New Year, different me

thrifty_fifty

So now that most meals are prepared for next week, this should free up some time in the evenings to do some of the following jobs:

• Clean bathroom
• sort paperwork
• sort decorations out in spare room
• get the remaining dining room chairs back downstairs
• plant up some lettuce-although as its still dark, might need to wait until the weekend
• clean oven

thrifty_fifty

Monday is here again, but the quicker it comes round, the swifter payday and debt busting arrives maybe I'll do a countdown (11 days to go)


Sounds awful outside, windy and rainy.


Nothing else major to report apart from the Christmas chocolate has almost run out:eek: although this does mean I've got more of a chance of getting back into one of my favourite dresses


Hope you all have a super Monday. See you later

thrifty_fifty

I'm afraid the mood has soured again. Took car into the garage to get the end bit of the exhaust done £124 quoted. Got to the garage, they couldn't do the work because the middle section needed doing-quote £299, the car was bought for £750. They also said that one of the tyres was 12 years old?!? and we pretty much know that the car wouldn't get through the mot because of the heater issue, and that is a £300 bill. We said not to do the work at the garage, we came home deflated. OH is now looking at a loan that will clear his credit card bill and get us an £1800 car.


We could both cry, just when you make inroads to get yourself out of the crap, life throws you another challenge. We're now looking at hiring a car until the weekend when we can hopefully get another. My bike needs sorting out so I can't even use that to get to work. We're going to get fish and chips and some beer in a minute. I'm so sick of being in this dark place all the time. Always always stuff like this happens to us before payday in January, and then you feel like an idiot for never learning your lesson. I could scream, cry, oh I've had enough!!!

thrifty_fifty

OK back on track today, if a little sleepy after a rubbish nights sleep.

OH was approved for the loan so that has put the car and his cc together and made his monthly payments cheaper-of course I've told him to cancel that card straight away that the balance is paid (lived it, learned it). So now just to sort out a hire car for the rest of the week and then we need to find another car to buy on saturday. Cars are so expensive. We've decided to go for something smaller (cheaper to tax and repair) about a 2005 reg, which whilst old, will be the newest, poshest car we've ever had and it will have heating, luxurious . I'm so over big old cars with high mileage. The other one that was in the crash last march was starting to cost us £500 every couple of months, I'd just paid the last £500 when it was written off. So it would be nice to have a good few months without always being behind because of car stuff-i prefer legs and bikes anyday, they don't cost, they're reliable, the only fuel money you need is food. So going to get a new tyre and brakes for my bike in the spring so I can do the 5 mile cycle down to the train station in the mornings.

Now just have to figure out how the scrapping your car thing works, then when we have sorted the new car find paperwork to get refunds for insurance, car tax and breakdown cover. Then we can get a few more months hassle free motoring

thrifty_fifty

Wednesday, midweek so all is good. Going to take my card out of my bag today as I ended up buying crisps and cola yesterday, so removing temptation today.


One area that I've found I can't save in, is shampoo, my hair unfortunately likes the Kerastase stuff, if I use anything else it goes dry and starts to split, and as I'm trying to wait until payday before I order any I'm using what I've got left in the cupboard. Hair feels like straw. Can't wait to get it cut too


The loan money should arrive with OH today so we can sort out a hire car for the next few days.It was interesting last night when we were driving home, a gale blowing through the car because we had to have the windows open because of exhaust fumes coming into the car ;/ and I did feel a tad embarrassed driving along sounding like a boy racer ;/


Hope everyone has a good Wednesday. Going to look outside now to see if we got any of that snow

thrifty_fifty

So nice to be in a car with heating last night-the hire car that is. Hopefully should have a new car tomorrow, although as we've been used to old cars, OH didn't like the fact that the hire car was trying to think for him (indicators staying on) and I felt like a fool as I couldn't get the boot open ;/. He didn't like the plastic feel of everything, the fact that you could hear all the road noise and there was zero acceleration. Well the new-ish car will be just the same, so we'll have to get used to driving a smaller car again. We don't need a big car and this will be cheaper to fix (hopefully not needed for a long time)


Anywho, boring talk over...have slipped into some old bad food habits this week, not good for the waistline or the spending. Have spent around £10 on wine and crisps and various other trash. I now know that if the card is in my bag, there will be temptation. Need to get my train ticket today, so will take the card out of my bag on Saturday and leave it out also it is definitely wine and the caffeine that are causing me to sleep badly, so going to cut it all out again after tonight.


Looking forward to next Friday when I get my ring. I would have paid it over the next two months, but I needed a mental boost and also for something else to be paid off. It also means I won't have to put my card in my bag, so less temptation to spend.


Need to get a haircut and some shampoo so next month is a little spendy, dentist the month after that ;/


The train manager made us all laugh last night, telling us to cheer up because it's Friday tomorrow (today )


Today going to get a fabric sample for covering the dining room chairs, I bought this set 6 years ago and meant to re-cover them because they were stained when I bought them and it won't come out. I have to excuse my chairs to everyone when they come round


Pleased to have ticked off another item on the 'complete the living room' list, as we got money and vouchers for Christmas so we got our clock, and it feels so much better getting it for free


Getting a rebate on the gas and electricity, so whenever they get their bums into gear and give us the money that will buy the book case, and make the living room look less like someone is either half way through either moving in or out


Need to check out the whole scrapping of the car thing, never done this before so not sure what the procedure is for doing the SORN. Do the scrapyard give you anything for your car? Afterall the engine is still fine. Decided if we do get anything for it, we're using the money to go out for a cheapey meal. We never ever go out for meals, we probably went out a maximum of two times during 2014.


