Hazelnutty's New Start

Hazelnutty · 22 November 2018 at 4:06PM

A mid-afternoon, lost work mojo procrastination update...

FB sales have pretty much dried up, even though I donated all the old listings to charity and put up new stuff (and good stuff for xmas i.e. toys and games). But really pleased to see the humble work email list coming up trumps :j Sold 4 computer games and a heap of Duplo from the Great Clearout, which I'll distribute to various colleagues over the next few days. Also because we work together there's a kind of trust that means you don't tend to get silly offers, no-shows or general @rseyness, which is all good. All proceeds are going into the Hazel Family Fun Fund for Christmas

Decided to have a brainstorm together at the weekend on things we want to do and eat over the holidays (conscious that we'll have to start some new traditions as a new family unit) so this little pot will help fund those plans.

Going to drop another load off at our local hospice charity shop, a favourite cause of mine that I support in other ways too. We're also looking at volunteering as a family over the break, although it may be difficult to find things that we can do with a kid - so if anyone has any ideas, let me know!

In other news, boy kitten all booked in for chip n snip, leftover Chinese consumed for lunch and final load of expenses approved. With the selling, the storage room is starting to clear a bit. I really need to set aside a half day to really sort it out, but work and family always take over. Will also start to build up stores for Christmas by adding some bits to the food shopping. We don't really drink much as it fatigues us both for different reasons, so it'll be food mainly, plus extra for local charity collections.

I suppose I'd better get back to it - catch you all later

:):)

the_cross_rabbit · 22 November 2018 at 9:28PM

OOO exciting been able to create new family traditions together, it was one of my favourite things when we started living together. Well done on the sales and a great idea to spend the profits on the Hazel Family Fun Fund for Christmas.
CRx

Karmacat · 27 November 2018 at 10:21AM

Hazelnutty wrote: »

We're also looking at volunteering as a family over the break, although it may be difficult to find things that we can do with a kid - so if anyone has any ideas, let me know!

I've just got back online, hazelnutty, so I don't know if you've had a reply via other means, but litter clearance can work really well for families - the kids can do as much or little as they feel like, they can run around and play otherwise. Organised events or single-family contributions

HTH

greent · 27 November 2018 at 12:34PM

Great news on the things leaving - both the sales and donations

:T
x

Hazelnutty · 28 November 2018 at 10:23AM

Thanks, Karma for the suggestion. I'll have a little look out for litter pick opportunities locally. DD's been particularly motivated after watching the CBBC show 'Show us what you're made of', which basically takes spoiled kids to various low-wage workplaces and gets them to experience what making a living actually means for a lot of people. A recent series took them to Ghana, where they saw children sorted through rubbish dumps of discarded Western electronics and second-hand clothes and shoes. It really hits home for some of them, disappointingly not so much for others...

Thanks, greent and CR! I have quite a few work drop offs today so hoping to come home with around £50 for the fun fund :j

So it's payday today and here's how the last month looked:

Food: £288.44/£280. Only went over as we did a mahoosive shop yesterday (over £90 at Lidl!) so I was well under budget until then. We hadn't done a big shop for 3 weeks! So although I went slightly over, December should be under budget, even with Christmas (plus I've increased the budget so we can live a little)

Fuel: £139.80/£150. All good.

Ents: £189.80/£125

Was all on track until I took DD to the cinema, bought tickets for a Christmas concert in December that DD's music teacher is playing in and went out for an unscheduled lunch with OH and a friend on Monday. Otherwise I was pretty much OK! But not too worried as overall on track. Because I'd come in under the CC budget last month, I'm still 'in credit' for this month, if that makes sense, so have set the following budgets:

Food: £300 (usually £280)
Fuel: £150 (same)
Ents: £200 (usually £125)
Extra squirreling to presents virtual pot: £150 (usually £25)
Extra saving to Chartered: £150 (usually nil)
Extra OP to mortgage £50 (plus £13.49 TTs from November and usual OP of £53)
Personal guilt-free spending top-up: £47.40 (usually nil)

This still leaves me a notional £107 unallocated so I may do some extra squirreling or spending later in the month.

Hazelnutty · 10 December 2018 at 7:22PM

Hi all it's been so long since I last posted I almost didn't - I feel out of sync with it all! Since my last post I was away for a few days at a writing retreat, which was great although I was still full of lurgy which meant by 4pm I needed for crash for a couple of hours each day. But I got some stuff done and was pretty lucky with flights etc making it a good trip overall. It was lovely to be home again with DD and OH, and the time without me seems to have gone really well, better than I expected/worried!

So far this month is going well. A big and spontaneous indulgence on the weekend with an impromptu Sunday lunch at a recently discovered pub in a village not far from our place. It was lush. All three of us cleaned up every course

It was quite a bit of money, but it comes out of the ents budget and frankly sometimes you really appreciate a treat

We were playing the predictive text game on our phones to gales of laughter, which some of the more miserable looking fellow diners didn't appreciate, but it was good bonding.

I've put my expenses in for the trip, so that should come through in the next week or so, so I can clear that off the credit card. Xmas spending has all fallen, so far, in the budget, although TBH I haven't made that much progress. The shops are just too crowded for me ATM. I might venture in with DD after her carol concert tomorrow as she finishes early PM. Might be quieter.

In other news, the kittens are driving us nuts getting into things, jumping up on things and with the new delights of the Christmas tree (DD wasn't to be persuaded that we shouldn't have one this year

)

I'll try to catch up on people's diaries soon!

Karmacat · 10 December 2018 at 9:01PM

Sounds wonderful! Anything you can say about the writing retreat, and what you were writing?

Hazelnutty · 14 December 2018 at 12:46PM

Hi Karma. It was organised by someone who's on the same academic Facebook group as me. She runs it for her colleagues but offered places to other interested people. Although it was quite a faff to sort out the logistics for DD while I was away and I was a little apprehensive about flinging myself into a new, quite intense situation where I wouldn't know anyone, I just went for it. We all sat around a big table and wrote using the Pomodoro technique (20 mins work, 5 mins break, then a longer break afer so many cycles). You don't produce polished work but it does get you writing, and so can unblock you, plus (unexpectedly) the communal working did work for me. I guess you kind of feel accountable to each other? I got about 3000 words written on my new article. My plan is (although I haven't managed yet to do this) is to do 2 Pomodoros every morning so that I'm writing something every day and it becomes a habit...

Hazelnutty · 14 December 2018 at 12:50PM

I am feeling like a bit of a spendthrift at the moment, definitely loosening the pursestrings over the festive season. Said yes to everything DD wanted to throw in the trolley yesterday as what the hell?! I did tell her not to get used to it as it'll be a return to business as usual in the new year! I'm still tracking my spending but there are definitely more treats happening

The storage room is even more full now so a total fail on turning that into a livable room. We are also waaaay behind on Christmas, although will be taking a trip into town today. DD is off now but most other schools not, so hoping it won't be too busy. One of the effects of OH's condition is finding crowds, noise and lights tricky, so Christmas town centres are a minefield!

Crumpets · 15 December 2018 at 11:47AM

Hi Hazelnutty,

Just catching up on your diary. I've got out of sync with reading and posting too, it's easy to lose track and motivation. I find reading diaries and posting on my own helps with the motivation to keep on this long journey that we're on. It's okay to take breaks every now and then though

Your writing retreat sounds amazing, I hope writing turns into a habit for you.

I definitely am feeling like a spendthrift at the moment too, It's not just Christmas but December is a busy months for birthdays for me, including my ds who has his on the 28th! If you an't have treats at Christmas though, when can you!?

Hope you have a lovely weekend

Hazelnutty's New Start

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