Teetering on the brink

InDebtEnby

You get a lot of sweet treats in the Costa and Starbucks bags

missymoo81

Ooh your Aldi bag was interesting. I love reading your diary. You’re very much in the same boat as me with v little money to last the month. Sorry the DDs succumbed to takeaway, but well done on being strong.

janb5

Hi Eating Beans...well done on finding £ around the house.  Would you mind saying which bank allows you to take the £ as so many of them have stopped that now..is it a box that collects the money and gives you a receipt ?  Thank you.

EatingBeans

janb5 said:

Hi Eating Beans...well done on finding £ around the house.  Would you mind saying which bank allows you to take the £ as so many of them have stopped that now..is it a box that collects the money and gives you a receipt ?  Thank you.

Hi @janb5 no problem, it was a NatWest that accepted the £’s. I was using a big coin counting machine, a bit like the ones that you sometimes see in supermarkets that charge a fee, but this was inside the bank and was for customers only. It counted the money and provided a receipt which I then had to take to a cashier to pay in. I noticed on the was out that they also have a cash machine that lets you deposit notes and coins but that just seemed to have a box to drop the coins in, so I am not sure if that works differently. Hope that helps. 

EatingBeans

Ah, what a way to start the day. While the kettle was boiling this morning I noticed dd1 had left her cereal box out in puppy reach, so I went to pop it back. The shelf where it should be had lids on, so as I cursed under my breath “how hard is it to just put things back where they belong?”(something my own mother always used to say), I moved things aside to slide the lids back in their space tucked under the little shelves which sit on the worktop (we have a VERY small kitchen), and they were getting stuck on something and wouldn’t go. So, now with an impatient huff, I pulled the lids back out and SMASH! The very useful glass dish that the lids belong to shattered all over the floor, covering my bare feet and all around in the tiniest razor sharp shards glinting at me in the morning light, just daring me to take a step. Then to top it off, the kettle came to its boil and clicked off as if to laugh at me and remind me as to why i always start my day with coffee. I was not impressed.

Thankfully, big dog was first back into the kitchen (both pups had both gone out for a wee),  he took one look at me, and with one word of “crate” he shot back to bed. Don’t need to tell him twice! Little pup was more intrigued, (can I lick it is always her default), but the speed of big dog’s reaction made her follow suit despite the very confused look on her face. Phew.

I very carefully tiptoed out off the pile of glass, cleaned it up, finally made my coffee, and sat down on the sofa wondering if the neighbours are going to start asking themselves what’s going on from all the random noises, (dd2 fell down the stairs yesterday but that is another story). Just then, dd1 comes down the stairs and plonks down next to me. 

I start with “Good morning”. That was about as much bread I could mustering for the s*t sandwich I was about to deliver. Quickly moving on to remind her that this house has very few rules but those that are there are to prevent the actions of one having a detrimental effect on another's enjoyment of living in the house (the takeaway rule), and I expect rules that do exist to be followed. Fair play, she admits, enough said. Trying to lighten the mood I relay my glass smashing morning saga in a ‘boy I should have drunk the coffee first’ kinda way. Her response? “Oh yeah, all those cereal boxes are empty you know?” 😱 My face must have said it all because she took one look and very quickly got up and dashed out the door to work! “Love you” she shouts en route, as if to check if I would still respond in kind… I did. Still always love ‘em even when they are driving me nuts!

~FlowerPot~

"All those cereal boxes are empty you know"
😖😠😣☹️💩
Drives me mad when my lot don't take the empties away. 
But yes, I still love em, mostly 😂
Sort you've had a hard start to the day. I hope the rest of your day improves. 
You are doing so well. 

SuzeQStan

Hi OP - wanted to say I’ve read your diary in one fell swoop and thoroughly enjoyed it, and in full admiration of your determination to get this debt behind you.  

In many ways the story of your debt free journey  is somehow very much secondary to the lovely relationship with your dds that shines through every sentence.  They are a credit to you.

Please stay strong and keep going on your debt free journey  - one of the most powerful parts of your diary for me was when you had your post money shuffle wobble.  It was good and honest and important, and something I think most everyone on here can relate to.  

