NST;September Squirrels

[Deleted User]

Hello all! Hope those that need strength find it, and those that need rest, likewise. Can't quite believe it is nearly Monday. Had a fantastic weekend camping in sunny Cornwall - hot, hot, hot today! I was allowed back in sea / swimming pool for first time since op this weekend. May have stretched myself a little far with a 1k sea swim! Been shattered ever since, but it was great for my confidence and to kick start exercising again. Campsite was lovely. Used up my budget for food, fuel, pitch fees, but spent around half of the income from renting the house out whilst we were away, so didn't feel too bad about indulging kids with pasties! Took lots of food from fridge and my main contribution to meals was hm tom and lentil soup - so hardly OTT! I bought lots of nice snacky bits that will do for DD's lunch, or her bday next month - always lots of gatherings around this time of year. Sea was lovely - caught lots of waves, no wetsuits required. Had to dash home in time for next set of guests, but DD stayed with our friends and came back via cream tea cafe, so I saved buying for myself there...and new guests are lovely, so it was fine. Meant I could get 4 lots of washing through :eek: and car unpacked before DD home. We had JP and tuna / cheese for our tea, in front of a free amazon prime movie. Truly lovely weekend. We are both in bed already and ready for sleep...I will be updating sig and doing banking first thing. Still so excited that informal loan is under 4k now!

Magsnoodle

Hi all,

This is the first time I have come across this thread and it looks great. Think it is too late to join in for September but would love to try it for October. Would that be possible Mothernerd?
M

luckystarr

Hi gang :hello:

Apologies for not checking in much over the weekend,been at work since last Saturday and done an 8 day stretch. I am really happy I am off tomorrow :j:j:j:j.

SOA so sorry to hear your purse was stolen. I hope that you have got it all sorted and had a good weekend.

Mothernerd Sorry to hear your mum has gone into hospital sending you hugs and positive thoughts.

To everyone else who is struggling or having a tough time I am sending hugs and positive thoughts.

Managed on SFD .. still have 7 to find to make target hmmm we shall see.

day four and five thankful thoughts... I am thankful to have a job i enjoy and I am thankful for having the best nan in the world.

I am off to bed as struggling to keep my eyes open

Have a good week everyone we are on the home straight !!!!!!

Night all xxxx

Fmess

Evening all

Been at a wedding all wknd so no posting, no SFDs and lots of spending Need to get better at planning as thought I had all this month's expenditure carefully planned but it just spiralled out of contr. Will calculate totals one night this week and try to make a plan to rectify it using next month's money.

Haven't read back yet so will start that in a minute

luckystarr

[QUOTE=apple muncher;66558562
I've been reading a lot of mrmoneymustache, and I love it! He did a good article along the lines of 'frugal is not cheap', which was a good'un.


Apple muncher
where is mrmoneymustache at please ?? i am intrigued

Not quite got the hang of quoting lol

mothernerd

Calling14 wrote: »

Apologies had a burst pipe at home, my fault nailing new floor boards down. Unfortunately was sat in garden for at least 3 hrs late tea with daughter and didn't find out till after. Then I couldn't turn the water off as the kitchen fitter had put an end panel inside the cupboard preventing me from getting to it. Pitch dark to reach one in the road.

So luckily have an ex boyfriend plumber but lives 35mins away. This happened Thursday night, had to turn electric sockets off as water was coming out of them. Cleared up till 1am and took Friday off work to dry couch etc out. Walls still wet today but amazing amount of water came down, made 3 holes in the ceiling or that would have come down. Tbh only wet patch wall and door frame swollen got off lightly. God knows what I would have done without ex bf. Thinking perhaps need to take out British Gas cover. Not worth claiming on insurance for,treat ex to meal and somehow patch ceiling?

Tomorrow going to see Rik Astley in Manchester, young ones may need to goggle him, cheesy 80's pop star be fun night out, with friend I haven't seen in a while.

Nite. Folks

Think you have inherited my life - sorry for that. I know who Rick Astley is (never really a fan). He's a local lad, from Lowton (about 3 miles straight down the road outside my house and one of his first ever public performances (with his band before S, A & W got hold of him) was at the Leigh Trades Council first ever May Day festival.

speakingofart wrote: »

Spendy day yesterday as needed food, closed down the account that I had my overdraft in, so that felt amazing, even with the stress of speaking to the fraud team/ getting emergency cash etc etc and then went food shopping. Will be a spendy day today as am having a planned outing - brunch with a friend to (belatedly) celebrate handing in our dissertations. After that though hoping for a good few NSDs - apart from anything else, have no debit card to spend on!!!!

