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E/F £13k + K/F £3,150 = £16,150
NSTurtle # 8🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢 but I still need a new roof and an extension
DD1 has returned to work (she's a Teaching Assistant) , she's a bit nervous especially about lack of interaction with other staff.
It's a short half term though so deep breath and fingers crossed...
My job continues at home and i'm grateful i can do nearly all of it at home and still get full pay.
I've got washing in the machine and now off to switch on my work laptop.
Wishing everyone a good day
Deni x
NST February #23
Dare Day or Toss a coin Day.
So today make three decisions by tossing a coin OR do something daring/ out of character. This might be a good one to try with the offspring f0xh0les - you could pick the alternatives in advance (a task or an extra half hour on the games machine).
J Just do your best
Everything is weird atm (good word weird). Wars and disasters (tsunamis, school shootings, drought and famine) tend to happen 'somewhere else' and our own are rather 'domestic' in comparison. So we are all a bit at sea and all our 'usual' ways of doing things have been disrupted. So if things go awry, cut yourself some slack. Most of us are spending more time at home and in close proximity to our loved ones than we are used to. More than the December festival and we all know what that does for the divorce rates. More than the school holidays and in closer confinement (no days out or swapping/ sharing with other parents).
So to paraphrase my usual advice 'Don't be a martyr in the lockdown'. If you aren't feeling the love, if you are tearful, frustrated or just plain fed up (especially if your family assume you will continue to provide 24 hour hotel, entertainment and emotional support service) hide in your room, take yourself off for a walk, go on a 24 hour strike and then demand fairer conditions. Do whatever you need to do to protect your own mental health. Your children and your partner (as well as other family members isolating elsewhere) may need your support but 'you can't pour from an empty cup'.
You might want to boycott beans in protest at the lack of availability of six packs (since Mr H found they were second only to tp on everyone's most wanted list) or the opportunistic/ inevitable price rises (demand/ scarcity economics) but there isn't a lot you can do about it. I'm prioritising getting food into the house over worrying about price rises atm. As I can't physically go to the shops myself without endangering mum's life I'm dependent on those places where I can get a delivery from with 3 relatives delegated to hunt down 'in store only' and 'out of stock' items including otc meds. I am aware that it is mainly mum's money that I am spending but I have also bought things she has asked about and am including little treats (next Saturday's shop includes 'Italian' bits - stuffed pasta, garlic bread and pizza as we will be 'holidaying' in Italy/ the back yard the following week) mainly for mum (I currently have 9 bars of her favourite chocolate stashed in various locations, I had one - I have put iced lollies and ice cream for me as well as mum on next week's list).
In nearly every case where I have hesitated over purchasing the items have been unavailable when I went back and delivery times on those things I have ordered are uncertain. Mum suggested getting an aerosol paint to paint the old bin 'even if it was more expensive' - I had to explain patiently that the store in question had 187 suitable paints on it's inventory but only 8 were in stock (the most boring fence paint colours). If you are confined to your house (let's be positive - in the sanctuary of your humble abode) for most of your waking hours, you will notice the bits that are getting shabby or the bits that 'niggle you'. Fix them yourself if possible but don't agonise over relatively small purchases that make things better. Just don't let it become an everyday habit.
Do your best quotes
No one else knows exactly what the future holds for you, no one else knows what obstacles you've overcome to get where you are, so don't expect others to be as passionate about your dreams as you do.
Do your best and let the rest go. You can't be perfect, no matter how hard you try, so give yourself credit for making the effort and try to stop stressing about the outcome.
Mortgage free Oct 2019:)
EFund/savings £15000 15/02/21
I share the thought thst when you spend so long in the humble abode places that have worn do niggle and therefore I mention that I am in the middle of renovating the meter cupboard at the bottom of the stairs. It's isn't yet finished but already I feel appeasement having changed it up.
My grocery budget is set, I shop on Thursday, or rather Sainsbury see that I can shop without leaving the house - which is a bugetting problem all in itself but eat we shall so I'm thankful.
To the month ahead.
NSD No 1
I was up really early and did all sorts including the ironing before 8.00 am whilst Himself was still in bed. That's probably why I was so productive. I didn't have him asking me what I was doing every five minutes. Made my list and nearly everything ticked off although some things are not quite completed ie reorganised the kitchen to make it a bit more user friendly but it still has things needing done to it. A little bit of cupboard and drawer sorting out tomorrow, I think. Written the birthday cards and wrapped presents
I walked to the post box to post repeat prescription. It's not very far but it's the furthest I've been in ten weeks. It was actually too hot to go much further anyway. Hopefully, it's cooling a little bit tomorrow so maybe a little bit of a walk then. I must say I'm quite disturbed at the pictures in the press and on television of crowded beaches, parks and beauty spots. I could even see around here that people were ignoring the guidelines. I just hope we're not forced back into lockdown.
I had some lovely fruit for breakfast and a prawn salad for lunch. Might have some antipasti later but at the moment we're just not feeling hungry.
Made some food for the Boy yesterday. He might come and collect it later if he's finished working but he still won't come into the house. He's still scared that I might catch something.
Off to watch Midommer Murders. Have a good evening.
I paid off my credit card last month
Weight wise I have dropped another pound
New flat debt Jan 2017 £2302.75 Now £0
Debt Feb 2020: Credit card - £607.09. Now £0
Car - £4992.88. Now £3231.04 (35.3% paid)
Emergency fund - £814.17/£1000. Car fund - £422.11/£1000.
Flat deposit - £306.03/£15,000 (2% saved).
Mortgage £386 ish (01/14: £78,201; 01/15: £59,629; 01/16: 39,915; 01/17: 27,295; 01/18 23,143; 01/19: 18.275) MFWDate: very soonish
-fighting against the temptation of ordering food
-standing up for what's right
-selling things on Depop
Today was a NSD
Just off out for our usual meander around the local area, taking in part of the canal path - where we stop and watch ducks & ducklings, swans and cygnets, rats swimming, fish, squirrels or even just the seagulls squabbling, depending upon what is around
Eta: both DD and I are wearing up/ out clothes with holes most of the time - it's only the neighbours who see us most of the time
Two boxes of cereal identified for foodbank - 1 was an incorrect purchase (picked wrong thing up, realised when home) and one is an Azda own brand which DS2 doesnt like the open box of (but is quite happy with the Tesc0 and Sainz versions) (DH will eventually eat up the open box but the extra box may be a push too far - plus our local bank were asking for cereal anyway)