Need to stop spending and chasing dopamine!

Pink_Butterfly

Thank you! I am very pleased with how it’s going 😊 I’ve sold a dress for £3.50 and a pair of trainers for £14.00, so have sent £17.50 to the holiday. It means I’ve paid off £1,492.42 since I started this diary 😀

My living room & kitchen has been painted and glossed, and it looks so much better! It’s a lot brighter. He said he is expecting me to ask him to come back to touch up a few areas once the paint has dried properly.

Work was chaos today and I felt very overstimulated at one point, as the office was SO NOISY 🤯 I usually don’t mind the noise but today was another level. I ended up putting my earphones in and listening to my Spotify playlist! I’m back in again tomorrow for another busy day but it’ll be my last day for the week. I have a podcast as part of my side projects and I’m recording an episode in the afternoon which should be good!

I need to do some work now, but I’ve got my programme on in the background and I’m on the sofa so it’s not too bad 😆 x

Pink_Butterfly

Hey hey… it’s almost Friday! Work has been rough the last 2 days 🤣 Technology issues mainly, and a to do list that makes me want to hide, but we’re almost at the weekend 😆🙈

DD2’s school allow parents to go into the classrooms at pick up time to look at their child’s work every now & then, so today we did that. She has the neatest handwriting ☺️ She’s been chosen to be the “VIP” this week, meaning she’s got a celebration assembly tomorrow morning, so I’m going to go to that with her dad 😊 Gotta make the most of them as she’ll only have one more left after this one! 😭

The sleep out donations are now over £500 which is amazing 😍 I’m so thrilled with this! One of the directors at my work has asked me to take lots of pics for the monthly newsletter so I’ll get my friend to take some. It’ll give us something to do while we’re freezing our bums off 🤣 I can’t believe it’s tomorrow! It’s going to be sooooo cold 🥶🥶

I worked from home today and have my 3rd lot of washing in the machine, which is pleasing 😁 Sadly the housework needs doing desperately but I’m not sure when it’ll get done, as I doubt I’ll be in a fit state to do it on Saturday after the sleep out. We’ll see how I go! x

LilSmiler

Well done DD2..! Hope the assembly has gone well

Good luck with the sleep out.. hope you manage to stay wrapped up warm 🥶

Pink_Butterfly

Thank you @LilSmiler 😊 It was very tough - more challenging than the previous sleep outs I’ve done as the weather was just awful. It rained pretty much the whole night so our clothes, sleeping bags, cardboard and everything we had was soaked, and it was bitterly cold. It was windy too which made it worse - according to my weather app the wind made it feel like -6 degrees 🥶 My friend tried to make us some shelter from the cardboard but the rain just made it all crumble and fold down.

At 1am we had been out there for 6 hours and I made the decision to go inside the hotel for a bit (we were sleeping in a hotel car park) to try and warm up. One of the workers of the charity saw me and could see I was freezing, as I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. She put me in a warm, dry, big sleeping bag and sat me down on a sofa and told me to stay there and warm up, but the warmth never came, because my clothes were too wet. She said they have to put our safety first and if there’s an increased risk of hypothermia then they will intervene, so I was made to stay inside. I understood as I got poorly last year because I pushed myself too much and they had to call the medical team, but I felt like a let down if I’m honest. My friend stayed outside. She did so well!

I will do the sleep out again next year as it’s worth it, but I’m definitely going to invest in higher quality clothing and a better sleeping bag for it. I felt very emotional thinking that those conditions were what many people have to face every day. We were lucky as we knew we were only there for 12 hours. They have no choice but to go through it, and there’s no end in sight 💔

As I write this, we have received £765 in donations, which is just amazing.

Since getting home I’ve had a shower, done 2 lots of washing, ate some food and had 3 naps. I feel very groggy but I should be ok after a good nights sleep 😊

In completely unrelated news, my ex text me earlier to say he had taken the girls to the park, and a boy asked DD1 for her number 😫 She said no, which I’m relieved at 😂 but this is the first time a boy has taken an interest in her (to our knowledge) so me & her dad are freaking out 😂🙈 She’s in secondary school now so it’s to be expected, but I’m really not ready for this stage 🤣🤣

Pink_Butterfly

I woke up this morning after a 9-hour sleep with a cold. Not surprising really 😂 I managed to get enough strength to go to the supermarket but other than that I’ve just been on the sofa catching up on my programmes. I have been working too, and have done some more washing, so I’ve not been completely lazy!

I had £1.05 clear my TopCashback account, plus my £10.00 NatWest rewards came through, so I’ve sent £11.05 towards the holiday. Love free money 😁 It means we’re up to £178.47/£600.00 this month.

