Eager Elephant's Effective Everyday Excursion ...

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  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    Fancy me posting at this time on a Monday:rotfl:

    I have taken some annual leave so I have been having Mondays and Fridays off and have a few more to come :T

    The main reason for taking leave this month is because I did not use up last years leave entitlement and you can only carry so much forward but my lovely boss said I can carry it all forward if I take the majority this month.

    The other reason is that we are trying DH on his new medication again:eek:. Last time he tried it he started on the minimum dose of 200mg and he slept for 20hrs a day :eek: and literally could not get out of bed. After 5 days he had to stop, he was obviously not at work during that time but it meant I was responsible for the animals, getting DD on the bus to school and then working a full day and then doing it all again in the evenings. Eventually he was supposed to go up to 800mg:eek:

    He has been taking it for 4 days now and he is really struggling to get going in the mornings - he says his eyes won't open and it also leaves him feeling foggy and he does not feel safe to drive (he has appts this week hence the time off and so I would be on hand if this happened) but by the afternoon he is raring to go and does not feel tired.
    We will continue with it and give it 2 weeks to see what happens.

    DH now has a job :beer::j:beer::j
    It was only 20hrs per week but they have asked him to do 30hrs per week and he has agreed:cool:

    I am not sure if it helped but all the news stories that were on the internet from when he went missing have been removed by the papers (DH asked them to).

    Anyway the job is working with older people again but the company specialise in this and give more support to staff. The pay is amazing for what he has to do.

    He will be starting this in the next few weeks so I expect he will come off his meds as his job will involve a lot of driving and learning to start with and he won't be able to do that on this medication.

    So I hope we will be able to save a lot of his wages as we have been managing on my full time wages and his JSA so surely we can manage on the same amount.
    I mentioned it to DH the other night and he said he had been thinking the same :T. I'm glad he is on board - we are hoping to start saving to buy this house (council so will get at a very good price)

    Not much moneysaving going on, we are just living on what we have coming in howver DH did ring Sky to see if we could get the bill down (i told him to as his JSA was going to finish in May) and they have reduced the package from £56pm to £26pm:money:

    Need to work on the phone line next - we have cut back to weekend calls only but are still paying £26pm DD as we also have 1571 and caller display which are now charged at £1.75pm each:mad:

    I am still hoping we can pay a years line rental up front and then just have the calls and extras billed quarterly.
  • Great news on DH's new Job EE :T :j ! I hope it all works out and you're able to save the money you want to :) I did similar when I got my job childminding, I knew we could live on DH's wage alone as we'd been doing so up to that point and I also knew there was no point in getting too comfy with my wage as it wouldn't last forever so all of mine went into savings :T

    P.S did the goats finally go?! xx
    2024 Mortgage-free wannabe #17
    OP straight to mortgage - APRIL
    MOP savings account 900 / 3000 to be paid later this year
    Mortgage balance Jan 1st 2024 £99224.13 Feb 1st £98,833.72 Mar 1st £98,928.18
    Apr 1st £
    Emergency fund £1255.78/ 1500 84%
    Food Budget - JAN 484.44/500, FEB 488.59/500, MAR 439.33/500, APR 0/500
  • Great news on the sky reduction and DHs new job.

    Xx
    DMP with CCCS started Jan12 £34,906 Jan13 £31,893 Jan14 £26,836 Jan15 £21,894 Jan16 £16,839 Jan17 £14,415 Jan19 £12,938ish Jan19 £9,649 Jan20 £6612 Feb 21 0 Self managed from Jan'17
    Jan 18- Bcard1 £0,Bcard2(PRA) £0,C@ptl £0,Ybank,£0,Virgin/MBNA £0,YB1 £0,S@ntader £0,Bcard loan £0,
    DFD - [STRIKE]Jan 2027[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]Nov 2018 [/STRIKE][STRIKE]Jan 2019[/STRIKE] - DFD 28 Feb 2021
  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    Great news on DH's new Job EE :T :j ! I hope it all works out and you're able to save the money you want to :) I did similar when I got my job childminding, I knew we could live on DH's wage alone as we'd been doing so up to that point and I also knew there was no point in getting too comfy with my wage as it wouldn't last forever so all of mine went into savings :T

    P.S did the goats finally go?! xx

    Thanks DFW.

