Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Oooh, I might be on a roll this morning.... have already done two lots of laundry.... both double-spun to use less heated airer hours, have tidied, phoned dairy to sort out our milk order over Christmas & new year, arranged a festive meet-up with extended family, written a birthday card...... surely I can manage a kitchen cupboard now. Yes, I think the mental will is there! Trots off to find the steps......
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

You're on fire this morning Foxgloves, imagine how much you will have potentially done by the end of the day :T.

I do think that management are very bad at dealing with certain employees, the toxic ones who upset everyone and the ones who are lazy and don't do their jobs properly. If they've been there a long time they seem even more reluctant to deal with them :mad:.

foxgloves

HHoD - I did get quite a lot done today, probably due to my nice productive start. I'd been putting that cupboard off & it took me precisely 15 minutes to sort it out!
F

foxgloves

As I type tonight's diary entry, the rain is hurling itself at the window & the wind is getting up. Hope everyone is keeping warm. I got a few more festive bits & pieces out today - some embroidered cards my Mum stitched years ago, which I display every year, some Christmas tea-light glasses & a chunky fir cone candle for my big iron floor standing candlestick. I've also filled a wooden bowl with a heap of lovely had-knitted nordic-style baubles which I received as a gift a while back. Next year, I think I will actually put something out every day starting Dec 1st, as a free Advent Calendar type of activity which also gets the house decorated.
It occurred to me last night that amidst all the Christmas preparations, I have 3 birthdays to remember! I had cards for two of them plus stamps, so wrote those today. I may make the remaining card myself, I'll see. While I was looking for cards, I found the presents I'd put away for my best friend's birthday in the new year. I'd forgotten I'd got everything for her already. That's good, as it means the new Spreadsheet Pot for presents will be looking healthier for two of our nephews who have birthdays in the same month. I do like buying gifts all year to spread the cost & also to make the most of opportunities to get the right gift when I see it.
I also finished Mr F's big hiking socks today. I'm going to cast on another pair tonight to knit up a bit more of my never ending yarn stash.
So I'm going to crack on with that & wish you all a cosy, peaceful night.
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

foxgloves wrote: »

That was one of the things which most kept me awake, Kantankrus. I worked with an impossibly difficult person who Senior Management just couldn't or wouldn't deal with. It stressed several people out big time & lying awake at night is the time when such scenarios, stress, upset & anger percolate into my thoughts & take hold so that I then can't 'switch my head off'. One of the reasons I eventually took VR was my utter lack of respect for a management team for letting people suffer rather then having the guts to sort it out. As we'd got rid of most of our debt by then, we knew we could manage on one salary if we were careful. If not, I'd have had the pressure of finding alternative employment in my mid-forties & it does get more difficult, esp in a sector which has been decimated by the ideological 'austerity' agenda.
Hope you weren't pondering your work issues too much last night.
F x

I actually slept really well and had a vivid dream of waking up at 8.30, the time I need to start work, and running around like a headless chicken with wet hair and no make up on shouting for someone to give me a lift. In reality the two alarms I set made sure I was there in plenty of time

I have to agree that management are often oblivious to any problems within the workforce. Even if I informed management.....he would deal with it like a bull in a china shop and just make matters worse. After 16 years I know him better than he knows himself!

foxgloves

That's good then, Kantankrus....though not the dream that you were too late to get to work! I think I must have had a bizarre dream last night, as I woke up flat on my back (I never sleep on my back through choice) with one leg out of bed on the floor! Can't remember it though.
F

