~*~OrangeFairy will be debt free in 2014...with a bit of hard work~*~

wendz86

Hi,

Hope work is not too stressful for you. I have just started in a new team at same company i was working for but is a bit strange.

That is good about the meal, always nice when it is less than budgeted.

OrangeFairy

Morning all :-)

Not too much to report. Did a food shop yesterday to top up. Completely forgot AGAIN that I had a Mr T voucher in my purse for £10. Suppose it doesn't matter as I still have to get some fresh bits before the end if the month. Spent £33 but got lots of yogurts, cereal bars, crisps and cereal to stock up Freezer is still packed though we are making a bit of headway through it. Had 'sticky' sausages with new pots and peas last night. Hubby has 3 sausages and I had 2....I left my third for a lunch today with leftover peas and pots. Gave it to hubby for lunch today in the ends as its a big portion and I have soup to use.

I need to update my spends diary to day so I am up to date.

I have committed to doing my Nans 70th birthday cake so I need to plan that and get any bits ordered that I need!

Hubby has given me a list of things he'd like for his birthday so I need to decide in what I am getting.

MSE things today.....
Work hard and don't let the stress get to me
Lunch from stores
Fast tonight so no dinner
Helping at guides tonight to get one of my 'shifts' done. Will stop me eating.
NSD
Walk to guides rather than bus
Update spends
Check banking
Look at my O2 account
Email tortoise shop about exchanging our bulb
Hubby's uniform reclaim to still sort!
See where hubby stands with money at the mo!

OF x

OrangeFairy

Happy Thursday Everyone,

I like Thursdays as I only work till 2.30 and Friday I work till 1 so a nice end to my mad week. Had a little mini meltdown at work yesterday but the bright side is that she knows I have far too much to do!

Didn't get much done last night as I forgot how knackered I am after helping with guides. So 9.5 hours at work and then 6.45-8.30 at guides. I complete hate helping at guides but due to my inability to say No I end up helping more then I would like yet there are loads of kids there that have parents that I haven't seen help in the year DD1 has gone. I really dread it and literally count down the minutes. I have put down to help again at the end of March and am determined not to give in any other week. With working full time I find time is too precious in the evenings!

Thought I was £8 better if as when we got there the leader gave us a sheet asking for £24 census and £12 subs (which are normally £20) So I wrote my cheque and made a comment about cheaper subs! This was met with an 'oh no...the subs are £20 not £12'. So another cheque written!

Good MSE thing was I have been overpaying my water. My bill came through and I was £20 in credit. So rather than £50 next month I could pay £20 I reckon and then reduce the next 2 months to £35 or £40

So £20 spare in my budget next month :-)

Today is work, then swimming club and then I am going out for dinner with my friend to catch up. I reckon £13 will cover it :-)

OF x

MrsSmith2013

Hi OF,

I know what you mean about helping at these things too! I used to help at Brownies, but they have changed it so that every parent takes a turn, which means we only have to help once a term - which is how it should be! I used to rush around after work, have tea get ready and go, to be greeted by a load of stay at home mums waiting to drop their kids off and go.

Good news on the water, every reduction is helpful!

Enjoy your dinner out with your friend, its good to catch up with friends and have a child free meal!

Mrs S x

OrangeFairy

TFI Friday is all I can say!

A much better day at work yesterday. Felt a bit more in control of what I was doing and it was manageable.

Then the meal out with my friend was lovely. A really good catch up. She paid for my meal as a treat and then I bought a pudding and tea after which cost 6.50. So next time we go out we will do it the other way round!

Today is Friday so I finish at 1pm! Woohoo! Then I will go home for an hour before school and I will read my book. Just an hour reading and not thinking if anything else will do me some good.

Other bits to get on with;

Decide on presents for hubby
Decide on design for Nans 70th birthday cake and order bits I need
Go to skittles..try to get top score to win £1
De clutter 3 areas of the house
Check on previously de-cluttered areas!
Sort out Shermans house. He gets more lively when I change his house around as he likes to investigate (Sherman is my tortoise)
Beans on toast for dinner as it is only for me!
Catch up on MSE diaries

I am so excited about getting my new sofas - I just want Next to win and give me a date for delivery. They said 27th of Jan at the latest and I was hoping it would be before hubby's birthday on the 20th!
Finally write letter about hubby's uniform reclaim!

Feb will be a month I pay a large amount off the sofa balance hopefully. I need to also start selling things to use this money to throw at it!

January has NOT been the frugal month I hoped for but it couldn't be helped!

OF x

WantToBeSE

Good luck at Skittles! I used to play for a skittles team...although i was rubbish

Can you share your decluttering tips with me, i am useless at hoarding clutter and living in a teeny tiny house doesnt help!

Off to work now, will catch up more later!

OrangeFairy

Hehe...I feel a bit sure of myself now as I got top score and won the pound! :j

W2BSE- I just break every thing down into areas and make a list of them. For example my cutlery draw is an area, as is the under stairs so they range from small things to big ones and I just make my way through them. I am very throw away happy which makes it easy for me. If it is something I haven't used in 6 months then I don't need it. You just have to be ruthless. When I declutter I even go through my pens and throw the ones that aren't working well and I go through the girls hair band draw and test them for elasticity so bin the duff ones :-) I re-visit the de-cluttered areas to check they are the same and nothing has been dumped there. I have a thing for everything being lined up so I like to go back and recheck them So I end up with stuff to bin, charity shop stuff, things to sell and things to recycle

Haven't got much on this weekend but after a hellish week it is just what I need. These are the things I would like to do;

Get out for a walk in the countryside
Watch some Lost episodes with the kids
Take them to the cinema
Housework
Homework
Paint bathroom door and door frame
Paint dining room skirting boards
Declutter 5 areas minimum
Use up food wisely
Read my book
Snuggles with hubby

The only spend today was £1.30 on a drink at skittles and £10 to our plumber who popped round to investigate a leak for us.

So not bad going. Need to remember to add these to my spends sheet!

Ali-OK

Well done on the Skittles top score! :T

Dare I say we had 47 pens and pencils in the kitchen drawer :eek: - each one tested and similarly binned or kept. Pencils were sharpened and I found a square M&S shortbread tin from the cupboard that fits perfectly in the drawer, so the working ones are all in there and not rolling around the drawer anymore

I'm looking for some non-slip drawer liner now, to stop stuff sliding from front to back of drawers when I open them! I love them so clutter free and tidy.

Enjoy a lie in tomorrow

WantToBeSE

Ali-OK wrote: »

I'm looking for some non-slip drawer liner now, to stop stuff sliding from front to back of drawers when I open them! I love them so clutter free and tidy.

Ali- Check out the 99p shop, or poundland etc as there are always things like that in my local one.
If you have a B&M i am sure i saw some in there too, you just cut it to size

Ali-OK

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Ali- Check out the 99p shop, or poundland etc as there are always things like that in my local one.
If you have a B&M i am sure i saw some in there too, you just cut it to size

Thanks for that, brilliant. I'd been looking at the likes of Lakeland and how expensive are they :eek:

I shall be on a mission in town tomorrow . We've got a B&M and a 99p store, Poundland and Pound Store too!

Have also decluttered 4 paperwork piles resulting in some filing, some shredding and some sticking up of DS's certificates. A couple go back to 2011 :eek: