Could his savings be put in an account he can't access it maybe premium bonds so its not quite so easy to move it around? You can buy them on standing order now. And if you need to cash them in the money is in the account within 3 working days.
Starling and Monzo both allow saving 'pots' I think, and are really easy to use. Transfering funds from the main bank account to them could work well too. The interest rates aren't amazing, but at least it's instant access while still being on a "different" app, so maybe the whole "out of sight, out of mind" thing would help?
Start Debt Jun 2020 = £10,036 - Current £5,894 | #324 £1,000 Emergency Fund Member - £205
Could his savings be put in an account he can't access it maybe premium bonds so its not quite so easy to move it around? You can buy them on standing order now. And if you need to cash them in the money is in the account within 3 working days.
He has a Credit Union account so he saves into that a fair bit. We had a good chat last night while we were cooking and he was telling me that he's slowly building up his savings but it's a lot better than what I taught. I'm not going to keep pestering him about his account. He's having personal struggles at the minute so I don't want to be landing more on top of him but hes assured me that everything is fine. I'll take his word for it.
I was awake at 7.30am. I woke up naturally and didn't feel the need to go back to sleep and I felt great. I had a great night's sleep.
The fest we had last night was really nice. We went into Lidl and spent €20 on loads of little bits to fill a plate, a bit like you would get if you went into a food buffet. It wasnt extravagant and we also treated ourselves to dessert which I didn't end up eating as I was full but I will definitely have tonight when LO goes to bed. OH ate like it was his last meal and devoured it all. We watched Netflix and took it easy. Honestly it was lovely. OH suggested we do the same next Friday night as we've still food left over that are frozen and seeing as it will be my turn to buy, I think I will get some little extras to treat ourselves. We had a lovely chat about life and how we are while we were cooking. It was needed. We may live together, sleep and wake up next to each other but sometimes life can become busy and we find ourselves too tired to say much.
This morning I was awake at 7.30am and started on my food prepping. I made Irish coddle for my dinner during the week (that's currently cooking away in the slow cooker and it smells devine!) I made butternut squash soup for my lunch during the week and that's in a glass container in the fridge so I can scoop out each day. I also made OH his meals for during the week (ran out of a couple of things to cook but overal majority of it was done. He needs to go and do his food shopping). I cleaned the kitchen to the point where its sparkling now and smells like Zeflora Grapefruit. It's lovely. I hoovered the landing, stairs and our bedroom. OH says he will clean bathrooms when he comes home from work so that's saved me some time to sit down and relax. I had a long hot shower after. Overal this Saturday morning has been busy but it's great to have everything done. It means I can literally float about and do whatever and not have to rush around because I usually find if I don't do what I need to do, I won't enjoy myself later on as I'm stressing.
I washed and hung out two loads of washing while I was cooking this morning so they are outside drying and the fresh air smell on them will be glorious. Its windy and sunny outside so it won't take them long.
I told my grandparents I will visit them today as I haven't seen them in a while so I'll be sure to be fed until I'm stuffed which suits me as I haven't had breakfast yet haha!
LO is staying over this weekend and I can't wait to see their little face. The weather is supposed to be lovely tomorrow so we've made plans to go to the local park with them for a run around and bring my dog as well. LO will love that. I've washed and dried their bedsheets so their bed is clean and fresh, their room is clean so they can mess it up again in no time haha. OH bought a couple of groceries for LO while we were in Lidl so they are well fed this weekend.
It also looks like a NSD today as I've no reasons to go anywhere. I have what I need. I don't have to go to the phone shop today as it's near my job so I can visit on Monday if needs be.
It's another Monday and of course, another early start to which I was absolutely fine and wasn't at all tired until I entered work and it was like all hell broke loose.
I gave up rushing and just took at my own pace. I wasn't going to rush only to expect more rush load and then a comment like "We left the weekend load there for you to finish because we knew you would do it quickly". I noped out of there. I wasn't going to finish someone else's job for them.
As the day went on, my day got better as I knew it was closer to home time so I soon forgot about the issue I was having earlier on this morning but it made me realise that I'm not doing to be a skivvy and allow workloads to be pilled onto me because someone else couldn't be relied on. That's not my problem.
OH was off work today and I came to a sparkling clean house, washing on the line and a cup of tea ready and waiting for me. To be honest I was shocked. All day in work I was half expecting to come home and he would be still pottering around with no housework completed but boy was I wrong. The bathroom is sparkling. Our bedroom smells so fresh. I changed the sheets on Saturday so he obviously left the windows open all day to let in the fresh air. The house has been hoovered and mopped. It felt weird to come home and seeing I literally didn't have to do anything but to eat my dinner and have a shower and it's only 4pm. Usually by now I'm still rushing around sorting the house out and sorting out meals before I can sit down so this is a nice change to a Monday afternoon.
Yesterday was a fabulous day. I had such a lovely time with LO. We played and watched some TV and went outside for a little bit to have some fresh air and sun on us. It was lovely.
I went to Vodafone and spent €20 for a new sim card so that was my only spends during the weekend. My total in my account is €45.25 and that's very rare for a Monday to have over €10 in my bank account 3 days before pay day so it's safe to say I'm doing fairly well in budgeting and batch cooking my meals. Lunch today was Butternut squash soup (I won't lie, it was lovely) that I had made for the week and dinner was Irish coddle (I used a healthier version) that I had freeze into lunch boxes that I can have for the week. The canteen was full of sweets and chocolate that someone had brought in and I didn't have anything as I wanted to keep on eating my healthy meals and not ruin my little diet I have going on. I'm not completly watching what I eat but I try not to eat sweets and chocolate during the week as I find I end up ruining my meal plans and then I'm wasting food.
It was a NSD and all was bought by my OH as he went to the shops this morning after his workout this morning and got a couple of nice shower gels and some cleaning supplies that was needed. I was planning on restocking cleaning peoducts during my shop on friday but it looks like I'll just have to get a couple of bits rather than loads so I was happy with that. Overal I think he spent €30 in or around as he got LO a few bits for tomorrow.
OH is off work again tomorrow (lucky so and so!) and has LO for the day so I'll get to see them when I come home from work which will be another fun day. If the weather sees fit, a walk around the block and an ice cream treat from the ice cream man (for LO of course!)
Hopefully tomorrow morning in work won't get off to a bad start but wishful thinking as delivery load looks like it will keep be busy until lunch time. Oh well. If it makes the time go by fast then I don't mind.
Not much to report today but it's been lovely to come home to a clean house and see washing on the line. The sun shining and the dog is happy.
3 more days until payday. It looks like payday this week will be hit a little bit as I've 2 things that I've to pay for and they are necessary. I attend counselling once a month which is €30 and the last of my Spotify payment €9.99 is also due the same day (its the last payment so I don't have to worry about it afterwards) . It's also my turn to buy the take away (or fake take away depends on how we feel on Friday) and of course my grocery shopping but I also have €45.25 left in my account now so I can add that onto my wages if needs be but I'm hoping I should be okay as I am finding I have more NSDs then I do spending days so we'll see but thankfully my anxiety in terms of money and trying to keep track on savings has subsided as I find I can budget a lot more than I taught and I can still enjoy myself. I don't dread payday as much as I used too.
If I haven't had any spend days before Wednesday night then I can add the €45.28 into my Rainy day funds and still have money free from my wages on Thursday morning.
€1.50 spent this morning. I had to pre book online to get my nails done for the middle of October as it'll be around the time I am due to get my nails refilled and it's the only thing I ever treat myself too these days so I make sure to pre book and save each week and enjoy the hour and a bit to myself and chat away to the nail teachnican. So that's currently €43.75 in my account until payday on Thursday. I'm doing extremely well.
I was exhausted this morning I have to say but I got through the day. I woke up 10 minutes earlier than my usual alarm which is normally 4.30am so I didn't see the point in lying in bed any longer seeing as I had time to potter around. I felt sick this morning and I was ready to call it a day before I had even clocked in in work. I felt like I wanted to puke and even if I drank water, I still felt sickly but as the day went on I started to feel normal so I say I felt sick because I was tired. I find when I'm exhausted I feel a lot worst than I probably am. My morning flew by and before I knew it it was time to go home and I'm almost halfway through the week.
OH was off work so of course, his duties were the same as yesterday and I came home to a clean house, washing on the line. LO had just came back from their walk with their daddy so they were delighted, happy and content and daddy of course was happy to be on top of house work and still be able to mind LO without stressing himself out, so that's a plus! As soon as LO seen me when they came into the house, they gave me the biggest bear hug, it was lovely. The last couple of weeks when my OH has LO during the day, it seems like he stresses out trying to juggle minding LO and going about his business which would be meal prepping or a small clean up. I've explained that LO is old enough to occupy themselves while in the same room so it's doable to do a quick clean up, or make a quick meal while LO is entertained playing with their car or other toys. He tries to not stick them in front of the TV while doing what needs to be done as it isn't fair on them so LO enjoys playing by themselves with their toys and still being around daddy. It's nice to see he's getting that bit comfortable to allow LO to run around and have fun and not feel like he constantly has to keep his eye on them. Of course, being his one and only, he's going to do all he can to make sure they are okay, it seems that he's finding his balance and all isn't chaotic when I come home. I played with LO for a few hours before OH gave them a bath and dropped them back to their mammys house. It was a lovely afternoon.
It's now 7.10pm and I know if I blink again, I will pass out so it looks like it'll be an early night for me which I don't mind as it seems I've some catching up to do on sleep seeing as the last two nights have been late enough staying up.
Successful NSDs leading up to payday. I was surprised to see I was able to watch my money, live frugally and spend what I needed too rather than what I wanted too. Have money left over (which I added to my wages so its nice to see a little bit more extra in my account) and feel the weight come off my shoulders.
It was the first time in a really long time I was able to budget properly and have no major out goings or direct debits. I had cancelled most of them as I didn't see the point in paying for things I hardly used. My car loan has been cleared since July so I've been able to save that money into a Christmas funds and it's nicely building up (which means come November, possibly October I can start getting on with the Christmas shopping and have a stress free Christmas come December) while still being able to save my set amount for a deposit and I also save a small bit weekly as a small spends if I want to treat myself which I will be as I've booked to get my nails refilled in October (11th) so it's nice to see clearly where my money goes and I don't have to worry about money or I don't have to worry if I can afford something one week.
I've made a shopping list for tomorrow so of course I'll be heading into Lidl as soon as I finish work to get my bits and bobs and I've still got plenty left over for our treat night. I've my coupons activated on my Lidl app so there's two things I would like to get and add to my meals. I've made a meal plan of what I want to make and have for lunch and dinner next week.
It's been an exhausting week I have to say so I'm thankful tomorrow is Friday. I've had a splitting headache since Tuesday which I'm putting it down to heat and lack of water intake which is one of my biggest downfalls, oh and lack of exercise which I seriously need to get myself back into.
Between being busy in work and coming home and being even more busy and not getting to relax until around 9pm and then having to wake at 4.30 am, some days my body physically and emotionally has enough and I would love nothing more than to spend a day in bed. Saturday morning I plan to have a decent lie on, but I say that all the time and I then I'm awake at 6am. I don't mind as such as I am up doing the house work and cooking so by 11am, I usually have the day to myself to potter about.
