2018 Benbenandme's Next Battle

beanielou

The end of an era

benbenandme

So, another weekend nearly done. I've had a lovely time with Mr S, we've booked to go away for a night next month.

Ds has come home and announced that Dad is having another baby. Am happy for ds that he will have another brother / sister. He also announced that his Dad has told him that as he's 16 next month he doesn't need to visit every other weekend anymore, in fact, he will now be arranging visits every now and then, via ds (I'm expected to just accommodate this?!). Not sure what he thinks will happen if I have plans to be away for a weekend?! And the week that he always has him in August he has told him he won't be doing anymore as he will be 16?? Think he's in for a shock as he also thinks maintenance stops on ds 16th birthday :rotfl::rotfl:

beanielou

You could not make it up!!

benbenandme

So this means my plans for just meeting up with Mr S when ds is away are messed up ... I'm not prepared to stop having a life just because he's had enough of playing at being a parent for his oldest child. So ds will just have to realise that Mr S is back on the scene, not in an official couple-type capacity, just as a good friend that stays over Not ideal, I know ds is old enough to get it, it's more inconvenient having to be really quiet when we go to bed :rotfl:

benbenandme

Not quite sure how I haven't posted for 2 weeks!

So, life is pootling along quite nicely - still been doing my running - usually about 15-30 minutes a time now, although this weather is not helping

Not much gone on money wise this month as the football season is finished. It has been a crazily expensive month too - £270 at the dentist, ds had prom which brought its own costs (ticket, suit, shoes, etc), luckily his friends Dad has a vintage car that he went in so that saved me some money there :money: I've also got a night away in a hotel booked with Mr S, (£80), bought some new Tropic stuff as mine ran out (£55) but I did win £52 on a casino offer so that balanced that one out. I also took ds to a nice restaurant to celebrate finishing his exams, so the bank account has been hammered this month.

This weekend ds is at his Grandparents and I am having a free weekend all to myself. Last night I caught up on the housework, today I have gutted the garage (been meaning to do it for months), and have loaded the car up ready to do a car boot sale in the morning. It's all just junk that can go to the tip / charity shops otherwise but hopefully I might make a few pennies from it.

I have just been doing the end of month banking, (too hot for me to be outside), I think I'm about £300 overspent this month, which isn't bad at all considering my teeth were nearly that much. I will need to move this from my savings which I am reluctant to do but needs must.

The rest of today involves a visit to Mum, maybe some pottering in the garden once it cools down a bit, outting away some clean washing - I have stripped both beds and got them done, all the towels, all the washing, I think I've done 6 loads today and it's all dry too

benbenandme

Car boot went well - £55 profit, very happy with that considering I was planning on just taking it all to the tip as there really wasn't much there worth bothering with, it was all stuff that has spent at least the last 2 years in my garage.

Came back, unpacked what was left into the (nice tidy) garage, loaded the car up with rubbish from the garage clear-out yesterday and took it to the tip. Then popped into Sainsburys and spent £20 on a few bits and pieces to keep us going.

Really pleased with this weekend - bucketloads of washing done, garage sorted, car boot done and money made and space cleared :T:T

beanielou

Good result

benbenandme

Life's ticking along here ... dentist again tomorrow, only 8 more school days til we break up :j

Mr S is coming round tomorrow night, I'm cooking us dinner - nachos for starters, steak with sweet potato fries, coleslaw and onion rings, then lemon and ginger cheesecake I made the cheesecake tonight and it looks fab, can't wait!

Nothing much else happening - no money yet again this month from the ex but no real surprise there. I did go for a run tonight but my heel is hurting now so may need to rest it a bit. I am rejoining the gym for a bit - they are doing a 6 week offer for the summer for £49 which gives unlimited use of the gym, swim and classes. I should get loads of use out of that so hopefully will be money well spent

beanielou

Have a lovely meal with Mr S
Gym sounds like a good deal.

benbenandme

Summer holidays are here at last!!!

So finally we made it to the end of term, it's been a slog to get there but it's now done I went out last night with friends from work, had a few drinks and am now ready to crack on with 6 weeks of nothing We're not going away this year, in fact in 12 months time we will be on our cruise, but this year is a chilling summer, a money-making summer and a getting myself sorted summer

As always, I have done myself a list of things to do. I sat this morning and have scribbled down things, I'm sure it will get added to as we go. There are basically 3 parts to the list:

A: Me
B: Money
C: House

So, let me break each bit down further:

Me ...
I have signed up at the gym again, they are doing a 6 week offer for £49 which includes unlimited gym, swim and classes. My first day is Monday, I have my induction booked for 9:30 and a Body Balance class booked for 11:30. I intend to go at least 5 times a week.

My weight when I started running was 12 stone 8.5lbs. Today my weight is 11 stone 11.75lbs. I'm hoping by the time we go back to school it will be 11 stone.

I'm currently charging my fitbit - my aim there is to do 12,000 steps every day this week (or a total of 84,000 for the week), and then increase this to 13,000 next week, 14,000 the week after etc.


B: Money

Again, as I have done before, I am setting myself a target of making £1000 by the time we go back to school. I have a rough plan of where the majority of this will come from, but this area does need some more thought and planning over the next few days. Currently I'm thinking:

£500 matched betting (new footie season starts in a couple of weeks :T)
£150 surveys
£50 car boot
£50 ebay
£10 vypr


C: House

And this part is my usual, mammoth, to do list that is an accumulation of bits and pieces that I've been meaning to get round to doing for months, and then they get left for a big blitz in the summer holidays I will post this list in a separate post or this one will be ridiculously long

I will also be spending time on my cards, I haven't done much with them recently but this is the perfect time to get focussed on them. Any money from them won't count towards my £1000 challenge though, that's a separate account.

So, that lot should keep me busy for the next 6 weeks! I also have a wedding to go to, another dentist appointment, a footie match, my birthday and ds birthday. Oh and GCSE results day

Happy holidays!!