My Busy Life

MissOptimistic

Hi Sidneysmum, sorry to hear you are not feeling on top form, I've been much the same myself - perhaps its the weather & we are all ready for Spring to arrive!
Well done on the Premium Bond win, I'm guessing you must have a large holding. My three children all have a £100 bond which they've had since birth, my eldest DS (16) has had two £25 wins and my DD (7) has had one £25 win but my middle DS (14) has yet to win a prize
My Ebaying is going well, I have about 15 things ending on Sunday, so I guess I'm going to be pretty busy on Monday wrapping everything up! I am trying to save an emergency fund, but our bottom fence blew down before christmas and is going to cost just over £500 to replace, I have £400 in the emergency fund but don't want to wipe it all out & to add to my troubles on Wednesday night half our side fence came down too :mad: we are next to a public footpath so this really is a problem as we feel very exposed.
Your friend is doing well with her weight loss:T
Have a great weekend & hope you feel better x

vasseur

Hope you feel better soon - no harm in staying in when the weather's this bad...

MissOptimistic

Hi Sidneysmum, how did your Ebaying go? I had about 10 items end today and have them all wrapped & ready to go, just waiting on 4 of them to pay
Had quite a productive day, managed to get DH to move all his boxes and tools from in front of the treadmill so I can actually use it now - I intend having half an hour in the morning to get back into it, as its been about 6 months since I did any running.

sidneysmum

Vasseur – Thanks for posting. Unfortunately I am still not 100%, but I have decided to just eat “clean” for the next few days and see how I feel. If I am no different, I will be off to the doctors. Hope you are well x

Girlatplay – Thanks for your post. You have reminded me – I need to check when my road tax is due. I did actually get a nice surprise when I came to work this morning – A valentine’s card, keyring and big box of Thornton’s sat on my desk. I will be putting the Chocolates on one side until I feel back to my normal self. X

MissOptimistic – Thanks so much for posting. Great news about the treadmill. Hope you get to have a run this morning. Exercising just makes me feel great! You sound as though you are doing well with your ebaying. Yesterday I had about 20 items finish. I know that sounds a lot but over half of them were magazines so they just needed popping in an envelope. I was delighted as everything, barring one item, sold for more than I expected. I am just treating this little project as a bit of a game. I still have about 20 items listed and hope to list about 10 more on Thursday. I just have buckets of stuff to sell. Emptying my aunts house has made me realise what a pile of rubbish we hoard. I want to get rid of all my unwanted stuff now, and put the money to good use, instead of holding on to it all. I spent an hour of so last night packing things up. I still have a couple of items unpaid, so I will call at the post office on the way home from work today and also go when the rest are paid for. Hope you are getting rid of loads of stuff x

Friday evening was horrendous weather wise in the North West. My grandchildren stayed and the noise of the wind kept waking my grandson up who was, shall we say, a bit of a pest. I was worn out on Saturday morning. I took my granddaughter back home first thing to her mum. I took my GS to the swimming baths. My friend and her grandson joined us and we had a great time. We all 4 had lunch at my house before my friend and grandson went home. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games before I took my GS home. The rest of the day was spent just catching up and doing a few jobs. Managed to get a good sleep after an early night.

Yesterday was a great day. I was up nice and early and went to the gym for my usual 60 minutes on the treadmill. I came home and had a quick breakfast before going over to my aunts house to do some more emptying and cleaning. The house is going to be rented soon and the tenant and her partner turned up to have another look round. I was pleased to find out that the tenant’s partner is a builder so he is coming round to give me a quote for reroofing my house. I intend having a few quotes but get a positive vibe from this man.
After loading my car up with stuff, either for the tip or for rehoming, I went back to my house. I brought one or 2 items from my aunts house which are for me. I have brought a few ornaments etc and a clock. I haven’t kept my old stuff. It is either going to be ebayed or given to the charity shop. After I quick shower I rushed off to a birthday party at a neighbours house. I had a really nice time. Although I don’t like going to some places on my own with being single, I felt really comfortable today. I had a nice buffet tea, then came home and did some tidying up before starting the ebay packing.

At the moment I have a lot of large bills coming up, and I prefer if I can to pay for things in full instead of over 12 months. So….I won’t say I am saving up, I am trying to NOT spend on anything.
I just want to keep as much money in my account so that when the bills arrive in the next few weeks, I can just pay them. Whatever is left will be used towards my roof. I know I am quite focussed moneywise at the moment. I would like top buy loads of things for myself, but I am just saying “no”. I can have all these random things when my bills are paid in full. I am trying to use up all the food, toiletries and general household supplies, before I buy anything else.
Anyway I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving few days.

