I'm going to buy a ski lodge.......

daisystar

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Laughed at you getting stuck in loft hatch, woman, no ladders or loft hatches please.

I promise!! Lucky you with your tree up already, hope you're enjoying every second!!

Paypal balance withdrawn and overpayment made to CC1 today so that feels good. What also felt good was making glittery playdough with DS, definitely an afternoon well spent

Happy evenings everyone!

daisystar

So, a few challenges to my resolve/enthusiasm today:

• Final payment amount added to snowball spreadsheet for December - however due to the increase in one of my minimum payments because of the end of an interest free period, the amount to snowball this month amounts to £1.44 Not the greatest but at least its not in negative numbers and hopefully the overpayments currently being made will help with this before too long.
• Temptation - I've seen that they've launched a Women's Health magazine, aaaaargh!!!! This is right up my street and I'm sooooooooooo tempted to buy it, but I won't. No sireeee. Definitely not. Nope.
• None of this is helped by the fact that DS has decided that sleep is for losers and he wants no part of it whatsoever. :eek: Two weeks now of VERY broken sleep and VERY early mornings - bring on the caffeine and chocolate!!!

To be honest, as shallow as it sounds, its the magazine that's challenging me the most. I keep thinking about it, I had no idea I was THIS addicted but I will stay strong and try to keep the big picture in mind :A

Onwards - and off to peel potatoes for a fish pie, yummy!!

Pippilongstocking

Re the magazine

Can you read it online for free -

Or at the library

Or like us use your clubcard points to get magazine subby's is it on their list - that way its cheaper and best use of points to make you happy.

Boo to no sleep - sleepless here but due to sideways hail/gales hitting the bedroom roof rather than babies!

Well done on the £1.44

daisystar

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Re the magazine

Can you read it online for free -

Or at the library

Or like us use your clubcard points to get magazine subby's is it on their list - that way its cheaper and best use of points to make you happy.

Boo to no sleep - sleepless here but due to sideways hail/gales hitting the bedroom roof rather than babies!

Well done on the £1.44

Ooh some v helpful suggestions there, thanks Pippilongstocking! The mag is new to the UK and defo not online for free at the moment, but I will make sure to check out whether its at the library, I hadn't thought of that

No chance of clubcard points though - unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) we are miles from a Mr T's, we are lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world which has so far resisted all attempts by them to set up camp here

Booo to no sleep for whatever reason - it sounds wild where you are!! And thanks for the well done but its really not, we were managing to snowball an extra £40 just from the monthly 'budget for debts' but with the extra interest there is now no extra to snowball, if that makes sense However, I'm sure it will start to improve again next month.

Thanks, as ever, for reading - it really does help with the journey I must get to reading your diary; I have started but will make sure I read it all so I can join you for support too!

And to everyone - happy debt-busting and wishing you all a good nights sleep x

daisystar

So, I was off the boards yesterday as it was....................Christmas Tree Night!!!! (I really wish smilies were working for me tonight but sadly they're not - imagine many Christmas trees here!)


Me and DH had a lovely evening putting up and decorating the tree with Xmas tunes on, and an even better morning seeing DS's face when he saw the tree for the first time - he is DELIGHTED!!!
Its confirmed my belief that we're doing the right thing buying very few pressies for him this year, he is just too little to know and will be so happy with everything that's happening around Christmas that there has been no need to go anywhere near overboard.
We really did know this anyway but sometimes its easy to forget when you hear about what everyone else is getting their kids, its good to be reminded that we are buying just what we can afford and he will be over the moon with that :-)


DH is out on his final Xmas night out, this time with friends. His spending on socialising has been fairly restrained while at the same time he's felt like he has seen other human beings which I think is tricky when you work long hours - he says he feels like all he does is work and sleep, I know others on the board will be able to relate to this. So I'm really pleased he's been able to reconnect a bit while not breaking the bank.


