The mindful MFW: A healthy, happy journey to a mortgage free life!

museumworker

Gosh, my list really strung me out this morning! Luckily for you guys I can't seem to copy all so you're saved from it but believe me it was a bit of a beast!

Spoke to car hire company, photos sent through of car with some long scratches to left hand (drivers) side, taken 5 hours after we dropped it off. We are really sure we didn't do it and have sent strongly worded email requesting a refund. I think our strongest argument is that we were not immediately informed of the damage and our card was charged without our permission. I've asked OH to speak to our credit card company too to see what our rights are. Very stressful especially as OH was handling it badly til I intervened so I can't really pass it back to him without worrying about it.

Those with teens: interested to know how much access to internet your kids get timewise, and whether you set any limits. Due to increasingly rude behaviour am restricting DD1 to 2.5 hours a day but she thinks this is very unreasonable...

Trying to be upbeat but really struggling today. Am writing a work article for a magazine which is going really s-l-o-w-l-y so feel like I've had an unproductive day. On the plus side I met a researcher today who said at the end our meeting that it was one of the life transformative events the sector always promises. Must hold comments like that closer to my heart and work on letting go of all those other feelings of stress and anxiety.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

As a teacher, I would say even 2.5 hours is a lot for just leisure surfing online. So many children come to school exhausted from spending too long online in the evening. Must be hard to restrict her when the little ones take up so much of your time, but hope you can win this one. X

museumworker

Yes, it’s really hard as need to put the little ones to bed when we get in and then she refuses to come downstairs and eat with us. She says she’s not on it constantly but hard to know as she’s up in her room. That 2.5 hours should include time needed to check things online for homework but glad to hear I’m not being unreasonable, at least from a teacher’s point of view.

I sat with her for an hour this evening and wrote a revision schedule with her for her exams next month. This is really difficult for her as she has ADHD and planning multiple tasks is really overwhelming. Good news is we got through it, I am going to type everything up and then drip feed her the tasks on a daily basis so she knows exact next steps. I have a LOT of teachers to email tomorrow to check what end of term exams will cover subject wise but she seems a lot happier than she has done in ages - she even brought her devices down at the exact agreed time this evening

museumworker

Oh, and quorn a la king, adapted from my cooking class last week went down a storm with the OH tonight. Only purchased ingredient was 59p of mushrooms, everything else we already had in cupboards or fridge. We only spent £40 on our shop this week, and that included £6 on lightbulbs.

wishingthemortgaheaway

Hi Mw,
There are some apps that can be downloaded onto phones & tablets that automatically shut them off between certain times, I can't for the life of me remember any names, though I'm sure a quick search will reveal them.

It may be a bit too much of a sledgehammer to crack a nut situation for your dd, especially if they go off with no warning. She may not cope with that too well.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Sounds as if you are dealing brilliantly with the situation. Fingers crossed she carries on being co operative x

greent

We used to have parental controls on DD's laptop when she was in y7 - y11. It would shut down at a time set by us and would give her a 10 min warning on screen that it was going to do so. (can't remember how we set it up, though!)

We have G00gle wifi now and still have DS1's (Y13) internet enabled items (laptop/ DS/ PS4) all have a cut-off time - we found he would be chatting to online gamers at 1am otherwise!! :eek:. We can also turn them (any internet connected item) off whenever we want to I haven't got a time set on DS2's (11 - Y7) phone or tablet, as he goes to bed at 8 and his phone is left downstairs to charge (tablet is not allowed upstairs) DS3 has a tablet but is allowed on it for set amounts of time only and it stays downstairs when he goes to bed (again, it's not allowed to be used upstairs)

Parenting is hard work! x

museumworker

Thanks wish, SSS and greent for your suggestions, I will look into them. However I fear I have missed the boat with the app to limit screentime as it’s ‘her iPad’ her dad bought for her and she makes that very clear when I try to enforce boundaries. We do pay for the internet though, so I ask for both devices to be downstairs by 930 and turn the internet off for good measure about 1030 as she has snuck other devices into her room a few times.

Feeling bit low and tearful today, hope it’s just tiredness but concentration and motivation v low. I have a work deadline tomorrow to meet but falling behind unfortunately. A bit concerned as these are similar feelings I had prior to getting ill earlier in the year so will head to bed in a minute, and keep an eye incase they continue.

YNAB up to date, updated my postal surveys, and batch cooked a bit of a rubbish curry. Whoops. At least it’s healthy and free as used up bendy veg and store cupboard items. Lots of leftover rice so hopefully we can do something with that tomorrow. OH babysitting tonight for friends so hope for a return favour soon.

Going to bed now with a herbal tea and to watch a Motherhood episode!

Night all

MW x

wishingthemortgaheaway

MW, sorry to hear you are feeling rubbish.
Hope you can either meet the deadline or there is some understanding and support to complete the task.

I'm hoping you are sleeping well now.

museumworker

Thanks wish for the kids words, I’m exhausted today but managed to meet the deadline which is a huge relief. I also made some progress on another project so feels good to end a bit of a strained week on a better note.

Mid-month (or at least half way between pay packets) and very little to report money wise. YNAB is up to date and we are doing very little spending. I did treat my sister to a nice Peruvian meal on Tuesday, and we also got a free cocktail each as they’d been slow to confirm my booking. It was a really nice evening and was covered by my pocket money. OH has returned a Xmas gift and the laddered Spanx so have some funds due to come back. No news on the £1700 hire car charge though :mad:.

We have some spare rice to use up tonight, and OH has said he will cook so will suggest some rice cakes, if we have the ingredients.

Tomorrow I have my second week of the cheap cookery class, onion soup and Singapore noodles. Guess what will be on our meal plan next week?Just downloaded the free cookbook from Tiny Budget website so want to incorporate some of that into our planning too.

Hoping for an early night and a little lie in... I can hope, at least!