    No, the flaming goats are still here:mad: DH says he will move them back to the original field and now they are bigger they won;t be able to climb through the fence but I have a home lined up for them if he doesnt do something soon:rotfl:
  • Aww I love goats. Sweet little things when they belong to someone else.

    All sounds good and nice to hear good news!
    Trying to shift that debt!
  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    Long time no see..........

    I just don't know where the time goes, I never seem to have time to post on here although I do have daily updates emailed which I read in the morning with my coffee and breakfast.

    Since I last posted DH has started his new job, he has been on training for 2 weeks and seems to have enjoyed it. Next week he is 'live' which will be interesting because the scheme he manages (across 3 sites) has not had a worker for a while and the worker they did have was useless and never did anything.
    DH loves this though, he loves going in to a big mess and sorting it all out - the problem is when he gets it all sorted and running smoothly he gets bored:mad:. It sounds like he will be fine for a good few months while the old mess is sorted out!

    He gets paid next week although we are not sure how the pay works out, he started on the first full week of the month and gets paid on 25th of each month so this month is very unlikely to be a full months pay.

    This job is only until March 2015 but he has been forwarded an email by his manager which was an email discussion between him, his manager and the training manager and it confirms they want to keep him on after March:T. It is partly funding dependent though - I guess he has made a good impression already.

    DH is now working in the same town as me but does less hours so DS and I will go to work with him and then bus home - although this will cost some money I think it is less than the car park and bringing a huge truck in to the town centre - last week I used about £45 of diesel just driving to work and back.
    It will mean we have to be more organised in terms of leaving work on time etc.
    The worst bit will be DD - she will go to a childminder in the morning from 7.45:eek: but will come home on the bus and let herself in - DH will be home at the same time or at the latest 10mins after. She is 11 now and in September she will go to high school so we are starting to prepare her for being home alone - this is interesting as she has an overactive imagination and worries a lot about crime etc (We live in a tiny village with about 2 crimes a year:rotfl:)

    We don't usually leave the house until past 8am, I have told the childminder we will be there as close to 7.45am as possible - she laughed:rotfl:.

    The meds DH was on we stopped after 2 weeks - although he could function once he got going (after 10am) he did not feel able to drive, he said he was too groggy. As time went on we thought he would feel better but he did not so he came off them. We will ask for a further appointment with the consultant and see if he can either try some new meds or I have read up on a new surgery where they put a spongy balloon under the trigeminal nerve to stop it touching another blood vessel/nerve and this stops a lot of the pain.

    Moneywise - we have managed for 6 mths on my wages and JSA so I am hopeful we can get saving ready to buy this house and also to start paying off some of DH's debts (and mine as mine are charging interest).

    I am still doing some surveys and I found a folder in my emails labled 'Vouchers' where I had been putting my amazon codes as I was saving for Xmas 18mths ago but forgot all about them:eek:. Luckily the £25 was still valid and so was a £2 but the £10 had expired - so I am £27 up.
    I have been closing down some of my survey accounts as some of them are just not worth it and I want to concentrate on the ones I like. I have stopped Globaltestmarket although MySurvey are a sister company and so you get loads of the same surveys anyway. I am also leaving American Consumer Opinion, I have been with them since 2009 and only now got to $11.60, I always seem to be screened out so I have cashed out and need to wait for a cheque and then I will close my account.

    I am going to save my Amazon and M&S vouchers for DD's school uniform - she is going up to high school and their uniform is very strict. Most of it will come from M&S but I have found some nice shirts on Amazon - I have ordered one (with the vouchers above) and will see what it is like when it arrives.
    We have never bought those shirts from BHS and the like which are really thin and need ironing:rotfl:. We always buy oxford style shirts, DS had similar when he was at high school and even at £17 per shirt they lasted for 3 years so pretty good I think.
    DD's once will be £13 each and of they just last 2 years I think it is worth it plus of course not much ironing:rotfl:

    OOh DFW do you want my son's spare shirts from when he left last year for your son - they are Thomas Nash with 15inch collar and were worn for 18mths and look brand new. They are short sleeved. There are 5 of them. Free of charge of course:rotfl:

    Animals - they are doing well and I have some baby turkeys in the garden. 5 were hatched in the incubator and we also have a mummy and 2 of her own which she managed to hatch. Will try to get some pictures.
  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    Forgot my biggest news - I think I am gluten intolerant :eek:

    I have been gluten free for 2 weeks now (apart from a slip up when I drunk coke:mad:) and feel amazing. I think this is going to be my new way of life.