I have my last counselling session today which I will then return after Christmas. I usually stop going around September/October as I find that I'm pretty much just working and saving for Xmas and nothing really happens, physically anyways. Mentally I keep a journal and then when I return to my sessions we have a quick read and see how I've been getting on. Its been like that for over 5 years and (touch wood!) it says like that. I've learned to be able to deal with things a lot better.
My last Spotify payment is either today or tomorrow and then at the end of the month my monthly health insurance is due and then next month, my calender is completely free of direct debits and I've only got my health insurance that will come out of my account. I haven't seen a clear calender in years. It's great!
I came home from work and cooked my OH his meals and I made myself a cup of tea before I head off. My dinner is defrosting which I'll have when I come home, have a shower and then I'll have one more day left in work.
I treated myself to a meal from Burger King for my lunch today. I haven't had BK in about 2 years and I rembered why as well. It was horrible. It was nice to treat myself but I think ill stick to my lunches that I make. I left my lunch in work to have tomorrow so I won't go out for lunch.
If my days flew in like today, then I wouldn't hate my job as much haha! One minute I'm clocking in to start and the next minute I'm clocking out. It probably helped that I had a 20 mins nap in the locker room during my lunch hour so that gave me a bit more energy to finish off the day. Either ways, I ran out of work. It was great.
This morning at 5am, I had €123.51 in my account (after rent was taken out, savings transfered and counselling paid for)
I was absolutely starving by the time my morning break came around and in my eyes the vending machine was a lot closer than the fridge to get my food I had brought in so I spend €1.40 on a bar and €1.20 on a packet of crisps. Stupid, I know but I was craving chocolate and crisps. So that left me with €120.91. As soon as I seen that in my account, all I kept thinking was, I spent money on something I didn't even really need but my lesson was well and truly learned. Don't use my card to buy food from a vending machine, it's just unnecessary. This was at 9.30am. By the time 11am rolled around for my hourly lunch, I wasn't even that hungry to eat the lunch I had made and I just ate my Yogurt and mandeian so by the time it was 2.30pm, its safe to say I was starving! Normally I have a porridge and coffee before I go to work but for some reason this morning I had no appetite and I felt sick even thinking about having breakfast. I put it down to exhaustion.
I had an appointment at 3.30pm which is a 25-30 minutes drive, could of been more if there was heavy traffic so I was more than happy to get there in plenty of time. Apointment didn't even last long, I just needed to readjust a couple of settings on my hearing aids. I ran into a newsagent shop and picked up a protein bar for €2.49! I didn't even look at the price when I was picking it up. Talk about unnecessary spending! It was more of a refuling as I could feel my stomach tightening I was getting that hungry. Today is a prime example of how bad my eating habits can get if I don't watch what I'm eating.
I was running low on petrol so I done my petrol top up, which I do every 2 weeks. It was €25 and I purposely used the card machine at the pump just so I didn't have to go into the actual shop. I'll be doing that in future, it's never registered with me to do that before.
€93.42 and I hadn't even started my shopping yet. Eeekkk!
I eventually went into Lidl to do my weekly food shopping. I activated my coupons that I wanted to use and I wrote a shopping list the night before so I got all that I needed. Unfortunately this weekly shop, I needed more than I would usually get. I needed to top up on dog food, cleaning supplies, shampoos and shower gels along with food that I needed to buy to make dinner for the week and supplies for my lunch during the week (soda bread and sugar free beans, my favourite!) The last couple of weeks my shopping would amount to €40 being the highest. Today it was.... €51.50! But the way I see it now is, the dog will be well fed for the next two weeks and I've plenty of cleaning supplies so I won't have to top up for a while. I've got I needed for dinner and lunch so I'm happy with that.
Currently I have €44.81 in my account.
It's Friday and it also means it's take away night and its my turn but honestly I don't mind spending little or nothing tonight or over the next couple of days as I have built up a rainy day funds in case I do decide I need to get something throughout the next 7 days before payday. I doubt I will as I've no plans to do anything this weekend apart from visiting my Mam and taking it easy this weekend. My OH is in work Saturday and Sunday so we won't be going anywhere and my friends have their own plans so I won't be meeting anyone.
I don't feel like I don't have any money per se but I feel like I could of made better choices in terms of spending money on chocolate and crisps when it wasn't necessary to. But overal, when all is done and paid for, rent is paid and savings are accounted for, I can still treat myself and still feel easy.
My Christmas savings account is starting to look better so I'm feeling less stressed about that. My house deposit is building and by the end of the year I'll be closer to 10k then thinking I'm nowhere near it so that's a nice positive. My rainy day savings is a great back up to have in case of "emergencies".
I rose from my bed at 8am and I was delighted with that. The lie on I had was just fabulous. I woke up feeling completely well rested.
I started on the meal prepping - I made Lasagne with turkey mince and homemade Tomato sauce so they are in 5 tupperwear boxes in the freezer (some left over for LO for their dinner tomorrow when OH collects them for a few hours) ready to be heated for my dinner during the week. I made my OH his meals for tomorrow. I scrubbed the kitchen, hall, stairs, bathroom, our room and LO's room and sprayed the house with freshener so not only does the house look sparkling, it also smells fantastic.
