NST April 2024: April appreciation

lcc86

Up early today after a good sleep with no OH in the house washed my rabbits' litter trays, cleaned my small aquarium and got a load of washing done. Popped to the gym and returned a parcel via a local shop. Trimmed the rabbits' nails, much to their annoyance, and then ran the hoover round.

Cooked some lunches for the week ahead and have got the slow cooker on. Lots of little jobs done in between reading one of my new books, am thoroughly enjoying it. All to do with events of 16th century England, bears some remarkable similarities to issues we have today, minus the beheadings and witch-burnings of course! 

Not much else to report today, just need to clean the kitchen after all the cooking and then jump in the bath.

Shrewbie

Hi turtles! have had a very chilled weekend here.

Went to my book club yesterday (literally finished the book on the way there), and the usual cafe we have it in was having a refurb so they turfed us out so we ended up in the back room of a very noisy cafe, where people on the way to the toilets would stop and join in our conversation ...... then later on it was panic stations as sister rang me to tell me she'd booked the wrong dates at the holiday cottage for our trip this summer. She was completely mortified as I have already booked my flights....  it won't cost too much to change those, but I decided in the end that I will keep the original flight and go for two weeks instead of one (long story but basically mum is going there to do an ultra-marathon, so she's tied to the original dates) aaaanyway.... the long and short of it is it's an unforeseen expense with the extra accommodation, but one that I can manage and that should only set me back a month at the most in my savings plan. Only a month?!? YES only a month.... IF I am smart about it and don't just say f* it and give in to the 1000 other things that are telling me I need to spend money on them.... I actually have had an nsd today though (no idea of the total) so that's not too bad, and a little run on the running track. And no booze.....mind is clear and the good mood continues!!  enjoy the rest of your sunday turtles! 

BTW thanks for posting Kat's rules @grandmanerd!!

grandmanerd

The May Challenge   https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6524483/nst-a-may-meditation#latest

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a relaxing morning, for watching Hugo together, for starting a sewing project with Pip, for my morning coffee.

Thrifty_Taylor

Well done on submitting the form @Starlight_at_Sea, bet you feel a huge sense of relief now!

Sounds like you had s lovely time with your granddaughter, @grandmanerd, & great that you have a muscly gardener to help you out 😃

Sounds like you've all had a good day!

NSD
 Norwegian done, kitchen floor washed, then waited for DH to go for a walk. He chose not to come, so walked just under 5 miles on my own, listening to the radio & enjoying spotting spring flowers along the way.

Started a new book at breakfast time, read more whilst eating my dinner, & again in the bath & just like that, I've read 100 pages already!

The afternoon turned wet, so I took out a big bag of sewing, I'd not been looking forward to. It turned out to be easier than I'd thought, thankfully. So got everything altered, another bag out of the house 😊

Did the ironing after tea, then my auntie in America phoned, to discuss her visit in July. For some reason, she's not receiving my emails, even though I'm replying to the ones she's sent me! She's going to look into it at her end.

Grateful for time to read, a nice but windy walk, getting things done

lcc86

Evening turtles 

Non-working day today and it's been a bit of a lazy one! I did take myself off to the gym first thing, walking there and back. Since then I've done a few small jobs around the house and sorted out and finalised May's budget. I got my new printer ink installed and made use of that, sending the old ones off to be recycled for charity. Had to stay in as was waiting for postie to collect a parcel - no receipt through as yet so am a bit worried as it was the duplicate laptop I'd accidentally ordered... hopefully will come through soon.

This afternoon I've had someone round to give my car a really thorough clean inside and out as it hasn't been done for months. Money has come from savings and was a planned for spend. As such I've been stuck inside mostly reading my book, which is really interesting, but hoping he'll be done soon so I can get out for a walk in the last of the sunshine. 

laura_lau

Finished the last day of work before my time off just now. It was a relief, however the last 2 days of work have been very heavy, as all last minute requests, mainly also rather annoying jobs to put together too, have kept coming in steadily. I think I have done everything, have already prepared a few things I have to pick up after I am back and have made a little plan of action on that first week back so I don't forget a few things I will need to get done as soon as I am back.

