Jamiedodgers 2013 Diary

JAMIEDODGER

Hiya, I usually bake twinks and maybe crumblies and muffins. I have three kids at home but they don't take packed lunches so usually these last the whole week. I like to bake at the weekends as I study during the week x

JAMIEDODGER

Morning all:)

Roast was yum last night and there was leftover chicken which I will use up over the next few days. Pudding was apple crumble and ds3 just had an apple, I didn't fancy any as I was full up:)

Boys back to school this morning and dd and I will be going into town to get her a new pair of school shoes, I don't know what she does with them but they never last that long. I also need to pick her up a bike lock as she wants to start riding to school and leaving her bike in the bike sheds. Is I have a feeling it will be a fairly expensive spend day, although there should be some pennies to pot afterwards:)

Banking done this morning, all up to date and as should be:)

Today will be fiscal fast day 3.... There is nothing I need so will be making dinner etc from stores and leftovers. I need to do snack boxes for boys, but they can have fruit and a muffin plus bottle of squash.

Other things to be paid out for this week will be deposit for school trip £5, and cub fees for the term £35 and subs 50p for DD. the start of a new term is always expensive, and I am expecting at least a few more letters from the schools over the next few weeks asking for money:eek: I know there will be swimming term fees to pay for at the very least!

Wrote a big list into my notebook yesterday of all the birthdays/anniversaries for the year so I can note next to them when I have bought card and or present. The first birthday up is my mums late February, which I have already sorted. It's her 60th, so a special birthday. I only have two other birthdays in feb and I just buy cards for those people. March and April are my most expensive months for birthdays which means I have to borrow out of another part of my budget to cover them, I usually take out of christmas money, then pay it back during July, aug and sept when I have no birthdays at all. This usually works out quite well, as long as I stay within budget over the whole year.

Onwards and upwards, have a great day whatever you are all doing....

JD x

JAMIEDODGER

Morning,

Fiscal fast number 3 completed:) aiming for day 4 today. All kids back at school as of this morning and I have a full day of study planned. Not exactly sure what I am going to cook for dinner tonight. I have kebab on the list, which I may still cook, but freeze the meat for another day and something else instead.

Took Dd into town and picked up her bike lock yesterday, school shoes didn't fit so have ordered in two more pairs at Clarks and hopefully they might have arrived by the weekend. Having a H fitting doesn't help!

Potted some change after shopping yesterday, a couple of £2, a 50p and some pennies. Pleased to finally get a 50p as I think that was my first this year! Ds3 school sent a refund home yesterday for something months ago, so just tipped all of it into the pot and didn't count it. Will be a big surprise when I open the tin in November as I count up the savings I put in usually out of money from the housekeeping budget, but extras like that and money I've found, I don't count.

Nothing on my list to do today (within school hours) as they are my study hours too. Assignment due 17th, so will be getting head down and focusing on that until its finished.

Banking checked and is all how it should be...have a good day x

JAMIEDODGER

Morning:)

Achieved a lot of study yesterday, essay plan finished and icma submitted, self reflection done and some note taking done. Straight back to it today and I have a plan of what needs to be done to keep me on track:j

Banking checked and £6.36 sent to virtual sealed savings:)

No pennies to pot yesterday as it was a NSD, but either result is a good one:D

Lunch was soup and bread from freezer, today will be a chicken and mayo sandwich.

Dinner last night was a mix of things. Ds2 and3 fancies super noodles and hot dog sausages ...yuk, dd had scrambled egg on toast and I had fish fingers, potato croquettes and baked beans, using up odds and end from the freezer and fridge. Didn't get round to making the kebab, but will do that today. Also got out of freezer some chicken breasts for BBQ chicken tomorrow night.

Freezer inventory is starting to have a lot of crossed out items already which is great:) and I managed to achieve fiscal fast day 4 with no problems. Day 5 today and still I don't need to go near the shops which should also result in another nsd:T however, fridge is starting to look quite bare now as is the fruit bowl. Shopping list had a couple more items added to it yesterday but its still a really small list nothing like usual:A

Milk and bread should stretch over the weekend but fruit and yoghurts aren't going to so will have to go shopping on Friday at some point, which means I will have managed 6 full days, but that is pretty good for me:) I will have to start another fast on Saturday but will be aiming for at least a week. I think it's doable providing that I am sensible and plan ahead.

Sent in £5 with dd yesterday for school trip deposit, but that had already been enveloped and accounted for at the start of the month. As usual, we are not even half way through the month and a lot of my housekeeping budget is already spent, this happens because I pay out everything I can on 1st of the month, then envelope what I know has to be spent over the whole month, the remainder goes in my purse and every penny spent gets written down and accounted for. All bills etc are set up as direct debits or standing orders directly through the bank so there is very little work to do with that, I usually just check everyday to make sure there are no mistakes and on a Wednesday transfer the virtual sealed pot money to my savings account. It works for me:D

Have a great day all, I am off to sort the kids before cracking open the textbooks x

couldsavemore_2

morning
you sound like you are getting on well with your studies very focused .

i wish i could be more organised like you i am to a certain point especially in the mornings then i have great intentions for the evenings but it all goes out the window. if im honest i come home sit down with cup of tea then struggle to get going after that i need to start straight away. i need to address this.

we are eating up the contents of the freezer, tonight we are having different meals just to use up the odd bits. we need to make space before doing anymore batch cooking. i like having meals ready made makes life easier during the week.

have you always been so organised?

enjoy your day

JAMIEDODGER

Hi couldsavemore:)

I have always been quite organised but on the other hand I am a terrible procrastinator especially if its something I really don't want to do:) the studying I have to be super organised because if I'm not I will fail. It's that simple, and I really want to pass.

There are a million and one jobs around the house, I must, need, want to do but only so many hours in the day...I am very good at not beating myself up about it though.

I usually have a small list of to do's each day, and try to get them all completed. For instance, today I have phone dla, make a kebab loaf and Hoover down stairs. I try and make study time between 9-3 while the kids are at school, but take a short break at the end of every hour, when I make a cup of tea, grab snacks, do a quick wash up (commercial breaks are great for this) my whole day is usually filled with bargaining with myself, I can have a snack when I have done another ten mins etc, I can watch this if I quickly water the plants.

My morning routine is really the foundation of my day. I get up at least an hour before the kids, check banking, post on here, put together snack boxes for kids, get out swim kits, together with serious amounts of tea:) I get ready just before I wake them and while they are getting ready for the day I bring down cups from bedrooms, bung a load in the washing machine, open upstairs blinds/curtains, bung some toilet cleaner down the loo and run a sink of hot water to wash the breakfast things. I have a few rules for kids... Try and make your own bed, put dirty washing in basket at top of stairs, and only cereal on school mornings which saves farting around with toaster/crumbs/mess on work tops. While they are eating breakfast I fold dry washing from airers into basket which I leave at the bottom of the stairs for next time I go up.

When I get back from school run I have about 15 mins before I start studying, this leaves me time to make a cuppa, hang finished wash on airers and a quick pick up of anything lying around where it shouldn't be:)

After they are all home from school I do tea for about 5 ish, then wash up, leave snack boxes/clean drinks bottles out on top of cooker ready to be filled in morning. I try and put away the washing up over the course of the evening leaving the kitchen empty for the start of the next day. It doesn't always go to plan but its what I try to stick to.

Main housework is left for the weekends, which is when I also catch up on any washing if I am behind.

Sorry if I have rambled, but these things really help me:)

JAMIEDODGER

Fiscal fast day 5 completed:) day 6 today...

Finally made those kebabs last night for dinner and they were delicious:) ds3 won't eat them so he had cheese on toast. Pudding was angel delight. BBQ chicken planned for tonight with hm wedges.

Treats in tins are starting to run out, so will have to make some more over the weekend. Need to get various bits from freezer today, milk/cheese/bread.

Lunch for me today will be a ham and salad sandwich, with a raspberry muffin, if I remember to get one from the freezer:D

Another full days study planned. Paragraph one is looking good, working on paragraph 2 today. Tonight DD has cubs so will have to be an early tea, also need to pay cub fees for the term so mustn't forget to grab the envelope before we leave:rotfl:

Hope everyone has a good day x

couldsavemore_2

after reading you post yesterday i thought right get going so i did the ironing, not much because we do keep on top of it, put it away starting cooking dinner, which didnt take too long because it was left overs from freezer with fresh rice, whilst the rice was doing i emptied out a mug of pens etc many dont work and sorted it was about to start on cupboard under sink when ds2 turned up wanting dinner and informed me that his gf was coming over as well. so all my plans for the evening went out the window.still the ironing was done and i love having them round for a visit.

so im up early again this morning and am getting organised for the day. mornings are always ok for me its when i come home from work thats a problem but will try again tonight have a small list of things to do before i can sit and watch tv/ crochet.

JAMIEDODGER

Couldsavemore - mornings are always better for me too, that's why I do as much as I can then, leaving the evenings for more chilled out stuff:)

JAMIEDODGER

Morning:)

A full 6 days of the fiscal fast completed:j I will have to go shopping today as I am now out of quite a few bits, however it's not that bad, mainly fresh things that I have run out of milk, yoghurts, fruit and other bits like squash and potatoes. So will be buying what I have used up and what I will need to get me through another week.

Great day yesterday, got my gcse maths results for the exam I took in November...achieved 84% which got me the c grade I needed :T can't get any higher than that as I am only doing the foundation paper. Not a bad result at all considering it was my first exam in over 20 years. Wasn't quite sure what to expect and was very nervous, but I did it and I passed:) one paper down, two to go....

Banking checked, no surprises or changes there:)

managed a good day of study yesterday too got a lot done, but another day of it ahead.

Paid cub fees and subs last night and DD was glad to be back, lots of exciting things coming up in the cub calendar:)

Have no idea what I will be doing for dinner tonight yet, DBf is over for the weekend and I am planning a roast tomorrow night, but haven't thought about tonight. Ds2 is away at his dads for the weekend so it will be a lot quieter here over the weekend.

Last night my module materials turned up for the course I am starting on 3rd February. Had a quick glance but don't want to scare myself just yet. It will be my first level 2 course with the OU. I will be doing the three courses (two ou and gcse maths) alongside each other from feb to June, so I need to find another 10 hours in my timetable for that:eek:

Have a good day....

JD x