From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Cherryfudge - if I ever achieve my baking dream, rest assured a seat will be here with your name on it and a slice of chocolate cherry brownie at the ready:D.

BusyMee - thank you for your kind words. What a good idea to divert the money spent on phone insurance premiums, into the EF. Thank you, I'll get onto that task this week.

Saving Holmes - thank you. The legal process seems so long and easy to become weary of it. Hopefully the £4,200 (and counting) legal fees will be worth it in the end.


Today has been quite a restful day apart from the taxiing around. DD2 and I had planned to do tea at the beach this evening but unfortunately one of the young dogs decided to catch a wasp and was stung inside the mouth. Her muzzle swelled up on both sides which was alarming to see. We did google to see what the best treatment was but all advice was to ring the vet if the sting was inside the mouth. Thankfully the vet was reassuring and we didn't need to do anything other than keep her calm and quiet. We've postponed tea on the beach until tomorrow;).

DD3 and I managed to get out for a walk between the showers later in the evening. On our return I discovered a cross stitch project I started ? years ago. It was a very relaxing evening completing parts of the cross stitch whilst listening to "To the Manor born". DD1 joined me but doing her latest craft project. I really enjoy Sunday evenings in the holidays - no work dread, no paperwork or emails, just simply relaxing:) .

Drawingaline

I love cross stitch. I have one I pull out every now and then. Must actually finish it one day!

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Cherryfudge - if I ever achieve my baking dream, rest assured a seat will be here with your name on it and a slice of chocolate cherry brownie at the ready:D.

I am saving the calories in readiness

I love 'To the Manor Born'. I re-watched the whole series while recuperating from breaking my arm last summer. Combining it with cross stitch suds a lovely way to spend an evening.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge and Drawingaline.

I seem to have spent a huge amount of time cleaning out the car today. I unearthed a whole load of washing ( which has been duly done), about 10 shoes ( not all matching!) and 55 pens :eek: :embarasse not to mention enough sand to begin a sand pit of our own . The worst part about the pens is that I'm always looking for certain colours for marking and end up buying new sets of pens ( black and blue won't do, I have to mark in certain colours) when all the time, pens were in the car under seats, between seats and in little storage pockets in the car. It will teach me to look first :cool:.

More taxiing done today for the children. I did nip into Mr T's and got a few more bits and pieces for the children to prepare for the new academic year. There was a half price stationery pack for £6 that had an A4 file, file dividers, an A4 notebook, sellotape, post it notes, pencils, pens, ruler, glue sticks and a clear pencil case. Buying all of those bits would cost more than £6, so I did get one for DD2 and DD3 and I'm sure they will use the various parts over the next year. I have written a list of all the essentials needed and am trying to do a little bit each week to ease the pressure on the budget.

Honeysucklelou2

The remainder of the past week seems to have been spent on trying to catch up / keep up with the laundry and lots of tidying /decluttering. I'm averaging 3 loads of washing a day which is fine if it's a dry day and I can get it out on the line.The tumble dryer has had to be used for a couple of loads on the wet days to avoid a damp backlog!

Quite a few old papers and magazines were recycled this week. I also went through a cupboard and was about to throw out a rather battered looking gift bag, but thankfully stopped to check inside and found a £20 gift card. I went on the website as I need a pair of trousers for work but most were in the region of £30 until I remembered the clearance section , so found a pair of smart work trousers for £12:T. The rest went on a pair of school trousers for the youngest DD.

The pyracantha plant arrived on Wednesday, well packaged and in excellent condition:). I've spent time continuing to clear the back garden and dug a small border about 5 metres in length and a spades width. Just enoug space really to get plants in to soften the harsh grey of this block wall that forms part of the rear boundary. I had a red hot poker plant that has been in a pot for too long, so got that planted, along with the pyracantha and an agapanthus that has also been sat for too long waiting for a permanent position. It's a start and already it looks much neater :). When the Spring bulbs start to be sold, I thought I might plant some daffodils and grape hyacinths between the plants for some Spring colour. I feel as though in a small way I'm making the back garden more my own. For too long it has looked like a builders site with the ex's tools / storage bins everywhere and the nettles making it look absolutely dreadful, but the clearance and planting has made a start to making it a more accessible outdoor space :j. I noticed he has a stack of tyres that are all useless, having come off his various vehicles. I thought I might rehome them at the allotment as they could be useful to grow crops that otherwise might get nibbled by rabbits;).

DS1 had his first proper driving lesson yesterday and thankfully was told that he was almost ready for his test :T. I had allocated £30 of this week's budget to the lesson but got caught off guard by him needing a 2 hr lesson ( forgotten from when DD2 had lessons) . We live rurally so lessons tend to be 2 hours to allow time to actually get to the test centre town. Thankfully I was able to get the remainder of the money to the instructor by the end of the lesson but must rejig this week's budget and replan future weeks.

On Wednesday I reached the pivotal point of the holidays and began to get quite anxious about going back to work, which seems crazy as I still have a couple of weeks. I did go into work on a Friday. It was pouring with rain so I thought I'd make productive use of the time by getting some of the fiddly little jobs done. Bizarrely getting a few of these time-consuming yet necessary bits done has helped me to feel calmer .

Hoping to spend a day or two at my grandmother's house. I need to help my parents continue to clear the place . So many memories of times there with my grandparents go through my mind ( and I know it sounds daft) but I hate clearing things that have been cheek by jowl for decades. As my uncle says it must be done, so I must be resolute and help.

I've not heard back from the PPI claim yet. I'm assuming that they must be inundated but the Resolver service has sent me an email suggesting that I chase them up, so must remember to do that.

savingholmes

Sounds like you are making great progress. Love the garden planting too - great to have evergreen and bright colours to look at each day. Sorry you are dreading returning to work.

I have 2 days off this week and all of next week off so can't wait. It makes going in at the start of the week easier so I can definitely relate even though I like my job.

crazy_cat_lady

Back to work dreads already HSL? Me too - a little. But more to do with results day next week.

Cherryfudge

I heard back from the only PPI claim that I made, within two or three days so I think it may be worth you chasing it up.

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Hoping to spend a day or two at my grandmother's house. I need to help my parents continue to clear the place . So many memories of times there with my grandparents go through my mind ( and I know it sounds daft) but I hate clearing things that have been cheek by jowl for decades. As my uncle says it must be done, so I must be resolute and help.

I do see how you mean, but remember there would have been times your Grandparents moved things to clean or decorate, so you are in some ways following their lead. I'm still clearing my parents' house (a massive job) and I think it helps a bit to give something a good clean so it feels 'new'. That probably sounds very strange! The oldest and strongest memories remain the same even when the items move.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge, Saving Holmes & CCL.

I'm hoping I've got the right place for the PPI. The card was with the Alliance and Leicester which was taken over by Santander but when I looked more closely at the statement, there was a sentence in the tiniest print to say the card was issued by MBNA, so I'm now wondering if the claim has reached the right place.

Back to work dreads sadly due to the last academic year being the worst of my career to date and a blow to any confidence I had. I'm really hoping it will get better in the coming year.

My uncle had sorted some of the house so my grandmother's house doesn't look as it did. I have enjoyed simply sitting in the garden as lots of my memories of times spent with them were in the garden.

savingholmes

Hope you track down the right place. I want to have a last try at ppi reclaiming this weekend...