    It's quite interesting being vegetarian and gluten intolerant - most people live off meat and vegetables/salads etc. I do eat the meat we rear so the stock of lamb from last year is whittling down fast:rotfl:

    I have told DH to contact his usual guy for more meat chickens which we will rear on so I can actually eat something.

    So far I have been living on rice, potatoes, eggs, some meat, fruit and veg.

    I am also trying No Sweet Treats over on MiT's diary - it was going well until yesterday:rotfl: but today is another day.

    Too be honest not eating gluten has made me not crave sweet things, I think it is all connected.

    Hopefully I will lose weight, this week I have lost 2lbs - only about another 20lbs to go:eek:

    If anyone wants to know the full boring story of how I came to the realisation I was gluten intolerant let me know and I can bore you with it:rotfl:

    I have not been to the GP as I was going to do 2 weeks to see how I felt and now I feel so good I don't want to eat gluten again to get tested (you have to keep eating gluten for the test) and the only upside of being diagnosed is that you can get gluten free products on prescription.

    I am trying to stay away from gluten free products as they are so expensive and am just eating things which are naturally free from gluten.

    This is going to help my shopping bill as there will be no more processed food - I didn't buy a lot but things like veggie burgers, veggie sausages and some other lovely stuff from the veggie frozen section often found their way into my trolley. I went to Asda yesterday and everything but Quorn Fillets/chicken pieces has some kind of gluten in:eek:

    Even the rest of the family are eating healthy and I can assure you that Butternut Squash Bake is delicious and I would eat it all day if I could:rotfl:
  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    DH has done his 1st week at work and he has really enjoyed it - lots going on but he likes that.

    Getting out of the house in the morning is proving difficult:rotfl:. I am fine as I am awake by 6 most days and up the field with the animals by 6.10am - usually once I am back I have a coffee and catch up with MSE but there is no time as I am busy getting everyone sorted as they are all struggling to get up:rotfl:
    DH should be in charge of DD as I do the animals but it is not quite working like that - next week is a new week and I will make sure DH is more on board!

    The evenings are quite busy as well and I have only now caught up on the last week here on MSE:eek:

    The school shirt I ordered for DD has arrived and it is lovely - a really good fit and really nice material so will order some more. She tried it on with DS' old school tie and she looked so grown up, I was so proud.

    DH has been paid, he is salaried but I think this month he has been paid for 4 weeks - I can't locate his contract at the moment but when I do I will work it out and then we are due the 'talk' about how we will work our finances so we can save to buy this house and pay off debt.

    Talking of debt, I had a letter today from Halifax to say my interest rate is going up and the reason is that I went over my credit limit over Xmas. It is going from 22.45% to 27.45%:eek:. I have a balance transfer of about £1000 on there which is 6.5% for life, the other £1300 will increase to the new rate.
    I dont even use the card usually, it was only last Xmas when the Xmas money I saved went on the cat so I am thinking I might ring and ask for it not to be increased and then I won't be able to use the card (not even sure where it is). The only downside is that it was a £2.5k credit limit which I might need or do I? Hmm decisions, decisions.

    My other credit card is Santander and that is at 27% as well but only has a £1,100 credit limit.

    The other one is my Barclaycard but that defaulted a few years ago and I pay it off at £5pm but the balance is £8k:eek:

    Did NST for the last week and it has been ok - weighed myself and another 2lb lost:T.
    I am going to carry this on a weekday and just have chocolate on a Saturday and see how I go.

    Still doing gluten free and still feel really good, I hope to expand my cookery eventually:rotfl:

    Hope you all have a good bank holiday weekend!
  • I have just found your diary.

