Prosperous soul in the making

girlatplay

Wow that's loads!  You're doing brilliantly.  That must be a relief now having an answer about DS's fees.  Great updates.

savingholmes

Thanks PB and GAP
Now at £19535 after payments to two cards. I managed to do 2.5 hours work last night - catching up on the time I owed. I got a lot less interruptions from my family than I do during the day. So I think I will carry on splitting my day into chunks. DH has put up my new desk and it fits perfectly in the lounge where I took the unit down.  I am going to try sitting at it part of the day at least to see if that helps with focus and gives the family a visual cue that I am working and don't want to be disturbed. I also now have a mini desk lamp. I heard this week that we might be getting a payrise backdated to April. No dates or confirmed amounts yet - just hints but that would all help the DFD cause.

DS has decided paying board means he can select the menu so he's sent me the list of food he wants LOL right up to a value of £50 a week. I think as a starting point I may point out to him that there are more than 4 weeks in every month.... I did say he could help pick the food though so will review his list tonight. 

I've been battling exhaustion this week not sure why - although on the really hot nights last week I slept badly so maybe it's that. I had 3 more strawberries from the garden yesterday which was nice. The lettuce yesterday - some was nice and some still tasted bitter.vinegary so I don't think I will bother with lettuce again - unless I plant it in a much shadier spot. Most of my potato plants are now in flower. I pulled a carrot yesterday to see how big it had grown (just like a kid) and it was about as long as a finger but thinner than my little finger - tasted good though.

I found out yesterday that the friend I'd seen last week has since been involved in a serious accident. She's in her 70s and is now in hospital. I am worried about her but can't see her which is frustrating (albeit safer for all). 

I've packed and unpacked the dishwasher so that feels a good start to the day and picked some stuff up off the floor and binned it. Every little helps... 

EchoB

Sorry to hear about your friend, I hope she is recovering.

massive congratulations for your half year progress, I really liked your summary and things to be grateful for.

your son sounds like he’s got everything sorted which is amazing, a 2.1 is a great result and his work sounds like it is really taking off!

I’m super impressed 😁

MovingForwards

Wow, that's come down a lot from the start of your diary. Fingers crossed the whispers are true as that will also help with driving the debt down.

The visual cue should assist, maybe even say "I'm working for another X hours, ask me later" if you do get interrupted. 

You've got to give DS 10/10 for ingenuity! 

Perhaps think about swapping the lettuce for extra beetroot, spring onion, radishes etc as the leaves can be used in a salad. It's probably a mix of several things or even that type of lettuce isn't one you like. I'm a member of a gardening group and it's so good seeing all the different shapes / sizes of veg being pulled. Small has its own purpose on the plate.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, hopefully she has a quick recovery and gets home soon.

When did you properly have a day or two off from work, from being mom and wife, just to be SH for a day and rest, read a book, listen to music etc.

savingholmes

Thanks Echo - DS certainly knows how to get what he wants.
MF - he debt at the start of this diary was £46K+ so yes £19.5K is significantly better. DFD still feels far away. On the home straight hopefully now though.  I have radish and even beetroot growing somewhere - lost track slightly - and some swiss chard. I have some spinach too but it is still small.

My new desk is set up in the corner and looks so pretty. I've propped up one of my paintings so it shows up above my screen. I had to nip into work today for a couple of hours to clear my workspace and sanitise. We were also asked to get rid of stuff if we could. I've brought home my keyboard, screen and wrist rest for my new desk but they are still in the car as I was feeling whacked when I got back. I spoke briefly to 3 people and wonder if that contributed to how tired I felt. I had a McD earlier - but I don't think that helped - and bought the kids a KFC with their money on the way back from work. .

