NST October ORGANISE OCTOBER

Toni'sfriend

Back from my lovely, relaxing holiday and ready for the challenge (a little bit late).

ORGANIZE: Sorted out the freezers and store cupboards before I went away. A lot of food in there. So this month the plan is to only buy fruit, veg etc, things for son's packed lunch (including HM soup) and maybe something for Sunday lunch when the three of us eat together (although I think I might get away with using up from freezer for that one)
:
REGULAR:!All the bills are paid and I know exactly how much we have left. Plan to spend as little as possible this month

GET READY FOR WINTER;:

Check medicine cupboard
Arrange flu jab
Check there are enough candles and matches and that the torches are working
Look out winter hat, scarf, gloves and boots
Look out tracks for covering shoes for walking in icy weather
Council are responsible for gritting path and lane but might buy some salt anyway.
.
ALWAYS BE KIND: I try but I’ve been a bit grumpy lately. Must do better

NSD: 12

IMPROVISE: Always try to do this. I have a partner who can’t stand waste.

STOPTOBER: No alcohol or eating rubbish (clothes a tad tight after the holiday)

EXERCISE: Walk most days but must try to increase the length and time outside

ONE MORE TIME: See Stoptober. Need to use a few (actually a lot of) pounds

CHRISTMAS: We cut down drastically last year and will try to do better this year. Not many gifts to buy and a strict limit on how much we will spend. Present to ourselves is a holiday in January/February and some small inexpensive things to open on Christmas morning.

BANNED: Rarely have take aways but will cut them out completely. Same with coffee shops etc.

EXTRA INCOME: I’ll try surveys again but I do seem to get screened out a lot.

Hope I can manage this.

Savvy_sewing

Just come over from Eager Elephants diary.
Not sure if I can actually join in this month, but I am going to try to follow you all and get some inspiration to improve my lot. At the beginning of the year I had savings and no debt, but after helping my family I now have limited funds and a lot of debt in my name.
So I need to get my act together and start to recoup things.

f0xh0les

Shelbi wrote: »

Stoptober- still not smoking- 4/31


happy Saturday everyone x

You are doing brilliantly. Well done:j I don't know you, but I am ridiculously proud of you.

f0xh0les

Yesterday, as expected was not a NSD, but I am now the proud owner of a long coat rack, with holes ready drilled and all I need to do is drill 3 holes in the (party) wall and put it up when DH is out of the way.

DH is in a foul and stinking mood and I am tiptoeing around, but the kids are playing up, he is massively stressed at work, getting more and more stuff thrown at him to do, and he came home on Friday night and warned me he was going to start looking for another job. So, major bombshell. Everything has just been shunted up a gear, my timetable has just imploded, the world fell out of its bottom. This means I probably have 12-18 months to get this place ship shape.

So although I felt like running around in circles and flapping my arms, I bought two blinds (£120) so that two bedrooms on the top floor are done.

Going to fill the pantry today, so it will not be a NSD but I tend to stock up if I know the month is suddenly going to be spendy or unpredictable. This classes as unpredictable.

Just subbed DH £200. DS1's birthday this month, DH is trying to be more involved with buying the kids birthday presents, but does not change his spending habits to reflect the £££ in the month the birthday occurs.

must go, kids fighting.

apple_muncher

Yikes f0xh0les. Hope it all calms down a bit for you.

DebtFreeDuo

Day 8

Early update today but nothing will change now

NSDs: 4/15
Exercise: Cycled - 1/12
10k steps - 4/22
Food Budget: 54.80/100 hoping I will only need a couple of top up shops in the next couple of weeks this should then leave me enough for one more bigger shop for the last week of the month (I hope).
Extra Income: 76.84/150

Only things that changed today was the food spend and extra income. Extra income came from a voucher used on my food shop and a nectar points win of £5, hoping these count but please correct me if I'm wrong. I do have almost £19 in my PA account but I'm waiting for it to clear before I cash out.

mothernerd

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Fmess has a bathroom with a bath

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

She scrimped and scraped, saved her pennies, plotted and planned, wrangled with workmen - all to get the bathroom of her dreams (with a bath). Great celebration throughout the land. Well done Fmess and enjoy every minute you spend in there.

