Time to stop pretending it will be ok!

julie2710

I cannot believe how quickly that four days has gone. It was my birthday weekend and the boys went to their dads on Friday so I got some time to myself. I had booked a long time ago to see Olly Murs with my friend on my birthday so that was Friday taken care of. Once all of this years prebooked stuff is done that is going to be it until I'm on top of things financially. On Saturday I did some tidying up round home and sorted some more stuff out to eBay but looking at the new postal charges I may have to think again.:( I have a couple of items which sold on Friday so I will post those today and see how much they cost, can't do much about them now, then see what to do about the other stuff.

Saturday night my friends had paid for me to go to the theatre. They got me a gorgeous birthday cake too and we had a lovely night.

Sunday was gardening day so a massacre of the fruit trees that were well overdue pruning. Lunch at the parents and a well deserved early night.

I worked last night and am going to work again tonight so that will give me money to put the deposit on the boys summer clubs (cheapest childcare option in the summer holidays:o)

I have my expenses to do this morning so need to get on with those.
Sun is shining so some fresh air required

Find_The_Real

Happy Birthday Julie if I missed posting about that somewhere else - I do forget very easily as I thread surf on what I have actually posted.

Sounds like you have a lovely birthday weekend and it is so lovely when friends make a nice gesture of treating you.

It may seem a stupid question but with ebay are you adding in the correct postal charges on your listings as it is normally kind of expected that these will include the correct postage and a little bit extra for packaging. I have known some sellers to also add value to cover their fees. To be honest I don't mind paying it as long as they are reasonable.

julie2710

Thank you Find the Real. it was a great weekend and I am so grateful to my friends. I have made some amazing friends since my marriage broke up.

I do try and put the correct postage on for my eBay items with just a little bit for packaging. They are usually low value items so I tend not to add on extra. The problem this week was that I wasn't on top of the increasing postal charges so items finishing on Friday/Saturday had the old postal rates against them. One of the items sold for 99p. I'd put £2 postage and its now going to cost me £2.60 to post unless I try and flatten it into an a4 envelope. It's a kids t-shirt so probably worth a try.

I think between eBay and Royal Mail it seems to be getting harder for people just hoping to declutter and make a couple of quid to actually use eBay successfully. Maybe that's just me though and I need to invest more time doing a more professional job of it? Not that I have time to do that:o

Anyway tonight I have a load of admin to do for my day job as my boss is out with me tomorrow. I also pick my boys back up in the evening. They've had some time with their dad. The house has seemed so quiet!

Mum is kindly coming round in the morning to see the Cotbed that I've managed to sell off! That went for £50 so that's in the pot for the summer camps. If I get chance tonight I really need to go over finances too, oh and wash my hair as an early start tomorrow.

For now though I need something to eat

julie2710

Where is this week going? So much to do and so little time. Had a busy week at work this week so far. The boys are back from their dads and they seem to have so many Easter eggs I'm sure they'll still be eating them at Christmas.:eek:

Person came and collected the Cotbed yesterday which I had sold on eBay. Also posted my three other items. The postage was ok so will definitely be listing some more things.

We are off to Devon next week ( the boys and I) On a cheap Haven holiday. I sat with the boys today and worked out our meal plan for the week. Explained that I don't have enough money for us to eat out at all in the week but this way they get to pick what they have. So tomorrow off to Iceland! I've done well on spending this week as have been eating out of the cupboards and freezer so only had to buy bread and milk I have run out of butter though so will need that tomorrow too!

Just checked the bank account and have transferred over £60 from PayPal. I'm going to keep £50 in my account for now as know things may well be tight later in the month. Have a couple of lunch meetings to do for work and although I get the money back I have to pay it out in advance. I have paid £10 extra off on my credit card though.