I have a Christmas confession - I'm booked in for an eyebrow shape and tint tomorrow - eek!! I've genuinely struggled with spending this money which shows just how much I've changed my thinking this year, but on balance I think the confidence boost over the festive period will be worth it..........


Right, the batteries about to go in the laptop so rather than plug in I think that's a sign I should go to bed!!
Happy weekends everyone, xxxxxxx

brizzledfw

You need some small treats..mine is threading

Well done on the 'not going overboard'!

Pippilongstocking

daisystar wrote: »

No chance of clubcard points though - unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) we are miles from a Mr T's, we are lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world which has so far resisted all attempts by them to set up camp here

Thanks, as ever, for reading - it really does help with the journey I must get to reading your diary; I have started but will make sure I read it all so I can join you for support too!

And to everyone - happy debt-busting and wishing you all a good nights sleep x

We had ours land here a couple years ago and if I'm honest tis one of the reasons I'm happy to leave soon, its ripping the heart out of here.

Oh dear lord, don't read my diary - I'm a space cadet Although there's a lovely link to our wedding photos on the first page that bit is at least BONNIE!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

But all support welcome.

daisystar wrote: »

So, I was off the boards yesterday as it was....................Christmas Tree Night!!!! (I really wish smilies were working for me tonight but sadly they're not - imagine many Christmas trees here!)


Me and DH had a lovely evening putting up and decorating the tree with Xmas tunes on, and an even better morning seeing DS's face when he saw the tree for the first time - he is DELIGHTED!!!
Its confirmed my belief that we're doing the right thing buying very few pressies for him this year, he is just too little to know and will be so happy with everything that's happening around Christmas that there has been no need to go anywhere near overboard.
We really did know this anyway but sometimes its easy to forget when you hear about what everyone else is getting their kids, its good to be reminded that we are buying just what we can afford and he will be over the moon with that :-)


I have a Christmas confession - I'm booked in for an eyebrow shape and tint tomorrow - eek!! I've genuinely struggled with spending this money which shows just how much I've changed my thinking this year, but on balance I think the confidence boost over the festive period will be worth it..........


Right, the batteries about to go in the laptop so rather than plug in I think that's a sign I should go to bed!!
Happy weekends everyone, xxxxxxx

And that's so true isn't it and some people do show off but you know what the delight of seeing their faces enjoy stuff is worth a gazzillion bits of plastic carp. Stand fast!!

brizzledfw wrote: »

You need some small treats..mine is threading

Well done on the 'not going overboard'!

Exactly!


So its 10 days til we're off there's hardly any snow and DH is stressing!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

We'll see - I must pack but its hardly rocket science is it - a couple pairs leggings and warm jumpers, salopets, warm jacket bobble hat, lip balm.

A pair of jeans and some wellyboots - shouldn't need anything else.

Oh pj's I guess!!

:A

daisystar

brizzledfw wrote: »

You need some small treats..mine is threading

Ooh Brizzle I've never tried threading, I fear I may love it too much! The shape went well but the tint was a shocker!!!! DH burst out laughing when I got home and I felt I had to explain myself to everybody at DS's Christmas party that day :-/ Tis toned down now though thank goodness :-)

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

We had ours land here a couple years ago and if I'm honest tis one of the reasons I'm happy to leave soon, its ripping the heart out of here.

Oh dear lord, don't read my diary - I'm a space cadet Although there's a lovely link to our wedding photos on the first page that bit is at least BONNIE!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

But all support welcome.


And that's so true isn't it and some people do show off but you know what the delight of seeing their faces enjoy stuff is worth a gazzillion bits of plastic carp. Stand fast!!


So its 10 days til we're off there's hardly any snow and DH is stressing!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

We'll see - I must pack but its hardly rocket science is it - a couple pairs leggings and warm jumpers, salopets, warm jacket bobble hat, lip balm.

A pair of jeans and some wellyboots - shouldn't need anything else.

