What small mse things will you do this week? 12/02

princess_pea · 14 February 2018 at 11:06AM

Hi everyone,

I want to get back in the habit of posting on here! I'm working compressed hours at work and have Wednesdays off so going to try and make these NSDs/ do free stuff like going on nice walks/ housework/ moneysaving days.

All meals from stores/NSD.
Ring council AGAIN. We've bought a shared ownership new build and the bins have never been collected since the 5th January! They can't seem to find our road (but collect just around the corner).
Still have no home internet as none of the providers recognise our postcode (even Virgin, who have already installed a point in our house when it was being built). I've topped up on mobile internet for now but this is expensive.
Housework!
Take pooch for a nice long walk. This will benefit me too as I can no longer walk to and from work. Step counts have been shocking this year so far.
Might use our unlimited cards for a cinema trip later.
Husband has dreaded PIP interview on Monday so need to do some prep for this.

Hope everyone is ok! I really want to get back on the savings wagon.

DawnW · 14 February 2018 at 11:24AM

Wow Princess Pea, I think a couple of official complaints are called for :eek:

Foxgloves, hope you are feeling ok this morning about your conversation at the hospital.

My list for today:
HG berries from freezer with breakfast this morning
Checked banks and updated spreadsheet
Ordered 2 new bathsheets from Home and Barker's sale, remembered they had sent me a voucher code a while back, found it in old email and applied it to see if it would still work - it did, so I got another 15% off

Housework done downstairs

Carried boxes of sales stock up to top of house. Not put them in the loft yet as my arthritis is playing up a bit this morning, but at least they are out of the way up there.
Listed a couple of little things on ebay

Still to do:
Clean bathroom
RM surveys stuff
Paperwork for business
Make a curry for dinner
Make a bolognese for another day

Make some scones
Babysitting tonight

I think I will stop there!

foxgloves · 14 February 2018 at 1:30PM

Hi Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
Thanks for the kind wishes. I am getting my head around yesterday's hospital conversation. I haven't gone into detail, because I don't want to spoil anybody's lunch sharing my gynae issues! What a joy it must be to be a fella & having it all on the outside!! Gearing myself up for a formal meeting tonight, which is going to mean getting out of my gardening gear & getting random twiggy bits out of my hair.
Today's frugal stuff:
*Sowed sweet peas.......what a very frugal activity that was: Free seed & saved seed, remnants of last year's compost, old knitting needle for a dibber, sown into recycled coffee cups from all our free Waitrose coffees & the 'pots' then stood in 2 recycled plastic fish boxes from our 8-weekly fresh fish delivery!
*Ground too frozen to tackle clearing, but pruned & top-dressed greenhouse grapevine & hacked back a buddleja. Cleaned a couple of panes of greenhouse glass, but this will need some help from mr f as need to start at the top (i.e needs tall person!)
*Watered overwintered greenhouse rocket, lambs' lettuce & cut some parsley to use tonight.
*Added a plastic mushroom tray to my seed tray stash in the shed.....seed-sowing will soon be getting underway properly.
*Do next week's meal plans - feel inspired now I've decluttered all my recipes.
*mr f taking & collecting me from my meeting to avoid car parking charges.
*Did some Onepoll surveys - several better paying ones this morning - 30ps, 25ps, 20ps instead of the more usual 10ps.
*Entered a prize draw.
*Received another £5 voucher (survey income), so updated my signature, as I like to keep a tally of my survey earnings.
St. Valentine's Day - It did seem odd today not to have bought cards & a little bit of something for each other, but we decided to celebrate it tomorrow for money saving reasons. mr f got a 2 for 1 on concert tickets for tomorrow night. We had already spent up our Entertainment/Leisure Piggy funds renewing annual membership to a lovely local garden attraction, so we decided that as I have a distinctly UN-Valentine's meeting tonight, we would go halves on the concert tickets using our personal spends, instead of buying cards & the usual small gift. So tomorrow, we have John Lewis vouchers for lovely free coffees & cakes in the afternoon, then we intend to buy ourselves a modest chocolatey treat for taking into the concert & we will have a night out within our budgets. mr f (who can be quite a one for thinking about his tummy!) even suggested we eat a substantial lunch at home before we go, then we will only need a YS sandwich later on!!!!!!!!!!)
Best wishes everyone for a nice day.
Love F xx

FatVonD · 14 February 2018 at 7:05PM

Evening all.

I have been AWOL again, I am still working four days and my boss keeps moving them round as she thinks it might be easier if they're not all in a row, it isn't. This week I am working alternate days and I don't feel like I have enough time on my days off what with getting over working and then getting ready for work the next day. I have left a note in the schedule book saying I want to go down to my contracted days, we are still short staffed but I noticed that she hasn't been doing any overtime herself (she also only works three days.)

