Need to stop spending and chasing dopamine!

Pink_Butterfly

2 days to go and then I’m freeeee!!! 😂 Work gave us all a £30 gift card today which was nice. It’s one of those gift cards that covers lots of different shops so it’ll probably get spent soon 😆

Universal credits have been paid in so I’ve sent £108.10 to Jet2 for our holiday and cleared the original Very debt of £111.00, so we’re now at £561.51/£600.00

DD1 has finally found a Christmas jumper she likes but her dad is getting it as he has Amazon prime 😊 So I’ll just offset it against the Very order from last week.

Both girls are full of cold bless them. They have fresh bed sheets tonight so hopefully they will sleep well. DD2 seems to be suffering more, but she’s apparently been awake since 2:30am. She went to watch a panto with the school today but she was suffering quite a lot bless her, especially as they travelled by coach and she gets a bit travel sick 😢 She did make me laugh when I picked her up though, as she was telling me about the Christmas dinner she had at the school yesterday, and she said it was awful, but went into great detail as to why it was so bad 😆 No Yorkshire puddings, there was “disgusting stuff on the food”, and they didn’t even put out any Christmas crackers which is the highlight for her 😂 She enjoyed the pudding though!

I went on a 2nd date last night. Again, it didn’t cost me a penny 🥰 I’ve known him for a couple of years but I didn’t realise he was such a lovely person. Not just because he won’t let me pay for anything lol. He’s just a very caring man. Early days though…

Off to do the washing up 🙃

LilSmiler

No yorkie pud with Christmas dinner, sacrilegious..!

Pink_Butterfly

I know! 😂

It’s Friday at last! The last day of work for a week ☺️ Today shouldn’t be too stressful, she says 😂 Both girls are still full of cold bless them. I walked to Morrisons yesterday lunchtime and bought some tissues, Vicks stuff etc so we are well stocked up. We have no plans this weekend so they can just rest up whilst I do housework and get everything ready for Christmas!

I’ve been looking at my debts since I started this diary and seeing how differently it’s looking already…

Barclaycard: was £2,989.46 now £2,989.46
Natwest CC: was £2,418.76 now £2,394.57
Holiday for 2025: was £1,938.60 now £1,615.50
Universal Credit Advance 1: was £419.70 now £395.00
Universal Credit Advance 2: was £333.28 now £312.44
Very: was £111.00 now £0.00
Next: was £88.50 now £30.82
Klarna: was £25.00 now £0.00
Total unsecured debt: was £8,324.30 now £7,737.79

So total amount paid off in just over a month is £586.51. Still need to pay £38.49 this month to hit my target.

DD2 has got 11 Christmas presents to give out to her friends this morning(!) so we have a big bag to take with us on the school run 😂

My friend had an appointment yesterday and now has her surgery booked for 2 weeks’ time. They said she may need a stoma bag temporarily but they won’t know until they operate. She’s being so strong. I’ve said I’ll go down to see her as many times as she needs. She’s telling her boys tomorrow 💔 I hope they’ll be ok and not too upset. She’s been told she needs to do a lot of exercise between now & the operation to give her body the best chance of recovering quickly.

Right, I need to go and get ready for the day now! Catch you later x

Sarahwithlove

Oh bless your friend, I hope the op goes well and she doesn't need the stoma. 

You've done great on the debt repayments for the first month. Hopefully you reach your target 

Pink_Butterfly

Thank you @Sarahwithlove, she’s being a true fighter! I’m in awe of her strength. My mum popped over earlier and we were talking about the link between processed food & sugar and cancer. I definitely am guilty of buying time-saving, convenient food which are no doubt filled with terrible ingredients and chemicals. It’s made me realise that I need to make more time to do some proper cooking a few times a week. I may increase the food budget next year for better quality food. Bowel cancer is the one that terrifies me the most. Not just because my friend has it, but my mum had a pre-cancerous polyp removed from her bowel 16 years ago, and I’ve had issues in the past aswell. My friend’s situation has definitely made me look at things differently. Although I’m still eating chocolate from my advent calendars! 🙈

My out of office is now on! Such a good feeling, though I may need to do some work tomorrow as I couldn’t finish it today due to system updates. That’s ok though, I don’t mind.

