2020: Becoming a Saver, Not a Spender

[Deleted User]

Hello MSE world :hello:

This morning was my first morning of not touching my phone until leaving the house. I didn't end up doing the Calm app as I couldn't find my headphones in time, but I did just get back into bed for some cuddles and set a timer on my watch for when we needed to get up. I felt a bit twitchy at first :rotfl: but it's something I'll get used to, I guess! It wasn't 100% relaxing as we had one of the mornings where OH decides the kids can get ready in a certain time frame rather than a bit earlier, then they don't, then he's flapping around, and really the solution is they all get up earlier but I tend to get my head bitten off when I say it :rotfl:

The stew was lovely, managed to pick up a 10p baton at the shop on the way back from swimming for dunking, was deffo a bargain

The podcast I had on this morning was about sleep, I only got halfway through it so the good stuff is yet to come, but they were saying about the fact that they think the reason we have sleep cycles is obviously back in the primitive days, if you sleep out in the wild for 8-10 hours solid, you probably wouldn't wake up, so the cycles are down to our ancestors having to wake up a little every few hours to check for danger, then go back into the next sleep cycle. It's all quite interesting. Another thing that was re-iterated was, again, not having phones in the bedroom. It's really beginning to bug me how much phones and screens are people's primary focus in our house, but it's like I'm the only one who can see it. This is why I really want to get a proper dining table so we can have 30 bloody minutes without phones and actually properly interacting. *sigh*

No sign of the letter with my ultrasound appointment yet, also no sign of the £75 switch bonus to HSBC, but I just need to be patient with these things! I did, however, remember to take a picture of the serial number for the kettle so I will be swallowing that frog today and phoning Swan

My main focus for the next week or so is getting back into the habit of keeping hydrated. I have a keep cold 1 litre bottle so I only need to go through two of those to keep reasonably hydrated, at the moment it's coffee from morning all the way through until I get home from work, then occasionally I have a glass of squash, but it's still more likely to be coffee

[Deleted User]

I may have just applied for a police Call Handler/Communications offer job, completely inspired by watching 999 what's your emergency :rotfl: in all reality though, it looks like a very fast-paced and varied role, completely the opposite of what I do now, so we will see if anything comes from that...

Logged a claim online with TCB, as my tracking for my Virgin Broadband deal hasn't shown, that's £130 I am NOT missing out on.

My Ocado cashback did track with Halifax, that is £8 ish I will get at the end of next month

My £50 Sky should track this month or next month, I expect that to be paid at the end of March

I also just realised next month is my last monthly payment for my car insurance :T:T 2 free months and then it will be paid all in one go, hopefully with some cashback to boot, too!

A good few months coming up, indeed.

Meeting my nan for lunch soon, looking forward to having a catch up with her, and then off to my friend's for dinner tonight and catch up with them. I do believe I have the house to myself for most of the night tomorrow, so will either hit the gym or go for a walk, and then have some "me" time

db2016

with regards to phones, on a night time, most in the last few years have a blue light filter, as part of their do not disturb / DND features (that can silence all but essential notificaitons etc).

the blue light is said to mimic sunrise so we stay awake, the filter makes the screen less blue and more red, so it releases chemicals that say its sleep time.

also the DND feautres, are useful i have mine set to only allow the 5 most important people who may call or text me to get through, everyone else gets shunned (unless they repeatedly call x number of times in y amount of mins)..

[Deleted User]

I love the DND feature but it's still too tempting to reach for my phone if it's sat there on the side next to me :rotfl:

db2016 wrote: »

with regards to phones, on a night time, most in the last few years have a blue light filter, as part of their do not disturb / DND features (that can silence all but essential notificaitons etc).

the blue light is said to mimic sunrise so we stay awake, the filter makes the screen less blue and more red, so it releases chemicals that say its sleep time.

also the DND feautres, are useful i have mine set to only allow the 5 most important people who may call or text me to get through, everyone else gets shunned (unless they repeatedly call x number of times in y amount of mins)..

Finally swallowed the frog about the kettle!

The end result is:
- I phoned the manufacturer as advised on the retailer website
- The robot on the manufacturer phone said I needed to phone the retailer :rotfl:
- we bought it as a set (kettle and toaster) so have to send the set back
- the set is out of stock
- the toaster is out of stock as an individual item
- the friendly guy went through the other items online with me until I picked new ones I like
- they are taking the old and delivering the new on Saturday

TL;DR : we are getting a brand new kettle and toaster thanks to the faulty kettle :T

Faultless customer service from the retailer, though, very impressed he was really friendly and patient, and very understanding about how I was at the end of my tether when it comes to 6am and trying to push the button on the kettle whilst simultaneously levering the front catch with a knife :rotfl: :rotfl:

beanielou

Good news on kettle & toaster.

Hope job application goes well.

[Deleted User]

Thank you

beanielou wrote: »

Good news on kettle & toaster.

Hope job application goes well.

Another frog to be swallowed today, but this time it's OH's turn. Our ottoman bed has been creaky/noisy on his side since we got it, and it's been gradually grating on me more and more, finally took a look last night and the metal frame doesn't sit where it's supposed to on the inside of the bed frame, it's slipping past and rubbing on it, so the bed is also dipping down further than it should. I told OH in no uncertain terms he needs to phone them to come and re-do whatever needs doing as obviously something is not lined up or solid enough, be it the actual bed frame or the metal frame for the mattress. We will see what happens, the whole point of buying a brand new bed was to replace the old creaky noise one!

I am very glad it's Friday, I was knackered when I woke up this morning, and still yawning now! My only real jobs today are to pay in some money into my bank account, and then pick up some wrapping paper for my cousin's birthday present. I thought we had some that wasn't Christmas paper, but lord knows where it has gone!

En route home tonight I need to pick up said present, it's already paid for, I just need to collect it, then I will be seeing him on Sunday for a little while to give him his card & present.

Impatiently waiting for my letter about my ultrasound scan, I just want it all over and done with now. I am glad I'm keeping my fitness levels relatively okay-ish, I'm still doing my plank every day and the squat challenge. I have noticed that my posture has improved a bit since started this, and a little bit more weight loss, I'll do a total at the end of the month for the weight loss.

Not much else to report for now, on the home stretch to payday, one week today. Which is also when our new broadband will go live, thankfully. Sick of having to restart the router every time I get home to be able to use the laptop! :mad:

Poppy1984

Hi SSDD23

I also listen to Dr Rangan Chatterjee's podcast, I LOVE it!!!!! The most recent one about depression is fascinating.

I use an app called Headspace which I think it similar to the Calm app. I really like it, I've been trying to use it every day and I'm noticing a big difference to how I feel and my sleep which I've struggled with for a longtime.

Well done on cutting down on your phone usage I need to do that too I'm terrible for picking it up for no reason at all. I don't even use Facebook, instagram, snapchat or twitter so I can't even blame social media!! It's just a distraction/ pacifier for me.

I love the idea of not picking my mobile up for the first hour of my morning I want to give that a go.

[Deleted User]

Poppy1984 wrote: »

Hi SSDD23

I also listen to Dr Rangan Chatterjee's podcast, I LOVE it!!!!! The most recent one about depression is fascinating.

I use an app called Headspace which I think it similar to the Calm app. I really like it, I've been trying to use it every day and I'm noticing a big difference to how I feel and my sleep which I've struggled with for a longtime.

Well done on cutting down on your phone usage I need to do that too I'm terrible for picking it up for no reason at all. I don't even use Facebook, instagram, snapchat or twitter so I can't even blame social media!! It's just a distraction/ pacifier for me.

I love the idea of not picking my mobile up for the first hour of my morning I want to give that a go.

They're so insightful and easy to listen to, aren't they? I am kind of picking my way through the ones that sound appealing at the moment as there are nearly 100 lol I also like that any adverts are made quieter than the rest of the podcast so they aren't too obstructive - although I didn't realise that was what was going on, turned the volume right up as it was soo quiet, and then near on had a heart attack when the actual podcast kicked back in :rotfl:

For now, I am putting my phone charger next to where I do my hair downstairs in the morning, I don't even go there until I've been awake for an hour or so. Can't seem to persuade myself to use Calm first thing in the morning, but I'll probably stick to the habit of getting back into bed for a bit after my shower and having some cuddles (as sappy as that sounds lol) then doing the Calm stuff later in the day

Poppy1984

Hahah I did exactly the same thing with the volume at least I'm not the only one.

I really enjoyed the one called time and how to spend it well #64 and conversation connection and how to cope in a toxic world #93

At the moment I reach for my phone the minute I open my eyes. I tend to text my partner who lives in a diff county to me, then reply to any messages and pop a podcast on. I could definitely delay that for an hour it's just a habit I've gotten into. I do use it as an alarm but I've got a sunrise alarm so it's a poor excuse really for having it in the bedroom! I'm considering putting it on charge on the landing through night with DND on but on loud so people could get through in an emergency if needed but it makes me nervous I'd feel so guilty if my partner, my Dad or brother had tried to reach me in the middle of the night in an emergency and I'd missed it. I know that's probably irrational but it's how I feel.

Poppy

[Deleted User]

Poppy1984 wrote: »

Hahah I did exactly the same thing with the volume at least I'm not the only one.

I really enjoyed the one called time and how to spend it well #64 and conversation connection and how to cope in a toxic world #93

At the moment I reach for my phone the minute I open my eyes. I tend to text my partner who lives in a diff county to me, then reply to any messages and pop a podcast on. I could definitely delay that for an hour it's just a habit I've gotten into. I do use it as an alarm but I've got a sunrise alarm so it's a poor excuse really for having it in the bedroom! I'm considering putting it on charge on the landing through night with DND on but on loud so people could get through in an emergency if needed but it makes me nervous I'd feel so guilty if my partner, my Dad or brother had tried to reach me in the middle of the night in an emergency and I'd missed it. I know that's probably irrational but it's how I feel.

Poppy

I think I would be the same if my partner was so far away! Alas he is always next to me snoring his head off :rotfl: :rotfl:

Yeah that's the good thing about DND is that your important people can still get in touch