Also hoping the magazines have freebies next month, I need mascara and face cream I've had my mascara, nailpolish and facecream all free with magazines for the last few years, long may it continue. Also hoping that my M&S vouchers for my credit card come through this month as I need some facewash too. Getting by on Ren magazine freebies at the moment


Have a cool Friday. Hope my previous rantings haven't scared you all away

thrifty_fifty

Going to get the new car today, panicking a bit about stalling it, and getting lost on the way to the hire car place, but I'm sure it will all be fine


Managing to keep up to date with the housework, work clothes just need ironing for next week, which leaves me plenty of time to do my scrap-booking and other things I want to.


Hoping that the wind has stopped now, it has blown over my jasmine, the greenhouse is in a crumpled mess at the opposite end of the garden and the fence has almost blown down (fortunately that's one for the landlord to fix).


So later is getting the Christmas decs put in the loft and also inspecting my agapanthus, which are my favourite plants. They were in the greenhouse so I hope they're ok.


Bought lunch yesterday which was naughty, however I bought my train ticket for next week,yesterday, so I'm keeping spending power out of my bag until Friday-when I get my ring, I'm as excited as a small child

thrifty_fifty

Car bought, it's so nice Funny thing was, after looking forward to having heating in the car, we ended up winding down the window because it was too hot


Got the rebate on the gas and electricity so can get the bookcase and we are going to look at the cabinets for the living room tomorrow. These have been on the list since we moved in here and are from a bargain pine and cheapey wood furniture place. Really needed to sort getting the car scrapped this weekend too, but it felt like a task too much after sorting all this out today, so I've caught up with housework and now am chilling out.


If we get anything for the scrapped car then that will buy another item off the list for the living room. The anxiety has been a bit bad this afternoon as the thought of being able to get these things for the house feels a bit much, on top of getting the spangliest second hand car we've ever had, it all feels like we don't deserve to have things this nice because we never have. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, but I'm sure the butterflys will subside by the morning.


Hope everyone had a good Saturday?

thrifty_fifty

Grrr, awake at 2.00 and I know why, because I had a glass of beer and a glass of wine last night. Going to start next week afresh as all things have started to slide over the last week, having a glass of wine in the evening, having cola (which means spends, and waking early and anxiety and weight gain). Going to get into a solid meal plan in place, we are not going to buy other things because we don't fancy what is on the menu that night, and I am going to leave the card at home on Monday to Thursday. All in all this should result in less anxiety, a better nights sleep, less adjusting my debt free spreadsheet, and a calmer, more relaxed me.


I get into a whirl because OH will start with the 'what do you want for dinner tonight?' now because he likes his food and wants to feel in control of that, he does the food shopping and plans the meals. However it falls down when he doesn't write the meal plan on our blackboard, so then he can't remember what we're having, then he can't be bothered to have what he remembered we were having. I get frustrated because I have a lack of input to what we are eating but I'm more organised. So there is this feeling of chaos building up, a lack of organised routine, which results in time wasted in the evening, not eating properly, and being annoyed at there being loads of food in the house and it going to waste at the end of the week. So today I'm sitting down with him, we're deciding what we're eating (fortunately we have three evenings meals that were batch cooked last week and not eaten, I've rescued them and frozen them for this week).


The hard thing about us both being procrastinators is that chaos can soon creep in, and then it's a downward spiral. It's ok while I'm in a constant cycle of making the list, putting it up on the blackboard, washing the pots, making the meals in batches and freezing them, but this is hard to do when I do get sick or the studying gets a bit mad. That's when I need OH to pick up the slack, but instead of doing the pots and tidying as he goes along, he trashed the kitchen, doesn't wipe up, leaves the pots on the side, not evening loading the dishwasher, then spends the rest of the evening upstairs playing Zombie games on the computer, all of which means that when studying or colds subside, I have a lovely great dried on mess to sort out as well as catching up on the rest of the housework.


My big task today is to clean the windows-downstairs, don't have a ladder tall enough to do upstairs yet. I've been whirling for weeks with the procrastination on this one. Look at the windows, feel ashamed that they are dirty, hope the landlord hasn't seen them, but don't have the energy to go and do them, the thoughts go round and round. I know when I actually do get down to the task that they'll take half an hour maximum. So, today, that is the task, and no more than 1/2 hour to be spent on them. If the time is up and I haven't finished them, then I haven't finished them. I also need to decide on a time when I'll do them, as I know if it isn't planned It'll be whirling round in my head. So I'm making a plan for the day:


9.00-10.00-have breakfast, do meal plan, hang washing out, wash sheets
10.00-11.00-go to look at cabinets for living room
11.00-11.30-check on washing, clean those windows
11.30-1.00-sort out study, find the v5c form
1.00-2.00-break for lunch
2.00-5.00-do any pots, iron work clothes, make lunch for the morning, check everything in work bag, finish scrap book cutting out. Trim those dried up flowers on the front
5.00-7.00-watch a film/relax
7.00-dinner
7.30-wash pots, do any lunch prep
8.00-10.00-relax
10.00-bed

thrifty_fifty

Had a bit more of a snooze, feeling refreshed, the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Have decided that I moan far too much on here, and I don't like moaning, so here's to the positive, and it doesn't matter if that list doesn't get done today