Cherry takes the reins

redofromstart

Books make me happy too, although dusting them is a pain. Does wiping the kindle cover count?

Cherryfudge

redofromstart wrote: »

Does wiping the kindle cover count?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Most definitely :cool:

Cherryfudge

I've just set March's finances in order as best I can (not sure what the milk bill will be and I don't think there's a contact lens payment due).
So for my records:

Paid the lady who helps with Mum's house.

Made an extra OP to the mortgage of £230 based on the amount I was able to overpay this month and last. There's just the slimmest chance it might go through today but it usually takes 3 days - though they take it out at once. A regular payment goes out to the mortgage tomorrow as well as a regular OP of £58.51.

I've transferred the agreed amount from both my wages and DH's wages to savings and skimmed the rest of DH's wages into holiday savings - which made me feel a bit guilty as it's much more than I feel I should put towards hols! However we have agreed a September holiday and a weekend away with the family in July so savings are in order. No idea where we're going for either yet but at least there's money to put towards it.

Savings are building up again after last year's mega spend but are still only about a third of where I feel they should be.

I have a feeling another page in the bullet journal should be house projects as there are several things we need to invest in. The kitchen is slowly coming together but will need tiles and Dh wants a cooker hood. We need to replace the security light, one of the bay windows is damp, the loft hatch needs replacing, most rooms need decoration, the lounge needs a new carpet when the decorating is done and our beloved sofas are almost worn out... sure there will be more!

Honeysucklelou2

Totally with you on books...can't bear to throw books away !

The bullet journal sounds interesting. I try to write to do lists for home, the allotment and work. It's keeping the list from being too huge to manage that's the tricky bit!!

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

It's keeping the list from being too huge to manage that's the tricky bit!!

This is where I'm hoping th BJ will come into its own. You aren't allowed 'unpeopled' lists (so if losing weight for instance, the list doesn't appear till some has been lost). You have sections for the future (month by month) which are relatively small, the current month draws off things from this but takes up a double-page spread, and individual day lists just take up the next available space and don't get indexed. They fit in between any other lists and when the day is over, things that didn't get done get either crossed off or 'migrated' to somewhere appropriate in the future. Not sure if that makes sense but part of the idea is to see patterns of behaviour, see where you're overcommitting, what things you might be avoiding, etc.

I haven't finished reading the book yet so we'll see what I make of the rest of it!

Cherryfudge

Here's a final tally for today:

Put washing to air Done
Put away dried washing Done
Ironing Done
list books on piano, Done table started and dining room bookcase not yet
play the piano a bit A very small little bit
start a list of projects to feed into the bj nope
Um... get dressed Yes!
do some decluttering in the bedroom which is the Worst Place No
Move money over from DH's wages to savings Done

I have also popped in to see DFiL who is looking better. No shopping apart from getting him a paper: DH bought dinner.

Spending:
Gift £1.20
Mortgage OP £230.00
MS:
finished yesterday's soup for lunch which kept me filled up till nearly tea time
10th coin savings 20p
Mortgage overpayment meaning that's £230 I will not have to pay interest on in future (I think it will save about £10 a year over the next 4 years by which time the mortgage will be gone if it continues on the current trajectory).
Decluttering:
8 items I think

Cherryfudge

This has been another cheap day: nothing spent at all! I still have half my share of housekeeping money though I know I need to buy things over the weekend so that won't last. However it's just me, DH and DS2 for Sunday dinner so it's going to be a lot cheaper than normal.

I have the weekend off - but I have to say I don't cope well with all these days off. I know I need to gather some energy as I have weeks coming up when I will be doing extra but I find it hard to get motivated when there's not much pressure on my time. Work today was okay - though I got saved from making a serious error by a colleague, which is always a bit concerning. I know why I nearly did what I nearly did (IYSWIM): I haven't worked with that client for a long time and had basically forgotten something important which wasn't marked on her notes. I can see that for a technical reason it didn't need to be, and also that as my colleague said, if the same people are put with the same clients regularly, other people get deskilled. Then I forgot another thing with the same client later and the same colleague quietly put it right! And that was one that I should have known. Oh well, at least no harm came of it and I know now. Definitely not on full form though: I had wondered how long till my reduction in hours showed up as not being on top of everything as well as I could be.

Ah yes - and I made the evening meal which got delayed when a piece of equipment finally succumbed to old age and gave up so that a process had to be completed by hand. We'd been saying it was on the way out... now we have a new one! I was quite proud of how the meal turned out, though.

I might have got brownie points for getting through the evening on a packet of crisps and not having my dinner till late on!

Decluttering has got no-where. I found a little stash of baby clothes which I really don't want to throw out or pass on... my kids are in their 20s! I delayed the decision by putting them in the wash (clothes not kids), which doesn't exactly solve anything. Mind you, I know where I inherited that from. I found a baby cardigan of mine in a drawer at Mum's old house!

Spending:
None
MS:
None
Decluttering:
None.

Cherryfudge

I'm going to count today as a victory even though there's nothing dramatic - the fact I made myself get a few things done when my mental health is a bit under par - that's decidedly a victory. What could have been a washout of a day has instead had two loads of laundry, a trip to the shops and a plan for tomorrow's dinner.

DH went to see DFiL this morning and the place seemed in chaos. Long story short: this evening was much better and at least one of two things that bothered him had been resolved satisfactorily. Meanwhile DH and I had a shopping trip for some cupboard handles for the kitchen that we hadn't been able to get before, and while we were there DH went searching for a good pillow. He found one - I insisted he get the one he really likes best even if it costs more as I think good rest is so important - but didn't buy it in case he finds one he likes nearer home. I think he really likes my pillows, which he borrows when I'm away! LOL. We also spent the rest of the housekeeping money as we needed some basics and I want to try out a Moroccan recipe that needs lamb. It takes us a little over budget £2.15)but serves four to six (i.e. three and a half in this house) so there should be enough to feed someone during the week too.

Spending:
Housekeeping £33.55
Household £14.00
MS:
Found two winter scarves in the depths of the house and sent photos to the kids so the owner could claim them. No-one's admitting to them so one can go to charity and I have claimed the very nice black one.
Shopped carefully for tomorrow's meat and took about £3 off the price.
Researching a cooker hood (we hadn't thought our kitchen could accommodate one but are now better informed) made me realise there was no point in buying a soft-closing thingy for a door if we might remove the cupboard, so we've put it back on the shelf and saved a few ££.
Confession time:
Was feeling end-of-the-afternoonish by the time we finished shopping so got a coffee instead of waiting to go home. Was worth it!
Decluttering:
I think there was something but I can't remember for now...

Sun_Addict

Well done on getting things done despite being none too good MH wise

I'm another book lover, got two shelves of books to read, trying to get it down to one shelf but keep getting more books passed on to me by work colleague, oh what a shame :rotfl:

HairyHandofDartmoor

I agree that books aren't clutter, we just need more shelves and more bookcases, who cares if they're dusty :rotfl:.

I hope DFIL gets better soon and can go home to his flat, but it's very fortunate that they were able to make the correct diagnosis.

Getting things done when your mental health doesn't feel great is a massive achievement. It's easy to be productive when you're feeling good but takes real gumption when you're feeling bad :T.