NST Joyful July

Toni'sfriend

Yes. We are. We retired some years ago and decided that we would travel and take holidays while we were still fit to enjoy them. The two uk holiday are booked and paid for (we've ben doing these since before I retired). They are self catering and are big enough for 4 & 6 people respectively. We pay for the accommodation and our friends usually supplied most of the day to day stuff etc.that was needed. I'll just order a Tesco delivery for what we need and take it from there. The other holiday was one that we planned travelling around a bit of Europe and they asked if they could come with us. I've booked the hotels but their rooms can be cancelled without any penalty. I'll just get on to the booking flights and trains for us now.
I hope that things will change in the future but it's always difficult to get things back to where they were after something like this.

indigowarrior

I have really fell to the way side on this challenge again.

FurryBeastOz

First week at work was exhausting but very satisfying. What a difference. I'm at home for the weekend and not stressing about what Monday will bring.

Been to the gym this morning, meal planned and shopped. I'll do the meal prep for Mon-Wed tomorrow and I should only need top ups on Wednesday of salad bit.

DH is at home doing useful things as his diving was cancelled. We went out last night for a treat. All in the budget. Us money is a must. Its the us time that's normally the problem.

Wk 2 of training program has gone well. I told everyone at work about the competition and they have all been really interested. It also means I daren't snack which is great.

DH away in Prague from Friday. Presenting at a NATO conference:eek:. I'll have to plan carefully so I don't sit at home comfort eating or subsisting on eggs like my mother does.

OK. Off to find an advanced excel course for my 'spare time:D' Things have advanced a long way since I've been in a modern workplace.

Florence_J

Sorry for not being around, I had my first full week back at work and it couldn't have gone better.

I am getting better at telling people about what happened and how I have mental health problems.

I feel good, sold some stuff on ebay, did some chores, did some baking, all is good.

PlaysNicely

:wave:
Really glad peeps have had a good work week, especially FurryBeastOz and Florence - not easy going back or making a new start, glad all went well.

AWOL yesterday, sorry, so yesterday and today combined ...

1) NSD - achieved on both days (free parking at work and OH prescription only purchase yesterday and nothing needed today) so NSDs 15 / 16 - nearly there!
2) Frugal food shopping: no additional spends.
Freezer dinner last night: HM mini quiches, oven chips, peas and salad
Tonight: OH made caponata with pasta, cheeky extra ingredient ... our French bean harvest from the garden (3 whole beans) :rotfl:
Still struggling to meal plan with the rest of his shopping though - bit of a struggle to think of useful mains made up of coffee and muesli!
3) [STRIKE]Try to up my own income in some way (legally of course)![/STRIKE] Achieved.
4) My NST health goal: 10,000 steps a day (as total of 70,000 across a week)!
Hmm yesterday was a long work day and altho we popped dogs out for a romp in the evening, I only managed another 11,100 so just missed target - 64,112 / 70,000.
Have also done appallingly today as although I've had a day off work I've done a little favour for elderly neighbour and spent most of the day at the computer as a result, time on my feet has been for housework and quick yomp up lane with dogs until rain stopped play (boy dog is an official rain wimp and girl dog clearly heard thunder & headed for home)! Piteous total of 3,230 so far today & don't imagine it will increase significantly before bedtime. So for week 22 - 28th 3,230 / 70,000 and lots of work to do!
5) No FleaBay shopping for the whole month - achieved both days so 21 / 31 achieved, 1 breadbin shaped glitch!
6) Frugal focus: sourcing instead of spending:
Work in progress ... will sew glove puppy up this weekend!

Simple pleasures (across both days):
Really nice work day yesterday
Apples on apple tree are starting to pink up!
Runner bean harvest :rotfl:
Clean bed linen tonight (will make OH wash his feet first tho)!

Hope everyone is doing OK this weekend, hugs to those who aren't feeling so good, PN x

lcc86

Had a bit of a lazy day today, been raining most of the day so OH and I have been watching films mostly. Had a workout as well indoors. Then OH treated me to dinner out at a veggie pub, it was very nice! Think I just stuck to my calorie target for the day. NSD and healthy day achieved, targets now hit for the month :j

FurryBeastOz

Florence Great to hear you had a good week back. So glad it's going well.

I just tried the Eat Well for Less Donor kebab for dinner. Just like the takeaway version - all you can taste is the red onion and chilli sauce:rotfl: Another discard recipe:D but DH scoffed it and the LO's will do DH's lunch tomorrow.

