NST NIFTY NOVEMBER

Esmeralda2662

Still on 4 NSDs but have reduced spending and although I had a free afternoon I didn't go browsing the town or charity shops (although I did call in at the tip shop and spent £7 on bits and pieces for Cmas).

Saw 3 lovely tall wooden stools there that would have been perfect for mum's breakfast bar (her kitchen chairs are looking tatty and came with the house) but didn't buy them as she's quite choosy. Needless to say I mentioned them tonight and she wished I'd bought them! Sod's Law.

Did 4 hours overtime this morning to make up my wages. Soon flew by but won't do it regularly if I can help it.

Dropped 3 bags of stuff off at CS so car now empty after several months carting it all round. More miles/gallon now I hope!

Emptied 2 fridges and tried to check dates and put food into groups. Found small amount of honey from 2010 and a couple of other items past it so jars emptied out, washed and in recycling. More space made.

Tried my electric heated lap pad out properly tonight and it's toasty even on setting no.1. £30 compared to a throw and less chance of getting tangled up in it. Will leave it down the side of the sofa ready for when I need it and use it under a throw to trap the heat.

Asked what i would like for Cmas and the only thing is a long hot water bottle. I'm so easily pleased and I hate being cold. OH was chuffed as he'd thought of buying me a book about a film star I was keen on but sad to say that infatuation wore off about 5 years ago! Luckily he hadn't already bought it. Poor chap, I felt mean being honest and telling him.

Hugs to all Turtles x

f0xh0les

I am on NSD6, everything I did in London is covered by daily expense allowance, so no spends, and my work friend is delighted at what I chose for us to do and see.   She was proper chuffed.  Also found out our travel expenses are  less than 1/4 of the other people's  because I am organized.   The tube strike did impact us, but we went to the bus station at Euston and asked them how to get to where we wanted to go, ended up costing £1.65 for  2 buses, unlike the colleague who took at cab - over £60!! or those who drove - £50 per 24 hours plus parking on top,   madness!! I will stick with London Transport.

Still not done any Shopping de Noel,  I think I am waiting on expenses to be paid for the last 3 'hat' jobs, and then I might feel a bit more  'fa la la la la!' I might even get my  bells jingling when I am paid, but the end of the month seems a very long way away.

DS3 is asking every day if we can put the tree up (he is 14) the answer is NO! Krampus needs to come and put him in a sack and beat him with bread sticks until he sees the error of his ways.

In other news, I found out the German for marshmallows is mausespeck (mouse bacon) - of course! How could I not have guessed

Thrifty_Taylor

@Dfw38 congratulations on your new niece! 👣 Hope you're able to have plenty of cuddles 🥰

@f0xh0les had to wrack my brain about the spy mail, then it clicked what you meant 🤣 wonder if I've sent any to you ...? Only have 2 weeks left on this current stint, though have offered to stay on if needed!

@beanielou, no not very often!! Have enjoyed watching this last week's Ben Fogle programme, this evening, as had a couple of our uninhabited islands on it (the first 2). Worth a watch on My5 if anyone's interested.

Slept an hour longer this morning, must start going to bed earlier!! Yoga & sit ups done. Hung washing on the line, not much of a breeze initially, but by the time we were returning from our walk to the village it'd picked up a bit. Of course there was a shower of rain with it 😓 put all recycling into bins, & emptied & cleaned the house bins. 

After dinner I finished assembling the front of the blanket. I'm pleased with how it looks. Went to help a friend re-box all the items in her pop up shop - she'd sold one of my chickens 😃 Also had a message from a lady in town, who was running a craft fayre there, to say that a customer was wanting to buy one of my chickens too (didn't even have a stall booked there this time!), so that was a nice surprise!

Washed the dishes, felt a bit overwhelmed with the piles of carp in our tiny living room. Put a couple of things away, re-wound a ball of wool, then more embroidery threads on to cards whilst watching Ben. Feel a bit calmer now!!

Grateful for chicken sales, helpful people, nice programmes

apple_muncher

Congratulations auntie Dfw!🎉🎉🎉

Lcc- I'm near the other end of the 64 bus route!

grandmanerd

Sunday 13th November 2022
I fell asleep early (sniffles came back yesterday, lip salve and a toilet roll for my runny nose are going to be my best friends for the next few days, vix is hovering in the background if needed) so I'm now doing my wide awake with Faron Young crooning in the back of my brain. I started to look for ideas (customs, different ways of celebrating, any parts of the challenge I still need to address - yell if there's anything you're struggling with or would like some input on) and then I thought 'too much, let's slow down here and back off a bit'.

