Teetering on the brink

ellenvan

Well done on the sales.
Looking like your £5 targets will be met.
Hope you find more goodies to list in the shed.

You've probably already read mse weekly email, but just in case you have not, more bank incentives and credit card interest balance transfers mentioned.

EatingBeans

Just wanted to drop a note to say I am still here pondering the debt, just very tired. I did manage to take Big Dog out for an hour and a half walk around the park with dd2 yesterday which was lovely in all the autumn colour but exhausting. Little Dog is expected to come into season any day now so she had to stay home and play with dd1 and her bf instead. I felt bad at first until I realised just how busy the park was! Thankfully I had taken the long line with me as I am finding it super useful to just leave him on it unless we are on a very obviously empty field. He doesn’t mind it and it is long enough that he can still have a good sniff and then catch us up so all good. I call him back to me when someone approaches and he comes running with or without the line on but it seems to give other people peace of mind to see him on a lead so when there are lots of people about I’ve just started using it regardless. I must admit I do long for the old days when all dogs seemed to be off lead and people all seemed to love dogs, but somewhere along the way times changed it would seem. 😕 Either way, I am just very grateful that Big Dog at least is so adaptable. He’s a pic of my cute boy…

I’ve updated the £5’s spreadsheet with the last few days sales etc and I am getting really close to my goal for the month! 28 out of 30 £5’s for both effort and cash received! 🎉 A few more days and I should make it for both. 🤞

Cherryfudge

Gorgeous picture!

Really well done on the £5 multiples.

EatingBeans

Back on the Olio runs tonight. The guinea pigs did well out of it - another night where we asked for one pack lettuce and got 20! 🤦‍♀️ They also threw in a fruit pot and several packs of chicory which I have never eaten in my life. It’s clear that they are just dumping the leftovers in my sack but I don’t particularly mind so long as it is just fruit and veg which if nothing else can go on the compost heap or in the wormery. It just becomes a challenge to see how much we can consume before that point. Highlight this week was 20 eggs. Between me, the girls and the dogs, they will be gone in a flash. Perfect excuse to get dd2 baking too. I have lemons that need using up so maybe a lemon drizzle cake! 😋 ( I get banned from the kitchen when it comes to baking as dd2 likes to do it herself) I am chief taste tester! 😁

Tonight’s haul…

Sun_Addict

Wow that’s an impressive haul! Shocking how much food could potentially be wasted. Thank goodness for Olio and similar schemes. 

Your dog is a handsome chap. 

EatingBeans

Thanks @Sun_Addict he really is handsome isn’t he! (I may be slightly biased! 🤣) One thing that probably doesn’t come across well in the photos though is just how big he is. Not fat at all, but very tall and very long for a Labrador. Tbf the sheer size of him might be why some people seem so wary of him compared to my old labs. He really is the most friendly dog in the world but they don’t know that I suppose. Thankfully the worst he does if he catches me out and greets someone off lead is spin around next to the person, sit at their heel, lean his head/shoulders against them, puts on his biggest smile and looks longingly into their eyes desperately hoping for a head rub! That works a treat to melt the heart of most people and thankfully he does take “go away” for an answer, but I can appreciate that they don’t know that’s all he wants and tbf some just don’t want to say hello to dogs which is also fair enough. I am sure his dog hugs have helped a fair few people over his life time though. It has been quite obvious sometimes where he has met people struggling with mental health issues and he has managed to put a smile on their face. If I spot him adopting someone like that, I tend to just stop and wait for him/the person to finish their moment. I know he will always come straight back if I call him but I also know how powerful his hugs can be when you are feeling down and it’s obvious the difference he makes in those few seconds. So many people after his hugs make comments about how they feel there must be something special about themselves and think he’s adopting just them - I obviously don’t tell them this is just a thing he does! I am sure he would have made a great therapy dog. 

His sister couldn’t be more different. 🤦‍♀️

EatingBeans

Weigh-in day today.

Weight today: 200.8lbs
Average last week: 201.4lbs
Average this week: 201.0lbs
Loss this week: 0.4lbs 🎉

Well, it’s not the 1lb a week I had hoped for but it is still going in the right direction so I’ll take that as a win. I am yet to break that elusive 200lb barrier but I have started to notice some of my clothes feel a bit looser this week so something is definitely changing. 😁

EatingBeans

Mixed feelings today. I am back on free meals from Olio today which feels good, and I have had a bit more cash come in so I have reached my monthly target 🎉, but I also ran out of dog food and had to go buy some more today. That’s another £50 over budget. ☹️ I’m fairly confident that if I had continued with Olio all month I would have made it to the end of the month in dog food as some gets displaced by fresh veg, and in the case of today, little cocktail sausages while I trimmed their nails. I’ve totted it all up and the extra spending (such as dd2’s theatre ticket for her birthday next year), has really put a dent in my debt busting this month. It is still going in the right direction but painfully slowly. 

Added to which I think I am going to have to give in and take the van to the garage to fix the faults I’ve been trying to ignore but really shouldn’t. I was hoping to stretch it to its next MOT (or at least past Christmas!) but it’s gone from a niggle to a genuine concern as to whether I should drive it. Googling leads me to believe the fault is the ‘clock spring’ in the steering column, and either a faulty key, or something is wrong with the immobiliser. All I know is it sounds expensive but there is only so long I can look at my flashing airbag light before I have to give in and go and get it looked at. 😕 Plus, the immobiliser issue is making the van intermittently refuse to start - like last night in the pouring rain at 10pm at night as dd2 and I were out picking up Olio stuff. 😔

EatingBeans

This is the £5’s situation… 

ellenvan

Well done for hitting the £5's target whilst also being unwell.
Pity about the van , but sounds essential.
Good that you are back saving food waste with Olio. Looked a good haul last night, especially the eggs. Did anyone bake you a cake?