Claire's OS house deposit quest!

Miss_Purple_Hat

Hi all.

I'm having a bad week already... On Saturday I had a £220 shock on my car (booked in). I'm aching from carrying furniture. Today was one of those "sad" days (so called because I feel sad for no reason from the moment I wake up) and stressful at work where things were going wrong and I have too much to get done. This led to me eating the free biscuits on offer at work and some of my Christmas chocolates this evening. (Not many left now.) And now the boiler at my flat has packed in. It's going to be freezing in the morning and the landlady (whose house my flat is annexed to) doesn't want to let the gas men in because she wants to go to the supermarket. Never mind that I have to go to work. So tomorrow I need to negotiate with work to let me go home at lunch, assuming a repair man is even coming; I won't know until tomorrow morning.

Sad and tired day also led to no food shopping.

For those concerned for my mental health with the "sad" days, I went to a doctor once when it was much worse. Apparently despite the fact that I mostly avoided going out the fact that when I did I was able to forget I was sad temporarily meant I wasn't depressed. Didn't entirely agree at the time. It's really not that bad now in comparison so I figure I can deal with it.

Sorry, miserable and ranty post! At least I didn't spend any money today!

Hope everyone else is well.

NewShadow

Hi Hun,

Have a hug (>._.>) (<^_^<)

When I joined fat club, the lady said - 'It's not about being perfect and achieving your goals immediately, It's about wanting to make the journey and learning from it - learning strategies for the journey, but also learning about your self.'

Meaning that sometimes days are a bit !!!!!!, but that doesn't mean weeks have to be. Is there anything that would help you feel better (other than chocolate)?

I know some people make a scratch book of pictures of what they've done or why they're doing something, would that help you?

Or getting a bath kit ready for when the boilers fixed - with a lovely soak and candles, and some treatments?

If so, I'm thinking you might want to prepare something for next-time?

But for now, huggles

CyclingLondonSaver

Evening all!

Sorry to hear you were feeling down Miss_Purple_Hat. Sometimes, no matter what your OS aims are, chocolate is the only thing that works. Hope you're feeling better today.

Bad OS day for me today. Realised on the train home that I had no food in so had to stop off at W@itrose and pick up some bits. Fortunately I managed to get a pepperoni pizza reduced from £2.50 to 50p and had it with some stir fried veg. I also picked up some pork cheeks to stick in the slow cooker tomorrow morning. That'll do me for dinner, Thursday lunch and maybe even Thursday dinner! Only spent £4.79 so not too bad!

However I did cancel a phone contract with Orange that I no longer use or need. Finally got to the end of the mandatory period (23 months!). Last bill will be on the 20th, then I'll save £16.43 extra a month - £197 a year! Setting up my standing orders so it'll go straight into my savings :T

Still have my massively expensive Vodafone contract that runs for another year though. Will be more sensible in future when I get phones. Reviewed my usage using BillMonitor and I could be saving loads had I been more sensible when I got the contract. Alas!

Hope everyone is having a lovely evening!

CRANKY40

Sorry for not posting - poorly child stopped play. I started my weight loss initiative last Wednesday by going to fat class (slimming world). I can't do it on my own, I've tried, so tomorrow is my first weigh in after chucking what was left of my Christmas sweets in the bin. I haven't had any alcohol this week either. If anybody needs help not eating I can recommend a child with sinusitis. I won't elaborate in case anyone is having dinner but if you need to be put off food at a later date please ask.

My food spend is low due to ordering online and Asda's substitutes being way out and being sent back. Staying in with afore mentioned poorly child has also helped. I have been eating out of the freezer, he has been picking at bits and pieces until tonight when he had a bigger dinner than me.

Sorry it's all about me. I had no sleep the night before last and brain is still a bit foggy as child was up complaining of a sore face very early today so I read what everyone wrote but apart from the broken boiler (hope it gets fixed tomorrow), the rest has gone.

Miss_Purple_Hat

Hi all.

Thank you for the lovely responses, you really are a wonderful lot on here.

Today was a much better day. Woke up without the sad feeling so a better start. It was a bit cold so it was a super quick dash to get dressed after delaying getting out of bed. No shower as no hot water and I wasn't in the mood for breakfast.

Managed to persuade work to let me take a laptop home with the spreadsheets I needed saved onto it. So I left at 12 o'clock after having managed to cross a couple of quicker tasks off my to do list. (I love crossing tasks off - makes me feel like I've accomplished something even if they are smaller ones!)

Despite it being cold at my flat, I had what I would consider a wonderful afternoon for a work one. No queue for the microwave to heat my lunch as I was already home. I made a cup of tea, wrapped up in a dressing gown and set half a dozen lit vanilla candles around my work laptop for a little warmth and a nice smell. I also put some music on in the background. The gas man showed up before 2pm so I wasn't cold for too long considering the slot was until 6pm. He was very friendly and helpful so that was really good - I appreciate friendly people. And I got so much work done with no distractions except occasionally speaking to my landlady and the gas man. I could work solidly on the programming I needed to do on some computer models and made loads of progress.

