22 Foxhole East 12 August 2016 at 12:55PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Mortgage-Free Wannabe 2.8K replies 339.4K views

kerri_gt

I'd have been tempted not to leave any dinner for him and lock the kitchen so no snacking was going to happen either...but then I'm not a parent so easier said tham done I know. 

in_need_of_direction

I’m with Kerri though my ds would starve rather than admit defeat.  Are there any charity type projects you could expose him to where he may possibly see the consequences of losing his way?

Sayschezza

Sounds like the attitude of a middle child and I remember it well. But it all turns out alright in the end. Mine left home at 19 and lived in a bus for 10 years. Ducked out of uni after a year where he was a mature student. He now has his own flat (mortage paid) and has a lovely job. There is hope.

greent

Urgh re DS2 - my DS1 is 2nd child and was a total pain from around 12/13 - 15 (now almost 20) but then it all changed and he is lovely now (although still does not work hard enough - he is naturally reasonably bright so can coast to a certain level - but not so that he gets the really good grades of which he is capable) DH could not deal with him except by shouting and removing things and banning him from things - which had no effect except to make DS1 annoy DH even more but not reacting - or when he did react by shouting back make him even angrier. DD was an 'angel' (I know people say girls are hard as teenagers and I saw my friends have lots of issues, but she honestly was such an easy teenager apart from the odd hormonal mood swing) which didn't help, as DS1 would get compared to her - which is never any fun for any child

Hang on - they do grow up and get better (mostly!) usually in the end - it can just seem like a verrrrry long time coming at times.x

f0xh0les

I would just  like to say I adore the little swine. He honestly does not seem to get how upset he makes his dad. He has actually said,  in a hurt kind of tone, but I didn't do it the other 6 times he asked and he did not shout at me then, so why is he shouting at me now?  Bless.  Total teenage boy twit.

So far this month I have lost .... 6lbs!!  that sneaked up pretty quick. Will keep on keeping on.  DH has also dropped another lb so we are parallel on 13.9.  Next target  to aim for 13.7

I made a sneaky £1.34 o/p to the mortgage today, firstly to check that I had the right account number, but secondly, because my bank balance ended in £1.34 which is exactly the same number the mortgage figure ended in.  Fate! Destiny! Tidy bank accounts ending in £XXX0.00.  - dh just confirmed my payment has reduced the balance already.

Bizarrely they will not take a  mortgage payment in March, I always forget they do this, the one month's grace period when remortgaging,  so our first payment will be on April 1st. Joy! 

£40 left in the budget until Friday.   All is good today.  Huzzah!

apple_muncher

Really good news about no mortgage payment in March as that's your really tight month financially!

kerri_gt

f0xh0les said:

I would just  like to say I adore the little swine. He honestly does not seem to get how upset he makes his dad. He has actually said,  in a hurt kind of tone, but I didn't do it the other 6 times he asked and he did not shout at me then, so why is he shouting at me now?  Bless.  Total teenage boy twit.

Bless him on the teenage boy logic. Did he grasp that had he done it on one of the prev 6 occasions he was asked he wouldn't have got shouted at, and that it might be that his Dad didn't shout before because he doesn't actually like shouting at him.
Well done on the weight loss - slowly slowly catchy monkey  you're doing fab x

f0xh0les

Dh has been paid, and it is the same amount as usual. So we have no flippin' idea what is going on, unless it comes out of the next pay cheque.  He is on strike Mon-Thurs this week, and in work on Friday, but he has arranged to meet some students who need him outside of the uni building.  He will not cross a picket line - in a previous life he was a TU rep for 10 years - but will not leave his students in the lurch, especially his dissertation students.

The money has not hit my bank account though. So I guess it will either come tomorrow or more likely Monday.  Banks are rubbish on weekends. Well, my bank is rubbish on weekends.

I need to do something with a pineapple.  In that I have a pineapple that needs eating asap, and I do not have any alcohol, and only have chocolate ice cream.  Any suggestions? Come to think of it I have 2 grapefruit in the kitchen as well.  Oh the decadence!  All I can think of is pineapple fritters.  I am feeling particularly uninspired.  The kids are eating everything not nailed to a wall at the moment.  I ask them what they want to eat as I am planning on going shopping, and they just look at me blankly and say they eat everything. 

Today we had some odd leftover greek rice and cheese pilauf thing that dh made yesterday, with kebab style spiced shredded soya product  and masses of salad (the kids had pittas too). For supper we had a kind of sausage casserole style stew.  It used up all 3 of the leeks, 2 onions,  8 smashed cloves of garlic, a huge tablespoon of rosemary, 3 potatoes, 2 carrots,  and  water,  cooked down until the liquid had nearly all reduced, bunged in an 0x0 cube and R1chmond meat-free sausages that I had baked and chunked.  Job done in 15 minutes and everyone made happy troughing noises, and it is good for colds and coughs. So they have all had their 5 a day and more, and the fridge is emptier than it was previously.

DS3 just came in and requested a cheese and potato pie at some point please. I have smoked soya cheese, and puff pastry in the fridge (reduced 'light' jusr0l pastry in Her0n last week -  3 for £1) and I bought a huge sack of spuds  (ys £3) at the start of Feb and it is still more than 1/2 full of dirty potatoes.

As I do not know if I will have any money until Monday, I have decided not to plan on spending any until Monday.  I am making do with what we have in the house. There, executive decision made.  I have the weekend off.   I am just reading, relaxing, cooking. having a bath and washing my hair.  DS's appear to have forgotten about their wish to go to town today, dh has an eye test tomorrow in the centre of town, so might tag along with him, will save on parking money.

The pot of ginger preserve that someone gave me (it was an unwanted Xmas present - in that someone gave it to them and they did not know what to do with it, so thought of me - not sure why, but there you go!) was made into the most incredible ginger cake I have ever eaten.  The kids loved it, requested it after school for snack, in their lunchboxes, even for breakfast, and have asked me to make another one, but I can't!  The poor things will just have to be content with old fashioned chocolate cake. The hardship of it all.   It was very very nice though.

Weird items are coming into the foodbank. We have an awful lot of olive oil being donated, too many to be a coincidence, Fortnum & Mason jams and preserves, miso cup soup sachets, and very expensive truffle oils.  So I can only assume that people are donating the things they got in Xmas hampers they do not like/ do not know what to do with.  The truffle oil was just nuts though. I mean really?

So, all the laundry was done today and returned to owners. tomorrow is the big bed changing extravaganza - ds4 has not managed to trash his new bed yet-  and baking for lunchboxes.  There is no point baking before Sunday evening, as they just eat it all and look proud of themselves, while me and dh are sitting here trying to work out which sofa cushion would have the fewest calories... dieting is sooooo boring.  My fruitbowl is looking sadly unloved, hence the need for pineappley inspiration.

Sayschezza

Pineapple upside down pudding is nice.

f0xh0les

It seems Boris has got Carrie pregnant, and is going to marry her. Well, I suppose he had to marry another one of them eventually.   I had heard he was hiding out at the Prime Minister's country house as she had blacked his eye after he got a little too close to another lady at Xmas while she was pregnant.  So it seems the pregnant rumour is true.  Had also heard he had a  deadline from his publisher on a book deal he had not started writing yet, and had holed up writing it instead of visiting the flood hit areas. That is why he has not been seen.   Either or, neither makes him look very good.