Settling in for the long haul

Dakota_Rose

Thanks @jwil - I’ve got a few more items decluttered and listed this afternoon too.

I’m declaring our back to school sinking fund empty and everything should now be ticked off the list 🤞All remaining stationery items bought today and that’s a wrap! (Except literally just remembered a scientific calculator had not been acquired yet😩).

I got the refund for my water bottle and sent that to the CC. I’ll keep an eye out for a new one and will purchase from my personal spends. My very favourite water bottle was a robust glass one with a silicone sleeve and screw lid. I got it for a bargain and it lasted years. Since the lid broke, I haven’t been able to find one that doesn’t start to taste/smell disgusting after a while or really stands the test of time.

If anyone here enjoys writing or is tempted to start some creative writing but doesn’t know where to begin, I’d recommend Beth Kempton’s Writing Sanctuary sessions. I signed up to the free Christmas ones and really enjoyed them. She begins her free summer sanctuary tomorrow and I’m signed up again. It’s genuinely free and good for MSE mindfulness: https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/product/summer-writing-sanctuary-2026/
I hope the link worked.

My money-sensible actions today included:

• Returning faulty water bottle
• Continuing to declutter and sort/salvage items for sale
• Cooking omelettes for Mr D and myself, along with three different children’s meals to use up what was left in the fridge and cupboard, and resisted takeaway pizza for dinner
• Avoiding unnecessary spends in the shop today
• Resetting and charging my fitness tracker, thus resurrecting it, rather than confining it to the bin.

foxgloves

I have a lovely glass water bottle, @Dakota_Rose - I can't recall the brand atm, despite having also bought a couple for presents. Once this cup of coffee reaches my brain cells, I'm hoping to remember & will be back with the name in case it's helpful. No weird taste from the water & I've had it a few years now. Washes really easily as does the sleeve. Racks brains....

F

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105221#Comment_82105221

Thank you so much 😊

I’ve been racking my brains for the brand of my previous one. It was a good brand bought at a budget price in Home B’s. I bought so many as gifts as they seemed to get an influx of them and then I’ve never seen them again - this was years ago though 😢

foxgloves

Hi Dakota Rose, I've remembered it! (& thankfully before switching off my laptop!) It's 'Waterdrop'. Mine is one of the Edition Glass ones - I have the green design. It looks as though prices have risen since I purchased mine, as I've had it for a few years now. I switched to a glass one because I dislike the taint that plastic bottles seem to transfer into drinks, & whereas I got on well with my previous steel bottle, it is easier to clean a bottle when you can easily see inside. I like that the neck of my glass one is sufficiently wide to fit a bottle brush in for cleaning & I've also handwashed the neoprene sleeve a few times. I take it with me every time I go out so it has been well-used, but still looks as good as new. Not cheap though. Anyway, I hope this info is of interest one way or another.

F x

Dakota_Rose

@foxgloves thanks! I’ve had a look and those are lovely. They look very similar to the one I had after my original glass bottle, which was also nice but that particular bamboo with thin plastic inner lid didn’t fare too well with daily use.

There is no online trace of my original bottle. I suspect it was some abstract brand that sold off its remnants to Home B’s and will never be seen again. They were an eco-friendly design, very durable and had textured silicone sleeves, in solid bright colours and different wavy patterns. Some had bamboo lids but others, like the one I chose for myself had a plastic lid that doubled as a handle as it was an ‘r’ shape. It was perfect and cost about £2.99 and I’ve clearly not recovered from the day it was broken by a husband who shall remain nameless 😂.

I’ll stop waffling about water bottles now I promise!

Other than planned grocery shopping that came in a few pounds under budget, nothing else was spent today. I continued to list some of Mum’s larger items this afternoon on the off-chance we could avoid taking them in the car to the boot sale next weekend. Two rugs have been sold and collected already with one more going tomorrow. Along with a board game and books that have also been sold, we have £53 in our tin already.

I’ve also sold another item on Vinted so £3.50 will be chipped off the summer CC spends when the sale clears.

A problem we’ve encountered today is trying to work out how to set up a bank account for eldest now that he is 16 and applying for jobs. We can’t set him up online without photo ID, so attempted to apply for a provisional driving license for him as a form of photo ID, which he can’t do online without, you guessed it: photo ID. I think we’re going to have to pack up his birth certificate and national insurance number and go on a bank branch hunt that will accept him for a face-to-face application. Likewise, a paper application form for his provisional in a suitable post office. Harder said than done with branches closing left, right and centre. They also advise having a named and addressed letter from school or college verifying he is enrolled with them. This again is not possible until he is enrolled at college as he’s between places at the moment, while awaiting his GCSE results. What a palaver!

To end on a thrilling note, my lost earbuds that were being borrowed by Little Miss were discovered down the back of her bed yesterday. After a charge one was working, after a second charge, they have both been resurrected 😂. You should see my motivation listening to ABBA tunes and other fine musical selections while on the walking pad. It’s a sight to behold! 🤣

Dakota_Rose

Tuesday has gone by in a bit of a blur. I’m not sure whether it’s the change in weather or that we’ve had a run of frugal days but I’ve felt a bit lacklustre today.

It was a NSD. We visited Mum briefly as Little Miss had a sleepover last night and needed collecting. Our efforts to make a head start on the car boot sale fund have started to pay off nicely, and we caught up on the small sales each of us have made. On the way back we stopped at Lidl for a free baguette/doughnut and free sweet treat. It was the boys’ turn to choose, and they went for a baguette and fancy doughnut. That came to £0 but we still got another spin of the wheel, meaning we get to return for a free croissant. A lot of people must be taking up the offers between the shop itself and the 🐙 app, as the bakery was pretty depleted by 2pm. Our final stop was the small local library for littlest to complete his summer reading challenge. The ladies working today were so lovely with him and gave him a round of applause and a small medal. He loved the books and the attention so winning all round there 😂.

This afternoon and evening has been spent sorting through more stuff in the garage to see what is going to the car boot. I’ve found a lot of pottery and crockery - one set of which is rather large and rather pretty. It’s vintage/floral style and has HM Queen’s royal stamp on the bottom. I may just hang on to that for my kitchen display cabinet. I’ve also collected all the fallen apples from our enormous apple tree and given the garden a general tidy round. So I may be feeling a bit low on energy but I’ve still managed to achieve a bit.

Tonight I will be making up my daily steps on the walking pad, reading my book and hopefully having an early night.

I have parcels to post again tomorrow and may pop over to work for a quick check in. Mr D plans to have his postponed fishing day from Monday when he wasn’t feeling too well. I’d like him to have a nice day out so hopefully the weather stays dry enough for him to enjoy it.

I’d like to make a couple more plans for the rest of the summer holiday as it feels slightly like the holidays are sizzling out. Perhaps this is because we are in limbo waiting for GSCE results at the moment. We still have some money in the holidays pot and I want to make sure that we’ve made the most of the time off before we all head into a new school year.

Dakota_Rose

Happy hump day.

I have potentially a lazy NSD ahead of me, although I potentially could get a few errands done which I should do if I can muster the energy. It’s almost ‘that’ time of the month and I’m struggling with energy levels for sure.

Littlest had a bit of a temperature yesterday and cried a lot. Today his temp is down but he looks very pale and washed out. A day at home may not be a bad plan.

I have an item to pick up from Mum’s that a buyer would like to collect from my house, but I’ve arranged that for tomorrow. I also have a post office parcel to drop off and a reason to pop into work too. Mum’s and the post office is in one direction and work, with an alternative post office, is in the other. Mum’s is a half hour round trip, and work is an hour. Right now, I can’t be bothered with either 😂. Place your bets if you’re so inclined - I’ll report back later.

First a lazy morning is called for. I have two parcels being collected from home so can’t go anywhere yet.

Dakota_Rose

Well I didn’t do much of anything today as I wasn’t feeling too well. I’m sure it’s hormonal and will improve in a day or two.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t venture over to my workplace. I did suggest it to shake off my lethargy but littlest looked unwell himself and really didn’t want to go so we stayed home till after lunch. Later on, we drove to Mum’s but only stayed briefly, dropped off the parcel and picked up the free croissant and not-free loaf of bread at Lidl. We got another spin the wheel for a bun or apple turnover so we’ll no doubt pop back in at some point to claim that on our travels to Mum’s. £1.58 spent today.

Another small sale today takes our car boot sale tin to £63 before we go.

Eldest gets his results tomorrow and he’s been very stressed today. We don’t expect high results and have put little pressure on him, but it is weighing on him now. I really hope that he gets what he needs for his college course. If he’d been accepted onto the entry-level one he’d applied for, there’d be no pressure at all. However, he excelled himself at the audition and was offered a place on the higher level, meaning slightly higher qualifications were also needed. Due to his medical and learning challenges over his school life, we’re just proud that he stuck at it and worked as hard as he did. Whatever happens, I’m proud of him. I’m sure there’ll be a way of starting on the lower level if the results aren’t what he needs them to be tomorrow.

Two weeks left of the summer holidays now. I know it shouldn’t feel like time is slipping away from us, but it does. We hope to have a couple more family days out to make the most of the time off and there’s still some money in the holiday pot to cover them.

A posh bath is called for tonight. I ache all over and feel so tired that I hope this will be a nice pick-me-up. Will encourage eldest to go in after me!

Honeysucklelou2

We are also collecting results today for youngest DD. Hope your DS gets the results he wants.

Well done for looking at your pension. I find it a real test of patience trying to log into the Teachers Pensions site. Between passwords. Pins and multi factor ID which I haven’t yet fathomed, I gave up trying this year 🤔.

RhiBi

Good luck for all getting results today. I remember the stress of results day, they are just a stepping stone and things will pan out how they’re meant to, although at 16 years old, it does feel like their whole life depends on this.