The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

Thanks @beanielou and @PennysIntoPounds, I think reaching rock bottom this year and being forced to take time out, has made me rethink every aspect of my life. I still feel quite mentally fragile most days, so I am trying to take steps to keep things in as much balance as possible.

We're off to Nando's tonight cos I can't be bothered to cook anything and my son has finished all of his mock exams. My eating out budget is going to take a hit, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do... lol.

Sun_Addict

Hope you enjoyed the Nando’s. We don’t have a conventional Christmas. I don’t eat meat for a start. We often have curry for Christmas dinner. Just do whatever feels right for you. 

beanielou

Havent had a cheeky wee Nando's since before the pandemic.
Hope you enjoy 

Keedie

Oh I love a cheeky Nando's @beanielou! My son devoured his food tonight and was gossiping my ear off about some documentary he'd watched on YouTube. Then soon after we'd got home  his dad dropped off some trainers and a jacket for him, as he's moving out of his flat. They have similar fashion styles so my son was excited, but his dad is more flashy so some of the trainers aren't his style. But he's got that PS5 at the back of his mind, as he said he'll sell whatever he knows he won't wear. 

I'm glad that a traditional Christmas isn't being enforced and you can enjoy what works for you @Sun_Addict. I'll definitely be doing that from now on. I'm slowly learning that life doesn't always have to be about accommodating others at the expense of ourselves. I'm actually more excited about Christmas this year, as I get the best of both worlds: time with family on a manageable timeframe and time with just my son and some glorious me-time too 🤗.

Makingabobor2

Sounds like a great plan for Christmas.

Humdinger1

So proud and happy for you @Keedie! Smashing the work meeting; deciding what works for you at Christmas; paying down your debt.  A marching band is on its way love Humdinger xx 

AntoMac

Just caught up Keedie. You’re still doing brilliantly with your debt and with standing up for yourself correctly at your work meeting x 

AntoMac

By the way, going back to your dentist experience - My Mum and her sister often recount the story of their great uncle who was a Welsh miner. He ‘wasn’t letting no dentist go near his mouth’, so he did his own tooth extraction with a knife! They’d find him sat there with a blood soaked towel round his face. Still makes me wince thinking about it! I remember him as a sweet and quiet old man but boy he must have been tough! 

Keedie

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement, it really makes a difference and I appreciate how much it motivates me to keep pushing forward 🤗.

Your great uncle sounds fearless @AntoMac! 😳 I can't imagine extracting my own tooth with a knife. But I do remember my older brother encouraging me to wrap string around my loose teeth when I was younger, so that he could tie it to the bathroom door and remove my tooth for me 😂. I remember wanting my tooth fairy money and one tooth was so loose and just hanging with barely anything and it had gone past the hurting stage, but it was getting annoying. My mum wasn't very impressed with us doing that, but it had worked. I'm too much of a wuss to even consider doing that now 😬🤦🏾‍♀️.

My cash budgeting is going well, but I think I need a weekly take away budget and not a monthly one as it's all gone... 🙈. But it's nice to have spending money for myself, and I'm going to focus on keeping a better track of my expenses. I've kind of got much better with the budgeting side of things, but my expense tracking is non-existent so I need to step that up so that I can actually see where I am going wrong and how much I am really spending in the different categories.

My son has been ill and not been able to go to college the last few days as he's had a stomach bug and he's feeling really weak. So he's been sleeping a lot and only eating a little bit. It's a shame I brought his travelcard on the weekend as he's not used it all. But at least I've not wasted money on his food for college as he hasn't gone anywhere. He seems a bit better today, but he's still quite lethargic and his teachers have set him work to do. He seems to have finally settled into college and has made friends now, at beginning of term, he was rather lonely. He's done very well for this term so far, he's coming into his own and he'll be done on 22 December, which is a bit late in my opinion, but at least he'll have a break from there (if you discount revising for January 2024 exams).

I've been getting more coins for my savings challenges, and managed to save £4 in £2 coins and £1.50 in 50p coins. And my brother gave me £10 the other day so that has boosted the Debt Buster pot back up to £25. So £225 to go until I can make another lump sum payment to my mum.

beanielou

Think of the teachers working up until then!