The End May Actually Be in Sight...

Crumpets

RoaringTwenties wrote: »

Hi Crumpets, yes the bubble machine is brill! DD is saying "bubbles, bubbles" all the time now & the carpet is permanently slight soggy I think The Entertainer do home delivery?

Not much more time to post as SIL is, according to my flight tracker, approaching the airport! Suffice to say its been a spendy few days argh! Just things like more rechargeable batteries for DS' birthday toys, & wrapping paper, it all adds up. Some bargs though, managed to get DS a school coat in Trespass reduced from £50 to £18 :money:. Also got a few bargains on crafting things in Sainsys for him & little friends birthdays, all 70% off :money:. Also got a set of 4 pens each for the kids with their names on, £2 each, theyll make good stocking fillers. Its easy to get things with DS' name on, his has been in top 10 for the last 15 years, we thought we'd given DD an equally boring name but hers has gone from top 10 fifteen years ago to 60 something I think (according to ONS) & it's not easy to find hers. So I was really pleased with those. And I got everything wrapped - phew!

Entertainer do do home delivery but I'm too stingy to pay it :rotfl: I'll have to wait til I go to the city. Well done on all your bargains especially the personalised things, kids just seem to love that stuff. I remember when choosing dd1's name I purposefully chose a name that you never saw on those things, however since she was born the short version of her name is EVERYWHERE so it's easy to get stuff for her. Dd2 has a name that you occasionally see and ds's name I very rarely find anything with his name on. They all have perfectly normal names though so who knows who decides what names get chosen for this [STRIKE]tat[/STRIKE] stuff

I hope you have a great time with sil and family and look forward to catching up with you in September

C x

RoaringTwenties

Hellllloooo all

Standby for mega long post!

I'm back after a brill visit from SIL & DN. It's been a brill summer all round really, Cornwall, the east coast then SIL & DN. However...we've spent a fortune & eaten a fortune! So now I have to face the music & save/starve :rotfl:

We decided to say "stuff it" [STRIKE]quite loudly in fact [/STRIKE]& just enjoy ourselves whilst SIL was here. We reflected on it & agreed that that would have been what their grandparents wanted us to do with the money they left us. So we had some lovely meals out, trip down south & the family get-together which was wonderful, people came from all over to the original family village & we threw a gorgeous lunch for all, got to see people we hadn't seen for years & even meet a few new ones! SIL & DN went back at the weekend & this week has been catch-up time, DS is back to school & playgroups started back this week so our routine re-commenced, it's been nice actually to get back to normal

The damage financially is quite substantial. We've emptied our holidays fund & extras fund [STRIKE]& every other fund we had[/STRIKE] :eek: We're going to have to take money out of our MOS I think so our mortgage figure will be going up not down. I've said it before I know but we should have kept some money back when we got the inheritance, we were just so thrilled to get rid of such a substantial part of such a hefty mortgage that it seemed a good idea to pay a massive amount off instantly. Anyway, it's still a small mortgage in the scheme of things & will be gone sooner rather than later!

In between all this fun & mad spending I have got loads of bargains! Some shops seem to have had great summer sales - I picked up quite a few bits from Sainsys, The Works, Wilko etc, crafty things, colouring books, safety scissors in the shape of a giraffe & the like for the kids & present box. Got some DVDs for £1 each today & Charlie & Lola books for 25p :T. Also got a beautiful leather wallet for step-dad for Xmas from British Legion Poppy Shop 60% off. Got some Peppa onesies from Boots BOGOHP & a load of school thermals for DS & little cardies for DD in the 20% off event at M&S. The best bit was that M&S stuffed up one order repeatedly & by way of apology offered to send me a £25 leather purse that I wanted for my birthday next month free :j

I'm also trying to lose some weight, I reckon if I just stop eating that'll shift some pounds & save some too :rotfl: So far I've lost nearly half a stone :T I was always a 10, been a 14-16 since DD which I'm not comfortable with. I've decided to try & get down to a 12 in the first instance, having two huge babies & one c-section hasn't helped & I don't want to look out of proportion as a 10 with a tummy! But will have to see how that goes, not sure I can hold out on the chocolate front for too much longer

I'll try to get to others diaries at some point soon, thanks to all who have posted on here whilst I've been away :beer:

Crumpets

Hi RT,good to see you back :beer:

I think you have done exactly the right thing over the summer, it's sounds like you have had a brilliant time and made lots of lovely memories for you all to share. Especially as your Sil lives on the other side of the world, I'm guessing you don't all get together all that often. Your funds will soon build up and even though the mortgage may go up slightly I bet in the grand scheme of things it won't be huge and it will soon come down again!

