Thistle's Mission

Thistle-down

I'm still motivated but not actually getting much done in the house. I was out all morning doing errands with my son, and now I am trying to save stuff from my laptop to the cloud so he can take it back with him to uni. His was too old to run the software he needs for his course, and then it died last Wednesday.

It's times like this when the results of not getting my finances in order earlier slaps me in the face - having one decent laptop between 4 of us and not being able to afford to buy another is a real bummer - especially as it's me who is giving up the decent laptop! I bought it with birthday money about 2 years ago, it is a budget laptop but at least it runs something more up to date than Windows XP

I still have a very old laptop that will work for writing letters, etc. and the ipad mini for most everything else, so things are not as bad as they could be, it will just make doing things a bit more difficult. Live and learn, right? :rotfl:

Smolly

Hi Thistle

We always put our children first and I would do the same if it were me. At least you do have the iPad mini and to be honest I find things like listing on 3Bay easier on that than the pc. It's much quicker in my opinion. How will you manage with your music though?

Just think when he's graduated and got a good job because he was able to do his work on your laptop he'll look after you.... that's right isn't it? :rotfl: My mum still looks after me and I'm mid 40's bless her.

I too am feeling like I'm not having a very productive day but I've just finished off 3 mystery shop reports with one more to go tomorrow. With what I did yesterday as well I've earned myself about £172 before expenses and all the other 'deductions'. Not bad for a couple of days' work.

Take care and enjoy! xx

Thistle-down

Well getting the reports done Smolly is pretty good going! I've done a bit of mystery shopping in the past, though not since I've moved to the new town. Those reports can be tedious.

I know giving my son the laptop is the best thing to do, but I haven't figured out yet about how I am going to record music. My mic needs a USB port which the ipad mini doesn't have, and the program I use is no longer supported on Windows XP, which the old laptop uses. I'm just about finished installing the software my son needs on my laptop and have put all my important info on google drive. I'll find the old one and see if there are any suitable recording programs that will still work with XP. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I'd love for my son to take care of me and keep me in the lifestyle I'd like to become accustomed to! He'd like to work somewhere like Pixar but unless he comes up with characters himself, he's not likely to be highly paid. He'd do his best for me anyway, he's a lovely lad.

Thistle-down

Today I have a couple of errands to run this morning, then I'm taking my son back to the train station. When I get back, I should have a couple of hours to sort things before starting on dinner.

I've been using my old laptop last night and this morning and have realised something quite positive - this laptop is old, slow, has a small screen and the colours are a bit off. It's not unusable by any means but it's not a joy to use like the one my son is taking back with him. I think I will be much less likely to waste time on it as things seem to take twice or three times longer than on the new one. :rotfl:

Smolly

I had a laptop like that Thistle - couldn't believe how slow it actually was until I got my new one but that was 6 years ago so it's a bit of dinosaur itself now. At least you have one to use.

Have you managed yet to get any of those bits you bought the other day on eBay yet? I'm being totally useless with it at the moment! It's annoying the hell out of me too as I know that there's money there and I'm not pulling my finger out to get rid of stuff.

Hope you have had a nice day xx

[Deleted User]

My laptop is a bit like that.

No way am I treating myself to a new one till the debt is gone & I have the cash to pay for it.

Dxxx

Thistle-down

thanks Dolly and Smolly!

I am my own worst enemy - I sat down for "10 mins" to go over some songs I'm playing tomorrow night and the next thing I know it's afternoon. I can't be too upset though, I finished one song and made a really good start on another. Sometimes months pass between writing songs so I really need to get them down when the inspiration comes.

I have all afternoon now to sort and get ebaying. I'm planning on listing all the clothes I bought from the £1 CS today, Smolly. I should have done it when I first got them. I need to get into the habit of listing things as soon as I can after bringing them in so the clutter doesn't overwhelm me.

I have found THE perfect welsh dresser, about 20 miles away from me, it's exactly what I have been looking for. It's on ebay so if I want to buy it, I need to get my !!! in gear to bring the money in and pray it doesn't go for a huge amount. I have until the end of the weekend and I don't know if I will do it, but I am going to give it a good try!

Time to get sorting! :j

Smolly

Good luck on the Welsh Dresser Thistle - how lucky that it's so close to you! I will be keeping fingers and toes crossed, and anything else which crosses these middle-aged days and pray you get it!

Get eBaying!!! xxx

Thistle-down

Bit of a cranky day today, everything seemed to take longer and nothing went smoothly - for example taking photos for ebay to discover a mark on the clothes, which now need washing to see if it can come out, and then ironing. A missing button. Waiting in for a delivery that didn't come. Having someone pound on the door before I was even up only to find out it wasn't us they wanted. That kind of thing - stuff that should just wash over me but because I'm cranky, I just became more irritated. Not like me at all. I blame menopause

I've taken a lot of photos for ebay but have not yet actually listed anything. I was supposed to be going to a folk club tonight but my ride isn't going so am staying home, there is no reason I can't get at least three things listed.

Someone else is bidding on the dresser I want, so there is a chance it will go for more than I can afford. It's cemented in my mind though that I need to have the money ready for when the next "the one" appears. They aren't exactly rare, but the age and shape I'm looking and within about 30 miles of our house don't come up quite as often.

DH and I were talking this afternoon and he doesn't think we have a HIH of buying another house. He said that by the time we have any sort of deposit saved up, both of us will be too old to get a mortgage. Neither of us have any kind of private pension so if we don't do something now, we could well end up in social housing with nothing but our state pension to live on, and who knows if that will even be an option by the time we reach pension age.

I must say the thought of not growing old in my own little house is depressing. Part of me is fired up to prove DH wrong, but unless I/we can figure out some way to bring in a whole heap of money, I'm not sure how it can happen. It's not impossible, but it will mean some very committed hard work. I seem to have a problem committing to anything these days.

Anyway enough misery. I have an unexpected quiet night a home, which is always a bonus. I'm going to get started on ebay right now before something else distracts me and I end up getting nothing done!

Thistle-down

I managed to get 8 things listed, it went much quicker than expected using the ebay app. I think it will just get quicker as I get more used to using it, so am feeling pretty positive after my cranky day! Tomorrow I'm aiming to get the rest of the CS clothes and maybe a few other bits from the dining room listed.

Today I accomplished:

1. listed 8 items on ebay
2. another load of laundry
3. had an honest chat with DH about the finances (again!)

Today I am grateful for:

1. the ebay app!!!
2. finding unused/unopened makeup I had forgotten about
3. having an unexpected quiet night in