Dreaming of a life after debt

Munchin

Morning

I have a busy but fun day ahead ...I hope:)

I need to take nephew no 2 to school and then head to airport to pick up sister and 2 kids...I can't wait for lots of baby cuddles. I went to Asda yesterday and bought nappies, shampoo, wipes and baby formula for them and it came to £18!!!! This doesn't affect my spending fast as it wasn't frittering or frivolous.

I'm on my holidays tomorrow and the plane leaves at a reasonable time 9.45am rather than the crack of dawn times we have got recently. I can't wait but I need to check in online and pack. I have a set of minutes to finish first.

Other than that I'm good. I'm reading '50 ways to soothe yourself without food' and have started a few of those techniques.

I will be back in a week... a bit redder and with more freckles:)

Munchin

Hi

Still on holidays and having a lovely time. We hired a car for 2 days and they let us keep it for an extra half day for nothing . We're in Zante & have toured the island at our own leisurely pace. As usual OH is brown as a berry & im pale and freckly. The mozzies prefer me over OH as I have 6 welts on my legs ... look worse than they are but I'm a bit self conscious of them:o.

Money front - not too bad - sticking with holiday budget but having fun.

Only a few more days left & it will be back to cold wet N Ireland.

Munchin

Afternoon

I'm back from lovely warm Zante (28) to lovely wet N Ireland (13:( ). Most of the mozzie bites have calmed down except 1 I got last night at the airport which is doing my head in. I can't find the cream I had on holidays but I think I read that vinegar might help so I've dabbed a bit of that on it and it might work. If I could somehow sort out our mad suitcases I will probably find the cream. Main plan for future holidays is to find something to truly scare away mozzies or take a preventative antihistamine tablet (not sure if that would work).

The house was freezing last night so we put on a lovely coal fire and 10 layers of clothing and that will probably be it until the winter. Picked up my pooch from my Mums and he was sooo excited & happy to see me. Mum said he was great company for her and they managed a few walks and a bath (pup hates baths:)).

I have dragged out my winter coat to put it in the wash as I will need it fresh for Monday morning and train travel. I have a winter 'to do' checklist that I borrowed from a winter prep thread a few years ago and I amend and complete each year so I will go find it.

There was a bit of snail mail waiting for us and I have an appointment with the Electoral office to become a clerk but the date and time don't suit me. I'm lacking on mojo as I don't want to do an assessment if I'm not really that bothered.

I also feel a wee bit out of sorts at the minute, when I went to my Mums she had all the woes of the world saved up for me & I kind of feel sad and frustrated for a family member who is throwing their lives away and they don't seem to realise that they are on a downward spiral but all I can do is support them and their Mum and hope for the best.

Ok will update money front on next post.

Munchin

September budget

Grocery - £[STRIKE]50[/STRIKE]/£71 spent
Other - £[STRIKE]43[/STRIKE]/£0 spent

September spends

Fri 15th- £61 Asda
Sat 16th - £10 beautician
Sun 17th -
Mon 18th -
Tues 19th -
Wed 20th -
Thurs 21st -
Fri 22nd -

Total = £71

Munchin

Surveys & Voucher

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Next - £20

Munchin

Winter Checklist 2017

Clothes

Wash all coats, scarves & gloves - need to find them!!
Repair or buy new socks - visit to Primark
[STRIKE]Check Wellingtons [/STRIKE]- have boots do same job
Polish all shoes and boots
Go back through clothing checking what I need and what I need to replace. Think - what will I wear - what do I need?
Put away all your summer clothes in either those vacuum bags or in a suitcase for the following year.

Car

Buy in screenwash now - do I have any left?
Find ice scraper - should be in winter box but will check
Torch and batteries - hiding somewhere
Gloves hat and scarf - need to put back in car winter box
October make sure all fluid levels in cars are correct
Check tyre pressures and tread levels - OH
Clean car inside and out making sure car has good amount of wax which protect it from harsh elements and salt and grit on the roads which will cause rust.
If possible clean out your garage and put your car away each night - not possible as Uncle using garage for storage.

