I have lost my OS ways, help!

Caterina

Good evening,

MoS well done on weekend NSDs and glad your appointment came through and that there is progress, at least about diagnosis and exclusion of RA. I hope you will find a way towards recovery soon.

Today was a NSD for me (success ) and a few things sorted that needed sorting, also a mini-start on the paperwork, which is a bugbear as big, if not bigger, than the ironing. But much to my blushing shame, no ironing done at all.

Commitment: tomorrow at least 3 shirts will be ironed, come what may!

Good night.

Caterina

Good morning,

Sunny lovely day, laundry day!

Off to tai chi then it is ironing ironing ironing, it won't be too bad as I shall do it in the kitchen with the garden door open to keep DS company. His dad asked him to chop all the leftover wood from the building works in chunks suitable for the woodstove, so we will put the radio on, plenty of tea for me and coffee for him and it should be fun (of sorts LOL).

I am going to make the bed with the quilt and quilt cover today for the first time since summer. We are definitely in autumn.

Work today is easy, only one of the boys to be picked up at 4:15 and dropped at tutor's at 4:45, sadly only 1 hour paid instead of 2 but glad I will have a bit of free early evening.

Dinner is going to use up the leftover cabbage, mushrooms and carrots with a tofu stir fry.

Have a good OS day.

moments_of_sanity

Thank you Caterina, it's nice to find a Dr that knows it exists! Unfortunately, it's one of those things a lot of Dr's still don't believe in but hopefully they will get a better understanding of it.

It is a lovely day here too so have taken the opportunity to get 2 loads of washing on the line and I can see them blowing about in the breeze so hopefully they will dry.

Yesterday wasn't a NSD for us as we needed to pay for parking at the hospital, £3.60 for a 90 minute stay! :eek:

Today WILL be a NSD as nothing is needed, we still have plenty of everything and dinner tonight is Thai chicken that was cooked last week and frozen so a lovely dinner with minimum effort today :j

Did anyone watch the programme last night on the Beeb about poverty in the UK? I thought it was quite interesting but would have found it better if they had included how much each family spent on food shopping rather than just saying they barely had enough. The gentleman who lived on his own earned £298 for 2 weeks work and they said by the end of the 2 weeks and once his bills had been paid (he was paid every other week) he would have had no money for food and would probably have not eaten for a day or so before he gets paid again.

IrisViolet

Moments of sanity - glad you got some answers that must be a relief. Sorry you have had to go through this sounds like such a huge lifestyle change and must be very difficult to adjust.

Well done all of you on the NSD's, I've not been doing NSD's but I think I will start today as it will definitely be a NSD! I'm going to aim for 15 in October! Sure I can do it! Wont be including bills that are on my budget but will include all spending food, petrol, treats, etc. Lets see How we get on.
I readjusted my budgets yesterday, added a little more to my grocery budget as I was daft and did ocado last week and also I stocked up on cat food and didn't pre empt that so instead of failing I've raised it slightly and will do rest of months shopping in Aldi. Which I actually love I just like getting my food delivered! Ocado just kills the budget so it has to go.

Plain today is park with kiddies to do some bike riding and a chicken dinner. I'm so excited about the dinner, last week I got a roast dinner, a risotto, and 8 servings of soup from it. I'm excited to have another go at making stock, last week I think I added too much water so it wasn't as nice as it could have been. I'm hoping to get a meal extra than I did last week as well. I'm thinking roast, risotto, pasta bake, and chicken soup. I also did a roast gammon last week that made the yummiest pea and ham soup, pasta bake and a risotto so ive bought another from aldi. Super cheap.

Im onto crocheting small blankets for the kids to have in the car as well, wish I had more time. Im also anxiously waiting for a letter from the LEA about a school reception place for my four year old. Oversubscription has led to us home educating and her doing two days in a reggio emilia kindergarten, but we would like her in school ideally. Its not so hard for us as my 6 year old is also home ed (a decision we made because of his autism) but they are so different it is difficult to please them both all the time.
Hope you all have a lovely day.

Caterina

Good evening,

A quick update as sleepy and need to be up at 6 tomorrow morning (early babysit job).

First of all, am pleased to report a NSD today.

Also pleased that I have ironed all DH's shirts and two pillowcases. Trousers and polos can wait till tomorrow, as can my own shirts.

DS and I cut quite a bit of wood using a small electric saw. This wood is the leftover boards from the old kitchen floor, the good ones are being used for stuff around the house, such as under stairs new floor, but the manky ones go into the woodstove, soon I expect as we are starting feeling a bit cold.

Got an unexpected treat, free film preview tickets, went with DH, loved the film (This is where I leave you), they even provided free popcorn and bottles of water. Then back home to a dinner cooked by DS, very nice.

I have contacted the mystery shopping agency that I used to work for, they send me to restaurants, I already have a firm booking and a possible one in October, it is a good way to reduce the treats budget and I get paid a small amount of money too.

Off to sleep now, good night.

villagelife

I had a NSD day yesterday - much needed and as DH away at moment and both sons at Uni. I am eating up leftovers and having odd combinations.
Not turned heating on but sitting in evening with a duvet.
Managingto get paperwork done - sorting out car insurance - £142 cheaper than my renewal quote and cashback!

moments_of_sanity

Sounds like another busy day for you yesterday Caterina.

Wasn't a NSD for me unfortunately as DD needed to get some salad bits for Celia, her Bearded Dragon but only spent £11 in L!dl's as I picked up a couple of extra bits we needed, well I say I needed, more like DD needed!