The weekend was quiet and I worked on washing some more of the Winter clothes and taking out some more of the Spring-summer ones. Now I have a big pile of things to wash for after I am back, as the weather didn't really allow to dry things quickly this past week, so the process was much slower than I would have liked. I still managed to get out a decent amount of Spring clothes, which I packed yesterday for my trip. I will be leaving fairly early tomorrow morning, so hopefully everything goes smoothly. 

This month I am very pleased for having finally managed to bring my lunch and also the snacks to work from home 3/4 of the times, and I hope to be able to do the same every month from now on. I also have gathered enough motivation to start exercising again, mainly for my mental health, and as a secondary thing, to get rid of a couple of kg. I am very grateful that this month we finally found out what was wrong with my mum, and hopefully from next month we can start her slowly on the way to getting a bit better. I am grateful I could spend time with my stepson for Easter and with my friend at the beginning of the month and again tomorrow and a couple of days after that, which has barely happened in the last 4 years. I also seem to finally be in a position to not having to use the credit cards, so I am getting much more positive about the financial part of my life which is always weighing on me quite a bit. More on that in my next update in May's thread. 

Thank you again @apple_muncher for running April, I will see you all in May!

Esmeralda2662

Hi Turtles, can't believe we're nearly at the start of May. Where did the time go?! 

So much for holiday doing you good! Had 5 days in Weymouth on a pensioners bus trip and caught covid. Never crossed my mind it was that until I got home. The red lines appeared so quickly I thought it was faulty! Anyway, my mum (85) went in one room and I had the other and by some miracle she avoided catching it, thank goodness. My boyfriend wasn't so lucky and caught it as we'd shared a room on holiday. All recovered now, tested negative and gone back to work. Just shows that Covid is still out there.

On the plus side I have managed to achieve 9NSD mainly due to isolating and feeling too ill to go out. Another plus is that we've eaten various foods from the freezer and cupboards that needed using up. Had a casserole with some instant mash tonight instead of fresh potatoes and over 2 nights ate up a Christmas pudding left over from Christmas. A friend gave me 6 cans of rice pudding they dont want so they'll be next.

The op on my finger is booked for this Friday. It should work out quite well as it's May Day holiday weekend so an extra day off work. Boss has told me they'll pay me sick pay if I need time off as I had the injury at work. Hope I won't need much.

Felt motivated enough to vac my car out and I love it looking so clean and tidy.

Grateful for covid not being as bad as the 1st time, mum not catching it, the car being tidy, some time at the seaside despite everything, 9NSD and my op finally coming round.

Thanks @apple_muncher for running April. See you all for May. X

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a good gym sesh, for me and DH sorting out the black mould in pip's room, for finding a good haul of lovely ties and pots in my fave Ch shop, for a neighbour's teenager popping round as their electricity had gone off and she needed to call her dad but her phone battery was dead so I got one of our gazillion cables and she waited to charge it up enough to call her dad, for a random gift of rhubarb from a friend.

Thrifty_Taylor

Have a great time away @laura_lau. Hope the operation goes well @Esmeralda2662 & that you feel better again now.

NSD#21!!! Best month yet!
Did yoga & Norwegian. Work went ok, but I felt quite tired in the afternoon, probably cos I kept waking up last night & having pins & needles in my fingers. Stopped off at the PO on my way home & deposited £180 of £2 & 20p coins, that I save from my purse whenever I get change. Now transferred to account for house extension. Phoned about a child benefit & told we can still get tax credits, despite not transferring over to UC.

Had a customer turn up whilst I was eating breakfast (no idea he was coming!), then a phonecall from another customer tonight. My sewing mountain isn't getting smaller...

Spent ages after tea unpicking a zip from a pair of jeans, then turning the air blue when my thread kept snapping as I was sewing the new zip in place. Consoled myself with a bag of d0lly m1xtures 🤣

Grateful for the sun coming out, continuous customers, that we'll continue to get tax credits for a little longer