How to fall in love with saving money

cathybird

atush wrote: »

Oh dear I bought books this week.

TBF, I sold 3 last month, some of the books i bought were bought with a gift Cert from TCB though.

Will list more books for sale tomorrow, to boost the coffers.

My little bird (who isn't very little lol) who flew the nest came over for sunday dinner last night for the first time since he left. He stayed the night and got breakfast too lol. then refused to take the rest of his stuff. Once he gives me a spare key i will sneak some of it over lol

In all honesty, atush, I haven't been able to stick to my "no books" resolution - I bought books at the work book sale the other day. *hangs head* I should confess over on the books thread but have not yet managed to bring myself to do it. I could try to get rid of the equivalent number of books by way of penance. I've got plenty of rubbish books I don't really want.

It's sweet that your little bird isn't by the sound of it quite ready to completely fly the nest

atush

I m sure he came for the free meal and to see the dog, not me lol

cathybird

atush, you're his mum, I'm sure he was pleased to see you, as well as the dog

cathybird

Morning all! I went out for an hour this morning on the bike, which was pleasant - sunny and brisk. I took it down the canal towpath and back. Annoyngly I fell off once in a slightly embarrassing way and scraped my knee (still a novice rider) but apart from that it was a pretty nice ride.

If I was a better cyclist I'd commute to work (thus saving money) but don't want to risk myself to London's busy roads.

Now about to get my food together for work today (another money saving measure). I hope everyone out there is well.

atush

cathybird wrote: »

atush, you're his mum, I'm sure he was pleased to see you, as well as the dog

I dispute this, as a mother of 3 boys. I know where I stand. I have no illusions.

I outrank the dog only if I am handing out money.

atush

Too miserable here for bikes at the moment.

And yes, if you can't handle the tow path not ready for City roads lol.

cathybird

Morning all!! Bit miserable here too today ... atush, if you insist that your son loves the dog more, then who am I to disagree, but you do have the advantage that the dog cannot cook, obviously - unless you have a particularly well-trained dog? ... If your dog can cook, do send him over - I could do with a personal chef to prepare meals for me when I get home from work.

Anyway, where were we? ... I can handle the towpath, it's the Brompton trolley wheels that are the problem (I think) ... The Brompton is a brilliant bike, but the trolley wheels are placed in such a way that they can easily catch inside the side of your shoe as you pedal, and when that happens you can't keep pedalling (obviously) and you can't get your foot away in time to put it down to brace yourself on the ground either, not to mention that that doesn't really work when the bike is in motion anyway, with the result that the bike after a couple of seconds keels over. I haven't worked out a solution. I do notice on cycle websites that other people do complain about it occasionally but obviously the vast majority of Brompton riders aren't falling off their bikes that often so there is probably a way of dealing with it, I just haven't worked out what it is.

I still haven't updated my signature, have I? .. I'm going to do that now.

atush

He stands over me when I cook (the son not the dog) cuz I am not cooking it fast enough for him lol.

Basically I eat at 8pm, and he wants to eat at 6:30 lol.

No, the dog can't cook, but lays down a few steps behind me while I am. Hoping to trip me up so I drop food on the floor for him

Cathy, I undertand your reluctance to cook. When I am on my own (like last Sat/Sun) i often dont bother cooking for just myself. When the OH lived and worked away for a year, he fly home late Friday and leave early monday so quite often I w ould not bother cooking during the week. I lost half a stone lol.

cathybird

ha ha, cunning dog Actually while I would welcome a personal chef, I do cook, but simple stuff during the week because I don't feel like spending ages on it when I get home from work. Pan-fried fish with salad, that kind of thing. Often leftovers though, if I have them. I do like something proper for dinner, even if it's only small.

hi celfiemum, nice to hear from you I love riding the bike, just am conscious that I need quite a bit of practice before braving the roads I reckon with bikes it's the same as cars, the basic mechanics of getting it to go are not all that hard, but where experience counts is with the myriad little ways things can go wrong - the distractions and wobbles, the kinds of things that could prove fatal if you then lost control of it at the wrong time and place. So, lots of canal towpath riding for me for now.

cathybird

Morning everyone! I have been quiet the past couple of days as I am having friends over for lunch this Friday and am in a flurry of planning, cooking and cleaning already. Having people over always makes me nervous.

It has got to halfway through May already - not sure how that happened. I have some slightly boring savings stuff to do like transfer my council tax direct debit to Santander to get the cashback.

I am well and truly in the stage where my mind has wandered away from its first intense focus on saving and is now seeking to focus on other things and this was always the danger zone where I could easily slip back into old habits, so am glad I have this diary to remind me to keep on track.

I hope everyone else is having a good Tuesday.