And now we go again...

EssexHebridean

Definitely not enough holiday time left for either of us here SH to be able to take this week - and yes, I too confess to feeling a bit envious of those who are off right from now! Saving holiday time for moving is sensible though - we had the day itself (a Friday) and then the two days the other side of the weekend after and frankly we would both have felt happier having at least the day before in addition too. 

PiP - I think it will be a mix of productive and chilling. The weekend coming will be relatively busy with cooking and stuff, then Monday is obviously spoken for. Boxing Day MrEH has a rugby match, I will probably go for a walk when he heads to the club and then head back and veg on the sofa for the afternoon! We have a plan to head into London and do some tube related stuff one day or another, and we're heading to pals for NYE so actually we only have a handful of days not already filled...we so want to get the garden  measured up though so we can start planning out the changes we want to make, and in an ideal world I'd also have a go at getting the first coat of paint on the walls in the dressing room, too! 

Thank goodness I read Foxgloves diary this morning as she reminded me - BREAD SAUCE! There would be a revolt in our house if there was none, so that has now made it to my list of stuff to do! I'll have a fair bit of cooking of stuff to do Friday/Saturday/Sunday anyway I think - more sausage rolls will be a must, and I'll make mince pies as well although I bet a second batch will also be required. If I recall correctly last year I made the savoury pastry first, then immediately made the sweet and just left them rest in the fridge until I was ready to go with them - I always use the food processor as it makes a far better pastry than I do! Pigs in blankets are an easy assembly job and I already have the streaky bacon ready so just need to get the chipolatas. Red cabbage needs doing - I'm going to do a batch of it with chopped dried apricots this year I think to see how that works. Oh - and the ham to be cooked as well of course!   I have also made a reminder on my phone now to collect the turkey as it would be a bit of a drama if we managed to forget that! We'll go and get it and whizz it over to Mums on Saturday morning first thing. The sausage roll second batch will be the same as the first I think as those were delicious - sausagemeat with bacon, brie and cranberry - very tasty, although I'll slightly re-think my construction method to get more even distribution of the cranberry sauce. (And make sure the knife I cut them with is properly sharp so as to not squish them!)

A small amount of personal spends in T's last night as I wanted to get some oddments for christmas presents - nothing major though, just stocking fillers. The change from that has been shuffled into my savings though. My budget account is squeaky but should be OK for the remainder of the month now as al the regular payments have come out now. 

It's "that" stage in the month now really - the financial wranglings have tailed off and we should still have some surplus left to OP at the end of the month but not as much as we might ideally like thanks to the chimney sweeping and the coal & logs - needs must though! There will definitely be more diesel spending yet too so that will eat into it. 

I'm hoping MrEH will be popping to the rugby club this evening as that will give me time to wrap his presents! 

lucielle

I’m going for a lie down after reading that list. 

L

beanielou

That’s some list! 

PennysIntoPounds

I'm 'avin spuds 😂

milann

Sounds as if you’re all planned and sorted 👍

girlatplay

It's the planning that makes it work, I find.  I have written a plan for the main meal, with timings and everything. I'm not stressed at all.

It sounds like you are going to make the most of the time you do have off.

I keep getting to bits in your diary that I have read before, when I was previously trying to catch up. I think I'm up to date enough to just go from here now.

EssexHebridean

milann said:

Sounds as if you’re all planned and sorted 👍

Yes, see, I'm great at sounding organised, I never fail at that bit...the actual organisation and in fact getting on and doing the stuff though, well - let's just say it's a different matter, quite often, hence noting everything down! 

GAP - just pick up from here, I promise you won't have missed much (who am I kidding, you will have missed nothing!)  And yes - completely agree, if I was doing all the christmas dinner cooking for a full roast turkey setup I would also be doing a timed list I think. I may well do some timed stuff for the weekend as that should ensure everything gets dealt with. 

PiP - my Mum's roast spuds are legendary and I am VERY much looking forward to those on my christmas dinner plate! There will also be plenty more during the week I'm sure! 

L - Beanie, it might be some list, but executing it will be the real key, I feel...and also the bit more open to error! 

Thankfully MrEH did indeed head to the rugby club last night so his presents - which it seems are many and plentiful - are now all wrapped and under the tree. I must remember when the dog is about on saturday that there are some foodie bits there which I may need to relocate just in case she sniffs them out. I must also resist the temptation to buy him ANYTHING else. I thought I had some remaining wallet style cards for paper type gifts, but unless they are somewhere other than where I was expecting this proved to be incorrect. Shopped from home for a replacement by just using an ordinary christmas card instead - that works perfectly and it will only be thrown away afterwards anyway. 

Delighted to find that the new wrapping paper I bought (T's - £1 a roll) is indeed proper paper which will be able to be recycled or burned - we may need to be a bit mindful about separating out old (not recyclable) and new this year I think. I will also be encouraging himself to use up as much as possible of the old shiny/foiled stuff as well when he does his wrapping. It's good that finally shops are moving across to actually being more environmentally friendly rather than just making noise about it. 

MSE Stuff:
- I got a free lunch yesterday as Madam had suggested we should go out for our christmas meal as I think I mentioned. Fish & chips and sticky toffee pudding to follow with a half pint of Camden Town Brewery's Stout (very palatable indeed PiP - had I not been driving subsequently I would have cheerfully had another!). 
- MrEH did his best on last night's Saving Session although again with it starting at 5pm he was still working through half of it. We'll see if any savings are showing at all anyway. 
- I will stick a load of washing to run from 4.30pm tomorrow to assist with  bolstering the baseline for that timeslot - although I suspect we may have see the last of the savings sessions until after Christmas/NY now. 
- Saved a Land of Pounds Spend by just opting to use the card we already had rather than buy something specific for putting MrEH's printed off gift into. 
- Found what will probably be a final present for Mum on the Big River site at by far the best price I've seen, for double the quantity of the items that she will need. The balance will be something that we can use so we will be splitting that one down which makes sense. Then realised it also had a 1-off 20% discount eligible to be applied so an even better price.
- Stepped away from idle browsing on the aformentioned Big River site - yes, I may well find a crafty-use for a pack of 17 enamelled christmas charms, but I don't need to be spending £2.99 on them right now so they can just go away.
- Banks checked and all good. I do need to properly run through the credit card situation too - that could yet be a lunchtime job, as I need to just get it sorted and not keep putting it off. 
- I was paid yesterday but in the true spirit of avoiding the December Pay Trap I am of course pretending that the money doesn't exist for now and have transferred it to savings to earn a teeny bit of interest. Also set a reminder on my phone so I don't forget to shovel it back to where it belongs again! 

Sun_Addict

My employer doesn’t pay until the very last working day of the month and that includes December. They are renowned for holding onto their money 😆

rtandon27

Mine is the same SA - it will be the 29th before it hits my account - monthly pay always feels worse in 5 week months but finally after many years I've learned to add extra to the food budgets in these months!

~FlowerPot~

Hi, just thought i would de-lurk and say hi! Ive been following you and I love your focus and plans with the house and garden and also the MSE focus section. I do find that these boards help me to stay focused whilst trying to get our mortgage down.

Merry Christmas!