First Steps to Solvency

alt80

@CRANKY40 can peas grow now if planted or wait a bit? Been very cold here.

@JCS1 I’ll have a look thanks. Want to make an effort with family.




Right that’s me done, absolutely whacked and going to have an early night.

JCS1

Family membership just above £10 a month, so need to see what is nearby. I find it helps with planning where to go, as like to make sure get monies worth! Sleep well.

getmore4less

JCS1 said:

If your son likes history, maybe look into a national trust membership next year?  If you go to their website you can enter postcode to see what is nearby, to see if worth doing.

I was thinking about this as an option as it fits with outdoors walks and historical, 
plenty day trip type places within and hour and 2hr gets even more.

Some would make good overnighters(1-2n) 

Try a year and if it works do a lifetime membership,  looks pricy but at your ages a decent one off investment if going to get used and you get 11 years with son and life time for you both and can add in any grand children, 


A couple to add for a day  or more a weekend away as a base.


Just under 2 hours drive(probably a bit less in the truck) 

Bewdley and the Severn valley railway to Bridgnorth with the cliff railway(think mentioned this before if not here somewhere else)


Needs a full weekend or even two to do it all and a bit nearer 

IronBridge loads to see and do


Both have a range of accommodation not to far away.

warby68

Let's get counting the days again


It might have been a big slip up but you seem to be coming out the other side with something of a second lightbulb moment - that life can be good with what you already have. Business progress therefore means good just gets better, not the old thoughts of current = failure and next level too far away.  


All of a sudden your plans are sounding like ours when sons were young. If you add a sports club in for son and a bit of wider family time, your weekends will be full without much additional planning soon.


Finances under control. I don't think you've given yourself enough credit that your relapse didn't result in spending. I hope the wife's spend wasn't too damaging.

Blocking the druggie leech.


You've even got the number of coffees on the radar.


These are great steps forward in less than a week since your backstep.


Keep going @alt80

foxgloves

To be honest, @alt80, I think many of us have had to walk away from a toxic friendship or two as we get further into adulthood. It's not unusual & you shouldn't feel bad for doing it. Your agenda atm is staying clean on the substances front & working on self-esteem issues & a happy family life. None of these are remotely compatible with a druggie 'mate' who brings you down. Glad to hear you have blocked him.
F

CRANKY40

Hi @alt80  - Peas do OK when it's cool. If you're starting them off indoors you can plant them now, if you're planting them outdoors leave it until the weekend of 24/25th April when it's warmed up a bit oudoors. Any type of salad leaves usually pop up straight away too. If you grow them on the kitchen windowsill he can also have the fun of giving them to his mum to eat. My son hates lettuce but has grown loads "for mum" over the years. Cress is also super fast and edible (I'm thinking of things that he can see or use in a suitable small person time frame).

I agree with Warby. You may have made a slip up but you've come out of it showing yourself as an even better person than you were before. I'm really liking the new improved you and judging by the tone of this thread there are a good few others feeling the same. 

getmore4less suggests Ironbridge. It's lovely there and Blists Hill Victorian museum is fascinating - it's a live museum with people dressed in character and showing the Victorian way of life. The website is https://www.ironbridge.org.uk/explore/blists-hill-victorian-town/

I hope you and yours have a good day today.  As the poster on my office wall upstairs says, "It may not be easy but it is worth it". 

alt80

Could have spent the day in bed today horrible night's sleep last night just kept waking up been ill all day no reason to it. 5pm have dinner and tbh after just watch some tv might be in bed for 10 lol not worth panicking over it.

@getmore4less less of the grandad lol my son is 7 and you've already got him knocking some girl up haha seriously I'll have a look. Will put the places on my list thanks. 

@warby68 I do the days count at the end of the day. I'm ready to move on with my life tbh don't want the old life anymore. The rehab stuff isn't easy by any stretch but I think it's worth it tbh.

Re family plans it's odd I never did this stuff as a kid; sister and I were left to be feral kids most of the time possibly why I've never thought about the family days until I joined up here and people are like what you doing with your kid this weekend and I'm like sending him with wife to the inlaws lol. Only trips we had out as a family when I was a kid was a holiday abroad somewhere properly isolated and a Christmas weekend in London shopping. Remember it like yesterday absolute highlight of my year that was, used to spend the year looking forward to going there spending a load of money nothing changes ha last year only year I've not had a London weekender. Sister went one way and I went the other - she looked forward to the middle of nowhereland where there's no news from home and no one spoke English and I couldn't wait for trip to go and spaff a load of money once a year in Harrods. Says it !!!!!! all really lol.

As for wife's spends it was a £2.5k spend on a bag and the swimsuit. She's kept the swimsuit and sent the bag back so not the end of the world told her it's coming off the budget. Probably no surprise it was actually me who introduced her to this stuff in the first place on similar pre-Christmas trips to London ha.

@foxgloves I know where you're coming from though I feel terrible tbh we go back a long way and he's not in the greatest of places mentally, no real mates left and I'd like to be able to help him get off the stuff tbf but I just can't risk it right now. Wife's right he's not my responsibility. 

@CRANKY40 will give it a go. Don't know much about growing plants / gardening if you couldn't tell ha. 

Thanks for website and yeah onwards to better days all being well.

RelievedSheff

We know !!!!!! all about growing stuff but we have got chillies, carrots, parsnips and beetroot growing at the moment. All of which seem to be growing.

Could be something you have a go at with your son. Let him look after them, harvest them and then help you cook something with them.

Get that early night tonight if you need it.

alt80

Haha thought you were the earth mother type discounting the truckload of meat you get through lol. Think I might give it a go - he’d like it I think. 

Half thinking about going to bed now completely whacked fml def start thinking something seriously wrong with me when I’m like this. 

RelievedSheff

alt80 said:

Haha thought you were the earth mother type discounting the truckload of meat you get through lol. Think I might give it a go - he’d like it I think. 

Half thinking about going to bed now completely whacked fml def start thinking something seriously wrong with me when I’m like this. 

🤣🤣🤣

We are rubbish with plants normally.

Although since we have moved house our house plants have gone mad. 

We tried growing veggies at the old house without much success but have decided to give it another go now. See how we get on.

It was supposed to be something to do because we would be at home more this summer, but that might not be the case now if the van goes through 😀