Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

jwil

Glad the trip went ok, hope you had a good night last night. x

HairyHandofDartmoor

Thank you Noella . DH and I are used to much colder temperatures and sleep better in a cool room. The hotel room was very well insulated and felt like an oven, plus the window only opened a crack so hardly any air came in. It was as hot as my hospital room when I had appendicitis, when the heat bothered me as much as my tummy after my operation :eek:. We felt cold with the duvet off but too hot with it on, so were pushing it on and off and tossing and turning all night. The pillow was so hard and thick that I had a neck ache all night because my neck was in an odd position.

I think we were also quite stressed from the journey (as we only had three days notice), the flood, DS2's travels, etc. We were overtired and tense and found it hard to switch off and relax knowing we had to finish packing and cleaning and then drive home the next day. DH was worried we wouldn't fit everything in the car. Although it did (just about). The car got much heavier when we packed DS3's arm weights for his strength training :eek:.

However as you say that's one big worry crossed off the list .

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway wrote: »

I understand your feelings on stuffy, hot rooms. I also dislike them. Posh hotels now have pillow menus, proof if proof were needed that a 'good' pillow makes all the difference. I like the idea of taking your own.

Have a good day

Thank you DIA . A pillow menu is a great idea, but they should have a duvet menu too as I usually find them too thick and hot :rotfl:.

jwil wrote: »

Glad the trip went ok, hope you had a good night last night. x

Thank you Jwil .

doingitanyway

A friend of mine travels with a silk sleeping bag liner. It folds to nothing. She uses it when she travels. If you had one you could have used it instead of the duvet.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've copied my list of worries from last week to see how things stand.

[Strike]- We need to go away this weekend to collect DS3 and clear his flat[/Strike] DONE
[Strike]- I need to order DS1's birthday presents (his birthday is less than a week away)[/Strike] DONE
- We need to prepare our annual accounts (so that DS3 can apply for next year's student loan on time)
- This weekend will be very expensive
[Strike]- We need to find £350 to buy a new freezer[/Strike] DONE
- The house is a pigsty
- I won't have time to do any de-cluttering or housework this weekend
- DS2 is in South America
-There is no food in the house

I've been able to cross three items off the list. DH finally ordered a freezer last night, but it won't come until Wednesday as he didn't order it until 6pm.

I'm also now worried that we don't have enough money to live on for the rest of the month after buying the freezer and an expensive weekend . Also as DS2 is away for six weeks we won't get his keep in June so we're £200 down. We also have two birthdays this month, DS1's and DH's.

We've ordered DS1's presents, but we have no food in the house and don't want to do a proper food shop until we have the freezer. The freezer will be delivered on his birthday but we don't know what time.

The house is even more of a pigsty since getting back with all of DS3's belongings.

DS2 is still in South America. We haven't finished the accounts and both feel exhausted.

So althought some things have improved, there is still plenty for me to feel stressed about. To top all of that we woke up to the sound of torrential rain. I hope it stops by lunchtime.

Sorry for another whiny post .

in_need_of_direction

Whine away, isn’t that what diaries are made for? Can you maybe get ds3 to corral all his belongings into his space? Not ideal but at least you won’t have to look at them

[Deleted User]

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

. DH was worried we wouldn't fit everything in the car. Although it did (just about). The car got much heavier when we packed DS3's arm weights for his strength training :eek:.

I was wondering about how you'd manage to get everything in the car, HH, with 3 adults as well as all DS's stuff, including a big computer monitor:eek:. Maybe if there isn't any cleaning to do when OH takes him back (assuming DS will need the same amount of stuff), you could stay at home for a change. I can understand you won't want to though, given DS is moving in to a new place and I'm sure DH appreciates your company on the long journey anyway.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I think my three main worries are doing the accounts so DS3 can apply for his student finance by the deadline, not having enough money to live on for the rest of June, and the house being in a total mess which is stressing me out .

I know we have an EF but I don't want to spend it on living expenses. It's also stressing me out that we have no food in the house. I have four adults to feed and it's DS1's birthday tomorrow and we have no food in the house. We could do a food shop, but we wouldn't be able to buy any frozen food until we have the freezer, so I don't know whether we should.

I slept well but I still feel really tired and the stress isn't helping .

I'm still moaning, sorry .

HairyHandofDartmoor

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Whine away, isn’t that what diaries are made for? Can you maybe get ds3 to corral all his belongings into his space? Not ideal but at least you won’t have to look at them

Thank you INOD. Unfortunately DS3 lives in a box room and there is literally no room for his stuff. He has a study bunk otherwise there would be no room in there for a desk or chair. I need to find a home for the stuff he won't need until he goes back to uni. But he needs to sort what he needs over the summer from what he doesn't need until the autumn, and then I can put stuff in the void out of sight.

Noella wrote: »

I was wondering about how you'd manage to get everything in the car, HH, with 3 adults as well as all DS's stuff, including a big computer monitor:eek:. Maybe if there isn't any cleaning to do when OH takes him back (assuming DS will need the same amount of stuff), you could stay at home for a change. I can understand you won't want to though, given DS is moving in to a new place and I'm sure DH appreciates your company on the long journey anyway.

It wasn't easy to fit it all in and the car was really heavy! I'd want to go in the autumn to help DS3 settle into his new house and DH does like company on the journey.

[Deleted User]

Sorry a lot of worries from your original list still exist, HH, but you've gone a long way to getting several ticked off so feel proud of yourselves for that:beer:. Everything came at once (flood, short-notice trip to fetch DS3, DH2 going away etc)so no wonder you felt overwhelmed. Any of us would feel the same.


I just wanted to say that I fully appreciate why you want to save as much as possible and building up the savings pots has been a bit of a mission for you recently. We've all been cheering you on :T:T:T. But don't some of these latest events constitute 'emergencies' and shouldn't have to be paid for from your normal monthly spending budget. I know you said you don't want to take anything out of your savings because you'd probably never put it back again but adding to your already stratospheric stress levels and making yourselves miserable and having to scrimp just to get through the month doesn't seem a very good idea when you have, for instance, several hundreds in savings for such as Christmas. Just a thought, anyway,


I hate to see you so down after such a run of bad luck. Take care of yourself:kisses3: