All change..... Determined to be solvent, single and successful

mumblingtaff

Morning all! Stayed over at OHs and had a bit of a lie in until 9am so a bit of a later start today. Just back from taking the dog to the park - it's definitely cooler today and the sky is now full of big black clouds, think it's going to pour down soon.

It's the final push on the tidying front today - the study needs finishing and I'm going to do a second pass of the work wardrobe to see if I can get rid of anything else so the new things aren't crushed and ruined before they're even worn.

I might do a short run later - having an unexpected "lady moment" and am a bit tired and achey so will see how it goes.

Just withdrawn £50 cash from the cashpoint for the weekend - no big plans yet but I'm sure we'll end up doing something.
Right on cue, it's started to rain - good excuse to not run yet......

crazy_cat_lady

I'm jealous of your motivation. I've barely managed to get off the sofa today and I feel guilty just reading at the moment :rotfl:

mumblingtaff

It's the holidays Cat - we're supposed to struggle to get off the sofa Stay where you are!!!

Have finally finished the study sort out - the big recycling bin is full to the brim and the normal bin is also almost full (with nearly two weeks before they're collected.....hmmmm). It doesn't actually look too different but the old stuff has gone and everything from my old office at work now has a home instead of the boot of the car or the downstairs loo!
I've found plenty of stationery and pens etc so won't need to buy anything new for September - I also have a new lovely leather bound Moleskin notebook for my new job, one of my leaving presents. I go through one a term as I write everything down due to having a rubbish memory so it's part of me when I'm in work.

I also found the paperwork for the conservatory from 15 years ago that clearly has PPI - will try to investigate whether I'm due a refund but I've tried phoning the number on the paperwork and it's disconnected. Will do a bit of sleuthing this afternoon......

Just thinking about my grocery budget for this month - I originally budgeted £180 and have spent £85 so far with £95 left. I'm going on holiday on the 23rd so it's only 12 days to cater for really. I'd like to try to save at least £30 of it to use for taxis etc to the airport. If I'm a bit less lazy about what I'm eating I'm sure I'll be able to do it. I do have visitors for 2 nights to think about but there's usually a lot of eating out with them so it's just treats and the basics to buy out of the ordinary.

I also need to review the mortgage protection insurance - will ring them this afternoon and have a look at alternatives.
Going to veg out with a bit of Judge Rinder now - have tidied myself to a standstill but it's all done - hurrah!!!!

mumblingtaff

Morning! Had a pleasant evening - went to the pub with OH and the dog for a quick drink and then home at 8ish for takeaway pizza and ice cream. Bad but good..... I wore my new top and jeans with some nice heels I forgot I had and some jewellery dug out during the declutter and was complimented on how I looked - should make more of an effort more often....
Stayed over but didn't sleep very well but am trying to ignore that fact as I'm meeting OH for a run at 10 am and I want I do a fairly long one to negate some of the naughty food from last night.
Just taken the dog to the park for a trot around - it's a nice sunny day so far but definitely cooler.

OH's son is visiting from late afternoon until tomorrow so will leave them to some boy time and amuse myself.
Will have a think about what to do after my run, depending on how tired I am. I looked into mortgage protection insurance yesterday and it seems that the cover I already have is as good as anything else available so I'm not going to bother changing anything. One more job ticked off the list though

mumblingtaff

6km run done - happy with that. Felt ok and running with OH always makes me a bit competitive and carry on for longer.

joeyjimbles

You're very inspiring with the walking and the running. Dog comes with me when I run and that's him mostly done except for a potter late evening.

I've not run for a few weeks now due to the heat and then I managed to twist my ankle when we were decorating. It feels so much better now and DH and DS1 have gone away for a few days to visit family so I'm planning to go this evening and see how that goes. I'm going to go back to one of the middle weeks on the 5K plan and see how much Sarah Millican can persuade me to do. I'll just run on past the instructions if it feels ok.

mumblingtaff

Hope it went well Joey - I always feel loads better when I've had a run no matter how long or short it is. Good for the body and mind.
Spent the afternoon with OH watching Netflix and then walked the dog and have watched the Eye in the Sky this evening on C4 - really good so far, enjoying it.
Will go to bed afterwards and will hopefully be up for another run in the morning xx

joeyjimbles

Failure I'm afraid. The heavens opened and I spent ages mopping staircases, trying to close the skylights (directly above the stairs so really hard for 5ft5in me - easy for the 6ft4+ OH and DS1 who are away), then finding buckets to go under each one to catch the drips from not closing them properly.
This morning I did manage a light jog for dog's 6km circuit. Didn't feel too bad on my ankle but it wasn't a proper run so I'll try later if the weather plays ball.

mumblingtaff

Well done for getting out there! As I say, anything is better than nothing!
I haven't run today - it chucked it down this morning and I'm not a fan of running in the rain. Hope your mini flood is ok now?

I decided (stupidly) to redecorate the downstairs loo/cloakroom today (another job from the summer holiday list). I already had the emulsion for the walls and brushes and rollers so only needed to get some white emulsion for the ceiling and some gloss. Popped to Wickes on the way back from tesco and spent £20 on paint and then flung myself into it. It's taken all day!!! 2 coats on the walls and ceiling and a gloss coat on the wood work (will need to go over a little bit of the wood round the toilet again but it's a 10 min job when it's dry). I'm knackered now and my back is killing me but it looks much better.
Going to take the dog out for a walk in a bit to loosen me up again.

Did a grocery shop first thing and spent £34 but that did include some nice pasta bowls that were reduced and I just fancied them. I shouldn't need anymore than a few fresh bits prior to holidays now as I bought some stuff for the freezer too to keep me going and discourage another big shop. There's £61 left in the grocery budget so I should manage to save at least the £30 I'd hoped towards holiday taxis etc.
Also put £25 of diesel in the car as it was down to dregs but that was budgeted for and should last through to the next pay day now.

OH has his son staying over tonight so I'll leave them to it and potter about here and watch some telly. We watched the first two episodes of The Sinner on Netflix yesterday and it's quite good, can't work out who or why yet so will maybe watch another episode later. Still ploughing through Grace and Frankie too (on series 3 now).

Going to try to get started on some work tomorrow morning - my brain is ready to start working again now after 3 weeks off - the weather forecast isn't great and so it's a good opportunity to get cracking.

Right, need some fresh air and to move around so it's a dog walk followed by a soak in the bath - where has the day gone??

mumblingtaff

Dog walked, bath had and wooden floors cleaned - it's been so long since it's rained that I'd forgotten about mucky paw prints !

Just spent some time going through the finances and providing there are no surprises I'm doing ok this month. I don't have any big plans for the coming week apart from a probable afternoon out with a friend mid week.
The house is pretty much completely spring cleaned and sorted out - the only big job left that I can do myself is to paint the bathroom upstairs. It's mostly tiled at least to halfway apart from one wall and it's not a big room so it shouldn't take too long. I have the paint and brushes etc so there's no additional cost there.

I'll get a couple of quotes for redecorating my bedroom - i have a local decorator that I've used loads of times before but he's not cheap so will look at an alternative to see if there's a big difference.

On the decluttering front, I've continued to use up toiletries and cleaning products - this weekend has seen the departure of a shampoo and conditioner, soap, deodorant, hand soap, toilet cleaner, kitchen cleaner, air freshener, night cream and a couple of razors. Using up the dregs of something before starting the new one has never been a strong point .....