NST September 2022 Picture yourself on a boat on a canal

Thrifty_Taylor

Glad DS's first day went well @Esmeralda2662.

Left the house a bit earlier, as I needed to get fuel, then send a couple of letters signed for. One was to a man who has probably bought 5 lots from me, 2 things he has now said haven't arrived & wanted a replacement. Not sure if he's just taking the mickey, so decided to send anything else he buys tracked. Can't say it's not arrived then! He raised a dispute the first time, but the one last week, just sent a message asking for a replacement, & saying how I'm a good seller & he wishes more sellers were like me. I just thought - what gullible?!

Had a good day at work. A pupil with Down Syndrome (who was being supported by another member of staff) kept coming up to me & banging my back to get my attention, as he wanted me to play with him. It made me smile. After work, I visited a temporary member of staff who'd recently had a baby. Got to have a cuddle with her new daughter & they liked their presents. (Another few things out of my bedroom 😊) Lit a fire when I got home, as it was so cold! The first one we've had since spring.

After tea, I prepared the pattern for tomorrow's sewing class, then replaced a zip in a playsuit.

Grateful for pupil wanting to play with me, baby cuddles (she had tiny curls on her head 😍) & a cosy fire, oh & my cousin has been allowed to leave hospital today & go home ❤️

ditty1234

Hi All unfortunately not caught up on reading this month, will give updates, but might not be till October days. Just here to brag with 11 NSD days, and almost on budget in a 5 week month. 
And gratitude for my running group, the determination and independence of my youngest son, the persistence and temperance of my oldest, for breathing myself through a massive dilemma at work and looking forwards to a pool swim tonight. 
Hope everybody is well, and to catch up in the coming days.

Shrewbie

Morning turtles 
today should be NSD 11. I’m calling it now!
all food from stores, mediation and exercise done. No morning pages, I am beginning to rush again in the mornings due to lack of planning and snoozing the alarm (something that didn’t happen when I didn’t drink much at the weekend) so will sort that out.

Got paid yesterday and this is the first month ever in my life that I have actually taken the turtles’ advice and paid to my savings first. Woop!

grateful for bf’s masala sauce, for porridge on a chilly morning and for feeling motivated again. 

grandmanerd

Tuesday 27th September 2022

Ways to get to know ourselves better (resilience)
Write down our hopes and dreams to find our purpose
Spend time alone to get comfortable with ourselves
Write down our feelings to understand them
Challenge ourselves in different ways
Do things we wouldn't normally do
Learn our strengths and weaknesses
Learn to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable

Today
Thanks to all who came along on the canal cruise and for saying how much you were enjoying it. Thanks to those who contributed their own local knowledge (especially f0xh0les). There is a free booklet about the Trafford Centre's floors (and walls) - there are many different marbles used in it. The booklet was written by a friend of one of my environmental tutors (who also taught geography and geology before being conscripted into the teacher training department and then being asked to be head of it). I've learned a lot more about my local areas (or what was my local area until my world shrunk).