sidneysmum

I had rather a productive day after work yesterday. I called at the Post Office and spent £35.20 posting parcels. Thankfully Ebay customers are covering this amount and I already have the money in my account. Next stop was the “Cash for Rags” shop. I weighed in another £17.50 worth of old clothes etc which needed getting rid of. Lastly I called at the chemist and handed in a huge bag of unwanted tablets and medicines. It just feels great to be repurposing so many things. Once I got home I spent a couple of hours photographing more items for ebay and making draft listings. I now have about 10 items to list on Thursday for a 10 day listing. I decided to have a look at how much money I have been making over the last few weeks from getting rid of all this old junk. On average I have made about £100 per week clear profit once the postage posts and ebay fees have been deducted. I don’t think I will make much this week as the items I have for sale at the moment are all of small value, but I wanted to get rid of them just the same.
Anyway I went for a walk with my neighbour at tea time which was nice as we had a nice chat. Then it was an early night for me. At the moment I am doing a lot of thinking about money. I am not actively saving up, but I am actively not spending. Next week I want to buy a new outfit as I am going out on a special night out and want to look my best. I will just try and buy something that I can get plenty of wear out of.
Anyway I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving day

MissOptimistic

Hi Sidneysmum - sounds like you have been busy! I had a productive day too yesterday, I wrapped all my Ebay parcels, though just waiting for one non-payer, so I will take them to the PO later today.
I did manage to get on the treadmill, although it was after lunch as I simply couldn't face it first thing - still I managed 35 minutes of steady running & the treadmill tells me thats 500 calories burnt which I am pleased about. I am not overweight, but I would like to lose about 7lb as I look and feel happier nearer to the 9 stone mark and I am currently about 9 and a half (I am 5ft 5)
I also managed to alter a pair of curtains for a lady who was asking on a local facebook page if anyone did alterations - I am quite handy like that and it felt good to dust off the sewing machine, plus another £25 towards the fence repair fund!
After that, I then applied for a job - this is a tricky one - I currently run my own business, but it doesn't take up much time - I love being at home, but its very stressful as some months I can make a half decent part time wage and other months next to nothing. I don't really want a job, but I have to weigh up the peace of mind a regular income will offer, anyway, the job is only 2 days per week & I will probably not hear anything anyway!
I need to get some more things on Ebay, I also try to do the 10 day listings starting on a Thursday for maximum exposure!
The new outfit sounds good, its always nice to have a new dress for a special occassion. Have a lovely day x

sidneysmum

MissOptimistic - Hi. We have a lot of similarities !! I am 5ft 5ins and about 9 and a half stone, but liking 9 stone more !!! Well done on the running and the curtain alteration. I used to just love sewing. When I moved into my current home I made all the curtains for the house as some of the windows are an odd shape / size. I haven't done much sewing this last couple of years apart from the quilting / patchwork I did about 12 months ago. I also need to buy 2 new fence panels as I have 2 in my garden and they just fell to bits last week with the strong wind. I am going to order some soon but i want to buy some fence stain first. I asked my next door neighbour if he would put the fencing up (its not the type that just slots in) if i bought it. He agreed like a shot ! Well it saves me paying someone to do the job. Keep in touch x

Yesterday was another work day and it was quite boring. I have been thinking about ways to save a bit of cash and unfortunately my son aged 26 has copped for it. I am no longer paying his TV licence! By the time i was his age I had a fleet of children and was standing on my own 2 feet. So I rang up the TV licensing and cancelled the licence and they are going to refund me some money. Actually my son doesn't watch TV much (he is so like me) so he wasn't in the least bit bothered. Anyway I am not sure how much they are repaying me but I am now making a saving of about £12 per month. I made a couple more phone calls and I am feeling very much in control of things at the moment. I am facing my bills head on instead of hiding from them. In the next month or so I am going to get a bill for over £700 which needs paying. It is from the management company of a flat I own and it relates to the revamping of the stairwell costs (my share). I am hoping to have enough money to pay the bill outright as I dont want to be still paying for it in 12 months time.
Anyway after work I took a couple more parcels to the post office before heading off out to the cinema. I went to see "Cuban Fury" which was rather funny. I am glad I went to see it. I just had a quiet night last night.
Today I was up reasonably early and went to see my aunt in the nursing home. I then had a bit of a stroll round the shops and got a few leaves for the piggies. Next stop was the gym and i did my usual 60 minutes on the treadmill. I decided to skip zumba as I had a few jobs to do at home outside and the weather was quite mild today. On the way home I returned a few unused items to "Wickes" and got a nice refund to my bank account. This afternoon I painted a new piece of guttering and did a spot of pointing where a hole has developed in some brickwork. I also gave my morning room wall a quick coat of emulsion now that the leak has been resolved and the wall has dried out. Took Sid to the park for a quick run around. Just before tea time a lady came and dropped tons of baby clothes off at my house. I will find some for my baby grandaughter then donate the rest. At the moment I have got my head round making a few savings as I want to get as much money together as possible for my new roof and also for the big bills i will be receiving soon. Every £10 I save is £10 less to think about. In the main I dont actually spend a lot of money. I have just tons of toiletries to use up. Apart from the very odd thing, I haven't bought any toiletries for about 2/3 years. I have a shelf full of shower gel and body lotions that still need using up. Anyway....
I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving day.:)

