NST March: Marching to a different beat

indigowarrior

Today was an NSD. I went to tesco and raided the yellow sticker fridge section. Pretty pleased.

DancingDragons

Budgets for the week set, food shop done. Paid to savings and to debts, also done.

Planning to make the most of the only dry day of the break tomorrow so crashing early tonight. We'll be using using free membership card and picnics. So a nsd all being well!

sashanut

Hi all :j

Just went to post last night & DD came in & wanted to tell me all her news, it ended up so late I was too tired to post. Anyhow, had visitors yesterday - & today - but that's it so hopefully a quiet Easter now. Got outside for a short while this afternoon which was good as then the rain really came down heavily. Have felt a bit under the weather for the past few days, which just means that I haven't had as much energy & got as much done as I'd hoped.


· For the striders: 17/18 NSDs

· Set your budgets before the challenge starts - am mindful of this & sure we are doing better. Mean to get to grips with this in April.


Be generous ; will do

· Note down Lots of receipts in file waiting to be sorted. Will do a final costing to see what the damage is.

· As ever, will do[/COLOR]

· Pay towards your debt first! Do not have debt now but have been there before so am very wary. Do have a CC paid off in full every month. PAD of £38.00 to cc


· Plan. Will make list of places to go - need to have it in reserve for impromptu trips out. Still A WIP, but found another to add to the list. DH suggested another day out. list growing, another couple of ideas today. DH consulted - has ideas apparently..Want to make plans to go to Ireland, first need to sort out car but will get on with that tomorrow. Did something I've been meaning to do & checked when all cars tax/MOT is due. Neighbour says all OK over there in Ireland & 2 lots of oil returned to our tank....was delivered to another house by mistake, so now we won't have to buy for quite some time..
Check in every day. Almost!

mothernerd

Very spendy day for me, most can be reclaimed from mum but some was undoubtedly mine. Could not get to sleep so sent off for mum's travel vouchers (can be used in taxis as she cannot use buses so exchanged for free bus pass), paid an amount outstanding on this year's Council Tax (mum) and the first installment on mine for next year (due 1 April). Sent off dd mandate but will take them a while to process it.

Bought my new coat online, paid £80 (reduced from £160), basically a navy parka with hood but has all the reinforced stitching and is water and snow proof. Looked at socks but they were expensive and varying degrees of cotton - will look again when I have more time and try to find 100% cotton. Bought my zoo ticket and an all day monorail pass and printed off the ticket and the map.

At 6am I took my morning pills, set the alarm and had 3.5 hours sleep. Book back to library, cheapo shop for artificial flowers and mould spray (going to make fake window boxes on mum's shed and need to disguise the horrible rotten fence), across the bus station for mum's magazine, back throught he market picking up more bread and milk (to last through the weekend in anticipation of visitors) and on to Wilco's to buy tete a tete, photo frames and candles for DS1 and fiancee's house warming present and 3 large bowls for DS3 - they also had fake flowers (bit dearer) so added a few more.

Had to get a taxi home, dumped two bags, collected weed suppressant fabric, shelf and raised bed bits (bagged in bin bags) and had already lined up a food bag, drill and bits bag and a small one with my stuff in then got another taxi to mum's.

Had my hair cut (keeping it short from now on) and set a date for next trim, gave a small pot of tete a tete to both the cleaner and the hairdresser, they all had drinks and toffeee cheesecake, I ate a head of celery with ys red pepper houmous (fizzy water though, to make it a bit special).

When everyone else had gone, I checked that mum had had lunch and then went outside. Put the raised bed together, lined it with two overlapping lengths of weed suppressant fabric, put the shelf pieces in each corner to hold the fabric tight to the corners, added the shelf support pieces in the corners and middle (so that netting can be draped over it all) and moved the 10 x 10l coir compost bags across to it and worked out how many more we will need. All whilst it rained and then hailed on me.

Put some small pots of tete a tete and primroses in a plant pot and put them on the windowsill with a plastic bag for life underneath - temporary arrangement but bringing some Easter colour into the house. Cleaner had been going to put washing on the line but could not find the pegs. I thought they were in the cupboard where I put mum's partner's clothes the other week, but cleaner had 'looked' in the cupboards and could not see them. I had to call mum through - they were at eye level hanging from a hook with the clothes stacked lower down (if I had not moved them they would have been buried under the clothes).