Well done on your bargains during all the fun and frivolity, it's easy to get carried away when you're spending. Great news on the freebie birthday purse too

Shall we be diet buddies? I've got about 8-10lb to lose as I've been a bit too indulgent over the holidays, I've been doing ok so far this week [STRIKE]if you ignore the chocolate I had for lunch[/STRIKE]:rotfl:

Hope you have a great weekend xx

RoaringTwenties

Argh Crumpets I typed out a reply to you last night but the site ate it :mad: It tried to tell me it was something about protecting my security but I was still sat here yelling at the iPhone "I don't give a stuff about that, I'm trying to chat to Crumpets actually" with OH looking at me like I'm barmy :eek:

I think you're right re: the money. We've got so used to there being little left over we almost feel guilty at spending a bit! But the SIL/DN trip was v special, first time we've seen her in 5 years & first time we ever met 3.5 yr old DN [STRIKE] and we prob won't see them for another five years judging by the tantrum-filled 30 hour return flight we've heard about[/STRIKE] :eek:

Yes please let's be diet buddies! :j I was doing really well but having had a really restricted couple of days I've managed to put on a pound :mad: I'm blaming my hormones (as I do for everything!) I've lost nearly half a stone since I started, that usually drops off me but now it gets hard so support would be grand :beer:

RoaringTwenties

Hello, back again, trying to keep up to my diary!

A few bits of financial news, starting with the good stuff - OH has had a pay increase! Just over £50 PCM :money:

I'm trying to get organised for the NCT Nearly New sale, hoping to sell stacks! The minimum amount is £1 this time so that makes it easier arithmetically

I've bought a few bits of clothing for the kids, but I tried all of DD's winter wardrobe from last year on her & it all still fit :T I think shes just got leaner & longer, I haven't had to turn sleeves up etc. I've been looking for a fuscia coat for her as it matches everything she owns but there have been none in my usual haunts of Next, M&S, Boots Mini Club etc Can't believe it, as my OH says, a fuscia coat is the staple of a two year old girl's wardrobe! Then I found one in Asda last night for £12, half the price of the aforementioned retailers, & it feels really good quality. [STRIKE]Incredibly despite being only 23 months old she's in the 4-5 years[/STRIKE]:eek: The good weather has meant she's stayed in Doodles so as yet no need for new winter shoes, I reckon I've saved a half size there :rotfl:

OH found a lovely pen whilst we were away so that's been put aside for her for Xmas, & my mum has ordered herself some earrings & I've paid her for them so that's her done! In fact that's virtually my whole family sorted for Xmas & Xmas-time birthdays, inc both parent's 60th's And the kids are budgeted for, so hopefully expenses in that direction should be kept to a minimum :money:

DS' pizza party today so I spent last night packing up loot bags! Gwyneth Paltrow I'm not so no conjurers or £1000 gift packs but I'm sure they'll still have a great time :rotfl:

RoaringTwenties

Hi H-O-I-T (or shall I call you Bo for short? ) Thanks for dropping into my diary & for your kind words re: our inheritance. It has been an *amazing* year. Have to say I'd never thought of flight tracking as a hobby/entertainment, but I might have to now. I do now know that the Lufthansa flight tracker is better than Quantas for functionality [STRIKE]muppet alert[/STRIKE]

Gg deffo get a bubble machine! They are actually quite hypnotic for grown-ups too [STRIKE]muppet alert take two[/STRIKE] :rotfl:

Goldiegirl

Hi RT, your SIL's visit sounds like it was a special time, and I think you did the right thing to spend the money as you did.

Life is to be lived, and sometimes we need to spend a bit of money to do the living.

In the great scheme of things you now have a very small mortgage and the means to replenish your savings over time. No guilt required!

RoaringTwenties

Thankyou Gg, wise words I hope you've been ok in the last few weeks, must get into your diary as soon as poss!