As George Formby (another local lad, but a bit further away) said "Turned out nice, again". Keep it positive soa.

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the best wishes for mum. I think what worries me is not the recovery time; I know how long it is going to take, but my mum is and has always been a fighter. She's done this cancer thing 4 times before this, and she has never seemed this defeated. I am just a bit worried about her mental state pre-chemo is all she will be fine and there are lots of positives!

I think maybe back off a little and let your mum have some quiet time. She has been through a lot and being relentlessly positive and upbeat can be draining. Maybe after a little resting stage, her mood will start to rise again. Sorry the first line seems a little aggressive and I didn't mean it to, perhaps let her go through the 'acceptance' stage before getting her 'attack' back.

mothernerd

apple_muncher wrote: »

Hellooooo! Am still squeezing every ounce of enjoyment out of the month - my washing mostly dried outside today, and dd played for ages on her climbing frame and twizzle swing.

We have had a good sort through of her gubbins. Only 1 small thing has been allocated for the ch shop, but her stuff is tidier and encroaches slightly less on the lounge. I feel like Canute, with the inevitability of the incoming surge of the sea/dd's stuff!

I've been reading a lot of mrmoneymustache, and I love it! He did a good article along the lines of 'frugal is not cheap', which was a good'un.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/24/frugal-vs-cheap/

More positive thinking, just what we need (loving the gubbins). Link to mrmoneymoustache (sorry not quite got it right, it's up there.

[Deleted User] wrote:

Had some time this morning to think about this challenge and the week ahead:

1. Food plan done and HM muffins and Egg mayo filling made this afternoon ready for packed lunches tomorrow.

2. Aiming for no more than £5 on food this week as we spend more than usual last week and still have plenty food in.

3. Aim for SFDs on Mon, Tue, Wed and Thur.

4. Thursday is payday for me and OH so I nee to spend some time sorting thought finances then, probably on Friday afternoon.

5. Daily walks and quiet time. These will probably be as soon as I get home form work as I will change into trainers and head straight for my local country park. Tomorrow may be a visit to pick brambles as my walk.

6. Morning stretch - even just 5 mins.

7. Use up fruit in the bowl. Overripe ones to be used in cakes/muffins etc.

8. No takeaways or eating out at all.

9. Take some time 2 evenings this week to not do work for school and have time to do some craft work.

I think that's a good start made in planning the week ahead.

Good planning allie23.

Magsnoodle wrote: »

Hi all,

This is the first time I have come across this thread and it looks great. Think it is too late to join in for September but would love to try it for October. Would that be possible Mothernerd?
M

You are more than welcome Magsnoodle. I said that allie23 was welcome to follow along and post if she wanted to and you can as well. The last of my weekly mini challenges (planning and preparation) will be posted after midnight tonight. The new thread for October will be up probably next weekend (someone else will run that month), with a link from this thread to the new one.

If you don't want to join in now, I would suggest planning your budgets for October, listing the contents of your cupboards and freezer to see what meals you have/ can make and reading some of the old challenges (look for the ones that start NSK) to see what sort of things we get up to.

crazy-lady2009 I think I need both strength and rest. Pleased with yesterday's progress but today has been a struggle although it ended well. Have been tired and in pain (promised myself a gentler week) and found it difficult to relax. Mum was admitted yesterday following an out-patient appointment on Tuesday and a will they/ won't they have a bed situation which lasted several days.

I had been told that I would be taken to visit mum today, so got ready (back to long routine as my hands have broken out again), then realised I couldn't 'do' anything (not in good shape to do much) in case I messed up my 'good' clothes. At 2pm got a phone call to say was I okay to go visiting tonight. So generally unproductive, stressful day, trying hard to believe people are not deliberately being mean.

However have been to see mum tonight and she is already much brighter after a couple of days medication. She can eat (although at the moment they are still making her put the thickening crystals in things) and was talking much better and they have said she will be able to hold her neck up properly. Not a SFD as I hobbled to the little shop to buy mum some wholenut chocolate (cheaper than a trip to town to buy chocolate Brazils).