Hope mum survives tomorrow lunch, the other twin is also going so a combined total of 5 small children (eldest is nearly 8) including the baby twins (first birthday next month). Plus one mad dog (hopefully not two mad dogs - not joking the larger one got expelled from dog training school).

Today I am grateful for my new haircut (mum paid), for getting the raised bed sorted and transporting all the things I needed to (some tools left there - in fact I only came home with a letter, a notebook, a library book, 1/2 a pot of sandwich filling and the remains of a bottle of water) and for hearing from mum's old boyfriend (the one she split up with when they were 17).

apple_muncher

Pleased to hear that you have bought yourself a coat, mothernerd. Well done you!

apple_muncher

I have a query but am not sure where to post it, so thought I'd ask you lovely lot.

My neighbour has a little one at a nursery. The nursery have told her that she cannot have any free hours as her daughter goes full time. I think that the nursery are in the wrong but woul need the right web pages to help my neighbour so she knows what to say to them. Whenever she talks to them about it, they babboozle her with 'you earn too much for tax credits' and make her feel thick.

It would be good to know one way or the other what they are entitled to. I know dd had her free hours, but the pre=school were the ones who gave me thepaperwork, and I'm not sure if the system has changes since then.

THank you

greent

Spent yesterday - went into town with DD to return some of my M&S order and exchange 1 item. I therefore have some of the money back on a giftcard as the item I wanted isn't stocked in that store, just an out of town one. May go there over w/e. Also had to pay for parking. Swapped 2 old £ coins at bank for new ones and then bought DD and myself a pasty each for lunch. On way home we went to Icyland and bought various bits.

All 3 boys finished school for the hols yesterday (DD broke up from uni a week ago) and OH is home from work for the long weekend So far today I have sorted a Z1ffit order to be packed up (only £6.50, but it keeps on top of it), some other books for the CS, put one load of washing on and sorted dry washing from last night, made 2 lots of bread dough (1 white, 1 seeded brown) and next stop is to sort one of our savings accounts which matures today. Everyone else is still asleep

greent

apple_muncher wrote: »

I have a query but am not sure where to post it, so thought I'd ask you lovely lot.

My neighbour has a little one at a nursery. The nursery have told her that she cannot have any free hours as her daughter goes full time. I think that the nursery are in the wrong but woul need the right web pages to help my neighbour so she knows what to say to them. Whenever she talks to them about it, they babboozle her with 'you earn too much for tax credits' and make her feel thick.

apple - it's been a while since I had one at nursery or pre-school, but this: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds is quite a clear guide as to who can currently get what, I think (someone with a small one may be able to point you elsewhere!) x

apple_muncher

Thanks greent - that's the site I'd found too. I've printed it out for her and will pop it round today. (they don't even own a 'proper' computer or printer - just look at stuff on their phones. I couldn't do that!!!

thriftylass

apple_muncher wrote: »

I have a query but am not sure where to post it, so thought I'd ask you lovely lot.

My neighbour has a little one at a nursery. The nursery have told her that she cannot have any free hours as her daughter goes full time. I think that the nursery are in the wrong but woul need the right web pages to help my neighbour so she knows what to say to them. Whenever she talks to them about it, they babboozle her with 'you earn too much for tax credits' and make her feel thick.

It would be good to know one way or the other what they are entitled to. I know dd had her free hours, but the pre=school were the ones who gave me thepaperwork, and I'm not sure if the system has changes since then.

THank you

How old is the child? Is she in England or Scotland? Here in Scotland my 4 year old gets 15 hours funded/subsidised a week (about £2.8 an hour, so they're not really free as the gov says as it costs more to run a nursery) It started from a certain point after their 3rd birthday (March/September I think) no matter what we earn (but we have to be working) or how long they go in each day. So she doesn't get free hours as such but a reduction in price. It's a bit different in England.

Here's another link

http://www.madeformums.com/news-and-gossip/30-hours-of-free-childcare---will-my-child-get-it/38143.html