I put two loads of washing on at 9am and hung them out to dry and about 30 minutes ago I went outside as I was sure they would be bone dry, unfortunately not. Although it's extremely windy outside, there's no sun or heat so stupidly I taught the clothes would be dried. They weren't damp but not 100% dried so I currently have them on the radiators around the house and sweet Jesus the smell of fresh air and fabric conditioner is really waffting through the house and it smells gorgeous and just fresh. They will be completely dried in the next hour plus the house will be heated as well. I could feel the cold air throughout the house this morning but a dressing gown and cleaning up quickly put the heat back into me. It looks like the cold mornings and evenings are going to be creeping back in slowly.
My OH rang me from work to say he wasn't feeling the best and needed something for his sinus. He suffers with his sinus regardless of the weather (and its not covid either thank god) so he asked me to run to the chemist if I wasn't busy. While in the chemist, I spotted a paw petrol PJ set and of course, LO loves paw petrol, I knew I had to buy it. In total that costed me €14.15.
Eeekkk that wasn't my plan to spend today, I wasn't planning spending at all today.
My take away last night was an absolute disappointment and I should of opted for my OHs idea to get a pizza instead but I wasn't in the humour so I bought a kebab and chips from the chip shop. That costed me €13. I felt so rotten afterwards and I genuinely couldn't get comfortable in bed so I am going to assume I ate too much! The only saving grace from my take away was knowing I only spent €13 as OH didn't want me to buy his takeaway if it wasn't from the same place so I didn't waste too much money.
Total in my account now: €17.66
OH is in work tomorrow so my plan is to start a book knowing clothes are washed and (almost dried), the bedsheets are changed, the house is cleaned and the dinner is made for the week so I don't have anything to do. I can read in peace. He is also picking up LO from their mammies house tomorrow for a couple of hours so I'm looking forward to that.
This evening is a mixed one. We are in the humour of going on a drive, possibly to the beach but there is also new restrictions in place and the Guards are out in force and stopping people so we know its not worth the hassel to go anywhere and enjoy ourselves. So it's a choice of going out (without getting out of the car) or sitting in and watch telly and possibly start a book. The possibilities are endless haha!!
I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow, or better still I have no reason to go anywhere tomorrow so hopefully it's a NSD!
I'm feeling a bit meh today. Like time is going slow but I've no reason to rush around and do anything.
I took my time awaking up this morning. The only reason I woke up was because my FIL had his telly screaming at him and he refuses to wear his hearing aids so everyone in the house has to listen to what he's watching, regardless of the time. Even the poor dog would rather be sat outside than listen to the telly. That didn't set me off to a good day. I would of gladly stayed in bed all morning but at 8am, I got myself up. Mind you I spent all day in my pj's and dressing down so I haven't left the house.
I put a bed sheet wash in the machine and immediately my FIL decided he wanted to wash his clothes as well, considering he had all week while myself and my OH were in work to do it seeing as he's been sat in doors doing nothing else, just watching telly but the one time he sees me he wants to use it. I wasn't impressed and I told him he can wait because I've literally just turned the machine on. Needless to say, he pottered off to the sitting room and didn't move for the day, he never used the machine after making a deal of it. I'm not even going to tell him the machine is free because my clothes have been on the line since 10am so he's well aware the machine is free. That made me feel even more humourless to the day itself. It's like he done it just for no reasons and now he's still sat in the same place he was this morning, only moving to make tea and his dinner.
I went outside to bring the sheets in as they were dry and there was bird poo on my white sheets. Immediately I felt like today was just trying to make me feel miserable. The rest of my clothes were fine so I put the sheets back into the machine with a fabric cleaner and pink varnish that removes stains. It worked a little bit so its back on the line.
I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and wrote out my Christmas list of who I have to buy for so I'm hoping to start that in about 2 weeks as I am off work for a week in 2 weeks time and I plan to get the bulk of my list done so I can buy the small little bits as the weeks go on. Its nice to see the list laid out completely and I know exactly what I need to buy and who to buy for.
I spent 2 hours looking around at housing associations and schemes that are available in Ireland and I've signed up to them so hopefully I will get emails tomorrow leading me in the direction I need to go in but I'm going to be continuing to save in the mean time. It's more for back up and reassurance that in 18 months and I've my deposit and we can't be approved for a mortage then I've either avenues to fall back on. That drained me a bit as there was a couple of places I had to email and one place emailed me back saying my email bounced and the address wasn't regonised so I've to look into that and find out their actual address but overal it was nice to go ahead and plan other a avenues. But the positive spin on it is that I can save comfortably and still enjoy life.
My OH should be home soon with LO so they will distract me for a couple of hours and keep my spirits up. I made LO lasenge so I'm hoping they will love that and of course, ice cream after. I'm dying to see their little face and just play with their toys and run around. I'm more of a big child when LO is around!
My eating today was horrendous again. I can't just stop eating and when I do stop, I'm not full and 10 minutes later I'm finding something else to eat. I really do need to start exercising and using the MyFitnessPal app again. Plus my water intake is almost next to none. I've a 1litre bottle that I should be drinking at least 3 times a day but I've just lost all motivation to look after myself healthily and physically which explains why I feel lethargic and down.
I had a 3 hour nap yesterday which then messed up my sleeping during the night so that's another factor of why I feel meh today. I will admit, it hasn't been a nice day. I didn't get to start my book like I planned as my head space was filled with constant taughts and concerns that I couldn't concentrate properly.
I'm so thankful for this thread as I feel I'm getting it off my chest rather than holding it all in.
My OH is feeling the same at the minute.
Between being extremely busy in work and trying to balance life, it's like when we sit down, we've to get back up and do something else. Personally I think we need a holiday or a weekend away but if course the current crisis we are in, it's not remotely possible to go anywhere. Ireland is on phase 3 lockdown and there are talks about another complete lockdown if he numbers continue to rise. There have been positive cases in my workplace and my OHs workplace so there's constant stress around that and what we are going to do. My OH works in a hospital and I work in retail so a mix of those two, it's frightening what we can come up against if no one is careful.