foxgloves

Good morning diary readers,
I can see that today is going to be not only a no-spend day but also a day of resourcefulness - my favourite kind. I slept until 5.30 too, which is good for me & so I got up at 5.50 & started my day. Pleased to find all yesterday's laundry had dried on the heated airer - doing a double spin definitely seems to work. I've already done my online German lesson, which included a potentially money saving phrase today - "Yes, I'm drinking, but you're paying"! Perhaps not one to win friends & influence people, though!
Some days, I just seem to take a real pleasure in being resourceful or 'shopping from home' as I often also think of it. I am making a fish pie for tonight, using all the tail pieces, & oddments I saved when cutting up my fish box plus a handful of frozen prawns. I checked the supermarket parsley on the windowsill to see if the remaining leaves were worth adding to the sauce, but when I investigated, there were 6 good strong roots in that pot, in addition to a few stragglier ones which can go in the pie. I took the roots down to the greenhouse & potted them up properly. They don't mind an unheated greenhouse, & hopefully will have made nice sturdy little plants by Spring. I watered the winter salads while I was down there. I will almost certainly be picking lettuces & a few baby spinach & rocket leaves in the new year, so I'm pleased I sowed them. With an unheated greenhouse, you do always wonder if it's worth it, but that is going to be a lot of salad shopped from home unless a tribe of sluggy vandals manage to get in for a festive feast.
I've mixed up a sourdough loaf & that is currently rising in a warm spot next to the bedroom radiator - a cheaper option energy-wise than switching the oven on just to act as a proving drawer. I'm also progressing a few little Christmas prep jobs - an ingredients list for the items I need to make/bake, especially for gifts & to take with us for Christmas Day - I did start this job but then reduced what I intend to bake, so will start it again for accuracy. I don't want to buy more than necessary, even allowing for plenty of treats. And I've shopped from home for several nice festive pieces of saved gift wrap, ribbons & decorations for trimming up the 6 jars of my home made preserves I'm intending to give as gifts. Back in those Spendy Old Years, I'd have bought Christmas fabric especially for this task, along with a few metres of ribbon. There really isn't any need - there is always enough of a stash of this type of stuff up in Foxgloves HQ to facilitate this kind of task.
Next job will be thinking about whether I am feeling crafty enough to make mr F a birthday card. He does quite like a hand made one as I usually personalise them with photos from stuff we've done, or things he likes, but it is going to depend on time. I am defo giving it some thought though - and it will use up a bit more of the craft stash, too. Oh & I need to check my wrappings stash to see what I have which could be re-purposed for gifting some home made fudge & florentines.
So I may well crack on with that this afternoon. I've done my German, I do need to do my piano practice, but after that, because I'm currently on top of all the financials, my time will be pretty much my own. I've got no heating on downstairs. I've been moving about doing jobs or upstairs near a radiator this morning, so I shall put it on later, as I do try to do in winter, to keep our bills as low as I reasonably can without freezing my ears off!
Take care all of you, especially poorly people,
F xx

foxgloves

Well, those jars are looking quite pretty. I've made Christmas wrapping paper frilly lids & tied them with ribbon, traditional green, red & white string (like the sort that used to come with teeny-tiny plastic pegs back in the day for displaying cards up on the wall) & one or two decorations. I found a red stretchy band with little silver bells on it which must have been on something gifted to us in the past & it looks really festive around the top of a frilly jar lid. I've also loosely covered a couple of recycled boxes for putting the jars in - one of them is a big one, as I need to make some additional stuff to put in there - baked stuff, bread sauce & stuffing, so I thought I may as well get that done now, rather than be faffing around at the last minute.
Have decided not to make Mr F's birthday card - I did have a couple of ideas, but our dodgy old printer is going to be replaced soon, so we are making do with minimal ink cartridges (no black ones atm) so as to avoid buying new ones which might well not fit the replacement printer. So as I have the opportunity to have a couple of hours in town tomorrow (free parking), I will look for a nice card then. I'm going to make a small list of stuff I can usefully do while I'm there, and will also enjoy an opportunity to browse a few charity shops.
Well, m'ducks, that's all today's jobs done apart from making a fish pie, so I shall go & listen to my audio book while I do that.
I've just been listening to Radio 4's 'Money Box' programme which was all about these rather dodgy car finance agreements. It was very telling when somebody said that without them, so few people would actually be able to 'afford' a new car, that the motor industry would probably collapse! I think that says it all, doesn't it? Mr F & I were commenting on a long journey over the summer, how you hardly ever see old cars on the road these days - there are a few, of course they are - but with people being able to get these deals regardless of their financial situation, I guess that's the main reason. One chap on this programme said that despite not being able to get a credit card because of his poor financial situation, he was able to get accepted for one of these car deals, & it also sounded like there were miss-sellings too. I don't think I'd be tempted by one of these deals. The annual mileage they allow is nowhere near enough even to get Mr F to work, let alone do anything else. Anyway, enough yakking......fish pie time!
Cheers all,
F x

