NST OCTOBER 2025 Optimism, Opportunities and Overcoming Obstacles

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malachite beads and olive shoes sound super glam

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Today I am very very grateful for getting a new-to-me dining table and 6 chairs from 0li0 for a bargain £100, for bagging up some of the jasmine, for the extra hour of sleep, for my book, for friends who care.

I'm working on November - I still have 5 days...

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November is live:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6636116/nst-november-2025-nowvember/p1?new=1

DrCarrie

Cheeky NSD today. 
Grateful for a lovely yoga teacher and hot water bottle. 

Thrifty_Taylor

Thanks @beanielou. Hope you feel better soon @grandmanerd.

Saturday was big monthly shop with L1DL 10% off, dropped a family at the bus stop for their son's wedding, then me & mum made our sproutmas cakes. Took her back to town whilst they cooked. 

Sunday had a longer lie, walked to the cemetery, then sorted out my bedside cabinet. More stuff binned or set aside to donate. Relaxed on my bed & read my book (laughing at the old fashioned saucy phrases).

Back to work today. Didn't sleep well after 4.30am. Woke DS3 at 6.30, i did some yoga, made packed lunch. Lot of sitting round talking about our late colleague & holidays. Sorted the library out in the afternoon, so nothing taxing. Have the option of doing the same tomorrow, or the arranged training at one of the secondary schools. I'm going to do the latter. Shortened 5 pairs of trousers after tea. Took me til 10pm. Won't sew tomorrow then as it'll be 5 months without DS1. Planning to make Halloween bark, like we did last year. I'll hopefully not eat as much of it this time, don't want green 💩 again 🤣

Grateful for folk being considerate, laughs with colleagues when I told them the saucy phrases, a nap after work

Thrifty_Taylor

Had to be on the ball this morning, as not only dud I start work half an hour earlier today, i also had to drive half an hour to get there,as had training in town! Therefore didn't have time to dwell on it bring DS1's 5 month anniversary. Think I did my crying on Sunday instead.
Trading went well, they'd even out Halloween sweets out in the classrooms! The heating wasn't working/switched on until late afternoon though!
Dropped sewing off, a pair of old glasses donated & a brooch dropped off to see if it's gold (found it in my bedside cabinet). Nipped to see mum, then bought 2 tiny pumpkins & left them at the cemetery.

After tea I made Halloween bark. Felt s bit sick afterwards eating the leftover sweets & licking the chocolate bowls out! 🤣

Grateful for a warm fire to come home to, not seeing any 👻 in the cemetery in the dark (phone torch switched on!) & making bark in DS's memory

apple_muncher

Hugs thrifty 

Today I am grateful for the sunshine, for chilling with Pip, for the lack of interweb being due to the plug not being in properly and not something drastic, for our neighbour giving us her password to use as and when needed, for Poirot.

grandmanerd

I'm quietly happy. Didn't feel great when I woke up, but after pills, showering and having something to eat, I'm warm and comfortable and optimistic and happy. I have ordered a cardigan. The one I wanted didn't come up when I searched so I've gone with a cheap and cheerful one (knee length and very bright green) which I'll happily donate if it doesn't suit.

I missed my health appointment, after dithering about whether to cancel I mixed up the days and when I put my phone back on after charging it, I'd missed it. Very bad (maybe why I felt out of sorts yesterday). I'm going to write apologising and may suggest putting the appointment back to next year - maybe Spring. I've spent such a long time organising appointments, then cancelling and rebooking due to illness. I have 2 appointments in November and need to book bloods and flu jab, then an appointment with the Practice Nurse (and a regular eye appointment with the optician).

I did the big food order last night, to be delivered on Thursday between 5 pm and 6 pm. My original order (from September) was still there. I took a couple of things out and added others - a lot of pickles, more fruit and ready salad meals (lots of grains). I've been using lots of the cans I bought so kept the soup I'd originally ordered and added a couple more ' useful when ill or too 'exhausted' to cook (oats and honey bars, small bottles of milk to stand upright in the freezer).

I understand the principles behind basing your meal plan around what you have in and only buying what you need. However having less than 10 good days (able to get out of the house) since the beginning of August and knowing that I make very poor choices when I'm ill (wooly brained and feeling miserable) I'll be much happier knowing I have a stock of cans and other things I can grab and go. 

