First Steps to Solvency

warby68

Great stuff @alt80.

Good brain winning over bad brain every time now even if its hard work.

Coincidently OH has (finally) started to try for half days on Friday. It makes such a difference. He still keeps his phone on a bit too much but this is real progress for him. Friday lunch together sounds just right for you two to keep building on things. You can take turns booking, try new places.

Mrs alt still has a lot to work on , the weight thing sounds so silly when she's healthier with a little more and you think she looks better as so will everyone else. I know you don't want the battle but I wouldn't completely give up on this issue. If she isn't putting enough in her body it will show in her mood too, all those tears etc. 

Your mate's still deluded but you see it with clear eyes now.

Kakiste

Absolutely right in this; "only time he wants to talk about business is to tell everyone who’ll listen what a !!!!!! legend he is" 
I've met some people through distant friends who are similar, they're known for railing on about how amazingly successful they are (I once sat next to one bloke at a wedding who in the first 25 minutes had told me how much his house, car and stock portfolio were worth despite us being total strangers!) but once the scales start to fall away from your eyes a bit then you realise that all the boasting is making up for any real substance in their lives. I think of that friendship group, most are now divorced, the vast majority have substance abuse problems of one kind or another and two have had to file for bankruptcy.  

getmore4less

Liking that idea of a lunch(afternoon tea?) and school pickup to kickstart the weekend.

Keep an eye out for groupon, buy a gift etc for discounted voucher deals.
Buy a gift often has £10 off or 20%-25%

Check out the local places for deals on FB and their webs sites.
If regular needs a bit of variety on food.

If the weather gets better maybe a picnic some where nice.

A quick google has me wanting to try this place.
https://zaapthai.co.uk/food/

alt80

Good morning. Had to smile at the ‘how to find cheap petrol and diesel’ article; it seems to be rising ridiculously quickly around here paid over £2/l to fill the Range Rover though tbf did make the mistake of filling at motorway services. Yeah I know. Today’s cal ‘stop, breathe, notice. Repeat.’ Sounds a bit !!!!!! sinister haha but might need the little breaks today tbh. No plan to spend, got a busy work day planned out sort of jobs I’d have completed and then given into addiction later to try to forget it idk ridiculous really.

@warby68 thank you. Very !!!!!! hard work tbh hoping it gets easier.

I don’t switch my phone off and tbh I probably should do of an evening just stop looking at work stuff/ emails etc. Wife likes the Friday lunch idea and has chosen somewhere to eat this week. Did have a momentary panic told her I wasn’t sure about this week but apparently it’s happening haha. 

Fwiw I don’t think her approach to her weight is healthy at all but she takes BMI lowest possible ‘healthy’ figure as a target I can’t argue with pros. You’re definitely right not eating enough can affect your mood.

My mate has always been a wally tbf so was I for spending my time chasing what’s been handed to him. 

@Kakiste yeah lot of my pre-lockdown circle pretty much the same, I was just as bad not going to pretend otherwise tbh. 

@getmore4less Tbf I am looking forward to it too. I’ve wrecked myself with years and years of stress tbh I’m a bit !!!!!! worn out, can’t do 7 day / 12 hours a day weeks anymore at all.

That’s going to be a job for the Mrs ha see if she can get some deals, often something around at lunchtime and will see some new places. Not sure about picnic will just wind up with chicken salad fml.

Not been to zaap in ages, pre-lockdown, last time was very busy, full of students made me feel really !!!!!! old lol but food was good. Some of it is spiced very hot. 

ladyholly

Two things strike me aboutyour latest post. Firstly and most important having to constantly restrict your food intake to acheive what you think is a healthy BMI is definitely not a healthy attitude to food and weight and restricting food choices to chicken salad is not only boring but missing several important nutrients especially for your son.

Secondly you made me laugh - who fills up on the motorway. Last time we put fuel in on the motorway my DH put £5 in which was just enough to get to another fuel station. I realise that £5 would probably not even move your car but I suspect it is a lesson learned.

getmore4less

ladyholly said:

Two things strike me aboutyour latest post. Firstly and most important having to constantly restrict your food intake to acheive what you think is a healthy BMI is definitely not a healthy attitude to food and weight and restricting food choices to chicken salad is not only boring but missing several important nutrients especially for your son.

Secondly you made me laugh - who fills up on the motorway. Last time we put fuel in on the motorway my DH put £5 in which was just enough to get to another fuel station. I realise that £5 would probably not even move your car but I suspect it is a lesson learned.

IT's the gas guzzler version of the RR, lucky to get from one service station to the next. 

Reminds me of some parts of the US where they measure distances at junction by how far to the next gas station.

getmore4less

Should have added that this lunch thing needs a budget, when we do them we try to keep it under £30.

That's where the vouchers and lunch specials come in handy as it can be £20-£25 and we have a couple of places(pubs ) where we get under £15 sometimes £10.
 

ladyholly

We have an old Mazda bongo. Probably not as much of a gas guzzler as your range rover but it is certainly not the most economical car out there. DH just refuses to pay motorway prices for fuel any more than he has  to. I didn't even know you could buy £5 worth still.

poppy811

Just wondered how things are?  Did you manage your Friday early finish?

alt80

Been a few days since I posted on here. Just about surviving through each day mainly by going to bed after work ha. Tbh things are !!!!!! awful rn personal finances seem the least of my problems; plan ticking along nicely. Need to check everything this weekend and make my manual card payments - not spent a lot this month. Everything rising in cost though. Running my home is expensive tbh feels a bit like the energy suppliers and city council seem to think I’m made of !!!!!! money. Def need to stop filling car on the motorway lol tbf I don’t usually think before I fill the tank ha. 

We did get out for lunch last Friday and will be going for lunch this Friday hopefully something I can carry on with going into the future too. Things at work are a !!!!!! nightmare one of my senior staff is very unhappy with recent changes in culture tbh he’s just getting worse. Know what I need to do but so !!!!!! difficult when it’s someone brought on board many years ago and tbh really looked up to and was delighted to have fml. Idk just a rant really not looking for solutions lol.