Should really be getting to bed! Every night I say I'm having an early one and I never do

julie2710

Well here I am again with an update. Just got back from a cheap Haven four days with the boys. Tried really hard and on the most part succeeded to do everything on the cheap. Took all our food with us, made the most of all the free entertainment and several hours swimming each day. The only extravagance was £2 each for the boys which they changed into 2ps and used on the machines in the arcades. DS1 managed to win himself 3 key rings with his money and DS2 was on the stage within half and hour of going to the first nights entertainment and won himself a rucksack for his great dancing :j

I'm really struggling at the minute. I know I'm making steps forward but it just seems like a drop in the ocean and I really need to keep reminding myself that it all helps. I think the fact that I've been feeling quite lonely this week, hard when you're a single mum and you're surrounded by happy couples with their "perfect" family units, hasn't helped

Anyway in a bid to try and make myself feel a bit positive at least today is mortgage update day and another £800+ paid off that so something to smile about I guess. Almost forgot £70 off CTC overpayment too!

Orange_Ena

Wow, I'm impressed with how organised you were on holiday. You're clearly determined Aww I love those 2p machines. When I went to Weston Super Mare for the day I spent about 60p but it kept me busy for an hour :rotfl:

You are doing really well, you definitely need to give yourself a pat on the back. I don't think many people could go on holiday and be that organised so you should be proud of yourself. Well done on £800 + paid off, that's amazing :j:beer:

And other couples probably aren't as happy as they seem. They probably long to be single, to have no one nag them, irritate them or bleed them dry. Being single is great

Have a lovely weekend

Find_The_Real

Hello Julie

Well done on paying off the extra and managing to stick to a reasonable budget when on holiday, you should be really proud of yourself.

I have to agree on the single bit, being my own mistress is such a wonderful thing (although I also don't have the kids) and heaven to me is no mess, no snoring, no working my guts out to pay for everything, peace, not being a complete fool and total control of the TV. Yes it can be hard sometimes as it is all down to you but you are doing a great job so try not to be so down as I am sure once they were home they were back to their not so perfect lives.

julie2710

Damn, stupid rain! I was up at 4am this morning to drop my parents off for their coach as they are off to Scotland for a week. Came home and went back to bed for a couple of hours. I'd done two loads of washing last night from holiday stuff but its rained all day so it's on the clothes airer :mad:

On top of that I had great plans of mowing the lawn and painting fences all of which will have to wait. I'm off to a birthday party tonight so will need to get ready in a bit. Feeling a bit fat after my holiday so will need to find something I can fit into. Going with my brother so I volunteered to drive. That way I don't need to buy drinks as will drink water. Never really bothers me to be fair.

Oh well at least I have had a productive day listing items on eBay. 31 in total including some bottles of perfume that I've had for a while, hardly used and don't really like any more. They all seem to have watchers and one has two bids. Also old car seat which is a really good quality one, some clothes, DVDs and books. Hopefully that will bring in a few pennies

julie2710

Wow what a week so far! Boys were back to school on Wednesday and DS2 spent Tuesday being sick so time off for him. It seemed to be more related to his cough than a sickness bug so he went back on Thursday. I was lucky to be able to do an admin day and he slept on and off.

My manager has handed in his notice. His role has been advertised internally as a secondment. I've done the role before in a different company so did consider applying but there's no acting up payment and I would effectively give up my bonus potential for the year too.

I've signed up to the new company pension scheme. I pay in 3% and company pay in 10%. First payment will kick in at the end of May and I should receive my pay rise then so hopefully won't notice it going.

I've spent a couple of hours trying to track down all the pensions I have from various employers too. I seem to have about 7 so need to look into some options with those! One I definitely won't move as was a final salary scheme and I was there for a while on a decent salary. The others aren't as good and look to be expecting to pay out minimal amounts. Someone has mentioned a tax free release scheme so it might be worth considering and then reinvesting the rest? Normally I wouldn't consider it but I think I need to look at things now and what I will need in the future. It might be an option.

eBay stuff seems to be doing well at the minute. Up to £24 on a half empty bottle of perfume! I have a load more stuff to put on too so will get cracking with that tonight too.

Have two birthday parties at the weekend, one for each of my boys to go to and one is for twins (:mad:) Need to find 3 bargain gifts! Right best finish my cuppa and get a move on! Back soon

emmaglet

Just wanted to say hello, I've just read through your diary and wanted to wish you good luck