I had a lovely chat with my Mam on the phone and I also rang my Grandparents so it was nice to talk to them and have a banter about everything and anything. I tried to visit my grandparents but I don't want to risk it as I'm terrified of passing anything on. Thank god for WhatsApp video call as I can still see them and they are a whizz at the video calling! Much better than I am! My Mam lives on her own and loves it. She's currently in the process of doing some DIY and she also works from home so she's happy going about her business.
It's been a NSD of course and I still have €17.99 in my account so I'm happy with that.
Replies
*Tesco Credit card - £3604.30* - £0.00
*Finance - £581.91 - £0.00
*Dad loan - £5300 - £3800
*M+S Credit Card - £0
*MBNA Credit Card - £1211.88 - £0
*Virgin Credit Card - £3075 - £0
*Total debt - £3800*
*Sinking Fund - £2500/£2500*
*Emergency Fund -£250/£5000*
*Mortgage Overpayment - £46.90/£1000*
Premium Bonds - £200/£1000
Facing Reality - My Debt Free Diary
The fest we had last night was really nice. We went into Lidl and spent €20 on loads of little bits to fill a plate, a bit like you would get if you went into a food buffet. It wasnt extravagant and we also treated ourselves to dessert which I didn't end up eating as I was full but I will definitely have tonight when LO goes to bed. OH ate like it was his last meal and devoured it all. We watched Netflix and took it easy. Honestly it was lovely. OH suggested we do the same next Friday night as we've still food left over that are frozen and seeing as it will be my turn to buy, I think I will get some little extras to treat ourselves. We had a lovely chat about life and how we are while we were cooking. It was needed. We may live together, sleep and wake up next to each other but sometimes life can become busy and we find ourselves too tired to say much.
This morning I was awake at 7.30am and started on my food prepping. I made Irish coddle for my dinner during the week (that's currently cooking away in the slow cooker and it smells devine!) I made butternut squash soup for my lunch during the week and that's in a glass container in the fridge so I can scoop out each day. I also made OH his meals for during the week (ran out of a couple of things to cook but overal majority of it was done. He needs to go and do his food shopping). I cleaned the kitchen to the point where its sparkling now and smells like Zeflora Grapefruit. It's lovely. I hoovered the landing, stairs and our bedroom. OH says he will clean bathrooms when he comes home from work so that's saved me some time to sit down and relax. I had a long hot shower after. Overal this Saturday morning has been busy but it's great to have everything done. It means I can literally float about and do whatever and not have to rush around because I usually find if I don't do what I need to do, I won't enjoy myself later on as I'm stressing.
I washed and hung out two loads of washing while I was cooking this morning so they are outside drying and the fresh air smell on them will be glorious. Its windy and sunny outside so it won't take them long.
I told my grandparents I will visit them today as I haven't seen them in a while so I'll be sure to be fed until I'm stuffed which suits me as I haven't had breakfast yet haha!
LO is staying over this weekend and I can't wait to see their little face. The weather is supposed to be lovely tomorrow so we've made plans to go to the local park with them for a run around and bring my dog as well. LO will love that. I've washed and dried their bedsheets so their bed is clean and fresh, their room is clean so they can mess it up again in no time haha. OH bought a couple of groceries for LO while we were in Lidl so they are well fed this weekend.
It also looks like a NSD today as I've no reasons to go anywhere. I have what I need. I don't have to go to the phone shop today as it's near my job so I can visit on Monday if needs be.
Have a good weekend 😊 X
I gave up rushing and just took at my own pace. I wasn't going to rush only to expect more rush load and then a comment like "We left the weekend load there for you to finish because we knew you would do it quickly". I noped out of there. I wasn't going to finish someone else's job for them.
As the day went on, my day got better as I knew it was closer to home time so I soon forgot about the issue I was having earlier on this morning but it made me realise that I'm not doing to be a skivvy and allow workloads to be pilled onto me because someone else couldn't be relied on. That's not my problem.
OH was off work today and I came to a sparkling clean house, washing on the line and a cup of tea ready and waiting for me. To be honest I was shocked. All day in work I was half expecting to come home and he would be still pottering around with no housework completed but boy was I wrong. The bathroom is sparkling. Our bedroom smells so fresh. I changed the sheets on Saturday so he obviously left the windows open all day to let in the fresh air. The house has been hoovered and mopped. It felt weird to come home and seeing I literally didn't have to do anything but to eat my dinner and have a shower and it's only 4pm. Usually by now I'm still rushing around sorting the house out and sorting out meals before I can sit down so this is a nice change to a Monday afternoon.
Yesterday was a fabulous day. I had such a lovely time with LO. We played and watched some TV and went outside for a little bit to have some fresh air and sun on us. It was lovely.
I went to Vodafone and spent €20 for a new sim card so that was my only spends during the weekend. My total in my account is €45.25 and that's very rare for a Monday to have over €10 in my bank account 3 days before pay day so it's safe to say I'm doing fairly well in budgeting and batch cooking my meals. Lunch today was Butternut squash soup (I won't lie, it was lovely) that I had made for the week and dinner was Irish coddle (I used a healthier version) that I had freeze into lunch boxes that I can have for the week. The canteen was full of sweets and chocolate that someone had brought in and I didn't have anything as I wanted to keep on eating my healthy meals and not ruin my little diet I have going on. I'm not completly watching what I eat but I try not to eat sweets and chocolate during the week as I find I end up ruining my meal plans and then I'm wasting food.