I also think childhood poverty and more recent times of hardship means I worry and feel insecure without back up food supplies. I'm not talking hoarder levels (30 + tins), I can rotate foods properly and I only want things I will use, but it is important to me and I want to buid up my 'store cupboard/ pantry'. I added cornflour on the latest list, next time I will look at beans and pulses (SM price was 65p with an offer of the 4th one being free - I have butter beans, chickpeas and a couple of random cans atm) and tinned fruit.

I remember when I first got together with my ex-husband. It was the day after his birthday and I kept trying to go home and he said stay a bit longer. In the end I said that if I stayed any longer he'd have to feed me as I was hungry and my hands were on the verge of shaking. His 'food cupboard' held one pack of dried spaghetti and tubs of white pepper and pickling spices. He went for Chinese. 

When we moved in together I insisted on being in charge of the money (he had a good job, very well paid for our area, but was complaining about being broke and living off his overdraft for at least half the month) and having a basic food cupboard (pasta, dried pulses and beans, tins of tomatoes and condensed mushroom soup for cooking - he didn't have a fridge or freezer). When he was working the shift that finished at 2 pm he was supposed to restock the cupboard and make an evening meal.

One Saturday morning I woke up with flu, couldn't make it downstairs and asked him to heat me a tin of soup before going to make our apologies at our regular Saturday morning voluntary stint. He said there was no soup, he'd used everything I had bought in the 2 weeks when it was my turn to shop and not bought any replacements. I had to write a shopping list and he came back amazed that the list was in the same order as he went round the shop.

I've been feeling washed out from the continuous round of lurgy and listened to a couple of podcasts. The one about being old and living alone (which for most practical purposes I am) talked about setting up systems to support yourself - having food delivered, using technology like alarms for falls, paying for services like cleaning and gardening. One day this week I had tins of soup, peaches and rice pudding - easy, simple, warming and made me feel 'cared for'. I am going to meal plan. use what I have etc but this is a back up system so that I have something when all else fails and avoids being dependant on takeaways (I mainly do small grocery shops through the app but availability is patchy and choices are limited). 

So a very long 'excuse' for not doing what I'm supposed toDestinations include the Community Food Shop (zero waste), B00ts for folic acid tablets and a shop in the Mall for a couple of basic dresses/ look through the sale rack (I noticed holes at the back of another 'everyday' dress - I knew there was a cluster near the hem at the front but these are rather near to parts I don't want exposed in public. I go so long 'making do' and then suddenly notice how shabby some of my clothes are and that I shouldn't be wearing them out of the house.

Grateful for tinned food, good books (already read 2 of the ones I got earlier in the week), good detective series (revisiting Inspecctor Frost).

thriftylass

@grandmanerd, your ex sounds like my DH in regards to living in the overdraft half the month. But I'll need to sort my own first and then him, it's complex .....

Anyhoo, my wool stash arrived today. I will keep the receipt as it's for my little crochet business if it ever kicks off, (still need to learn a lot about the business/financial side of things). Was thinking of making stock this year, learn about selling and then try selling some from next year. Thought, if I crochet anyway for entertainment (crocheting to sell doesn't work as the hours usually outweigh the value of the item) might as well sell it and make a bit extra. If it doesn't sell that nothing is lost and I have loads of presents for various holidays and birthdays. 

counting down to NOWember.

f0xh0les

I have been de-visitored. Halle-flippin-lujah!!  They are old, I am horrid, guilt guilt guilt, blah blah blah.

I was a great host, they did whatever they wanted to, I did not run away, DH was out of the house by 9 every day, leaving them to me to entertain..... not unexpected, but.....blissfully...... she did not talk about their s3x life this time.  It has taken a couple of days, but I am finally beginning to start to relax again... and breathe! Still having nightmares every night though. 

2 days left of October to get stuff done. 

I have bought 2 ottoman beds and mattresses, one of them has been put up, the other one is waiting for that bedroom floor to be clear so I can begin the assembly process. It should help them keep their rooms tidy.  DS4 has his new computer desk.  Soon we will be in Mock Exams (PPE in new money) and 1st year re-take exam territory, but will all be over at the C-word. 

All food from stores, 2 days til payday, going to clear and clean bits of the house and prep and meal plan for the No(W)vember challenge.   I earned less than £200 this month, so payday will not be 'whooopie!!' this time. 

In good news, the living room has stabilised at an ambient temperature of around 17 degrees at the moment, which is absolutely fine after having to keep the place at a whopping 21 degrees while the visitors were here (to stop the whining about being cold - their house is flippin' freezing all the time).  The nice thick underlay and warm fluffy carpet seem to be helping.  The heating was on at this point last year, so at least I have done something right.