Mrs P's Diary - The Final Push

MrsPorridge

Cannot believe how much better I feel - still not 100% but I know I'm going to survive.

NSD today which is the upside.

Tea tonight (which I felt well enough to prepare) was from the freezer - yellow ticketed sausages, yellow ticketed dauphanise potatoes and some left-over sprouts - which were yellow ticketed and I bought on Saturday - they still tasted lovely even though a week out of date. Stewed plums were pudding.

tomorrow will go out and get some milk and essentials.

Our local has started doing steak night again now its winter. We live in Cornwall and in the winter there are usually loads of deals around for the locals. We get top notch steak from the local butcher with all the trimmings, chips, onion rings, mushrooms and peas plus a bottle of wine which comes to £25 for two. So that is our treat for tomorrow night.

Sunday will be tidying up DS room as MIL will use that when she comes to say in a couple of weeks.

beanielou

Steak night sounds just fab. :drool:

MrsPorridge

Well am much, much better today - although think it will be mid-week before I am back to normal.

Ready for work tomorrow. I have made 3 day's worth of salmon sandwiches for my packed lunches - because that is what I fancy.

Car sharing tomorrow with DH and we will visit the tip on the way back - 3 bags of rubbish and an old office chair with a broken back.

Some decluttering done today - two bathrooms cleaned and DS' room cleaned and ready now for MIL's visit.

Dinner tomorrow is defrosting - yellow stickered fish cakes which we'll have with hm chips to finish off the spuds and some baked beans. DH cooked a lovely brunch this morning when we had the first half of the tin of beans. In the past the second half would have ended up growing spores in the fridge. This is the beauty of menu planning - I hardly waste any food at all now.

MrsPorridge

A really good MSE style day today. Worked from home so saved petrol on commute. Threw about 4 bags of rubbish and an old broken under bed storage box.

Sorted out a carrier bag of books for the 2nd hand bookshop. Added a few more bits and bobs to the cs bags.

Meal planned for the next two weeks - using mostly store-cupboard and freezer - the cupboard/freezer will really be bare in a couple of weeks time. Must try not to weaken and not do a mega shop! This period also covers the week MIL is with us - so really hoping I can stick to it.

And, an NSD today.

MrsPorridge

today booked two Travel Lodges - one at Reading when we go to MIL's (DH will do a bit of work at her house and then we drive her back to our house - she will get the train home a week later). The second one for when we go and visit DS at uni for his 21st birthday - we are going to treat him to brunch and then bring a load of stuff back for the Christmas hols. He is then going ski-ing for a week with his uni mates and will then get the train home.


One of the downsides to living in the darkest depths of Cornwall is that it takes hours to get anywhere and DH and I are now beyond the driving marathons we used to do.

MrsPorridge

DH was doing some work on waste ground behind the factory today and came home with an armful of apples - when tasted they were eating apples, but the skins didn't look too good. Have made two large Eve's puddings with them. When cooled they will go into the freezer. One can be a pudding when MIL is with us and the other over Christmas when DS is home.

Huskyrunner

Apple crumble them :-)

MrsPorridge

DH will get more apples this week and I will crumble them

A good morning - the hoover has been cleaned out and the filters all washed and everything replaced - it now hoovers as it should do! Upstairs hoovered, spare bed made for MIL.

Patio doors cleaned - internal door windows cleaned.

Veggies prepped ready for roast chicken dinner later. Three days of packed lunches made and in the fridge for DH and self.

Loads of dusting done.

Almost finished knitting the back of my cardigan - should be finished by tonight.

Staying in today so an NSD.

This afternoon will laze around and watch TV.

MrsPorridge

An early start as car sharing with DH. But means an early finish! Will go to the cinema to a late afternoon showing on way home - it's 2 for 1 on a Monday at our cinema. The money "saved" will buy us a fish and chip supper

MrsPorridge

Quite a lot has happened since the last time I posted - around a year and a quarter ago!

We have paid off our mortgage and the loans. Only debt now is CC running at just under £9k - which I am seriously annoyed about - made up mostly of luxuries and holidays.

DH and I have also dropped one day a week working - so now work 4 days per week.

I want to drop another day towards the end of the year and we are both thinking of our retirement. We aim to sell our house and buy a cheaper and smaller one elsewhere (although haven't decided where yet). However, I want to be debt free and perhaps more importantly, able to live within our means.

One change we can make is to get rid of one of our cars. We live in a remote area and petrol/car usage is extremely high - both travel a round trip of 40 miles a day for work. We do car share sometimes, DH leaves home at 6am - I at around 7am. If we get rid of one car then we would have to car share. I need to compromise as I am quite flexible working whereas DH needs to clock in at 7am and clocks out at 3.30pm.

I am the one pushing this as I we can easily save upwards of £200 per month by getting rid of one car. But, I am dreading getting up one hour earlier 4 days a week - how selfish and weak I sound - seriously its a no brainer isn't it?

I need to woman up and just suck it up and get on with it - think of how much we can save and therefore get rid of this CC debt.

I have started to declutter the house and we are meal planning 95% of the time - so the only other bit we can cut back on is the transport costs.