Nst november in new york

mothernerd

Day 1 Inspiration


We tend to forget that baby steps still move you forward

When you feel sad, dance

Be NICE to yourself. It's hard to be happy when someone's mean to you all the time

Lots of you have mentioned soups and baked potatoes. i think it's good to remind ourselves that simple food can be delicious. I know several of you adopted a simple meals for weekdays philosophy last year. Maybe others should think of adopting it? One of Martin's mantras is 'have something on toast once a week'.

mothernerd

My plan
20 NSDs


ORGANISE my time Lists, block things in (have a diary for next year as we have holidays and appointments for 2019.


VALUES Need to take my health seriously


ENJOY Busy month. Mum and I are away for one weekend (I O W). DS1s in-laws are over from Greece sometime this month and there are tentative ideas about meeting up. Not sure if it will be at the newlyweds or 'out' and if mum is included it could get expensive (need taxi as she can't do buses). Thinking about more things to get mum out and about and craft things to do together. christmas cards need writing (I try to get mine delivered on the first weekend in December.


Food inventory - lots in the freezer but needs running down (because someone didn't shut the door properly and it's iced up) and re-stocking. Not this week.


BUDGETS Food £180, Travel and DIY 12 each. Extra - got away with not buying clothes for DS3 (he had already bought jeans and got t-shirts to go away. Mum gave me £50 for him'towards his holiday' which covered these costs. Have also persuaded him to look through and hand over 6 t-shirts that were on the couch when I cleared the front room - only fit for the rag bag).
However he and Beloved need a new mattress (have done for some months). Last week agreed to buy DS2's old bedframe - no money changing hands, it's going to come off the money he owes me. It's from the swedish shop and he's just bought the same frame in a smaller size, to fit his mattress. Thinking the wider frame bed will be better for DS3 and Beloved but have been warned a mattress could be about £300 (quick look suggests it will be less but not much less). The one they have was a cs bargain and has done good service for the price. They are both quite large so need a bed that can stand up to two baby hippos frolicing around. Will have to be their Christmas present (feel guilty because DS3 has missed out on quite a lot - the others both left home with a fair amount of furniture and household goods).


EXERCISE Get carcass in gear


IN CASE DS3 will be locked in the house this weekend - 28th anniversary of his accident, to the day.


NOW Now Now Do it Now


SAVINGS Need to push this one forward, now eddding and other expenditure is past.


WINTER PROOF Linings for DS3's curtains. Going to put up fairy lights and pine cones in my room (cosy book nook) and set up my candles. Pills bought, need repeat prescription (combine with SM trip and all day bus ticket)


COOK from scratch. Have several things I want to make instead of buying and noticed some interesting vegan recipes which suit ingredients I already have in. After much beating myself up, I think I'm going to go with buying chopped onions - think the thought of the effort involved in preparing onions is subconsciously stopping me cooking (I was diagnosed with arthritis in my right shoulder at the beginning of the year and have been simplifying, switching to my left hand and adjusting ever since).


OUTSIDE Must do.


REPORT except for weekend away and in case of laptop failure (in which case will do what I can from the library).


BE KIND kindness oozing from every pore.

Saving_Glut

NSDs: Target is 15.

DOWNTIME: This is important as it appears to have a direct correlation with my performance at work!

NEEDS VS WANTS. This will be interesting!

ENJOY: Date night with OH once a week (we are often like ships passing in the night!), lots of silliness with bff and Zumba class for starters!

FOOD INVENTORY: Will do and donation to food bank is a great idea. But, I have no idea what ‘ys’ stands for! Lol!

BUDGETS: Have committed to reducing weekly spend by 5% this month (great idea thrifty, wouldn’t have done this without prompting!). Have identified present for sister’s 40th, but will purchase it on a spend day! My donation to charity will be by sponsoring a different sister for a charity run.

EXERCISE: Aim to cycle 30 miles at weekend, do Zumba on Tuesdays and 5k park run at weekend (have Santa run at end Nov). Must top up with a little yoga at home.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: 2 blankets in car, have breakdown cover, but must confirm with whom, and save their number on phone, which reminds me, I need to have phone charger in car!

MEDICINE CABINET: Has lozenges, and own-brand painkillers and anti-inflammotories. One sachet of Lems1p in work drawer! May need to look at replenishing some items.

NOW: It’s easy to make commitments for the future, but more challenging to get on with them today.

TAKE OWN FOOD TO WORK: Usually delicious leftovers as I try to avoid supermarkets as these can be my downfall in terms of overspend.

MORTGAGE-FREE: Am lucky to be debt-free, but am focusing on paying down BTL mortgage (with a MSE-vengeance, I might add!).

EXTRA INCOME: Will achieve this through marshalling, selling on FB and completing surveys.

WINTERPROOF: Blankets at the ready on sofa. Must ask OH to seal outer edge of dogflap with filler to reduce draught in lobby.

COOK FROM SCRATCH: OH usually does this, but I’ll roll up my sleeves and give it a go!

OUTSIDE: Will do!

REPORT DAILY: Will do!

KINDNESS: Will aim to do one extra (no matter how small) kindness for OH per day.

f0xh0les

pinch, punch, first of the month, and no returns!

mothernerd

YS is yellow sticker - the reduced price goods at the supermercado, often using yellow stickers. Not always a bargain (if you aren't going to use it , leave it for someone else).



Some people manage to live almost exclusively on ys goodies and many of us have had good experiences but they are getting fewer and SMs are getting meaner on the reductions. Best bargains tend to be fruit and veg and deli counter items (fish, ends of cooked meat joints etc - worth checking between now and Christmas as you may find pakoras, pork pies etc from the deli counter which can be frozen and brought out to give a mixed buffet). I also used to buy large packs of cooked meat and divide them into small quantieties so could get out enough for a sandwich or two at a time (also do this when I cook a joint - slice and portion the whole thing and put it in the freezer. If we feel like having 'Sunday dinner' I just get out one packet of meat).

apple_muncher

Hellooo x_raphael_xx again!! For some bizarre reason I was trying to name the Turtles (TMNT ones) last night, thought of you, and here you are .

greent

mothernerd wrote: »

After much beating myself up, I think I'm going to go with buying chopped onions - think the thought of the effort involved in preparing onions is subconsciously stopping me cooking (I was diagnosed with arthritis in my right shoulder at the beginning of the year and have been simplifying, switching to my left hand and adjusting ever since).

Very glad to hear this - thought about you and this when I was buying a bag of onions the other day (DS2 eats half an onion/ a whole onion (size depending) sliced in his rolls every day) - I checked the price of frozen diced and it *is* dearer per kg (not too much - I was surprised) , but there is absolutely no waste (which would make the price difference much, much less), no time in prep - and much easier and safer


Bring on November - I am ready for this!

thriftylass

Hello,

can I sign up please. Crawling back in through the back door. I did another disappearing act last month due to shame as I didn't have the courage to confront DH about his overdraft and his debt for ages after saying I would,

GOOD NEWS: we had the chat. It looks a lot better than I thought (seen proof) and our spending in terms of frivolous things like alcohol as changed in the last 2/3 weeks. So far his actions follow his words.

Also I finally gotten more organised in meal planning, doing a food inventory before going shopping and having a tight weekly budget I stick to the last 2 weeks. This reduced our bill from 100 to 60 quid a week (not had to spend on bigger things like washing powder etc though) and only have £500 debt left once we get the refund for our damaged door.

So things are looking up and I'm back to crack the last wee debt before xmas.

Please count me in Mothernerd

Chandelier.

Morning,

I'm kicking off the 1st of the month with a spend day. We are off to an indoor trampolining place with the boys and his friends. We will more then likely have food/drinks there (not very mse) although I will take some drinks with us, so we don't spend as much. It is thirsty work bouncing around for two hours. I will be doing the driving there as my friend isn't very confident on new places, I'm not much better but I will try to keep my cool. It is the first activity we are doing so far this half term.

We then have the boys extra curricular activity which we will walk to. It is only a fifeen minute walk but sometimes due to laziness and poor time management, we take the car. Not anymore! I am making more of an effort to walk to places where possible and using the car less. With petrol prices increasing as they are, it is becoming so expensive.

Yesterday was my final NSD for October and I reached my target of 15/15 NSDs, I spent some time working on my budgets for the month and have allocated a good proportion of my funds to savings- I may need to dip into this later on this month when I have my dentist appointment. However I feel better for doing this already. I have split my savings across high interest accounts to earn the maximum for my money. We spent the rest of the day chilling out, went to the boys extra curricular and then to our friends for tea and trick or treating. Personalluy, I don't like trick or treating but the boy enjoyed himself and I didn't want him to miss out. As long as he is happy then I'm happy.

I saw my CPN yesterday and she could see how fed up I was. There are a couple of work related things bothering me at the moment and I am just unsure how much more I can put up with. I need to seriously consider my options and what to do next. I am leaving that until after the new year though.

I have done the majority of the Christmas shopping for the boy, I think I have one thing left to buy for him. Then it is just the rest of the people on my list that I need to buy for. I am doing it bit by bit and keeping an eye on what I have already bought to keep myself in check. I am trying to roll all my spend days into one so I am not spending here, there and everywhere.

Another thing I have thought about is that I wanted to take the boy to Disneyland Paris next year, however it transpires his dad and his family are thinking about doing this. Although I wanted to take the boy, I could have the option to go along. However I have thought long and hard about this and think I will leave them to take him, as much as I want to go. I have been thinking about going around Europe with him next Summer, so maybe I can concentrate on that instead. I just need to sort the time off from work for this.

I have some funds maturing in a 5% account at the beginning of next year. I think I will allocate that as my holiday fund and direct what I was saving into that, elsewhere. I can build my savings back up over the year whilst still enjoying ourselves.

Whilst it is just me and the boy, I want to create as many memories as possible. It is right that our lives could just change within a few minutes, anytime, anywhere. You just never know what is around the corner.

Chandelier.

Thrifty, that's great news, hope all continues for you all.

Greent, I am another who is a fan of frozen diced onion! We tend to stock up if we go to the ice of land.

Everyone seems off to a good start this month, long may it continue.