NST July 2022: A Turtle Triathlon

abundant1972

... and on to today's post... 😎

Yesterday I had an amazing dance class straight from work - and it turned into an impromptu unplanned night out! Not the best start to a new month but was good for me in so many ways... I got the train in/out, went to a nightclub and had a few really lovely guys chat to me. It did wonders for my confidence and self-esteem. However... time to get back on track. 

Yesterday I was grateful for:

1) The new Dance Studio I have discovered and the great teachers
2) The lovely people I met on my night out
3) The people who run the train service

Today I am grateful for:

1) A lovely restful morning with nothing to do (weekend off from Parent duty)
2) The bath bomb gift I unearthed in my toiletry hunt - and the lovely soak
3) My little apartment - my safe haven and place to be myself always

Having a cleaning/tidy-up day today. Have some batch cooking to do too. Might head over to the gym later on or go for a walk. After last night's club marathon my hips feel like they belong to someone else haha. 

Have a lovely day everyone x
 

ldee2111

Day one at the caravan 

After sorting DS with breakfast and cartoons, I made tea and went back to bed. DS asked me why I was going back to bed and I told him ‘we’re on holiday time’ 🤣

Today we’ve been to the local Saneberries to fill the fridge… and get a few things for the treat cupboard.

We spent the afternoon playing snakes and ladders, and Uno. I read a couple of chapters of one of my book choices. OH and I had short naps while DS got screen time. This evening we’re going to a local pub for dinner and they do a great fish, chips and mushy peas. 

Grateful today for time with my boys, watching and listening to the wildlife(the caravan is right next to a small lake with ducks, swans, and herons. There are also bunnies and birds in abundance), and for tea and biscuits.

greent

Today we went to a family fun day at DH's work - the 3 boys were competing against each other in various things which made me smile lots - Nd they ended up with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the one competition Free bbq, drinks, popcorn and candy floss means we're all frd for the evening:) 

Still a spendy day - did te5c0 shopping earlier - only £36 Inc a pair of joggers for DS1 - so pretty good - having checked his wardrobe he is desperate for clothes - a mix of expanding in size and literally wearing clothes out to indecent holes

BadBookkeeper

Evening Turtles, here’s my update for today: 
S - Had my mobile bill & it had an unexpected spend as I added data last month so I’ve had to juggle budgets to covers this.
W - Have used my phone a bit too much so wasted time on it today.
I - Had alcoholic tonight but that’s ok as it’s the weekend 1/31, had takeaway for tea but food ok rest of day.
M - I’m smiling today - I’ve had my haircut & I actually like it!!  No chores done today so very happy.
B - Had to rejig my buffet to accommodate my mobile bill.  Haircut wasn’t as much as budgeted so moved from that pot BUT need to learn from this.
I - Nothing money saving here really other than buying things from home B other than T€sco to save pennies.
K - Posted an item on bay of E & a clothes bundle on Fb 
E - Today I’ve spent on haircut & bits at h bargains.  Haircut wasn’t as expensive as budgeted for so covered h b spends & extra on mobile bill.  However HB spends should really come out of groceries but happy for where it sits for now.
R - A perfume set in the charity bag, 2 other gift sets might make it but I’m tempted to open them and use some items myself, but they will either be used or donated by end of month. 
U - As above will use or donate.  I’ve actually put 4 shoe boxes in recycling,  I'm not sure what I’m saving these for but I’m terrible for keeping them ‘just in case’  so they’ve gone😊

N - Still NSD 0/16 as paid for haircut & home b. 

Car not used at all today. 

Decluttered boxes and perfume set 2/31

beanielou

Am speechless polly.
What a strong woman you are  xx

beanielou

So July is a month of making do & spending no money & no treats.
I want to pay an extra £20 off my credit card too.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for g00glemaps giving us smooth trips, for dc coping with their dance show, for getting out for a walk, for finding a small park for a late lunch, for my book.

I had to buy fuel today, at its extortionate price. Also had to pay a total of £14 for parking. 2 x 4 hours in different locations at very different prices (one was 10, the other only 4). Usually I do my utmost to find free parking but I needed to be with dc for most of the 8hours, so shuffling the car around wasn't an option. I also spent £5.40 in c0sta getting myself and the other chaparone a drink, plus a big bottle of water for 60p from W/rose. Both dc and I had 2 bottles of water, but had drunk them by the afternoon, so the 2 litres for 60p was a good buy. The show theatre didn't seem to have any drinking water!?!

Thrifty_Taylor

NSD#1
A drizzly, often torrential downpour of a day. Went for a walk anyway & dropped a 50th birthday card through a letterbox en route. Did some tidying when I got home. Pinned a customer into her jumpsuit, then filled in & submitted my tax return 🎉 double checked all the 50p's I've got listed on eboy, added a few more. Got bids on 1 already & also sold some stamps today too. Sorted all my £2 coins ready to list, but phone needed charging, so will have to do it tomorrow, while there's 70% off selling fees. Got 43, so will take me a while! Have my free stamps from Royal Mail survey, so if I charge postage, it's extra pennies in my pocket 😃 distributed money into my sinking funds, washed the dishes after tea, then watched the final episode with DH & did some crochet.