Definitely a NSD for me today as feeling shattered today so I won't be leaving the house, only up this early as I have a Dr's appointment at 8.30am, with any luck the Dr will write the required letter! :mad:

Hope you all have a lovely day and don't have to spend to much money.

Caterina

Good morning,

Villagelife good on you for NSD. Re. sitting with duvet in unheated house, we have also not switched yet, but I am just back from the early morning babysit. In a super-toasty house! I have to say, that would be far too hot for me but they have a baby so need the warmth. Although I know lots of people with no baby who still overheat their homes! And think I am crazy and too tight for not switching until really needed.

MOS every day a busy day in this household, but not complaining, as it makes for an interesting life. I hope you get your NSD but especially that you get a good rest. Best wishes with your Dr appointment.

So, missed bootcamp as was only back still 9:30 after dropping baby in nursery. He is adorable. His mum seems bit scatty but she has so much on her plate that I am not surprised. She is very pleasant, it might be a nice little job after all, I hope.

Big conundrum: renew the gym membership or not? If I use it, even once per week average over the year, it is very cheap at £218 for the year (£4.20 per week). If I use it twice a week it is positively a bargain. Even if I use it twice a month it still works out cheaper than the bootcamps. If I do the babysittings at £20 per week, but DH does a bootcamp per week (deduct £10), the remaining £10 per week more than pay for the gym. Whereas 1 babysit offsets 1 bootcamp. Not economical and less flexible, but I love working out outdoors.

My idea is: join the gym, attend twice per week minimum during winter, which is feasible, lots of classes and a few centres around the borough. Then keep the gym to a minimum during spring and summer, but pay for bootcamp sessions with cash (more convenient than 1:1 exchange). Keep babysitting to pay bootcamps in block with the cash earned.

Also I plan to be outdoors all winter, weather permitting, with tai chi. And living so near a few parks I can always walk outdoors for sunshine snd fresh air. Am selling myself the gym idea.

There are a few free facilities in the borough for over 50s but they are scattered and I would need to drive there, which sort of cancels the financial benefit.

Ok, gym it is. Expires in November so I will go to the membership lounge later (after zumba) and ask for any special offers going, which might make it even cheaper. If I pay with credit card I don't have to pay until mid November, when DH gets paid.

So, day plan:

1. Post letter recorded delivery, then back home for quick early lunch
2. Zumba and gym membership enquiry
3. Shop for onions, milk & tomatoes, vege sausages in Ice-land possibly quick forage in Turkish shop for nice bread.
4. Finish ironing (the end is nigh! Hallelujah!)
5. Biggie: sit down and start paperwork

This should keep me out of mischief until dinner time (smoked fishcakes, greens and salad) then babysit at 7 pm.

Have a good OS day all.

Treacle_Toes

Hello all,

My working week finished yesterday, and I do struggle with OS/healthy meals on work days, as I'm not usually in until 7pm. However we stuck to the meal plan, and are actually in front as our beef stroganoff lasted 2 days (actually it will last longer as I put a third portion in the freezer, couldn't face it 3 nights running).

I hadn't turned on the heating, but my mum did on Monday when she babysat my DD, and I have to say I was grateful as I was dreading coming into a cold house. I've kept it on, but reviewed the timings and temperature.

As a result I've read through the avoiding gas and electricity thread. I've re-set up my energy monitor and have been carrying it around with me! My family think I'm mad. I even took it to bed last night so I could see how much it cost when nothing is being used.

My washing machine was set last night to come on to economy 7 time, as I believe it should be a dry day today. I've also emailed scottish power about changing our electric meter to a non-economy 7 one, as I think it will be cheaper.

Yesterday wasn't a NSD as I spent £9 on a basic home phone for our front room, as I often don't get to the kitchen one in time. Also this means I can turn off the answering machine as I seem to get loads of cold calls at the moment.

Gym and haircut for me today - maybe a little grocery shopping, if not I'll make a list ready for tomorrow.

TT x

moments_of_sanity

Treacle-Toes, we too found it cheaper to come off of the Economy 7 as the day units were charged at a higher rate than if we hadn't got Economy 7 and seeing as I didn't use my washing machine or dishwasher overnight (would worry in case of a fire) it made sense to change tariffs. I hope you find a better tariff.

Had some upset at the Dr's yesterday which wiped me out so I spent most of the day in bed. After being told by 2 previous DR's and the Rheumatologist that I have CFS fibromyalgia, I went in and asked for a letter confirming that so I could send it off to the DWP (to see if I can be put in the Support Group), only to have the Dr tell me it's not possible to have CFS diagnosed by anyone other than a Neurologist so he can't confirm that's what I have! i waited 3 months for an urgent rheumatology appt. and then when we went through the various tests that had been done, we found a report by another GP at the surgery who had carried out a rheumatology blood test (not sure what they test for) and the consultant said it had co e back negative showing in all likelihood I don't have RA. I left the surgery in tears as I was made to feel like I was just being an inconvenience in wanting this letter written and he can't/won't confirm what it is I have.

I appreciate there are people who play the system but I have held down a full time job for the last 26 years and would love to be able to go back to working but at the moment I just can't manage it, too much pain/fatigue etc and the Dr yesterday implied I just needed to 'get on with it', if I could 'get on with it' believe me, I would! :mad:

Today will be another NSD day and hoping that will be the case until the weekend. A lovely chicken casserole will be cooked in my thermal cooking bag and will have it with either mash or boiled potatoes.

Hope you all have a lovely and OS day