It was a NSD and all was bought by my OH as he went to the shops this morning after his workout this morning and got a couple of nice shower gels and some cleaning supplies that was needed. I was planning on restocking cleaning peoducts during my shop on friday but it looks like I'll just have to get a couple of bits rather than loads so I was happy with that. Overal I think he spent €30 in or around as he got LO a few bits for tomorrow.
OH is off work again tomorrow (lucky so and so!) and has LO for the day so I'll get to see them when I come home from work which will be another fun day. If the weather sees fit, a walk around the block and an ice cream treat from the ice cream man (for LO of course!)
Hopefully tomorrow morning in work won't get off to a bad start but wishful thinking as delivery load looks like it will keep be busy until lunch time. Oh well. If it makes the time go by fast then I don't mind.
Not much to report today but it's been lovely to come home to a clean house and see washing on the line. The sun shining and the dog is happy.
3 more days until payday. It looks like payday this week will be hit a little bit as I've 2 things that I've to pay for and they are necessary. I attend counselling once a month which is €30 and the last of my Spotify payment €9.99 is also due the same day (its the last payment so I don't have to worry about it afterwards) . It's also my turn to buy the take away (or fake take away depends on how we feel on Friday) and of course my grocery shopping but I also have €45.25 left in my account now so I can add that onto my wages if needs be but I'm hoping I should be okay as I am finding I have more NSDs then I do spending days so we'll see but thankfully my anxiety in terms of money and trying to keep track on savings has subsided as I find I can budget a lot more than I taught and I can still enjoy myself. I don't dread payday as much as I used too.
If I haven't had any spend days before Wednesday night then I can add the €45.28 into my Rainy day funds and still have money free from my wages on Thursday morning.
X
I was exhausted this morning I have to say but I got through the day. I woke up 10 minutes earlier than my usual alarm which is normally 4.30am so I didn't see the point in lying in bed any longer seeing as I had time to potter around. I felt sick this morning and I was ready to call it a day before I had even clocked in in work. I felt like I wanted to puke and even if I drank water, I still felt sickly but as the day went on I started to feel normal so I say I felt sick because I was tired. I find when I'm exhausted I feel a lot worst than I probably am. My morning flew by and before I knew it it was time to go home and I'm almost halfway through the week.
OH was off work so of course, his duties were the same as yesterday and I came home to a clean house, washing on the line. LO had just came back from their walk with their daddy so they were delighted, happy and content and daddy of course was happy to be on top of house work and still be able to mind LO without stressing himself out, so that's a plus! As soon as LO seen me when they came into the house, they gave me the biggest bear hug, it was lovely. The last couple of weeks when my OH has LO during the day, it seems like he stresses out trying to juggle minding LO and going about his business which would be meal prepping or a small clean up. I've explained that LO is old enough to occupy themselves while in the same room so it's doable to do a quick clean up, or make a quick meal while LO is entertained playing with their car or other toys. He tries to not stick them in front of the TV while doing what needs to be done as it isn't fair on them so LO enjoys playing by themselves with their toys and still being around daddy. It's nice to see he's getting that bit comfortable to allow LO to run around and have fun and not feel like he constantly has to keep his eye on them. Of course, being his one and only, he's going to do all he can to make sure they are okay, it seems that he's finding his balance and all isn't chaotic when I come home. I played with LO for a few hours before OH gave them a bath and dropped them back to their mammys house. It was a lovely afternoon.
It's now 7.10pm and I know if I blink again, I will pass out so it looks like it'll be an early night for me which I don't mind as it seems I've some catching up to do on sleep seeing as the last two nights have been late enough staying up.
X
Successful NSDs leading up to payday. I was surprised to see I was able to watch my money, live frugally and spend what I needed too rather than what I wanted too. Have money left over (which I added to my wages so its nice to see a little bit more extra in my account) and feel the weight come off my shoulders.
It was the first time in a really long time I was able to budget properly and have no major out goings or direct debits. I had cancelled most of them as I didn't see the point in paying for things I hardly used. My car loan has been cleared since July so I've been able to save that money into a Christmas funds and it's nicely building up (which means come November, possibly October I can start getting on with the Christmas shopping and have a stress free Christmas come December) while still being able to save my set amount for a deposit and I also save a small bit weekly as a small spends if I want to treat myself which I will be as I've booked to get my nails refilled in October (11th) so it's nice to see clearly where my money goes and I don't have to worry about money or I don't have to worry if I can afford something one week.
I've made a shopping list for tomorrow so of course I'll be heading into Lidl as soon as I finish work to get my bits and bobs and I've still got plenty left over for our treat night. I've my coupons activated on my Lidl app so there's two things I would like to get and add to my meals. I've made a meal plan of what I want to make and have for lunch and dinner next week.
It's been an exhausting week I have to say so I'm thankful tomorrow is Friday. I've had a splitting headache since Tuesday which I'm putting it down to heat and lack of water intake which is one of my biggest downfalls, oh and lack of exercise which I seriously need to get myself back into.
Between being busy in work and coming home and being even more busy and not getting to relax until around 9pm and then having to wake at 4.30 am, some days my body physically and emotionally has enough and I would love nothing more than to spend a day in bed. Saturday morning I plan to have a decent lie on, but I say that all the time and I then I'm awake at 6am. I don't mind as such as I am up doing the house work and cooking so by 11am, I usually have the day to myself to potter about.
I have my last counselling session today which I will then return after Christmas. I usually stop going around September/October as I find that I'm pretty much just working and saving for Xmas and nothing really happens, physically anyways. Mentally I keep a journal and then when I return to my sessions we have a quick read and see how I've been getting on. Its been like that for over 5 years and (touch wood!) it says like that. I've learned to be able to deal with things a lot better.