Grateful for not having to worry about my tax return any longer, spotting different wild flowers on our walk, being productive

ditty1234

Hi Thanks for having me even though I am a bit of an infrequent visitor - I just yayed myself for having a no spend day yesterday then I realised I actually bought my plane tickets home from visiting family. SO lost that one. If I can fit in a proper shop today that will help, but don't really think it will happen, as my planning muscle is very tired. 
I have done my planning though and budgets and I hope to put a bit of money aside this month not that they will stay there long though. I went through my whole clothes cabinet yesterday and polished all of my shoes Friday. SO now that department is in order. I have 2 bookshelves and a few piles in bedroom to go through as well, but that is harder.  And today I will start giving dining room a bit of an overhaul as needs tidying and cleaning. 
I am grateful for boys getting on with stuff, for having a garden and for having a spacious sunny bedroom, where I can still hear birds. 

grandmanerd

Was too tired to post last night. Started the day by 'tidying' my bed - gathered multiple bits of paper into bags to start going through, obvious stuff to rubbish and paper bags and a money gather. I put most of the notes I've taken from my bank account and wrote the amounts on the envelope as I put them in. The five pound notes all went in my penny tin, along with all the change I found (bag of taxi money in my bag plus change dropped into the bottom of various bags when I've paid for something in cash and a few little pots gathered on previous tidies). All noted down and added to my resumed Penny Challenge (the pennies already in there will be a bonus. A £2 coin went into my toucan (he's had a few over the last couple of weeks but not counting them atm - surprise savings money). 

Did all the normal morning routine in stages alongside the 'tidying' and went downstairs once I felt up to it. Did a couple of hours in the yard - lots of bits done but currently at the 'more mess than when I started' stage. Over the past month I've been setting up the second raised bed (but for this year the actual bed - 18" high cobble walls - is lying fallow and I'm using it as a base). Some tough plastic shelving shelves have been laid across the top, a row of the largest 50 l tubs are on top (mostly moved there whilst empty or part filled) and they all have broad beans in them and the tubes that are the frame for the mini greenhouse stuck in as supports. For the past week I've been working on the row of smaller tubs in front (not helped by the rain or them deciding to fall off from time to time). 

I've harvested the small buckets that had garlic in (just started to move in some larger pots in the places they were occupying), broken up soil from many buckets that were used for growing stuff last year, removed stones, weeds and roots and reused the soil (with compost mixed in where necessary). Any small pots have been used for potting on tomatoes and bedding that's going to be used at mum's. The 10 l pots have brassicas in (about half done), I'm hoeing the outside of my back walls (need to go back with secateurs for the brambles and gloves for the nettles and thistles) and the clods laid upside down to dry out (weeds will go in the bin, soil will be reclaimed) and scraping and pulling to clear the paving slabs, cobbles and former raised bed areas of weeds and soil (again separated out). 3 x 10 l coir bricks have been soaked and added to the mix.

Stopped to rest and eat (ate too many things that were not good for me yesterday - just didn't have anything left to give) but washing went on the line in the afternoon, the DW had finished it's cycle (opened but not transferred stuff), more went into the nearly full rubbish bag and the one DS3 had filled went to the bin (he actually asked had I tidied my bed and not made another nest??**!!). Very sorry to report that I spent money I had not budgeted for. DS2 messaged to ask if I still wanted to buy the 'nursing chair' - this is from a conversation about 6 weeks ago. I answered with a cautious 'yes' and a hope that he hadn't found one that cost £500. It's second hand and was £165. Tried 3 times to log onto online banking and it took me round in circles so asked DS3 and he transferred money from his account. Went to the cash machine to get cash out and gave DS3 the whole £200 as there were some minor spends I owed him for last month - otherwise he logs it as rent paid and I'm still trying to reconcile the rent account (he's been paying random amounts in advance without telling me what what he's paid and when so went through my bank account jotting down all payments for the last year to check against the big red accounts book.

Stayed downstairs until after the recipe box delivery then came upstairs to rest my tired and aching legs and do my mindfulness homework. Was interrupted by the arrival of 'my lodger' (DS3's words). I'm still thinking of him as mum's lodger and accounting for it separately - something else to tell UC about when I've worked that out (and need to find out how to transfer deeds (grandma's house) into mine and my brother's names as we're going to share). I'm sure it's fairly simple and not paying a solicitor for something I can do myself. It also means I get a bigger chunk of the proceeds from the bungalow sale (which will be useful). Hoping 3 deaths in the first half of the year is us done for now but unfortunately can think of another couple of things that would throw a huge spanner in the works that I could really do without.

Came back and completed the mindfulness (missed a bit) then found a new drama series to watch and the second half of one I found earlier. Went back downstairs around 8 pm and did a little more garden shuffling, brought the dried washing in but couldn't go back outside to hang the sheet (was holding onto the line and at the end of my tether). I've eaten 2 apples and some oatcakes, had my pills and a shower, going to start applying medicinal creams and rest for a while longer. Another domestic day (focus on the kitchen - aka the dumping ground) but rest periods will be transferring as much as possible (lists, websites, phone numbers) into my new diary and sorting priorities for the coming week.

Grateful for communication with DS2, DS3 being helpful (set up a database, might not be how I would have done it but tweaking is easier than doing the whole thing from scratch) and food - may not have been perfect but it was easy and what I needed at the time.