Tomorrow I need to travel to a different office for some training as I’m going to be temporarily covering a position, as they haven’t found a replacement yet and the lady leaves soon. It’s going to be something completely new. I don’t mind as I like learning new things but I don’t like travelling to this office as it’s in a very busy city and commuting isn’t fun. Hopefully it’ll be ok 😬🤞🏼 x

Pink_Butterfly

Right, I’ve got to be honest, I’m bored of throwing so much money at the debt. I’ve hit that point when I just want to spend money on things and experiences 😆 I’m sure we all reach this point, and I’m not going to act on it, but I wish I could just treat myself to something!

I’ve spent the last 2 days in different offices and it’s been fun (in a weird way) but I’m ready to go back to normal now! Can’t wait to see my desk in the morning 😂

My friend has been told she needs 6 months of chemotherapy 😭 Bless her heart x

Pink_Butterfly

Hello! Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️ DD2 made me a card bless her. The guy I briefly dated in December got back in touch recently asking to try again. I’m unsure whether to, but I did say I would meet up with him on Monday, and he said he’s got me a valentines gift lol. It’s nice, but a bit awkward as I’ve not got him anything 😬

Universal credit have screwed up my payment this month because they’ve not included the 85% of my childminder’s invoice for January 🙄 I have written them a note in my journal asking them to pay it. It’s £105.40 less than what I should be getting which isn’t to be sniffed at! I know I’ll get it eventually but I have a target to hit and I need it lol. On the plus side it’s told me another £45.54 has been paid towards the advance payments so we are now up to £224.01/£600.00

Work provided us with pizza for lunch today, and one of my colleagues brought in a huge cake for us all to have, so I say was great food wise! I must start being healthier now though 😬

My out of office is on as I’m off work on Monday for half-term 😀 Looking forward to a nice long weekend with my cherubs!

The sleep out donations are still coming in. We’re up to £847 now which is just amazing! I’m so proud of us. We made the local newspaper 😂 Everyone has been very complimentary about it which is nice. Can’t believe it was a week ago, it’s gone so quickly! Still feeling grateful for what I have 🙏🏼

Pink_Butterfly

Hey! Hope you all had a good weekend? We didn’t get up to a lot really, though I did submit my 3rd assessment which means only one more to go! I’ve got today off work but DD1 hurt her ankle on her friend’s trampoline yesterday, so DD2 and I went food shopping this morning while she stayed at home & since then we’ve just been chilling. Not the day off I planned but these things can’t be helped. I’ll drop them off at their dad’s house after dinner and then I’m going out on a date with that guy I was seeing previously. Still unsure about if we are right for each other but I’ve said we can take things slow and see how we go x

Pink_Butterfly

Good morning! I need to get ready for work but I’m procrastinating in my dressing gown 😁

The date on Monday evening was ok but I still don’t think he’s my person. I don’t know whether to give it a bit longer or to end things now. It’s a shame as he is a nice guy but I just don’t think he’s for me ☹️

I worked from home yesterday and then my friend came over for a well overdue catch up. She has recently lost her nan bless her. Was lovely seeing her, though she left quite late so I’m tired now 😂 No early night for me tonight though as the girls are going to my mum’s for a sleepover and I’m going out with some friends for a curry. I’m sure it’ll be a lovely evening!

DD1’s ankle is better now thankfully. She’s such a clumsy mare… she’ll probably do something else soon 😂

I received my short universal credit payment so sent it all to the holiday, meaning we’re up to £439.00/£600.00. Still waiting for them to tell me when I’ll be receiving the rest! 🙄

Right, must get ready for work. Have a good day all! x

Pink_Butterfly

It’s the weeeeekenddddd!!! 🥳 But typically I’ve been awake since 5:30am 🙄

Curry night was good, and cheap. One friend couldn’t make it in the end as her son had a sick bug so there was just 3 of us but it was still good! My friends had pudding too but I resisted 😇

Universal Credit have finally acknowledged they missed off my childminder’s payment but I still don’t know when I’m getting it. Hopefully it’ll be soon! Less than a week to go to find £161.00 to hit my target 😬

One of the directors at work sent an e-mail to everyone asking for my donations to my sleep out. Bless him, I hadn’t asked him to and I certainly wasn’t expecting any more but we received another £30 😊

My brother is coming up today so I’m going to go out for a coffee & a walk with him. Other than that it’s going to be a pretty chilled day! I’ll do some more studying and some housework… nothing better than chilling out on a Saturday night when everything is clean & tidy 😍