The girls seem to be feeling better now which is good! They’re both happy to have finished school. I’m also happy that we don’t need to do any school runs for a couple of weeks 😀

Started on the housework tonight after I shut down my laptop and will try and finish the rest tomorrow. I also need to get some bits in town and go to my parents’ house though so depends how much time I have.

I’m going to bed now as I’m tired 😴 Night! x

Pink_Butterfly

It’s the last Saturday before Christmas and the girls & I braved a food shop this morning. We were going to walk it but it was raining so we took the car. Luckily it was easy to park. It was busy as expected but I thought it would be worse! Got a basket full of items and then got out of there as quickly as possible 😂 Once we got home I did a bit of work, sorted the washing out and made some lunch as we were starving.

So spends today were £24.58 on food & toiletries, and then I sent a £5 Costa gift card to a friend who never takes time out for herself & is going through a lot of stress right now so I told her to go and have a coffee on me child-free.

We went to my parents’ house this afternoon for a few hours and my little nephew was there. He was being very cheeky! He kept taking mouthfuls of juice and then spitting it out, and then was trying to eat the tissues 🤣 by the time he got picked up he was ready for a nap as he’d been running around & dancing about non-stop since we arrived 😆 He always plays with his belly button when he’s tired 🤭 bless him.

Need to go and cook dinner now. We’re having a chicken & bacon pie with baby potatoes and veg, yum! x

Pink_Butterfly

Hello! 3 more sleeps until Santa visits 😉 I wrapped a couple of pressies today so that’s everything wrapped, and I’ll be taking them all to my mum & dad’s house on Christmas Eve (aside from my girls’ presents and their dad’s). Tomorrow I need to nip into work after dropping the girls off at their dad’s house and collect their presents from the payroll cupboard, as they won’t be back here until Christmas Day evening 😊 So I’ll finally be able to have them here without the girls finding them!

Unsurprisingly, the £23.35 worth of petrol that I put into my car the other day did not last. I knew it was ambitious 😂 So I put another £30 worth in today. It means I’ve gone over budget but that isn’t surprising seeing as I drove over 250 miles last weekend. While we were out we also collected the Cards Against Humanity game from my friend as my adult family members and I are going to play it on Christmas Day after lunch (when the kids aren’t around 😆) and then we dropped off a present to DD1’s friend. I then agreed the girls could have a McDonalds for dinner as they’ve not had a takeaway in months and they’ve done a lot of tidying and organising in their bedroom today, but I was shocked at the cost! I thought it was meant to be a cheap place! I’m glad I didn’t get anything for myself 😬

All in all it’s been a very nice day and I’m looking forward to the next few days! Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season 🎅🏼 x

Lonelygambler

McDonald’s is no longer a quick cheap bite! 

CAH is a great game! Love it. 

Pink_Butterfly

It’s brilliant isn’t it 😆 I’ve not played it in a few years. We played What Do You Meme a few Christmasses ago and that was fun too.

I had a VIP Next Sale slot tonight and I’m proud to say I didn’t order anything. It was close but I managed to resist! Just needed to announce that 😆

Mr New Man is taking me on a romantic day out to another city tomorrow ☺️ I need to meet him at his house after I’ve picked up the girls’ presents from work and then we’re going out for some lunch/dinner and a look around 😍 Should be nice! x

Pink_Butterfly

Yesterday was so lovely! For a 3rd date it was pretty magical 😍 We went for a nice stroll, a mooch around the shops (where he got me a Hotel Chocolat gift set) and had lunch (I paid this time but it was only £14.84). And then he took me to Blenheim Palace which was just lovely 🥰

I’ve bought next year’s panto tickets 😁 I always get them as soon as they’re released so we get the best seats and so I had the money already set aside. Our favourite panto celeb is in it so we’re all buzzing 😂 My brother and his fiancée are coming with us this time so they’ve transferred their money across. Will get my mum’s soon.

All of the girls’ presents are currently in the boot of my car. I’ll need to be a ninja tonight and get them into my ex’s house without them hearing me. That’ll be fun…

My mum is throwing a bit of a party today so I’ll be going round there shortly to eat all of her food ☺️ Will take all of her presents with me too, as well as my dad’s, brother’s, his fiancée’s and my nephew’s. My living room will look bare! Until tomorrow night… 😆🎅🏼

I probably won’t be on here now until Boxing Day or the day after that, so I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I know Christmas Day isn’t always a happy day so if you’re dreading it I hope it’s a peaceful, gentle day. Lots of love ❤️ x