LeaLea89

Hi Sidneysmum, ive been awol for a while but i have caught back up on your diary. Hope you are feeling better now, we have been under the weather here, i cannot seem to shift a stuffy nose and headaches whilst my other half was up all night ill. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be better!
I have been ebay and facebook selling myself along with decluttering the house, i have joined in the the decluttering thread on here and it is a brilliant motivator.
In regards to PayPal do you have one of their cards that you can use like a debit card? It uses your PayPal balance when you use it, i use it for the post office runs and then i know what i have left etc.
Hope you have a lovely day x

MissOptimistic

Wow you have been busy! Its good to get all those little jobs done though isn't it? You are very organised knowing which bills you have coming up & how to tackle them. I particularly liked your idea of paying the gas & electric at the end of each week, it is something I think I am going to do once I have paid off the huge bill we received last month (over £500!:mad:) it will make it so much easier to monitor usage too. We have someone coming to repair our side fence next Wednesday, new posts have to be put in as the old ones have completely snapped off at ground level. It is going to cost £180 which we more or less have, after that, our bottom fence needs completely replacing and we are having the concrete posts & bottom panels with the wooden panels that slot in. Its going to be 7ft high & just over £500. After that is done & dusted I may be able to get on with putting something in my emergency fund!
I managed another half hour on the treadmill yesterday & hope to do the same a couple of times over the weekend too.
Off upstairs with my book shortly for an early night, its been quite a stressful day today and I didn't sleep well last night so I think I need it x

sidneysmum

LeaLea89 - Good to hear from you and I hope you are feeling well soon. I am feeling OK again thankfully. Thanks for letting me know about the PayPal card. I hadn't even heard about it. I have been a bit cross with my Ebay sales today. I sold a great ornament for almost £50 and the Post office managed to break it despite my packing it really well. Anyway I am hoping I can claim back some money for it. We shall see!! Keep in touch x

MissOptimistic - Well done on the treadmill exercise. I got on the scales this morning expecting to be nearer the 10st mark, after tons of comfort eating whilst not feeling well, and was very pleasantly surprised to find I was 9st 5lb. I am glad i am no heavier as its my school reunion next Saturday and i want to feel super confident, and not super overweight !! Sorry to hear about your expensive bills. I have been really focused on my finances recently as i need to put away as much money as i can for my new roof this summer. Because i have been so focused, I have got my finger out and tackled a few jobs I have been putting off over the last few days. Anyway keep in touch x

On Thursday I went to the gym and did my usual 60 minutes on the treadmill followed by my dance aerobics class. Called and got some more free veg for my guinea pigs and also went to Sainsburys and bought a few basic food items using a leftover gift card. Thursday afternoon was spent tackling loads of horrid jobs. I rent out a little house to a couple of tenants and they were leaving today so I had to do loads of checks.....and tidying up. Also I had a visit from the cavity wall people who did the insulation for me last summer. Lets just say its the worst thing I ever did. I have a massive wet patch on 2 bedroom walls all due to the cavity insulation. At the moment i am trying to get the company to put things right. We are at the photographing and discussing stage at the moment ! I managed to get some time to list a few items on ebay before going to my early evening zumba class (which is fantastic). I also called at Tesco as i had 2 small value clubcard vouchers which were about to expire and i though it best to spend them quickly. Just bought milk and a few boxes of stock cubes which i use loads of with all my soup making.

Friday saw me being Mrs Positive again. Off to the gym first thing and did my usual 60 minutes. I then called off to see a lady who is my letting agent and handed in some keys !! Very efficient. I also called and bought a pot of fence stain. I am going to order a couple of fence panels next week and want to stain them before they are fitted. Did tons of little jobs on Friday afternoon - booked my MOT, bit of painting, ebay photographing, Sid to the park. I also got a visit from a friend of my sons who repaired some of my double glazing. He is calling back next week and fitting a new seal to my french windows and aslo fitting a new UPVC front door to my rental house, for a bargain price. Lets just say i am delighted with his help. Zumba again at tea time, then I went and picked up the grandkids. I have just been told there is to be a new addition sometime later this year all being well. OMG. How will i manage with 3 under 3 years on a friday night !!

This morning I took my grandaughter back to her mum and took my grandson to the cinema. We watched "Walking with Dinosaurs" or rather he did, as I had the most amazing kip !! After our lunch I just spent time playing with him before taking him back at 3pm. A couple of good things have happened today. A friend at work has offered me all her little girls clothes for my grandaughter, so I snatched her hand off. Also as i was on my way home from dropping off my grandson I saw an old wheelbarrow on the top of a skip. I went and knocked on the door of the house it was outside and asked if i could have it. They said yes. My plan is to fill it with soil and use it for bedding plants. I once saw someone else who had made one for their garden and it looked wonderful. Anyway that's my next project. I will have to drill a few drainage holes !!
Anyway I am calling for my friend soon and we are off for a walk, and the plan for tonight is to have a bloody good rest !!
I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving few days.:)