Meanwhile mum's partner (who has alzheimer's) may have lost some money and may have had 3 breakfasts - they were checking with mum where his money should be (he may have moved it somewhere else and then forgotten) and had made himself 2 jam barm cakes (limit of his culinary skills) before being taken to his DS3's for a full breakfast. Later on he claimed he had had 3 eggs beaten together for breakfast (luckily his pills are now hidden so that he does not take a set of pills with each breakfast).

So I am planning a gentle week, with no stress. Still living out of boxes from the builders being here, have unpacked the 'most important' box and can't find a couple of things. Felt like a master criminal when they were here as I sorted stuff into most important and general then put things like my purse, days meds, diary and address book in my handbag (+ the passport because it was left at the end, so it felt as though I was planning to flee the country at any moment).

Today I am grateful for the NHS, hot baths (did force myself to relax and stay in a bit longer) and lavender (cut another basketful but still left a little behind as there are still one or two bees around).

mothernerd

Planning and Preparation Week Four

TRAVELLING SAFELY

You have a month until the clocks go back (keep enjoying the sunshine). Statistically the first week in November (after the change) has the highest incidents of road accidents, so plan now to keep your loved ones safe

If you are cycling, check your bike lights now (and your children's).

If you or your children are walking/ cycling to work/ school do you have/ need hi-visibility strips on your clothing (used to be armbands when I was a lad but have seen the belt and cross-over sash type thing to wear over a coat)?

If you have a car, do you have breakdown cover or have a good friend you can call out in an emergency?

Depending on your journey and the area you live in, do you need a torch - one of the big ones that act as an emergency warning, a hand held one or a tiny one that lets you see the keyhole in the door?

Can your children cross the road safely? Does the school have a 'walking bus' scheme? Do they know who they can trust if they lose their bus money?

Have a little think about severe weather conditions -do you need to put a couple of strips of old carpet in the car boot (to drive out of snow drifts), invest in one of the mini folding shovels or get in a stock of sandbags? I am not suggesting you should buy all of these. Just think about your circumstances and the weather conditions over the past few winters and act accordingly (you may already have some items tucked away at the back of the shed or garage - now is the time to dig them out, before you need them).

Do you have elderly neighbours or relations who need checking on if we have a bad patch?

Do you have a plan for if the school closes (either because of playground conditions, broken pipes or because the teachers live too far away to get to school and therefore there are not enough staff)?

Do you use trains or the tube and do you have alternative plans if these are cancelled?

Over to you turtles - discuss, share, add to and improve.

mothernerd

Six people (besides me) volunteered to run the thread (one month at a time).

Fmess specified not October and crazy-lady2009 would prefer November or February.

Which leaves
speakingofart
TiptoesDB
applemuncher
LoveaDove in the order they signed up (no other significance).

So how do you want to do this. Draw names out of a hat? Does anyone have a theme on the boil, something they are dying to share. Do any of you have extra commitments and would like to wait for a later month.

If you have an idea you have a little under a week to knock it into shape. it doesn't have to be like mine (as long as the Kat basics are included). I think one of our strengths is that we have a range of ages and abilities and yet each month we always find a few ideas which resonate with so many of us.

speakingofart

Checking in for the start of another week! I need to be really good this week - I'd like at least 4 NSDs (this will be helped, I've got to be honest, by my lack of a debit card!!) and to get out for a walk every lunchtime. I think last week I was so elated and knackered and out of routine that things got a bit sidetracked. So, totals below, hoping not to have to spend much out of any of them before I do a big shop and batch cooking at the weekend:

Groceries: £49.23/ £150 (till 15th October)

Fuel: £0/60 (till 15th October)

Daily Exercise: 10/18
SFD 10/18
Food Bank 0/£3

mothernerd, I love this week's preparation! When we had the really bad winter two years ago, I pretty much couldn't dig my car out for a week, so I've learned to always have meals and tins in, and also to have blankets etc. I do have an elderly neighbour I check in on and am now lucky enough that if the weather is severe, I can work from home so I will get on it! I also need to make my food bank donation, but am hoping I can do that when I do my big shop friday night as there's usually a bin for it.

Regarding October, I don't mind running it (in fact it might be better for me to run one earlier, rather than in November/ December/ Jan when I will have coursework deadlines and exams), but am happy to defer to anyone else. What do we all think?