I brought a few papers home but literally filled a confidential waste sack with others at work. Although work have been temp allocating desks to others so they can spread out - I wonder whether they were also trying to break the barrier to going in for those of us who've been working from home since the crisis began. Either way I now feel really behind as I have a report and a presentation to finish this week and don't feel like I've got anywhere near far enough. I promised to finish even if I accrued flexi to get it done... Regretting that a little now... It will work out though. I am very grateful for how flexible my company has been. I literally went for a lie down when I came home but wonder if I was just feeling over-stimulated. Sadly I think I will struggle when I return to the office properly assuming that happens. They aren't in a rush.

Our old chairs got taken away while I was out - so there's room in the garage for DD's e-bike again. Need to get someone to put it back.

clearmydebts

Congrats to your DS on his brilliant results! I'm so delighted everything is going in your favour SavingH. It is so well deserved!

savingholmes

Aww thanks CMD. So proud of DS and his achievements. Hoping he keeps it up. He's planning to do a k3t0 diet this week so that didn't help with the shopping bill.

Well today I will potentially work a super-long day to meet a deadline. It has rained off and on all week so that may help with that as hopefully will my new desk. I went to bed slightly earlier yesterday and feel a little better. Two CC payments left to go out before payday. On my spends CC I plan to clear everything asap except the bed - as that has not yet been delivered and it isn't yet on my formal statement. That way I am not carrying costs into next month that should be in this. By not paying the bed yet - I also preserve my EF at a higher level.

Apparently work have made a final offer to the unions - so they need to get their members to agree to it - and then we should get backpay to 1 April. I think that will mean I get around £70 net extra per month and backpay of around £350 in August. It all helps. I was saying to DH last night about what I wanted to repay in July payday period and he looked at me goggle-eyed when I said it would be tight - he said just pay less then. I said the point is to get it gone. It's funny in our house with the 1950's housewife money reversal with him the one that is semi-clueless about budgeting. I did try to have monthly meetings with him but gave up. Now I just say I am thinking of doing x which will mean y is that okay and he just says yes. He is better at not-fritter spending than me though.

We normally pay for a family music package in July/August as a one-off fee but I am planning to delay it ideally for a few months. While we are all working from home we have access to utub3 etc. I am happily managing without N3tfl1cks - so will eke that out a bit longer too as that is savings us £12 pcm. Anyway ta ta for now - need to make myself work. Have a good day all  

savingholmes

Well I worked until gone 10pm. I did have a break mid afternoon when DH and I took pooch for a walk. All the blessing I had gained from the fresh air evaporated when DD had a major wobble on our return. It took me ages to get back into a work mindset and so I spent all evening catching up! Frustrating..... She did take pooch out for a long walk tonight though which gave me some peace - although then of course I worried about her! Can't win.

We got a big food delivery tonight which was nice. A third of it was DS's 'special requests' so will see how that goes. He's completely filled the fridges!! Oh well we live and learn. Just had a nice chat with him though he's very supportive,  Sadly, he's working out how much £ he needs to earn to escape to another country and live there... He's even started learning French using comic books!!

I'm really working hard at staying positive. Lots of good things still happening. It's a bit like the garden - parts have been feasted on by slugs and snails and other parts are blossoming, bearing fruit and largely untouched. It's important to celebrate what is going well. I am still absolutely loving the chairs which are the most comfortable I have ever sat on never mind owned. I am loving my £25 !k3a desk too - despite working late tonight - it does help with the work / life separation in this weird limbo land we are all in. I caught up with a work colleague by phone today for the first time with her since lockdown - she's been struggling and feeling isolated and feeling she was the only one like that. I think we all need a bigger dose of honesty instead of the superficial smiles and I'm fine... 

Breaking news.... I packed and unpacked the dishwasher today.... Do I get a gold sticker?

DancingInTheRain

⭐ sticker earned!
Limbo land is such a good description of how life feels at the moment but as you say it's important to work hard at staying positive.
Have a lovely day x

MovingForwards

You can have two gold 🌟 🌟 for the washing up and working late!

Accept DD has wobbles and know she will bounce back. It must be very hard as a parent to see as you want so much cotton wool for your children, but save some for yourself too.

Staying positive and seeing the good things will get you through 🤗