My last Spotify payment is either today or tomorrow and then at the end of the month my monthly health insurance is due and then next month, my calender is completely free of direct debits and I've only got my health insurance that will come out of my account. I haven't seen a clear calender in years. It's great!
I came home from work and cooked my OH his meals and I made myself a cup of tea before I head off. My dinner is defrosting which I'll have when I come home, have a shower and then I'll have one more day left in work.
I treated myself to a meal from Burger King for my lunch today. I haven't had BK in about 2 years and I rembered why as well. It was horrible. It was nice to treat myself but I think ill stick to my lunches that I make. I left my lunch in work to have tomorrow so I won't go out for lunch.
X
This morning at 5am, I had €123.51 in my account (after rent was taken out, savings transfered and counselling paid for)
I was absolutely starving by the time my morning break came around and in my eyes the vending machine was a lot closer than the fridge to get my food I had brought in so I spend €1.40 on a bar and €1.20 on a packet of crisps. Stupid, I know but I was craving chocolate and crisps. So that left me with €120.91. As soon as I seen that in my account, all I kept thinking was, I spent money on something I didn't even really need but my lesson was well and truly learned. Don't use my card to buy food from a vending machine, it's just unnecessary. This was at 9.30am. By the time 11am rolled around for my hourly lunch, I wasn't even that hungry to eat the lunch I had made and I just ate my Yogurt and mandeian so by the time it was 2.30pm, its safe to say I was starving! Normally I have a porridge and coffee before I go to work but for some reason this morning I had no appetite and I felt sick even thinking about having breakfast. I put it down to exhaustion.
I had an appointment at 3.30pm which is a 25-30 minutes drive, could of been more if there was heavy traffic so I was more than happy to get there in plenty of time. Apointment didn't even last long, I just needed to readjust a couple of settings on my hearing aids. I ran into a newsagent shop and picked up a protein bar for €2.49! I didn't even look at the price when I was picking it up. Talk about unnecessary spending! It was more of a refuling as I could feel my stomach tightening I was getting that hungry. Today is a prime example of how bad my eating habits can get if I don't watch what I'm eating.
I was running low on petrol so I done my petrol top up, which I do every 2 weeks. It was €25 and I purposely used the card machine at the pump just so I didn't have to go into the actual shop. I'll be doing that in future, it's never registered with me to do that before.
€93.42 and I hadn't even started my shopping yet. Eeekkk!
I eventually went into Lidl to do my weekly food shopping. I activated my coupons that I wanted to use and I wrote a shopping list the night before so I got all that I needed. Unfortunately this weekly shop, I needed more than I would usually get. I needed to top up on dog food, cleaning supplies, shampoos and shower gels along with food that I needed to buy to make dinner for the week and supplies for my lunch during the week (soda bread and sugar free beans, my favourite!) The last couple of weeks my shopping would amount to €40 being the highest. Today it was.... €51.50! But the way I see it now is, the dog will be well fed for the next two weeks and I've plenty of cleaning supplies so I won't have to top up for a while. I've got I needed for dinner and lunch so I'm happy with that.
Currently I have €44.81 in my account.
It's Friday and it also means it's take away night and its my turn but honestly I don't mind spending little or nothing tonight or over the next couple of days as I have built up a rainy day funds in case I do decide I need to get something throughout the next 7 days before payday. I doubt I will as I've no plans to do anything this weekend apart from visiting my Mam and taking it easy this weekend. My OH is in work Saturday and Sunday so we won't be going anywhere and my friends have their own plans so I won't be meeting anyone.
I don't feel like I don't have any money per se but I feel like I could of made better choices in terms of spending money on chocolate and crisps when it wasn't necessary to. But overal, when all is done and paid for, rent is paid and savings are accounted for, I can still treat myself and still feel easy.
My Christmas savings account is starting to look better so I'm feeling less stressed about that. My house deposit is building and by the end of the year I'll be closer to 10k then thinking I'm nowhere near it so that's a nice positive. My rainy day savings is a great back up to have in case of "emergencies".
Now to prep OHs meals and decide what to order.
X
I started on the meal prepping - I made Lasagne with turkey mince and homemade Tomato sauce so they are in 5 tupperwear boxes in the freezer (some left over for LO for their dinner tomorrow when OH collects them for a few hours) ready to be heated for my dinner during the week. I made my OH his meals for tomorrow. I scrubbed the kitchen, hall, stairs, bathroom, our room and LO's room and sprayed the house with freshener so not only does the house look sparkling, it also smells fantastic.
I put two loads of washing on at 9am and hung them out to dry and about 30 minutes ago I went outside as I was sure they would be bone dry, unfortunately not. Although it's extremely windy outside, there's no sun or heat so stupidly I taught the clothes would be dried. They weren't damp but not 100% dried so I currently have them on the radiators around the house and sweet Jesus the smell of fresh air and fabric conditioner is really waffting through the house and it smells gorgeous and just fresh. They will be completely dried in the next hour plus the house will be heated as well. I could feel the cold air throughout the house this morning but a dressing gown and cleaning up quickly put the heat back into me. It looks like the cold mornings and evenings are going to be creeping back in slowly.
My OH rang me from work to say he wasn't feeling the best and needed something for his sinus. He suffers with his sinus regardless of the weather (and its not covid either thank god) so he asked me to run to the chemist if I wasn't busy. While in the chemist, I spotted a paw petrol PJ set and of course, LO loves paw petrol, I knew I had to buy it. In total that costed me €14.15.