Food
Stock up on tinned products such as soup, rice pudding, baked beans and spaghetti. These items will keep as good store cupboard standbys.
Check and clean out your freezer, make a list of what you have and what you need to buy in. Keep at least two loaves of bread in the freezer. A clean frost free freezer will work better than a ice capped one!
If anything crops up on BOGOF and it will keep/freeze for winter buy it and store it.
Create a 'stash cupboard' or area where you can put all of your extra buys away safely.
Batch make homemade soups and freeze. Good idea to do this now while fresh veg is plentiful and it will save on condensation during the cooking/prep during the winter months.

House and garden

Buy in your logs and coal now while cheap deals are on offer - work in progress
Clean your home - work in progress
Make door curtains to keep out draughts - 1 door to do.
Clean windows inside and out - done outside
Buy in cheap white candles in case of a power cut. Also keep a torch on standby and use in emergency. - have them somewhere
If you have oil try to make sure that your tank is stocked up by the end of October
Buy in Flannelette sheets. - done
Cut back everything in the garden late October to give your garden a big boost the following Spring. Roses love this! - Hedge cut & lane trimmed end of August.
Clean Your carpets on a good warm day so that they have a good chance of drying quickly
Drain any outside taps and protect and cover either with an old towel and then covered over with plastic or buy a proper outside tap cover.
Re-silicone shower areas where the silicone has turned black or mouldy, take it out and redo it. Easy job but so often overlooked. Having the window open also allows the silicone to cure or go off be.
Check lightbulbs and outside security lighting if broken replace or repair - front light needs replaced.
Buy in batteries now.
Put food out for the birds they will so thank you for it. Buy in their food now while it is plentiful.
Get your paracetamol, throat lozengers and cough mixtures in now, when you are feeling ill the last thing you want to do is traipse down to Boots having to get it in.- check dates as I have some from last winter.

Scott_Weiland_2

Munchin wrote: »

Surveys & Voucher

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Swagbucks has changed it is 800 for paypal, make sure you do the daily poll and daily crave and you will get there.

Munchin

Hi Scott, thank you. Swagbucks & I are hit & miss but I will get there .

So another lazy Sunday drinking tea and watching F1. This is the first morning I had to set my alarm in 3 weeks and I really struggled with getting out of bed and not because I was tired but just because I didn't want to get back into the work/alarm routine. My colleague texted me on holidays to warn me of some work carp that is going on and I really wish she hadn't.

Money front - so fed up with paying off car loan. I want it paid of yesterday. I still hope to be debt free in Feb 18 but I want it gone now!!!! I spent a wee while looking at winter clothes online (I know I'm not allowed to buy any) but they looked so good. I copied the ones I liked to !pinx to watch the price drop. So far !pinx has saved me a fortune because by the time the price drops or even if it doesn't, the notion to buy has left me. I'm over on the grocery shopping budget because I went to Asda for a quick shop and then bumped into my Mum. I ended up for paying for her shopping . It wasn't much but I'm over on that budget now.

OH & I went out for dinner last night (he paid) and that is the last of our holiday treats and now it's back to porridge.

Plans this week - work, volunteer thing, therapy

Tomorrow is first day back in work and thank goodness it's only a 4 day week for me. I guess I'm not settled with this job even though I've been there 7 months. I don't have any interest in the work and although I'm doing my best it just doesn't excite me.

Munchin

Morning

Another week skipping by and 92 days to Xmas:D.

Work was mad busy but that might also be because I haven't been there in 3 weeks.

Went to therapy for ED now named Pain (therapist said to give name to voices of ED so I chose 'pain in !!!!' shortened to Pain). Making progress ... again.

I'm currently staying in a nice hotel an hour outside Dublin with my voluntary group & enjoying the big double bed all to myself . It's an educational and social trip & yesterday we were in Cork & today will be Dublin and then home for 8pm.

Money front - I thought I would set money aside to build up a salary buffer but that made things super tight so I have decided no buffer until debt is gone (Feb 18 hopefully). I had to pay £20 to work Xmas lunch £10 to a leaving gift (this new branch have a lot of staff moves so getting quite expensive:o).

Week ahead - 3 voluntary meetings & 2 sets of minutes ... carp. Dinner out with old work colleagues & 10 min test on electoral ballot counting. I don't have a single night free this week.. puffed thinking about it:)

Seasidegal58

Hi Munchin. :hello:Just seen that you have started another diary so have subscribed.

Glad that things sound positive on the ED front. !pinx sounds very interesting. Must google it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

SSG x