£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Narola1976

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

OMG what is this witchcraft of which you speak?! I am so investigating that. DC1 and I both love audiobooks.

I forgot to add it also allows me to reserve a book, because obviously only 1 person can borrow a book at a time. You just need to use your library card and a pin that they give you. This is a great feature as some of the more popular authors' books like MC Beaton, Alexander McCall Smith and James Patterson are always borrowed. They also do e-books but I rarely bother with those as I like the convenience of the audio book. Sometimes when I cant sleep I pop the ear phones in and have a listen for a while. I imagine if DC1 has a phone he can have his own app and can choose his own books.

wishingthemortgaheaway

We have the e-books/magazines and audio books from our library service too. It is amazing!

DawnW

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

I really need to reacquaint with the library! Have been thinking how much I was looking forward to reading more/listening to more books in the evenings when DC3 starts preschool and I can work in the daytime, but been aware of the amount I would spend on kindle books/audible if it was all accessed that way.

It sounds as though it is fairly common for libraries to have audiobooks - I don't know if ours does, as I like the papery sort, but please do reacquaint with the library - children love to choose their own books / DVDs etc to take home, and libraries often have free activities / events for children too. I always found that a trip to the library was a quite a nice (free) thing to do with kids during the school holidays or on a Saturday, especially if it can be combined with a walk / visit to a park Encourages them to read, too

Treadingonplaymobil

DawnW wrote: »

It sounds as though it is fairly common for libraries to have audiobooks - I don't know if ours does, as I like the papery sort, but please do reacquaint with the library - children love to choose their own books / DVDs etc to take home, and libraries often have free activities / events for children too. I always found that a trip to the library was a quite a nice (free) thing to do with kids during the school holidays or on a Saturday, especially if it can be combined with a walk / visit to a park Encourages them to read, too

DH takes the DC all the time when I'm working. Only me who has forgotten about the existence of the library :rotfl:

Treadingonplaymobil

yesterday's lists, before starting on today...

to do today (yesterday)
1. laundry - haven't done a single load since returning from holiday on Friday night. Going to run out of clothes soon. Done.
2. ironing - and there was still some ironing left to do when we went away. Argh. Not done.
3. work on a project with DC2 that needs to go back to school with him. Done.
4. make something little and inexpensive to take to friends for lunch today - maybe mini meringues and buttercream. Done.
5. pick a room and tidy and clean it. Not done, but DH did lots of tidying.
6. plan working time for the month. Done.
7. send a birthday card that really should have gone yesterday. Done.
8. plan DC1's birthday presents. Done. Have talked myself down from £150 lego sets.
9. invoice for last month's contract work. Done.

missymoo81

Gosh you're up early! And with a list too!! I often read but rarely post! I also forgot all about my library until about 3 weeks ago, I went in and it was like being a kid all over again! I loved it!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 30: day 2

Another day, another financial hurdle. Realised that because of my pitiful earnings in August I will have even less income than I thought I would, so our budget is even tighter than anticipated. Argh. Am just continuing to plod along keeping things as tight as possible, as until I can earn more there is literally nothing I can do apart from not spend. On the upside, I have got a couple of client bookings for this month already. Not enough to rescue the dire finances within one month, but if things continue to improve it will all be back on track again within a couple of months (before Christmas spending hell kicks in).

Aiming for a low/no spend couple of days before the DC go back to school, although might have to take them out for a walk or something today to burn off some energy - they are so used to being outside after a summer of it that they are decidedly Not Fun when cooped up!

Car has its MOT today. Fingers crossed!

edited to add: Ooh, another thing I meant to mention. Have decided that since I'm going to be making packed lunches for DC3 every day, DC1 might as well go onto them as well. He is a tiny bit resistant, but not enormously. His school lunches cost £2.10 per day, and I'm thinking I can make some nice stuff with an extra £10.50 a week in the food budget, especially if I'm needing to make stuff for DC3 anyway. Open to suggestions! He is an active almost-9yo, DC3 is 3.5 and eats a 'normal' amount for her age. Don't want to get into boring 'ham sandwich, bag of crisps, apple' type lunches. I'm thinking of aiming for a bit of a rota of stuff, like 'Monday quiche, Tuesday crackers and cheese, Wednesday sandwich, Thursday pasta salad' or similar, and get him involved in planning it so he is a bit more enthusiastic about it. Also wondering about one of those thermos pots for taking warm food, but not sure if school have rules on that. I'm aware he'd rather have school dinners so trying to make it positive. I won't do it the first week back (partly because I don't have a lunchbox or bag for him), but as soon as DC3's lunchbox arrives I will see how it is and order one for DC1 if it's good - I am trying to cut down on plastic so have got a stainless steel one to try. Will need a good bag to put them in so we don't get branded as the crazy hippy parents forever!

to do today
1. laundry, again.
2. ironing, again.
3. continue to work on DC3's project with him.
4. pack orders for smaller business.
5. clean dining room.
6. Order DC1's birthday presents.
7. batch cook bolognese-type sauce with all the leftover slightly sad vegetables that we brought back from holiday with us.
8. Book trampoline place for DC1's party.
9. Start knitting socks for a relative's significant birthday.

to do this week
1. plan DS1's birthday party.
2. get the house tidy and decluttered ready for new term at school.
3. start a list of camping supplies that need replacing/repairing for next year - will be much better to do that in stages over the winter than in one big spend next May.
4. have a look at last month's food spends and see where improvements can be made.
5. make some packed lunch supplies and freeze for DC3, who will now have lunch at preschool 3 days a week.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

redofromstart

Home and Bargains had some metal star wars lunch tins a few weeks ago, my boys had that type for a few years at juniors and I liked them, bit compact to fit things in.

A compromise might be to let him pick a set day each week for school dinners? Mine liked the roasts, and I liked that he actually ate it and saw it as a treat so he had that every week for years but took packed lunch every other day.

Contents, mine don't like variety which makes planning fairly easy but means I have few ideas. My experience was that they just wanted to fit in - DS1 loves feta and mixed beans with balsamic drizzle for example, but at 9 he found the 'yuck' from his friends difficult to cope with.

Cherryfudge

Lovely to hear how good your holidays were! Hopefully the memories and ensuing planning for next time will sustain you through the grey days. It's sometimes hard to remember the sun even when it's only been gone five minutes, but I expect you have photos to reminisce over when you need them.

All your financial work is pretty amazing. I do hope you get plenty of work this month, and also that your husband's employers sort out his increase. Keep ploughing on - you are making progress, and you'll gain momentum if you keep at it now.

Packed lunches - my favourite is overnight oats (lots of recipes and variations on t'internet) though you might have to overcome that 'yuck' factor from his friends. It's a good way of using up bananas, with a little bit of jam or caramel for colour and sweetness if 'needed'. It's also lovely with frozen fruit which has defrosted by lunchtime. If people don't like the texture of the oats, you can try one of those cereals that's basically powdered oats.

Kittychick

Just tried the audio book thing, it downloaded fine but doesn't recognise my library... Might try and get my daughter to join hers and use that-her library comes up straight away....
Loving reading your diary BTW, great to see it's not all hairshirts-you have to live through it, and it seems to me like you are making improvements... It's all about balance x