Edit: grammar issue

EatingBeans

Ah thanks @~FlowerPot~ and @SuzeQStan I am still amazed anyone is reading my diary so thanks for such kind words! 😁

You are probably right that my diary does veer off the topic of debt quite often, it’s just how my brain works I am afraid - easily distracted. I am going to call it ‘adding context’ to my DFW journey, basically because I can’t promise I won’t keep doing it. 🤣…


…I can report that today has marginally improved. I still have a pounding headache, same as yesterday, but since going back to bed didn’t cure it, I am going for the ‘suck it up and try and get on with it’ approach today. I have a to do list as long as my arm, but, thanks to my trusty ToDo app, I have sorted them into priority order and I am just going to see how much I can get done before it either goes away or I give in to the pain and curl up in a ball. 😕

So, I’ve checked all my accounts and reconciled my spreadsheet/Fudget - always first job of the day - done a load of washing so I have something to wear for work tomorrow, emptied the bin and recycling, cleaned out the piggles and disinfected the yard where the dogs toilet. Good start. 

It was such a nice day today that I decided to let the dogs have their first run of the year down the end of the garden. Still very cold out so I couldn’t stay out long but big dog took no time at all in getting up to speed to run his favourite lap back and forth at breakneck speed (it’s about 100ft and he loves treating it like a butt tucking assault course). The only issue is that previously he used to run the laps on his own, now, since little dog has come along, she tries to chase after him. When she was little that was fine as he used to leap over her on the return lap, but now little dog is an almost fully grown Labrador, jumping over isn’t working so well! 🤦‍♀️ I’m sure they will work it out and stop crashing into each other eventually right? 🤣

Thankfully, little dog has about the same attention span as me and soon spotted the hole she dug at the back end of last year and belined for it. Much to my relief, she has now got a much better understanding of the word ‘no’ now and was very good and didn’t get herself instantly covered in mud. I am not completely anti-digging as I think it is good mental stimulation for them, but it needs to be at the right time and in the right place. It was fine for her to learn to dig there last year as it was just loose soil that I was storing there whilst I created some new borders, but this year I want to seed that area down to grass and I don’t want her digging in my lawn! Unbothered, little dog went off to check out the pond (currently empty as it sprung a leak at the back end of last year - another thing on my to do list for this year), but when big dog finally stopped with his sprinting, he moved on to marking, and then, like a little lightbulb went on in his head, he raced to look over the fence. 

The sad bit is, there was nothing in the garden for big dog to look at. He was trying to spot the tiny dog who used to live there but she was put to sleep a couple of months back. 😢 They used to love sniffing noses under the gate and running the length of each respective garden like some kind of race (tiny dog barking as if to complain of the unfairness of it all given her much shorter legs), but now the garden is eerily silent. Big dog is convinced she must be hiding somewhere and keeps trying to jump the fence to find her. He has managed once before so we both know he can, and whilst I know the lovely elderly lady who lives doesn’t mind in the slightest if he does, I worry he might knock her flying with his enthusiasm if he sees her and equally he might damage some of her very delicate ornaments in her perfectly manicured garden. 

Replacing the fence is out of the question as the lady loves the ability to chat over the fence (and it’s her fence), so on my shoestring budget I have been trying to limit the areas where the dogs could jump over, but at the same time have a spot where the dogs can get close enough for the lady to give them a good head rub as she loves to give them a fuss. This ‘create a fence but without creating a fence and do it without spending money’ project, has been quite a saga up to now, and I am sure I will return to it at some point over the course of this diary. Last year’s progress included making good use of 4 cheap (£10 each) arches together with garden netting and zip ties to block out a big chunk, I used edging boards I found in the garden, cut them up and built a compost bin out of them (still low enough to talk over but deep enough to prevent jumping - only cost was some paint), I moved the shed to back on to the fence, and I  used plants (and trees!) in pots, plus some old bikes 🤦‍♀️ to block out the remaining space. (Remember this is 100ft of garden - the challenge to do this without spending ££££’s is REAL!)  

Big dog was becoming very persistent at trying to jump over so we had to come back in. Oh how I long for the warmer weather when I can get back out there and make more progress. You never know, I might even try to find a buyer for a bike or three. 

Speaking of buyers. I made another ebay sale today. Just £2 but every little helps. A good reminder to get listing again too. 😁

ellenvan

Adding context is def. good!

Two things already mentioned maybe - Referal bonuses - get your daughters to sign up to Cashback sites.

If they are uncertain they can check the validity of the top sites on here and elsewhere.

Topcashback and Quidco nationally known.

Secondly Tesco draw mentioned before - Unfortunately now they just email you after shopping to give feedback.

So pot luck whether you get the chance to take part. Maybe make sure you are signed up to their marketing emails.

Also celebrate the little things a sale for £2 is not to be sniffed at - as you said a reminder to list more also.

SuzeQStan

2nd here for context - please keep it coming 😊