So today we're going to breathe, take a little time out, do something for ourselves (it's not selfish, but it's the only way to help others, organise the week ahead and then plan ahead). If you need to, make a point of scheduling these breaks into your days. In the days of many jobs and other obligations (I think over time these just change into different obligations - maybe priorities is a better, more positive word) I would take an hour out each evening, light the candles, turn off the main lights, put some music on and lie down or curl up. It was really restorative and refreshing and I probably got a lot more done after my break than if I'd staggered on struggling against the tiredness, the aches and pains and overwhelm.

Even if you can only take 5 minutes out of your day, take time to stop what you're doing and look around there's always something beautiful even when the world seems bleak and barren - the patterns of the bare branches against the sky, a toddler taking their first steps holding onto a parent or grandparent's hand, friends stopping to chat or just exchanging greetings in passing.

Have a turtley good day. 

hazeldreams

I've been MIA due to a broken laptop! Managed to log on for 30 mins yesterday and update my sig and grocery challenge but left catching up on this thread until this morning when I knew I'd have more time. God job I did, there were 36 updates to read through! Enjoyed reading them all with my cuppa this morning.

Things have gone slightly awry since I've not had the forum to keep me on the straight and narrow. More so on the healthy eating and alcohol front, although I do feel like I've been more spendy too. I was in London for work on Friday, and decided I didn't want to be dragging a bag of breakfast, lunch and snacks with me (I get the 6am train to get there for 8.30am, and then I'm not walking through the door until 7.30pm), so opted to purchase all 3. Haven't done that in so long. Buying food when at work is sooo expensive. The good news is I should be able to claim at least breakfast and lunch back on expenses. Also started xmas shopping yesterday. Only spent £30, on a few bits for DD2, but I did bulk at having to do so. I'm very averse to parting with cash at the moment!

MIL got in touch last night to say in such a lovely way, that we didn't need to buy them anything as she knows times are hard for everyone and they really don't need anything. So, instead we're having them round for dinner (my husband is an excellent chef) as they'd enjoy that and the company much better than a £10 gift of tat they'll never use. I think I'll do the same for my parents; they too don't want anything and would much prefer that.

Going to have to work again today, second weekend in a row, just to take the pressure off next week. I'm determined that this is the very last time I'm doing it!

Achievements/gratitudes for the last few days;
- getting out of the house for a trip to London for work
- still on plan for groceries
- AFD yesterday 
- still no heating on
- quality time with mum
- quality time with DD2
- healthy meals planned for today

ldee2111

Saturday was NSD 5 I think. 

Been feeling a bit rudderless this week. Was a bit under the weather with the ends of a cold and then flu / covid combo vax which probably explains it. Feeling better now. 

I was so grateful to OH being at home on Friday and doing tasks I’d usually do like calling Virginia and Skye who wrote to us to say your bills are going up. 

Virginia from £24 to £48 per month!

Skye from £31 to £56!

OH did the friendly chit chat bit (both of us have worked in call centres and it can be an awful job so it’s important to be kind) and we had the luck of getting nice call handlers at V&S. 

Virginia gave us the same package for £26 and Skye £35 for 18 months. Obviously bills gone up but I can find £6 to cover it. Very happy it’s only £6 across the two accounts! 

Sunday sweeps good this week. Underspends have now been swept into our holiday fund and mortgage OPs. 

I’ve started a spreadsheet to track money gains for no other reason than it gives me a boost of positivity when I look at it and keeps me motivated. I’m tracking our budget underspends each week and the extra bonus of things like SwagB, refunds, cash back, online sales, and even getting a free sausage roll and cappuccino from Greg. Seeing it written down I’m actually amazed at the amount… all those little bits really have added up. 

Today it’s OH’s turn to get the double vaccine which means it’s my turn to run around after him.

Have a good day, turtles.

Dfw38

Hi all! Thanks for the congrats, no effort at all on my part in becoming an Auntie 🤣. Had a few squishes, ds was not impressed 😬, dds have requested a younger sister.... no chance! 
Went for a run today. Up to 6k;run walk,run. Felt a lot harder for some reason but in a month or two when I am up to 12 miles I will look back and laugh 😃. Nsd again today. Been organising bits for the loft with the dc helping. Hoping to run through some bits and pieces for the charity shop this week. This was my view today; Autumn is truly here!

Dfw38

Won't be long until trees are in the nud!

DrCarrie

Evening turtles. 

Got one of my chores done, ver messy outside my basement flat where bits of the building are falling off from above. I have dinner in the oven (lamb breasts and veg, and there will be lots of leftovers for the week. Need to finish pea and ham soup, those will get me through a good chunk of the week. Got Christmas cakes in process, new recipe so we will see how they work out. 

I think i may have tennis elbow. It's quite annoying. 

Spendy day, went to Sainsbugs for a few bits so still on day 6 - not too shabby. 

Grateful for a bright blue sky day, or caring myself out a little and a nop f brandy in a coffee (not had a drink since the 30th of September.