From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

I have a subdued household this morning as we lost our lurcher yesterday. We had to take her to the emergency vet and was advised that the kindest thing to do would be to let her go. The ex and I took her there and brought her back so that the children could say their goodbyes as they wanted to or not and so that we could bury her at the allotment. The allotment is a small piece of land that we were able to buy a few years ago so there is space away from the growing areas under a hazel tree. Somehow it's comforting that she is buried in a space that we use a lot and she loved to race up and down and when she got tired she would lie on the earth and watch me dig or weed or plant. I feel thankful that we had her as long as we did...and I have her son with me.

Cherryfudge

So sorry... hope you are okay. x

Honeysucklelou2

I've had a busy day today which started with paying the vets bill for yesterday. I'm so glad we could bury our dog as I think the bill would have been even higher had we needed a cremation as well. The vet was very kind and compassionate for which I am grateful but the bill was still quite a shock...
The children have been up and down all day. My 7 year old and 16 year old have found it hardest. Just glad that this happened in half term and not the day before a GCSE exam. For most of the children this particular dog has always been there. I will certainly miss her.

I'm not at work this week although have lots of paperwork to do. I made 2 batches of muffins - vanilla and lemon& poppy seed to try and keep the children full. DD3 made a lemon sponge for tomorrow and I made a summer fruit custard tart for pudding tonight.

I've tried to hack down some of the weeds that have grown several feet in the last couple of weeks. The nicotiana sown a few weeks ago has now been planted out. That will get quite tall and produce fragrant flowers. I'm hoping to be able to clear space enough to get all the runner bean plants in tomorrow.

Need to review my budgets again as there still seem to be lots of unexpected expenses. Leaving school seems to be expensive these days too. So far I've had requests for a leavers' hoodie, a whole year photo and an after prom ticket. I think there may still be the cost of prom ticket and leavers' year book to come. When did leaving get so expensive?

DD1 has an interview on Friday which she is excited about. It's across the county so I'll take her to it then take the rest of the children for a walk and an explore nearby.

Cherryfudge

I think the whole commemorative industry (greetings cards, Christmas ephemera, school leaving etc. etc.) is a massive money-spinner... but then I'm a grumpy old woman .

It is nice to have the photos, though... my lot (young adults) still enjoy playing 'spot who's who' on old school photos and their poor partners (who didn't go to the same schools) have to look intelligent about kids they never knew.

You maybe shouldn't have mentioned lemon & poppy seed muffins... DS would love those. Now I need to look up recipes. I can almost smell them.

I'm with you about unexpected expenses. Where do these things come from? I'm hoping my spreadsheet of expenses will help me spot what these are and be better prepared in future.

By the way... 'After prom ticket'? Don't they just go and get drinks somewhere? Things must have moved on in the last five years since any of mine had a prom!

louby40

My son left school last year and it was so expensive. Prom was a small fortune and I hate to think how much parents of girls spend, it's like a mini wedding!

My son has now got an apprenticeship after a few rocky months of going to college (which he hated) and then.....nothing except endless applying for jobs/apprenticeships. He's been there 3 weeks now and refused to ask when pay day was. He was so funny when he rang me on Monday asking me if I'd put £400 in his account :rotfl: so innocent! No, son it's your wages!!

Honeysucklelou2

Oh bless him...:)

Payday was yesterday so all the direct debits went out today. The loan payment went out today so the new balance should be £570...only 2 payments left to go. The home improvement (windows) loan has gone out but progress on that is painfully slow. The account I made a. £25 extra payment has come down faster...could do with making extra payments every month but haven't managed to repeat it yet.

I did indulge a little yesterday...our dog had a flower name, so I went to the local garden centre and bought a perennial form of the flower and planted it on her grave. It just seemed a fitting thing to do. I was bowled over this afternoon to receive a card in the post from the vet expressing sympathy. What a kind thought...

I did also spend some money on paint. The hallway hasn't been painted for about 5 years and is looking awful. An accumulation of sticky handprints and the odd drawing from toddlers still trying to understand the concept of drawing on paper, have left the walls looking quite grubby so I have the sugar soap and paint to freshen the place up a bit.


I went into work today and got some bits and pieces ready for next week. I have been thankful to have a week off. I cooked HM lasagne for tea , then took the children who weren't busy to the beach for an evening stroll. Stunning evening, low tide and an excited toddler...perfect!

Honeysucklelou2

After prom appears to be a party followed by camping in a field. It's at the complete opposite end of the school catchment area to us, bearing in mind that we live in a very rural area. It would take me about 25 minutes to drive to the after prom location. Not something I fancy doing in the early hours when I have work the next day...must be getting old!!

Honeysucklelou2

Having a productive day today! 2 loads of washing have been dried on the line. I've cleAred a few more nettles at the allotment and got some sweet peas planted out. I need to clear some more space later this evening to get the runner beans in. 6 tomato plants have been potted on to 3 litre sized pots so should be good for the rest of the summer. Half are Sungold so should be a sweet yellow cherry tomato, half are moneymaker so a red salad tomato. The tomatoes are all in the greenhouse so making sure I keep on top of the watering.

Oven chips and fish are cooking so off to make a few cakes to fill the tins while the oven is on.

Spendless

Hi honeysuckle, stumbled on your diary after seeing a post of yours on another thread. Looking forward to reading your journey.

Re proms, think I was lucky last year as my DS didn't want to go to his. However my 14yo DD thinks that means his budget gets added to hers when the time comes!

I smiled at the comment about looby's son and the wages. My 17yo has been at college for the past year. He does do his assignments (unlike his school homework!) but on the day they are due in. Still baby steps...... He hasn't looked for a part-time job yet as he only wants one where he doesn't have to talk to people!!!! I found one that semi fitted the bill, but the vacancy had gone before we'd managed to cobble together his CV.

I often wonder what was the point of the parentcraft classes I did when first pregnant. Think it would be far more useful if you got classes in covering the teenage years!

Honeysucklelou2

Hi Spendless, thanks for dropping by :hello:

My DD2 would like a job that meant she didn't have to speak to people !

I went up to the allotment for a couple of hours last night. Got half a bed cleared of nettles and thistles. Got the runner beans planted at last and found space to plant 3 more courgette plants!
Need to get the beetroot seedlings in next and get some successional sowing of lettuce done.

Spent time baking too, so got a batch of chocolate muffins done, a tray of chocolate brownies, a batch of cappuccino cupcakes and a lemon drizzle cake. Not sure how much will be left by this evening...

The menu plan for this week is
Today- chicken pie, roast potatoes and veg
Mon - toad in the hole
Tues - macaroni cheese
Wed - children eat with the ex
Thurs- tuna plait
Fri - something on toast.

I have some frozen summer fruit from T3sco with which to make fruit custard tart which is a favourite. The gooseberries are getting quite large at the allotment so might manage a gooseberry dessert by the end of the week. There are some elder bushes too at the allotment so want to harvest the flowers and make some elderflower cordial