Oh pj's I guess!!

:A

No you sound pretty much sorted, and you know ANYTHING can happen weather-wise between now and then, it'll all be marvellous!!


I shall read your diary, don't even think about trying to stop me :-) But for now as I'm on a major catch up I have just sneaked a peek at your wedding pics and they are just lovely!!! They depict exactly what its all about, just gorgeous :-) (My smilies aren't working again, but if they were then there would be a LOT of happy looking ones :-)


Glad to hear you'll soon be free from Mr T's, some people wonder how we manage here, like we're on the edge of the earth or something! But I like the fact they haven't quite got to EVERY corner of the world just yet ;-)


So, I've been off the boards for a few days, simply because I've had no time in the day and DS is still having a major sleep nightmare, evenings are taken up with him and he's been up tons in the night. Its just a post-illness phase but has meant less time to focus on this side of life....or focus at all really :-)


No more overpayments have been made in the last week, as we have used the money for final Christmas pressies, DH's nights out, and paying for various things for DS (swimming, football etc) that then won't need to be paid again until March, hurrah!!
I've tried to do this all in a really short space of time as spending the money, especially on presents, has felt really painful so I've tried to minimise the impact!! Not making any OP's has meant that we've stayed within our means over the most expensive time of the year, although the total debt amount won't have gone down too much this month.......


Am off now to browse the world of diaries, its been quite a few days and a lot can happen in a short space of time. I'm also going to investigate the mysterious case of the dysfunctional smilies.....


Adios!!!

daisystar

Evening!!


Still no smilies it appears - not quite sure what to do, I feel my posts are severely lacking without................


Anyway, on to more important matters! I've had a lovely couple of days, seeing friends (no spends the other day, small spends today), and doing fab Christmassy things with DS :-) These particular friends have both had really tough years, one who nearly lost her life with an illness and one who almost lost her 10 day old son. Happily, both are now fully recovered and very much starting to live their normal day to day lives again, and are in very positive frames of mind, and its been a pleasure to spend time with them this week. Its also made me even more determined to work so so hard at doing everything I can to make these numbers go down, because really, whats a bit of hard work???


So, I'm feeling super determined for a Friday night :-) This weekend will be very low spendy; we're taking DS to a charity Xmas tree display tomorrow (£1 each and 40 Xmas trees to see, amazing!!) and I'm getting my hair done. However, instead of my usual blonde blonde blondeness I'm going to go back to my normal colours (sob) in preparation for the next couple of years of moneysaving - pretty committed hey??!!


I'm also trying not to go near a food shop for another couple of days - this will only be achievable if we have the stuff to make bread - I shall go forth and check this now..... :-)


Happy Fridays everyone, may your days (and nights) be merry!!!

daisystar

So I've identified the problem of the missing smilies with the help of some lovely MSE-ers, something to do with updates and IE11, but I haven't looked into rectifying it yet as I had approx. 3 hours sleep last night so I'm not feeling the most efficient this evening!!!


Right, December is definitely a challenge isn't it?! It seems I was right to hold off on some of the overpayments as costs seem to spring out of nowhere, e.g. I'd forgotten that I need to post a few birthday and Christmas cards to friends and family overseas. Little things, and I know I don't HAVE to send them, but they all add up.


DS's swimming and football are now all paid for, and the hair got 'done' on Sat - its a real mission as there is a LOT of it :-) Happily, it was cheaper than I expected as I'd forgotten I'd already paid the deposit, hurrah!! It also looks a million times better and she assures me the colour is much lower maintenance - this is my compromise between being totally high maintenance and letting it all go completely ;-)


The current acc is looking dire right now, fingers crossed for the rent coming in on Thursday (The Fear is upon me more strongly than usual as its near Xmas and we're a bit too close to the bone for my liking) and DH gets paid next Monday.


One day at a time this month, one day at a time......


Happy evenings to you all!!