Awesome benefits of Second-hand Shopping
It's cheaper - very MSE, you can buy better quality (longer lasting, well made) at greatly reduced prices. A new car loses half it's value the moment you drive it off the forecourt.
It's healthier. Non-organic cotton uses more chemicals than any other crop. It takes many washings for the residue from these chemicals to leave the garment. If you're buying second hand, this work has already been done for you. I recently came across an organic clothes site for children's clothes. You buy on a 'subscription' type basis, buying a package of eg 0-3 m old clothes and then returning them when your baby outgrows them.
Unique Items. You can often find items that are no longer made or purchase originals of items that are now copied in inferior materials. Farmhouse tables and chairs, the sort of sturdy cupboards that were once in every classroom (unearth the beauty of the wood under the multiple layers of paint), utility furniture that looks modern (Scandi) given a bit of love and attention.
Clothes are broken in. No sitting in the bath to shrink jeans to fit (or am I showing my age on that one). Old clothes have already been shrunk or loosened. 
Vintage clothes that were made to last a lifetime. I know Kat was fond of these and in my youth I had a double breasted grey suit and a black dress from the 1930s (courtesy of Afflecks) which suited my generous bosom (unlike the 1920's and 1960's which were made for the 'flat as a board' - my grandma told me they used to bandage them selves flat to fit in them). I also had my grandma's wedding dress - a summer sky blue ensemble of a strappy dress with a matching lace overlay (found after she died).
Furnish your home on a budget. Make the most of a new home budget by using second hand stores and cs - some like BHF have chains of stores for furnishings and white goods. Our local Hospice shop has many wealthy benefactors so beds and furnishings are often top of the range. Further down the scale, take advantage of those who change whole rooms every couple of years.
Gifts Many unique items are available, if your friends are okay with second hand. I buy candles, candle holders and posh toiletries for myself (with present money). Some of the shops I frequent have 50p baskets and unused toiletry or make up items are sold cheaply. Very useful for crockery and cutlery (10p per item) for student homes and several local cs hold back larger toys for a special festive event (dolls houses, duplo, sit and rides and a bargain box of 'happy meal' giveaways).
The thrill of the hunt. Bargain prices mean cs have a rapid turnover so every 2 or 3 weeks it could be like entering a whole new shop.
Keeping the money local. Some shops are for local charities which benefit local people. When I was in a group trying to set up a credit union (very long time ago so forgive me if this isn't exactly right) it was estimated that 80% of everything you spend will be in London within 48 hours. Credit Unions and LETS schemes can help keep money local.
Kid's clothes Children outgrow clothing rapidly so the clothes in cs are nearly new. Well worth looking for one off items (dressing up outfits and special occasion clothing) in the cs. In fact, look in the cs first for anything you might need - even food. Some of ours are given food eg to make meals for the homeless. Short dated foods in excess (stores doing themselves a favour by passing tomorrow's waste onto others) are sold to purchase the other things they need - one had large sacks of pet supplies. Another option is to look for local sales - the Sport's Village hosts a monthly 'mother and baby sale' where local people book a stall to sell their old baby equipment and a local church raises money with table top/ car boot sales and auctions on a regular basis.
Setting an example get your children enthusiastic about second hand by buying toys at cs and boot sales at pocket money prices.
Trip to memory lane Older items can bring back fond memories of earlier times. Browse just for fun (and much cheaper than antiques fairs and the like).
  

grandmanerd

Sorry I'm late - didn't quite know where the laptop was and didn't want to disturb anything. Feeling slightly better but still feeble and wobbly but determined to start digging myself out of the pit I've made. Fragile food items gathered into a small box and all the rest of the food into a carrier bag. No more exploding yoghurts, unfortunate raspberry incidents (there were only half a dozen left but I'm trying to stop when I'm full - who knew how much mess 6 raspberries could make) or tiny tomatoes trying to hide behind my back despite repeatedly putting them back in the bag/ alternative container. Breakfast was 2 dry wraps and 2 satsumas as I couldn't face the stairs to get a yoghurt.

Couldn't decide to have a shower earlier or wait and settled for filling the sink with very hot water and wiping myself thoroughly. Did lots of scooping up yesterday (lots of bits in the tightest corner of the room - three attempts at crouching in the space, gathering everything into a box and crawling back on the bed when exhausted. Lots of it is rubbish but concentrated on scooping - will bring it back on the bed to sort later.

Have decided against going to art therapy. Really wanted to finish my mental health poster and toyed with doing lots of wording bits and taking it across for others to complete/ add their own bits but dropping it off my to do list altogether is less stressful all round - can use the time to continue sorting or make progress on other craft projects, know I'm not going to give anyone else this bug and the effort of getting across to the library feels like too much. Will concentrate on getting well for weekend.

DS2 messaged me yesterday to see how I was getting on with the mobility scooter so I gave him a brief run down of my last week activities and the opportunist lurgy which took advantage of my exhaustion and he shut up. I asked when I could see my grand-daughter again and he suggested lunch next Saturday. So looking forward to that but will decide tomorrow if I need to postpone. 

