My journey to a debt free life

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Oh OBL, I come to catch up with you and you are having such a terrible time - sending you and your Mum massive hugs. xx

Thanks for the hugs Cherryfudge,it seems the universe decided to dump all the crap on me and my family at the same time,my poor mum really isn't equipped to deal with this,my eldest sister died of breast cancer back in 2003 and so this is quite frightening for her,I just wish she had got it checked out when it first happened because it might not have been so bad
On a more positive note my finances are still on track so at least ones thing is going well and I don't have that added stress
My employers are hassling me to reduce my hours again and I'm thinking I will try it on a three month trial as I am struggling to cope,if it affects my finances too much I might have to think again or be brave and self manage my debt plan so I can reduce the payments,I will just have to wait and see

Right I need to get back to normal and keep up with my diary,I'm starting to not pay attention and that's not happening because I will end up spending money I don't have again
Today has been a productive day. I have made Gnocchi bake for my meals for Monday to Thursday so no cooking for me in the week,tonight I'm having things from the freezer because they need using up so all evening meals are done for the week,I've caught up on the washing and ironing and the house is relatively tidy
Over the last few weeks I've had a very persistently broody chicken,I tried lifting her out of the coop everyday and making sure the eggs were collected promptly but she carried on so I left the house in the run but removed the bedding so she couldn't nest and it would cool her down but that didn't work either so this week on Monday I took the house away completely so they had to roost on the ladder that leads up to the house,I'm hoping this has worked,she is acting more normally now so today I've scrubbed the house out and I'm going to put it back in tonight and hope she doesn't carry on where she left off,it's not good for them to get broody because they don't leave the nest enough to eat and drink and when I'm on a 12 hour shift it means she hasn't drink all day,hopefully I have cured the little madam
I have also been brave this week and tried the new riding school and they were very nice people but it wasn't the same as the old place simply because I have friends there,I'm hoping if I keep going to the new place i will get to know people there too. I went on a hack with a lovely lady through lots of areas that I didn't even know were there,my horse for the ride was called Sooty and he was a lovely quick and interested ride not plodding in the least,we got to ride through a couple of streams which is always fun,not much in the way of cantering which I love but it was good to get back out again,I did pay for it the next two days though as my inner thighs felt like I'd been to the gym,I can afford to go to the new place twice a month I think so that should be ok for now
I have also found a place that does a two hour ride over the common from one village to another with a stop off for a cream tea in the middle,this sounds like heaven to me so I am going to try and book a place on that at some point
Money wise things are pootling along quite nicely and I am now 5 months without needing to use a CC ,this still amazes me every day and I'm so pleased I decided to join this site and sort my debt out,I have enough other things going on without money causing a problem too. I haven't put any money in the emergency fund this month because I have had my eldest daughters birthday and Father's Day, I also have DGS first birthday next month but Argoos had an amaazing sale on the toys so I got his present this month instead, I got him a lovely old fashioned wooden walker with bricks that was reduced to £13.99 I loved it so much I got one for my house too and a wooden Noah's ark with animals that is a shape sorter,they are such lovely toys and not a bit of plastic anywhere,so next month I won't have to budget for his birthday because it's already done,hopefully I will be able to put more saving away next month.i have put away my £50 for Xmas this month so now have £250 saved for Xmas and it's only June
Finallly just want to say to anyone still reading this thanks for sticking with me even though I've been missing for a bit xx

Drawingaline wrote: »

So sorry to hear about your mum.

And yey to getting back in the saddle.

Thanks Drawingaline, I'm meeting mum today and we are visiting our newly opened Ikea as she has been waiting to go since it opened in May,I just have to keep hold of my purse or I will go crazy, I'm glad I've finally made it back in the saddle,it had been going on too long,I might go again this week but body wise I'm not feeling fantastic so I'm not sure yet,I will see on Monday and book it then

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Well done for keeping an eye on the finances, it's often the first thing to go when people are under pressure. How is your Mum coping? It sounds as though she's had surgery of some sort before which could be helpful as they will know what to look out for.

The riding sounds lovely. I expect you'll soon get to know people there.

Re reducing hours at work, it's such a difficult decision. Easier for me as I have DH's salary as well as mine (and he gets paid more) but if they are offering you a trial period that could help you make up your mind. I'm on sick leave for some time as you know and I must say I knew straight away the accident happened because I was tired. DH and I had been discussing reducing our hours the day before! I had also said to a colleague that a particular set of shifts was finishing me off - then at the end of those shifts, what do I do but lose my balance and fall badly? Then when I came to put my time sheet in, I realised I'd done more extra hours than I thought. I think we go on coping but for me I didn't manage to 'dodge the bullets' quite well enough.

I know that is a lot easier to say than to take action on. I'm looking seriously at reducing my hours when I go back to work. Not massively, and I would still have the option of taking extra shifts, but it would slow the treadmill. I do love my job but the work/life balance is overstretched.

One very interesting thing I've just discovered - our spending on food nearly halved since I've been off sick! Some of that is due to my determined efforts to use up stuff from the freezer (some strange meals! ), some to DH not needing to buy his own (he has more expensive tastes) and yet more is due to me finding it harder to get to the shops - but it's definitely cheaper. I am spending more on feeding the birds, though.

How was Ikea? Did you manage to resist temptation?

Hi Cherryfudge, Mum is very worried which is natural but she says she has made her peace with the fact she has to have this op and just wants to get back to normal now,she has got a date for the op and it's on the 3rd of July which is next week so she hasn't got too long to wait thank god
We had a lovely time in Ikea and I didn't buy anything:eek: my mum bought three jars of jam because they were buy two get one free and then gave two to me,one of them is the lovely Lingonberry one and I love it,I haven't stopped eating it since
When I drop my hours it will only be 4.5 a week that I'm dropping but it adds up over a month,Im hoping with the pay rise we are getting it will be ok,I'm going to ask to do a three month trial to see how it goes and hopefully I will be able to make it permanent,I am tired most of the time but I also think a big thing for me is I'm always rushing everywhere,I have narrowly avoided three falls this week just because I was either rushing or carrying too much,so I'm going to have to slow down a bit I think
That's interesting about your food bill,I suppose not being to get out and about as usual has an effect