The gas man does need to get some minor parts and come back on Thursday but the heating and water are working and the landlady is going to let him back in. I don't really have anything valuable, I'll just take my laptop to work with me to keep that safe.

This evening I did a nice big shop at Tesco. Managed to get some really good bargains on YS meat. Spent £6.18 on 2 whole chickens, 2 packs of 5 chicken thighs and 3 packs of 200g diced beef. Bagged it up in suitable portions and stuck in my freezer, except a whole chicken that I'll cook tomorrow. (It seems stupid to freeze it tonight and defrost it again tomorrow!)

Also bought a load of fresh fruit and veg. I do love having lots of fresh fruit and veg in. I like to really load up my cooked meals with vegetables and get more than my 5 a day most days.

I did eat the last of my Christmas chocolates today, but the rest of the day was good so I'm just going to skate around that. I have high hopes for the rest of the week food-wise.


I don't have a bath, NewShadow, just a shower. A nice mug of herbal tea, a bit of crafting with some good music or whilst watching TV and a bit of cooking are all things I enjoy but I do still feel a bit listless doing these on not such good days. An early night and feeling wide awake the next day can work quite well for me. It can be a lot easier and more helpful in the long run to just write off a day. I don't know if this is normal for others or just me, but a really good night's sleep works wonders.


Going to have to go - I accidentally forgot my laptop lead at my parents' house and the battery is getting rather low!

NewShadow

Miss_Purple_Hat wrote: »

(I love crossing tasks off - makes me feel like I've accomplished something even if they are smaller ones!)

first thing I do at work in the morning (at 7, before anyone else comes in) is make a to do list (while eating porridge and drinking a cup of tea of course). Sometimes I get really busy with ad hoc things that aren't on the list and when I finally stop I need to make a list of them all - just so I can cross them off - so I feel like I've actually accomplished something :rotfl:

And it has to be a pen and paper list - the physical act of cross in things off (or if they were really painful, scribbling them out!)

And I got so much work done with no distractions...

Where I work we're quite lucky - flexible working (both flex hours and flexible locations) are the norm. I was wondering, if it helps you be more relaxed and productive (and if you can demo to your boss increased productivity, could you get a (semi) regular day working from home? Just thinking about improving work/life balance.

Spent £6.18 on 2 whole chickens, 2 packs of 5 chicken thighs and 3 packs of 200g diced beef.

Excellent savings :j

I don't know if this is normal for others or just me, but a really good night's sleep works wonders.

If it works for you then great. Yesterday i was feeling a little crappy (think I'm catching a cold), so I went to bed at 5 :rotfl:

Three days off work now. No real plan, but I need to do laundry, do the pots/clean the kitchen, hoover the lounge, place a cat fud (£230 :eek:) order, Skype my mother (as we haven't talked since before christmas), put away the cupboard things that are still on the sofa from my last shop, and sort and process the 10kg of potatoes into the freezer... and some other stuff.

Should be one days housework really, but I've already started a disc of NCIS and have a purring (slightly dribbly) cat on my chest so I don't think its going to be a productive day :rotfl:

Breakfast - grapes I think
Lunch - Probably scrambled eggs, mushrooms and spinach on wholemeal toast
Dinner - I've got steak in, so I'm either thinking steak sarnies (with the rest of the 'shrooms and lots of onions) or pan fried with baked potato and green beans.

CyclingLondonSaver

Evening all. Very busy day at work for me but that meant the day flew by.

I felt absolutely shattered this morning so couldn't be bothered to prepare something for the slow cooker. I'll be putting something in it this evening though. Hopefully it'll be ready for me to take for lunch in the morning and then I'll have the leftovers for dinner. Thinking it'll be pork cheeks with star anise.

Today involved some spending alas! Had to get a birthday card and a notebook for work from WH Smith. Then because I hadn't prepared dinner I had to get something from M&S. Total spend was £8.65.

Need to make sure I don't get back into the habit of just spending recklessly. Was a bit silly being too lazy to cook this morning but hey ho tomorrow will definitely be a no spend day though which is good! :T

retromother

Morning all. Been very busy with work. On track to save 1250 this month which is exciting. Using cash only and no impulse buying.

CyclingLondonSaver

Huge save retromother, well done!

No Spend Day for me today. Only thanks to my 13hr working day though. Left the house at 6am and only just back. :eek:

Slow cooker leftover for lunch and dinner today and probably lunch tomorrow too!

Anyway, early night for me today. Shattered!

NewShadow

Last day of holidays for me.

Laundry done and drying in the spare room thanks to all the rain we're having.

I've just placed my cats order (food for nearly a year and litter for about 3 months). Two orders - one for £160, and the second for £70, to maximise discount codes and try to ensure things will be packed sensibly - Zoo+ have a horrible habit of things getting damaged in transit.

Still. One bulk spend in Jan for food (call it £250 given I will pick bits up for them), plus another two lots of litter in the year (£25 each time), and £50 for insurance for the 3 for the year - £350 per annum? Not bad I don't think.

I know some people spend that a month on pets

Breakfast - grapes and yogurt
Lunch - baked potato with coleslaw and cottage cheese
Dinner - not sure, eggs, mackerel, and potato salad all need eating.