Nst; fearless february

speakingofart

Am still in naughty corner, spendy day yesterday in corner shop for milk and bread, which I did need and junk food, which I didn't. Out for dinner and at a charity night tonight, so will be spendy day, but then inside weekend studying and doing applications so hoping to redeem myself and my diet. <hangs head in shame>

Hope everyone else has had a good week...... tgi friday!

Groceries to 15th Feb: 14.76/ £20
Groceries 15th Feb - 15th March £0/£100
Fuel 15th feb - 15th March £0/£60
Spending money for whole month £11.75/£30
Lunch to work 4/20
Lunchtime exercise 5/20
SFDs 1/15

cupcake-queen

Bobarella wrote: »

Enormous congratulations to you!:j you sound like youve gone through so much to make this business work. And I can wholeheartedly say, if I could go back and do it all again, I'd never have quit paid employment cold turkey to start a business, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

With regards to employment I realise I am in a lucky situation and not many employers are so flexible. After having my children and when it was time to return they basically called a meeting and said, right what hours do you want? And I got them! I work in a lovely little team who very much look out for each other. Even my manager has supported my self-employment route and ordered a cake from me herself. I often get asked how I manage to work, run a business and look after my family but it's really not that stressful most of the time. The 2 days a week I work belong to my employer, if I have to work when I get home that's my fault! People ask if they think I will ever leave. Well if I charged an hourly rate for my cakes I would straight away have to slap an extra £30 on and who's going to pay £60-£80 for a kid's birthday cake?! I'm surprised people pay £50 if I'm honest it's all been a bit of a shock! You just can't replace that regular wage on the 26th of the month, it's not a lot of money but it's guaranteed.


Right I have a chocolate cake to bake, 26 chocolate cupcakes and a rice crispie dinosaur to sculpt.


I hope you all have lovely days

thriftylass

Happy Friday everybody!

Wow mothernerd what a life story, very inspirational and made me think twice now about complaining about little problems I have with OH.

Today should be another SFD (number 4?). Noithing else to report so far.

Bobarella

Mothernerd - what an amazing life you've had so far. I couldn't stop reading your story. Compelling.
How do you think the separation & divorce affected your boys? And do you feel you've raised them differently because of how your husband was?

Cupcake Queen - I agree it is very hard to go from a guaranteed wage to self employed hours and wages. That is basically what I did though. It sounds as though you have a choice and sticking to some paid employment makes sense especially if it is as nice as yours sounds. Good luck with it all.

For everyone of us that is out there working hard for ourselves and ours kids or grandkids. I personally think work ethic is one of the most important life skills you can give a child. So go us example setters!

MagicCat

Happy Friday everyone.

There are such a lot of really inspirational people on this thread - it's really great to hear you stories, and makes me realise how petty many of my problems are - Lilt, your quote really sums it up for me! Mothernerd, you sound such a strong woman, it's terrible what an addiction like gambling can do. My dad has been in and out of AA for years, and I agree, it's not really the apologies that count as much as seeing someone really trying to make things different - and it's so hard when they can't. Cupcakequeen and Bobarella - having your own businesses is an amazing achievement and a very brave thing to do - and I am in awe at the idea of a rice crispie dinosaur!

Synonymous - hello, hope research is doing well, glad you're doing OK after the split.

Shyspender - that was indeed a spend day! :eek: But so good to have money saved towards it, so you can have that sort of day without a panic meltdown - that is where I want to be next year!

Thrifty - excellent news on the possible valuation!:T

Stewby - how frustrating about the boiler:mad:, really hope you're warm by now!



Like a few others on here, I'm full of cold today, so looking forward to a quiet night in watching the rugby. No other news, hoping for another SFD, then will grocery shop over the weekend.

SFD: 4/15
Groceries: 72.38/£200
Dentist/optician 5/£20
Petrol and travel: 15.01/£110
Birthdays: 0/£30
Social: 0/£40
Food bank donation - done
15 mins/day - this will be decluttering or mindfulness meditation 5/28
Exercise 5/25

stewby

Boilerman didn't come yesterday so spent six hours doing nothing... they are apparently coming this afternoon.

Bit of a mix-up apparently.
I phoned yesterday and the guy was like address?? yep, we have you next on the list. I will get boilerman to phone you when he gets in.
Dad phoned this morning and I am nowhere to be found on the list and they have no phone number for us.
So... how was this original guy going to phone us if there was no number and how can I go from being next on the list to being non-existant.
:think:

If they don't come today then they have lost their chance and we will be phoning someone else. A week without heating is more than long enough.


Today should be a sfd (can't afford for it not to be). Keeping my fingers crossed.


