Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

Busy_Mee1

Only one more week to work until our holiday :j I am really looking forward to some R&R and sunshine.

Nothing much to report on the financials, I have done the bank account patrols and swept all the interest and rewards into savings. Money is a bit tight, but we both have some expenses to come from work which should see us limping through until we go away.

I need to go food shopping today and will do this in L!dl. I am trying to meal plan carefully this week as I don't want to left with loads of fresh stuff to use up, so just literally buying what we need. I will make soup for lunches this week to use up some of the tired veg in the fridge.

I am off to the gym later - I thought I would try circuits today. I did boxercise in the week, which I enjoyed. I am losing weight slowly - I have lost 2 lb but I am not sure I will lose another 3lb in time for the holiday ....maybe another 1 or 2 lb.

We are going to visit one of the elderly parentals tomorrow, which is a full day out and will cost us a pub lunch. DD is also coming, which will brighten up her Grandad's day - she is definitely his favourite.

Then a busy week at work as I try and get everything done ahead of the holiday

try_harder

Have a wonderful holiday Busy Mee1 you really deserve it

EatingTheElephant

Enjoy your holiday

Busy_Mee1

It has been a bit of an epic week.

We visited our elderly parental No 1 on Sunday, which was a long round trip, but brightened his day. The pub lunch cost £53 for the 4 of us but was really well worth it, one of the best pub lunches I have had, with lots of fresh local produce.

On Monday I went to London for work and then got a call to say elderly parental No 2 had been taken into hospital. Luckily London is nearer to this parent than home, so I hopped on a train to see him. He has a number of health conditions and had a bit of a blip but is thankfully fine now. However it cost me £38 in train fare and 2x £8 taxis and a very long trip home. Lucky I was nearby though and lucky that he is all right.

No more drama for the rest of the week but the travel earlier in the week absolutely wiped me out and I have been really busy trying to get finished at work. The trouble is all the stress has triggered my anxiety and I haven't slept very well:o. I am hoping I can relax over the weekend and stop stressing before we go away. I do seem to get myself in a bit of a negative spiral of tiredness - stress- anxiety- tiredness. I am a person who will worry if I haven't anything to worry about !

Nothing much to report on the financials we both claimed some expenses, which was a bit more than expected at £200. Thankfully that has covered the unexpected expenses this week and will see us through to the holiday.

I have done a Christmas shopping list and hope to pick up some bargains in the US while I am there.

No more weight lost ( there has been a fair amount of comfort eating this week ) but I am off to the gym in a while and will try and be good over the weekend. Although we are visiting elderly parentals 3 and 4 today ( we have 5 elderly parentals in total ! ) and there may be cake involved. We are then going round to some friends for a takeaway. Who am I kidding ....I am not going to be losing any more weight this weekend :rotfl:

I think that is all my news.

Thanks for popping in Try Harder - hope you are well x

Busy_Mee1

Sorry ETE our posts crossed. Thanks very much

try_harder

I am good Busy Mee1 thank you .Looking forward to hearing all about your wonderful holiday and your usual update .

Busy_Mee1

Still on holiday but thought I would do a quick update as everyone else is still in bed.
We are having a fab holiday, lots of sunshine and fun.

Now I am not going to pretend a holiday to the USA is in any way shape or form MSE, but we have done it in the most cost effective way that we can - cheap indirect flights bought in the sale in January, shopped around for car hire and bought through TCB and on cash back credit card and dollars bought at a good rate. We even bought our own weetabix ( sorry @ldis own brand) and those multi packs of cereal so that we can have breakfast in the villa.....and imagine my delight when I found out our nearest supermarket out here is an @ldi !

I am not sure the Americans have embraced @ldi yet in the same way we have done in the UK, it tends to be full of pensioners. I suspect it is the lack of choice that puts Americans off ....the amount of choice on everything here is mind boggling.

We have eaten out quite a lot, but it is almost as cheap to eat out as it is to eat in here, but the food is so unhealthy. I dread to think how much weight I have put on ...I think it will be a couple of weeks before I will be facing the scales of doom :eek:

I have also done quite a lot of a Christmas shopping, both here in the outlet malls and also online as M&S sent me a 20% off voucher.

In MSE news I have applied for 2 x Clydesd@le B accounts and have sacrificed our H@lifax accounts to get 2 x £250 switching bonus. £500 for a bit of effort on my holidays feels like a result

Anyway I can hear people moving so I had better sort myself out, I will be back later in the week with the usual monthly update x

michelle09

Sounds like you're having a great time! I think you just have to embrace the spending and eating while you're out there.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

themadvix

Switching while you're on holiday? That's commitment!

Busy_Mee1

I thought so too Mad Vix, but I was worried that they might withdraw the offer by the time we get home and £500 was too good to miss. It wasn't too onerous - did it on line and had "oven ready " accounts ready to switch.