Mooloo you are welcome to join in if you want, but if you prefer to follow along and start implementing some of the rules and join in properly next month, that is fine too. If you want to join in now, let me know and I will allocate you a number.

Will comment on the rest of your posts later. Brief update of my day. A SFD again. Did not sleep last night but did not get lots done. I was tired but it gets to about 4am and you know it isn't going to happen. About 6am I decided to carry on tidying.

Lots of progress but think I may end the weekend in the position I would have liked to be in on Friday ie ready to finish a tedious time-consuming project that is giving me no joy but I want it done just for the sheer relief when it goes out the door.

Atm I have floor space but not much room on the bed (have expanded that, at one point I had an 18" square patch to sit on). using the storage that I have (old, bit battered, odd items and not enough of it) and concentrating on getting things away, not necessarily where I want hem to end up, but at least putting like with like so I can still find things.

So many ideas, so little time. Will be worth it, in the end. Really need it under control before we get into winter properly. Already feeling run down and not up to speed (forget the vitamin D this morning).

Today I am grateful for good (ish) weather which has got the best part of 5 loads of washing fairly dry (I have a dress for tomorrow and have brought in lots of socks and knickers to put on the bathroom towel rail - will dry there even if they don't turn the heating on), for a good book read and a new one started (a lot due back on Wednesday so gathering them to return asap) and for food from the fridge (yummy gammon).

Kerry_Woman

Day 8
Achieved another NSD today 6/30.
Used up food etc already in.
Made mince pies with what I had in. Will use them with lunches during the week.
Reading the book and the study guide by the Christian author today. Trying to plan and action things in the books to make most of time in the day. Started the books last week.
Grateful for:
Able to rest/chill out most of the day.
Had a better morning today.
Being able to catch up with some little things today.

determined_new_ms

check in 8/31

went to the lottie & did an hour digging & hoeing that's the exercise for today sorted

did GC shopping so now at £65.66/£160. Might need bread and milk later in the week but that's it for the coming week

* have spent quite a bit of the day knitting, but not really time for self as feeling quite anxious

greent

Thanks mothernerd (and apple) about the vets/ NSD


Organise/ Cook from Scratch/ Use things up - Dinner tonight is from freezer. Made a batch of soft rolls for lunches for myself and boys

Pay debts/ savings - nothing today

Budgets
* Food - 113.04/ 325 (stretch 290)
* Fuel 60/60
* Clothes 15/75 new pair of cheapy jeans for me from Sainz
* Gifts 31/150 -
* Toiletries 0/10
* Social 70.50/200 (stretch 150) - meal out and drinks in pub before and after

NSD - 5/12 Nope -Sains shop

Improvise -

Exercise
* Week 1 - 3/4
* Week 2 - 0/4

Jan Goals - "By the end of the year I want to have halved the (non mtge) debt we have and have lost 20lbs - and also get fitter along the way"
Debt at start of year more than halved.
Weight/ fitness = Still need to weigh myself

Extra income -50 y0ug0v points from survey and also 500 bonus nectar points from shop

Christmas - bought an advent calendar for DS3 - that's kind of prep!

Get Ready Checklist
1 - Health - vitamins not yet taken today so still 5/31
4 - Maintenance - need to contact plasterer & electrician by 10/10. (Have mentioned it to electrician's wife - mum at school - but need to do it properly) Have messaged plasterer (03/10) - no reply as yet and I phoned plumber (03/10)- no longer trading so now need to find a plumber....

Gratitudes:
* it's still the weekend (just)
* last night was good fun
* dry weather means OH got all the lawns mowed
* DD was seen quickly at out of hours today and got tablets and ear drops for an infection (causing vomiting and vertigo)
* line dried washing
* no need for heating
* my wonderfully comfy new boot socks (bought a few weeks ago and not worn before)
* shopping from the loft for 2 more pairs of school trousers for DS3 (were DS2's)