    I just wondered if you could give me the gluten story, it is something I often wonder about myself.

    Thanks xx
    2024 - happy, healthy, quality over quantity, buy nothing new (and 2nd hand only if NEEDED), mindful spending, nurturing myself and family, living for now.

    Mortgage @ 31/12/23 £248k - too high, interest rate gone up - want this down asap!
    Debt @ 31/12/23 £16k - no interest - will clear over 5 years hopefully.
    Emergency savings £4k - been ransacked over last year - needs attention :-(
  • Eager_Elephant
    Eager_Elephant Posts: 4,714
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    I have just found your diary.

    I just wondered if you could give me the gluten story, it is something I often wonder about myself.

    Thanks xx

    For as long as I can remember I have always felt overly full after meals - not just normal full but full to bursting where sometimes I have to undo the button on my trousers.
    I just assumed my portion sizes were too big.

    I have always craved food, I can have breakfast at 7am and be thinking about something to eat by 9am and then lunch always had to be a sandwich followed by crisps and chocolate and I would end up uncomfortably full.

    In the evenings I sometimes got an awful pain under both my ribs, it could get so bad and make me feel so ill and nauseous that I had to lay down because that was the only way of getting rid of it.

    Again I just thought this was normal from eating too much.

    A few weeks ago it happened nearly every week night (so early nights and feeling so ill) but because I had eaten so many different things during the day it was difficult to pinpoint what it might be. Then on the Saturday night I got the pain again and as I had been out helping at a charity fun day I had not had time to eat much so when I thought about what I had eaten I realised that the whole day was full of gluten (egg on toast for breakfast, quorn fillet in a bun x 2 for lunch and then mushroom and spinach parcel with chips).

    I decided that I would try 2 weeks gluten free to see if it made any difference and on the first day it was amazing.
    Sunday's were always a bad day for pain especially after a roast dinner but this time there was no pain and I had eaten just as much as I normally would but I had no yorkshire puddings and made my own gravy from meat juices.

    Within a few days I realised that it had to be gluten that was causing this as I felt so good - it also made me not want sweets or chocolate and I actually felt full for hours after a meal - even just having a salad for lunch or egg and mushrooms for breakfast (usually it was 2 slices of toast plus egg and mushrooms)

    Wednesday was a bad day, I went to a meeting and had a glass of coke. I had only had about 5 sips when the pain started. Other people at the meeting had experience of gluten and told me that coke contains barley malt extract so at least I knew the culprit. When I got home I looked about 8mths pregnant:eek:

    So I completed my 2 weeks and have felt so great I am carrying it on. I have brought gluten free flour only so I can have my yorkshires:rotfl:

    This might be TMI so look away now if squeamish.............

    I have never had problems with my bowels, I know a lot of people who are gluten intolerant have either diarrhoea or constipation but I was fine. I did notice though that when I cut out gluten I developed loose stools for a week - it might be unconnected but thought I would mention it.

    The greatest change for me is the lack of pain after meals and also my nearly flat tummy (need to lose weight before I see it properly). The Wednesday I had the meeting I looked very slim before I went and huge when I got back.

    If you are going to try it check all ingredients - most things you wouldn't even think about have gluten in - you need to look for wheat, barley and rye.

    The thing with drinks is that the darker the drink the more likely it will contain barley malt extract (this gives it the colour) so I am on light coloured drinks and don't forget squash - I accidentally drunk some barley drink and I could feel twinges after just 2 sips so I stopped drinking -luckily it went once I drunk some normal squash and flushed it through.

    It has really made me think about food - previously breakfast and lunch was about toast/bread and tea was either pasta, rice or potatoes so it has been a big change.
    Also it will cut back on the shopping, we would get through many loaves of bread and at least tub of butter a week - now a loaf lasts over 2 weeks and a tub of butter has lasted 3 weeks so far:eek:

    If you have any more specific questions let me know.

    Obviously as a caveat I must put that you should seek help from your doctor etc (but of course I did it as a trial to start with and now I am too scared to eat gluten again so I can be tested)
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