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

Greetings everyone as we all go into a new week!
My Mondays tend to be all about setting us up for a decent week ahead, so I think about what I want to have achieved or at least moved on, by the weekend & that then shapes my activities. I used to write a very detailed 'To do' list every day, but now I tend to note down as bullet points in my diary only those things which if I don't do today, they will impact tomorrow......things like remembering to take something out of the freezer, or post something, etc.
Ages ago, someone mentioned a podcast in their diary about the 'Slow Home' approach - it may have been OBL, & I listened to a few episodes. One of them included a discussion about task lists. I noted that this person only put three things on her daily 'To do' list. I've sometimes use the '3 things only' list method, when the potential length of a job list has been so off-putting & overwhelming, that the '3 things' method where you can only add another job once you've crossed one off, can really help with motivation. That's different. What these two women were discussing on the podcast was just having 3 things on their daily list that they wanted to achieve or progress. And they were not the sort of things which used to make up the vast bulk of my own lists. I'm a very organised person & so pretty much every task I would be doing that day would be on my 'To do' list. My diary is A5 size with narrow lines, so one of my daily lists could fill a whole page & sometimes I'd be squeezing extra tasks in at the sides. I love a list. Or rather, I like crossing stuff off a list. So I'd be working through all my jobs & crossing them off & by the end of the list, it would look as though I'd achieved a huge amount. And I suppose I had..........of fairly small domestic, financial, horticultural, crafty stuff. The realisation that this podcast sparked in me was that my 'To do' lists can easily fill a whole day. It's all stuff which needs doing, but was pretty much task-led. This approach has been great for keeping our household running smoothly, budgeting & all manner of important frugal & 'green' behaviour, but not so good at facilitating some of the bigger, less task-driven projects I would dearly like to progress, such as finishing my novel, overhauling parts of the house & all sorts of other things. So in more recent months, I've been trying to transition to spending no longer than an agreed time on my regular daily tasks (which are important to me) & then using a block of time (usually in the afternoon) to progress something bigger.
I have to say that I am feeling happier with it. I'm playing the piano again, I've taken up a language again which I haven't studied since I was 16, I'm researching a couple of history projects & have started planning some home improvements. In the new year, I am strongly considering volunteering locally, so will be looking into that too.
I will also aim to listen to a little more of the podcast. I like audio media & always have an audiobook on the go when I am busy in the kitchen as it means I get through twice as many books!
Well, I've noticed the sun is already moving into place between the houses opposite, where it will soon set - we are almost at shortest day again - so I will pop down the garden to fetch the laundry in. I was just about to put it on the heated airer first thing when I noticed how windy it was outside, so I thought I'd peg out & save a few pence!
Wrap up in this cold wind, Frugalistas!
F x

It was indeed me that mentioned the podcast,I'm glad you liked it, I've listened right from the beginning now and have really enjoyed it,I tend to listen on my way walking to and from work or if I'm going to town on the bus

Onebrokelady

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

I must admit I work better with a list and should do one each day as it would annoy me if everything wasnt scribbled out by the end of the day.

I dont envy you your sleep pattern. Im usually a good sleeper but last night, I barely slept. Think it was a combination of a cup of tea after 4pm and pondering on work problems. This rears its head quite often and I wonder if its time for me to move on.... but apart from this , I am generally happy at work and dont want to be starting again. More difficult to find work as you get older as well. Will have to see how it pans out.

Whats the podcast called? I wouldn't mind a listen.

And now I am going to wrap another present and iron my bedding.

It's called The Slow Home Podcast the host is called Brook McAlary, she lives in Australia but but interviews people from all over