Oh.... and as a wee side note: If possible, can we see pictures of this rice krispie dinosaur?? I would love that.
:j

liltdiddylilt

Hi all

Stewby I would have given the boilerman one chance only and then booted him. You are far more patient than I!!

MagicCat regardless of what your own struggles are, they matter to you. It might seem insignificant compared to someone elses issues, but it is just a big and just as real as theirs and no less significant So keep on plodding on, and take it one day at a time!!

Cupcake-queen I am so in with the rice krispie dinosaur!! Sounds mega!!

mothernerd am in awe of your coping skills. My mum had a very similar situation although my dad worked away and had no addictions, so brought quite a lot of his wages home, it just unfortunately didn't amount to much. She did an amazing job with 3 young girls, plus babysitting and doing a college course at the same time some women are made of teflon

SFD today so that takes me to 4. Fridge and freezer still jam packed so apart from a few veggies, crisps, bread and milk I won't need anything else this week coming

Done all my WTW in snow on 2 miles of solid ice, in wind blowing me onto the road and in rain and hail. So awarding myself a gold star for my persistence as it has not been very nice.

LTW - 3 different varieties of homemade soup, seeded wholemeal bread and homemade cheese scones

See you all tomorrow xx

Calling14

Lovely to hear what inner strength all you guys have.

Mothernerd sounds a hard life, my other half worked away contracting but didn't have a gambling addiction, his was women and stupidly used to buy them presents out of the business account, which I did the accounts for !! I struggled along with young kids, full time job, studying for exams and running his business. Until one day I got a backbone and got a life of my own.

Magic cat any problem you have share on here, turtles don't bury their heads in sand. all here to help.

Hope your boiler man shows up Stewby sounds a nightmare.

Lilt you are braver than me, last time it was icy here I tried walking down very steep hill I live at the top of, fallen so many times, gave up and went home and booked a days holiday. Gold Sticker on the way.

Cupcake - rice krispie dinosaur sounds amazing. Gutted my grandson hates krispie cakes so I have no excuse to make them.

Full of cold, so glad its Friday. Only on lower part of Lilt's chart !

Spent today well I wanted some veg for soup, parsnips. Got a cakey - treat day plus bit off regular food, always manage a cake though.
Grateful for
1. A kid free day and long walk later in the sunshine with the doggy.
2. Friend giving me some roller blinds she doesn't want.
3. No real worries in the world -except bit credit cards lol

Synonymous

Thanks for kind words everyone, seem to be on the up break-up-wise, but there's always a chance some random emotion will fire up unexpectedly! :eek:

3 NSDs here so far, and finally sorted my Feb sig. Bought scented candles and incense for my room from the social budget. I meditate almost every day now and am spending time at my local Buddhist centre. I haven't committed myself to it, and am not required to, but am learning a lot about Buddhist ethics and principles and I am certain (as a researcher of meditation and well-being!) that it has made a great difference to me, especially dealing with becoming single again. So the candles etc are from the Evolution gift shop (ethically run by Buddhists), they are shutting down nationally and all stock is half price if you have one nearby, and they will go on my 'shrine' which gets me in the zone for meditation, and will help their profits too.

Had a nice night out with friends last night with half price pizza, also bought some ingredients to make a vegan banana bread for friends at the centre, but it didn't go well! Will try again when I have more brown bananas but in the mean time I am eating the rejects because I'm too tight to throw them out :rotfl:

I'm ridiculously excited about marking Uni exam papers at the moment - I'm seeing the exam process from the other side after years of doing them myself, and the weird and wonderful things people write under pressure. I am paid 43 minutes per script, so I'm doing time trials in between housework (and t'internets) in my PJs and waiting for the bread maker to ping and release my fruit loaf. If it doesn't finish soon I'll be drooling on the exam papers, it smells so good!

Hope everyone is having a good day and staying safe and warm. Mothernerd, you are truly a survivor. I know that I have really poor resilience and instead of flight or fight I chose to freeze and not doing anything at all about the situation (I study resilience too, ooops!). You have come back stronger from every challenge, and I doubt that recovering from your op will be any different - you'll be cartwheeling down the high street in no time

Today I am thankful for:
-The smell of fresh bread
-The structure and order of exam marking
-My mum, who is home from holiday and I have now told that we have split up (didn't want to worry her).

stewby

So.... the boilerman has been.

I am now convinced that there is someone conspiring against me. First my car needed £600 worth of repairs... finally get that paid off and became all excited about getting back on track.

Boilerman has just taken another £370 off me.

Can't even begin to describe how "deflated" I am feeling. First time in a while I have just wished that I have never had my LBM.

Heading to work soon so thought I should do a wee update. I imagine that the boiler bill will demolish any hope of a spend-free day too.

Hugs to everyone who needs them.