Off to learn some Excel programming :eek:

Fmess

I have finally broken up for the summer my thoughts are with any other teachers who still have a few days left to go.

Today I've been fairly productive but stayed home all day except to return my next sale purchases and to buy fruit to try and keep to my diet.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for not getting soaked while we were out and about, for finding 9 Leslie Charteris books for £6 which I paid for using my Sally Army credit, for 2 bags of stuff going to the charity shop, for dd dancing a drawing and taking photos all day, for conquering the ironing mountain, for finishing knitting santa #10 (they all still need sewing up and stuffing though), for doing shred #17 (moving up to level 3 tomorrow - gulp), for the Frugalwoods emails giving food for thought, for a day spent with dh and dd.

mothernerd

Well done FBO and FlorenceJ on completing your first week, congratulations to all those meeting or exceeding their targets and for getting through to the end of another school year. PlaysNicely I love hearing about progress on the glove puppy.

indigo don't despair, your leader is also in turmoil. Finally fell asleep late morning and had a few hours. Needed a walk so to motivate myself I decided to go on a 'fork quest' as I only hit the charity shops at the nearer end of the town centre (shopping centre as opposed to the 'civic' centre - home of the 'beach' for the next week, trampolines, rides and a burger van but no donkeys unfortunately).

Feeling slightly off kilter so allowed myself a 'modest spend', mostly on charity/ good causes. Couldn't ignore the Big Issue seller, bought a ball candle for 30p in one of the shops (no cutlery but something useful for potential Christmas pressie for mum's partner - not bought but will go back for a look when it's quieter).

Found forks in the Hospice shop for 30p each (lady only wanted to charge me 10p each), resisted a couple of embroidery magazines and some tapestry fabric.

Went round to Tosco to deposit an energy saving light bulb in the recycling, paid 50p for a book from a table in aid of charity, thought I should buy something to put in the food bank box and check out ys section, plus see if they had something I was going to get from another shop. I had a melt down in the stationery aisle.

Wanted to check on A3 card - currently using one sheet of A4 for some of the larger cards and hoping I can get 3 going across on A3. Wilco only had white and remembered seeing A3 at Tosco a while back (possibly before Christmas or even last summer when I was organising mum's party).

Card was not good value but they had coloured paper with good colours and little pot of sequin shapes and reduced buttons. The stationery was on the facing side of the aisle. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Stationery is one of my failings. I'd never buy a lipstick to cheer myself up but would buy a pack of coloured pens. I stopped buying my favourite puzzle magazine as it not only involved a day trip to the town 8 miles away, but also the temptation of walking past the stationery displays.

To be fair the things I bought on my last splurge (about 5 years ago) are reaching the end of their useful life/ have broken. I have used up every old notebook/ pad of paper and dog eared scrap in the house over the last 3 years. But I spent more than the £20 I had taken with me (had to use the bank debit card) - I also bought a midnight blue velvety top and trousers in the sale for £8 each (as comfy as pjs but smart).

Just a bit worried that there are lots of things - magazines, material, craft supplies, stationery - that I have had an absolute moratorium on buying for several years ( purchased single items if needed to complete a project from charity shops where possible) and now I am not in financial crisis I am worried about not having the 'impulse control' needed to look and buy wisely without going overboard.

I have been pondering since I came home and several things need to change (or I need to change myself/ my attitude) :-
1 mum - think I need to insist on Wednesdays off unless she has an appointment or is ill (beyond usual exisiting conditions). S is usually there on Wednesdays but because she has health issues, she can't always make it.
2 crafts - I don't want to be the sort of craft hoarder I was reading about on pinterest last night (very 1950's sexist - hiding it all from my husband type ). My crafting is more like the Shaker women, re-using scraps from worn out clothing and making something useful and beautiful - that has integrity ( so more mindful purchasing or using what I have - perhaps adding a 'pin-money' element to my budget to accommodate spends)
3 crafts - trying to do too much. Will continue to attend and make embellishments/ support materials for sessions but need to think about how I use my time and not do too much. (trying to fix the world again?)
4 my bedroom - have been thinking about furniture in here and the arrangement of the room. Thinking how to use what I have (swap items from other rooms) to make a proper work station.
5 need to relax properly. Cutting and sticking should be relaxing but I have turned it into a production line, neglected reading, playing games, watching old drama and detective series. Scale back and kick back time

Today I am grateful for a learning experience (listen to my body more), that I limited the purchases I made (could have spent £100 in the 'home' aisle) and that I am managing chunks of housework that are making a visible difference to my home (even though I fell tired and unmotivated, just making a start and just doing a bit is working).