it will leave me with just £15.00 for my final week, but that'll just be for fruit and vegetables.

The irony of all this is that DH thinks that we are eating better than we have ever done and the food budget has had £250.00 shaved off it from what we were spending 4 months ago!! It has taken time though and a lot of planning xxx.