I've had a major piece of luck in connection with DDs upcoming birthday - a friend's 6 yr old DD has offered to sell me all her Peppa Pig toys for £20! Think I'll have to give her a bit more though as the stash includes Peppa's house with furniture, campervan, school, rocket, playground inc slide, swings, duck pond, zip slide, roundabout & see-saw, Grandpa Pig's train, even the museum with museum truck & dinosaurs - & all the characters plus 6 DVDs. Given that DD insisted on eating her tea tonight from a Peppa bowl with a Peppa spoon whilst wearing a Peppa top I think it's safe to say this will all be a hit :T :rotfl:

This has put me in a good but funny quandary though! We have some money left in DDs birthday fund, we were going to get her a couple of Peppa bits plus an ELC first dolls house, but now that she's going to have stacks, I'm wondering about carrying some of her money over to Xmas & poss even to her third birthday next year. She *loves* pushing her toy pram & pushchair, & something tells me that she may want one of the extortionately expensive but completely beautiful Silver Cross toy prams that is permanently in the window of a shop local to us. Might sound silly but I think I might literally start saving for that now, with the post-Peppa surplus I just know I won't be able to say no to her as I'd have killed for one myself at that age

Discovered today that M&S have launched their extended Xmas return policy - anything bought from 5th Sept can be returned up to 17th Jan [STRIKE]which will be useful if anything I've bought recently is reduced between now & Chrimbo [/STRIKE]

Collected the M&S birthday purse which is lovely! Also may have found some autumn/winter shoes in there that I like for £39.99, better than the £80 that Clarks seem to be averaging theirs at these days :eek: Hoping I like them when the order arrives in store.

Mon & Tues at home this week, hoping to get that NCT pile sorted :T

RoaringTwenties

The Peppa-fest has arrived & it's substantial. There are a couple of bits missing - apparently the little girl wobbled at the last minute & decided to keep a couple of things, aw . Must say I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it, it's in good condition but it doesn't look that good quality if I'm honest. It must be different manufacturers, I remember DS had stacks of Postman Pat toys & they were really well made, they survived DS (whose nickname was Mr Destructive ) but the Fireman Sam stuff was really weak, it was forever collapsing & looked a bit like this Peppa range in design. Luckily DD is pretty careful with her toys so we should get good use out of it. None of the DVDs are duplicates either which is a bonus, a second copy of Princess Peppa I can well do without :eek:

I looked up the Silver Cross dolls prams, there are two & they are called the Oberon & the Chatsworth [STRIKE]and I want one [/STRIKE] :rotfl:

Finally moving towards some resolution of a Premier Inn complaint that I've had ongoing (forgot to mention it I think!) Was offered £40, pushed them to £60. Still not happy but will prob let it go at that. OH is hoping to go to her late Grandad's naval reunion later this month & will stay in a Prem Inn so that will be really useful in saving us some money then :money:

Also finally got some NCT NNS prep done today, fingers crossed for sales. I'm putting everything at £1 which is the minimum value, so if it doesn't sell at least I can tell myself I couldn't have done any more

I think my new digital bathroom scales hate me I got them for £3.99 reduced from £12.99 last week in Argos, they are the most revolting fuscia colour (think Peppa Pig again) but they are refusing to accept that I am any slimmer. It's madness as I am sure I can feel it & my clothes are a bit looser but apparently no, I'm still the hefalump I was a week ago :mad:. Every morning I give them a death stare before I get on them [STRIKE]which probably doesn't help our burgeoning relationship [/STRIKE] :rotfl:. Oh well, back to salad

RoaringTwenties

My digital scales saved themselves from being thrown out of the bathroom window this morning by agreeing that I have lost a bit more weight. Just over half a stone in total now. Have to say though I am finding it *much* harder than when I lost it after DS 5 years ago and when I lost a bit after finishing my PhD 10 years ago. I suppose it gets harder the older you get

Ordered myself an Xmas pressie last night - a book on the history of M&S, second hand for £1.99, thought as I spend half my life in there it might make for a good read

Just about finishing up on the ordering for DDs birthday in 3 weeks time. Alphablocks is out on DVD so I've got her that [STRIKE]so she can teach herself phonics whilst I get on with the housework[/STRIKE] :rotfl:

I ordered DS a Spider-Man wallet for his toast money now he's in KS2, it arrived today & he's very proud of it . it's difficult teaching him about money & budgeting, we have Autism-related social communication failures on that! But he made a money box pig out of a water bottle at Messy Church tonight & so there's been lots of talk of finance this eve! It's one of my greatest wishes for my kids that they can manage their budgets, I'm so glad it's now being taught in schools :money: