*sigh* this may take a while

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks SH and ES.  Yes, definitely feeling more in control of finances and it's a nice feeling.  I think we'll feel the benefits at Christmas and our holiday next month, when everything we need for them is sat there waiting.
I managed to sell some old toys and clothes for £45 and my old phone made another £52, so that'll all go in the Christmas fund.
I'm still doing one weekend shift a month at the hospital.  They're only a few hours and the hourly rate is so good, I find it hard not to do any!  I've got one coming up on Saturday and the 6 hour shift will earn me £200, so I'll pop that in the Christmas fund too.
No other news for now

savingholmes

Glad that you can get the extra work when you want it - and as you says - pays for Christmas and holidays.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

This 'rule of six' !!!!!! is really irritating me!  I don't tend to get too grumpy about the government decisions as I think they have a thankless task with this stupid virus.  But as a large family, we're screwed!  We had an October half term break booked, which we've now cancelled.  The site contacted us, basically saying we wouldn't be able to eat or do activities together etc as everything was set for max 6.  
We also can't mix with anyone else socially or have anyone over 
So I can see 100 patients a week within 1 metre of me, breathing any potential germs all over me.  My primary kids are in 'bubbles' of 30 each, my secondary kids are in 'bubbles' of 300 each!!
But I can't have my mum over for lunch.  Really?!
Bah humbug.  I'll simmer down in a day or two.  I'm just sad about our holiday and some social plans and still feeling overworked and underpaid at the hospital 

mark55man

I know we are at 6 here, and technically cant have anyone round - luckily its been sunny and we have a park nearby, so have taken visitors there.  but feels very stupid, although a late summer tan is a result

Honeysucklelou2

Similar issues here. We are over 6 in the household, so my parents can’t visit, nor anyone else for that matter and I can only see my parents if I limit how many of my children come with me. Not good at all for larger families.

Drawingaline

We are a family of six, but I have my neice after school. If I didn't my sister would have to either not work (key worker) or find funds to put her in an after school club. If she could actually find one open 🤷 so we are having to stretch it a bit. The teens are upstairs and we barely see them except for food anyway. And yesterday the two older neices came over as they had forgotten their key. What was I supposed to do make them sit on the doorstep for three hours?! Honestly really annoys me. Means we actually can't go and visit mil who we haven't seen since Xmas (fil is shielding) but we can see my parents as I can leave people behind because they are local. It's all very unfair.

Drawingaline

Although it's a good excuse to stop my mum just letting herself in with a key .....🤔

savingholmes

It is frustrating. My DD can go to work and school and as you say be in huge bubbles but we are very limited on what else we can do. Having MIL over Sunday before the rules get worse.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks all, sounds like it's catching a lot of us out  Hopefully it won't last too long, but on the odd occasion I look at the news (which I do as little as possible), it looks like it's going from bad to worse. Ugh.
Money wise, we're just treading water waiting for pay day next Thursday/Friday.  Our current account has a £200 extra in it and our bills pot has enough to cover the rest of the month's bills, so all good there.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Since I had my eldest child 16 years ago, I've put on about 12lb in weight, about 7lb of which has been in the last 2 years.  When my Dad was very ill a couple of years ago, I found it tricky to balance home life, work life and spending time with him, taking him to appointments etc.  Exercise went out the window and food became all about convenience.  Then when he died about 18 months ago, I comfort ate a lot so put on another few pounds. 
Over the last year, my habits have improved again, I cook healthy meals and am more active so a few of the excess pounds came off that way.  I'm not overweight, my BMI is 22.5, but I'm bigger than I'd like to be.  I decided to aim to lose the 7lb that would take me back to the 'normal' weight I'd maintained for the previous 8-10 years, then I'll review and see if I want to lose the other 5lb to get to my pre baby weight (I'm thinking probably not!).
Last week I used my fitness pal to log my food intake and I made sure I hit 10K steps a day and did a couple of exercise classes too.  I weighed myself today and have lost 2lb, so that's an ok start.  I've set my target to 1lb a week and the app says I can eat 1300 kcal a day, which is mean, but doable.  One advantage to this lockdown malarkey is the lack of social calories!