Eeekkk that wasn't my plan to spend today, I wasn't planning spending at all today.
My take away last night was an absolute disappointment and I should of opted for my OHs idea to get a pizza instead but I wasn't in the humour so I bought a kebab and chips from the chip shop. That costed me €13. I felt so rotten afterwards and I genuinely couldn't get comfortable in bed so I am going to assume I ate too much! The only saving grace from my take away was knowing I only spent €13 as OH didn't want me to buy his takeaway if it wasn't from the same place so I didn't waste too much money.
Total in my account now: €17.66
OH is in work tomorrow so my plan is to start a book knowing clothes are washed and (almost dried), the bedsheets are changed, the house is cleaned and the dinner is made for the week so I don't have anything to do. I can read in peace. He is also picking up LO from their mammies house tomorrow for a couple of hours so I'm looking forward to that.
This evening is a mixed one. We are in the humour of going on a drive, possibly to the beach but there is also new restrictions in place and the Guards are out in force and stopping people so we know its not worth the hassel to go anywhere and enjoy ourselves. So it's a choice of going out (without getting out of the car) or sitting in and watch telly and possibly start a book. The possibilities are endless haha!!
I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow, or better still I have no reason to go anywhere tomorrow so hopefully it's a NSD!
Hope everyone is keeping safe X
I took my time awaking up this morning. The only reason I woke up was because my FIL had his telly screaming at him and he refuses to wear his hearing aids so everyone in the house has to listen to what he's watching, regardless of the time. Even the poor dog would rather be sat outside than listen to the telly. That didn't set me off to a good day. I would of gladly stayed in bed all morning but at 8am, I got myself up. Mind you I spent all day in my pj's and dressing down so I haven't left the house.
I put a bed sheet wash in the machine and immediately my FIL decided he wanted to wash his clothes as well, considering he had all week while myself and my OH were in work to do it seeing as he's been sat in doors doing nothing else, just watching telly but the one time he sees me he wants to use it. I wasn't impressed and I told him he can wait because I've literally just turned the machine on. Needless to say, he pottered off to the sitting room and didn't move for the day, he never used the machine after making a deal of it. I'm not even going to tell him the machine is free because my clothes have been on the line since 10am so he's well aware the machine is free. That made me feel even more humourless to the day itself. It's like he done it just for no reasons and now he's still sat in the same place he was this morning, only moving to make tea and his dinner.
I went outside to bring the sheets in as they were dry and there was bird poo on my white sheets. Immediately I felt like today was just trying to make me feel miserable. The rest of my clothes were fine so I put the sheets back into the machine with a fabric cleaner and pink varnish that removes stains. It worked a little bit so its back on the line.
I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and wrote out my Christmas list of who I have to buy for so I'm hoping to start that in about 2 weeks as I am off work for a week in 2 weeks time and I plan to get the bulk of my list done so I can buy the small little bits as the weeks go on. Its nice to see the list laid out completely and I know exactly what I need to buy and who to buy for.
I spent 2 hours looking around at housing associations and schemes that are available in Ireland and I've signed up to them so hopefully I will get emails tomorrow leading me in the direction I need to go in but I'm going to be continuing to save in the mean time. It's more for back up and reassurance that in 18 months and I've my deposit and we can't be approved for a mortage then I've either avenues to fall back on. That drained me a bit as there was a couple of places I had to email and one place emailed me back saying my email bounced and the address wasn't regonised so I've to look into that and find out their actual address but overal it was nice to go ahead and plan other a avenues. But the positive spin on it is that I can save comfortably and still enjoy life.
My OH should be home soon with LO so they will distract me for a couple of hours and keep my spirits up. I made LO lasenge so I'm hoping they will love that and of course, ice cream after. I'm dying to see their little face and just play with their toys and run around. I'm more of a big child when LO is around!
My eating today was horrendous again. I can't just stop eating and when I do stop, I'm not full and 10 minutes later I'm finding something else to eat. I really do need to start exercising and using the MyFitnessPal app again. Plus my water intake is almost next to none. I've a 1litre bottle that I should be drinking at least 3 times a day but I've just lost all motivation to look after myself healthily and physically which explains why I feel lethargic and down.
I had a 3 hour nap yesterday which then messed up my sleeping during the night so that's another factor of why I feel meh today. I will admit, it hasn't been a nice day. I didn't get to start my book like I planned as my head space was filled with constant taughts and concerns that I couldn't concentrate properly.
I'm so thankful for this thread as I feel I'm getting it off my chest rather than holding it all in.
My OH is feeling the same at the minute.
Between being extremely busy in work and trying to balance life, it's like when we sit down, we've to get back up and do something else. Personally I think we need a holiday or a weekend away but if course the current crisis we are in, it's not remotely possible to go anywhere. Ireland is on phase 3 lockdown and there are talks about another complete lockdown if he numbers continue to rise. There have been positive cases in my workplace and my OHs workplace so there's constant stress around that and what we are going to do. My OH works in a hospital and I work in retail so a mix of those two, it's frightening what we can come up against if no one is careful.
I had a lovely chat with my Mam on the phone and I also rang my Grandparents so it was nice to talk to them and have a banter about everything and anything. I tried to visit my grandparents but I don't want to risk it as I'm terrified of passing anything on. Thank god for WhatsApp video call as I can still see them and they are a whizz at the video calling! Much better than I am! My Mam lives on her own and loves it. She's currently in the process of doing some DIY and she also works from home so she's happy going about her business.
It's been a NSD of course and I still have €17.99 in my account so I'm happy with that.
Sorry about the rant and moaning.
X