Continuing to 'use up' but bedside drawers need a tidy. Reached for lip salve - knew where it was but the tray hid it, found the vix which I was looking for before bedtime last night and standing that upright instead of on it's side sent the bottle of ear drops down the gap between the bed and drawers. Bed needs a bit of re-arranging, I'm sleeping too near the edge of the mattress which isn't good for either me or the mattress.

So more plodding and thinking time with a bit of crafting thrown in.

Grateful for this week being a lot less intense than last, time to recuperate, having part solutions to layout and mess problems in here (mostly accumulating things to service my recuperation), finding ingenious ways to use up something that has been hanging around for 3 -4 years, my room already looking better after a few minor tasks.

lcc86

My brain decided to wake me up at 5am today, managed to doze off just before 6 when my alarm went off. Walked my friend's dog and then drove to work as needed the car today.

Relatively busy day at work, still getting into the swing of the new role but getting used to it.

Small spend on parking as still waiting for my permit to come through. Not much else to report today. Ready for bed already!

hazeldreams

Not been around for a couple of days due to overnight stays for work - back now but probably will be absent again until Friday now as away for more work stuff Wednesday and Thursday

Gratitude - Grateful for surviving possibly the worst 2 work days I've experienced in my entire working life. This government has so much to answer for after Friday's mini-budget!!! Grateful for reducing our overall spend this month by £1400 - just by being super focussed. Grateful for my own bed tonight. Grateful for being organised and planning Octobers budget already. Hoping to clear the paypal mobile phone off in full on 1/10. 

NSDs/ Pausing before purchasing still on 7/10 NSDs. It's unlikely to change between now and Friday. Will aim to get to 10 in October.

Yoga/Meditation Meditated this morning but no yoga as didn't have a yoga mat with me and didn't fancy doing it on a hotel room floor...eww.

Eating and drinking I've let the water slip again. And eating still not great, despite doing really well on Saturday and Sunday. Will keep trying!

Have a good evening all x

BadBookkeeper

Anyone else’s signature changed without them changing it?

Simplify - Nothing here today.

Essential spends - NSD 13/15 nothing spent today.

Planning & Preparation- Need to go into office tomorrow so done a few morning jobs tonight.

Think about spending- Nothing spent today & clothes dried on airer.

Eat to nourish - not bad today.  Think I will make homemade soup next week. 

Mindfulness - Not today really.

Be kind - Hmmm not really

Exercise - Achieved steps

Report daily - done ✅

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for the tech working for an online seminar for my A level group, for not getting caught in the rain, for catching up with a friend while dc went to youth, for having a car, for 85% chocolate and good coffee.

ldee2111

Tuesday :

I was in the office for training about better working… the trainer talked about swallowing frogs and other methods of getting things done and forming new habits. I’ve heard or read about it all before but it was good to get a reminder/ reinforcement, and to see my colleagues in person. And a couple of biscuits. 

I also listened to the end of my audiobook about the woman who was a victim in the spy cops scandal, and a podcast about workplace wellbeing on the train journey there and back.

Helpful £150 from PIP appeared in my account yesterday morning. It was spent immediately on a bigger Saneberries shop for delivery this Saturday. I’ve bulk ordered some of our regularly-used non-perishable groceries: pasta, rice, cereal, teabags, tins of things, etc. I’ve also bought cartons of UHT milk and tins of soup to hand into the foodbank.

Grateful for PIP support, for finishing my audiobook, for useful training and helpful chats with colleagues which may lead to better working, for making another tasty gut health recipe, and for Mum looking after DS. 

Am I right in thinking that transport to work doesn’t count against a NSD? If so, yesterday was NSD 11/15.

Wednesday (today)

Office working again today but don’t need to be there until 1pm. It’s a different office so I need to find out how to get there. 

Have a good day turtles x