I'm also feeling overwhelmed by stuff that needs doing in the house, the most urgent being replacing the light fittings in the kitchen. I'm sure they were cutting edge when they were installed but they are those adjustable ones and hardly any of them work and it's the devil's own job to get the bulbs in and out and so frustrating when you finally get one in to find its one of the ones that doesn't work. I have just bid on two almost new ones on eBay and will have to bite the bullet and pay an electrician to fit them.

My front fence, which has been in disrepair for a while, snapped in half in the recent winds and I've had to break it some more to get out as it wedged the gate at an angle. This was going to be my next job but I'm wondering if being fence less might be the way forward, it would mean I could get to the other side of the front beds easier and plant some pretty stuff.

I'm going to cook some YS chicken pieces for dinner, I got 3 boxes for about 60p each (down from £4) I've cooked one and the flavouring was lovely (chilli and lime) but as they're in a bag the skin was a bit slimy so I'm going to turf them out halfway through this time.

I've been in bed all day with a headache and catching up on sleep so lunch was a couple of instant soups and half a bag of tortilla chips! I've only been out once today and that was to the post box in my pyjamas! Amazon have lost another bundle of stuff so I'm having to fulfil some orders myself.

FatVonD · 15 February 2018 at 12:50AM

Thanks, 1LuckyLady, I won the light fittings I was bidding on which has cheered me up a bit, they weren't the cheapest but I needed two that match and they are nearly new John Lewls for a third of the original price.

I've spent tonight decorating the letters for my sign and other related stuff, the sitting room is the only room that's always tidy so it did me good to spend some time in there ignoring all the other rooms.

I think I've definitely decided to do away with the fence altogether (it's not like I ever shut the gate) and, while in my head I'd like to grow foxgloves there the last lot I put in didn't do well. I do however have some wallflowers (same aspect) that have self seeded like mad and they smell heavenly so wallflowers it is! (Plus the hollyhocks I bought last year.)

determined_new_ms · 15 February 2018 at 7:51AM

Morning guys

opps being a bit tardy for work! Need to get a move on - same pattern as last week now I am really starting to get tired & the house is a bomb! Good news is I have my shift pattern for the next 6 weeks so can start planning my life. I think one of the reasons I'm so tired is it's just all work and no soul nurturing activities to keep my spirits up!

Things for today:

* make sandwich for lunch - with soup

* oh off with madam today - £35 childminding fees averted!
* a load of washing in, ask him to hang up
* get something out of freezer for tea
* print off form to post old mobile - really going to try to make this happen today

Gosh that's all I can think of! I need some energy!

foxgloves · 15 February 2018 at 9:31AM

Morning Frugalistas,
Busy day planned. Am supporting a local chatity this morning, then heading for city centre. Treaty spends won't be an issue as we have free cakes & coffee vouchers for John Lewis. I intend to price up an item ready for kitchen redecoration, but I don't intend to buy it today as don't yet have a DIY project budget in place yet. Then concert on our 2 for 1 tickets. Parking will be the big charge but going on the train works out more expensive as would need to pay parking in our local town & 2 train fares, so that doesn't help reduce costs at all.
Anyway, I just popped on to say I will be keeping the MSE faith.
F x

PurpleFairy26 · 15 February 2018 at 9:36AM

Morning all. Hope you’re managing some rest dawn things seem so busy for you lately and your so good at looking after other people.

Foxgloves hope things are ok

My list:
Call CC company. called twice yesterday and they told me I’d not made the payment on my card :mad: so couldn’t dispute it! They also couldn’t put me through to the dept I needed to speak to as they don’t transfer so they have to call and wait for it to be answered and they wouldn’t do it. Ridiculous !
Made a sour dough starter - first time ever :eek:
Made no cook granola brownies

Will make some beetroot pate later as didn’t do this yesterday
Check banking
Make a plan of what do do about paying off our rental mortgage (obviously over time )
Some washing on, do some shuffling
Still eating ald1 kiwi on breakfast, 1 more to go after today :A
Chicken out of freezer to make stir fry tonight
Call and book electrician.

Right, must get on and do some work.

carrielovesfanta · 15 February 2018 at 9:44AM

Morning folks,

Big hugs to all those who are struggling with work at the moment. After going to 4 long days + 3 days off in October, I really appreciate how you can feel when life is about more than work. It's interesting how a lot of things that we know deep down aren't good for us are purported as the "norm".

It's also interesting that I find a lot of traditional "work" (cleaning, gardening, cooking, crafting) restorative, even when it's hard work. Now don't get me wrong, I find the academic aspects of my job very interesting and satisfying, perhaps if I had been alive in Victorian times, I would have been married to a scientist and helped him with his work? Or maybe I'd still be married to a musician and working as a char woman on the side? :rotfl:

Actually I'm originally from rural Essex and my family were all farmers and farm labourers. I likely would have been working on the land. Hubs, being from a port city would probably have ended up either in the navy or a docker!

Hmmmm, anyway, these ponderings aren't mse (or are they??? can't spend money while daydreaming!)

Today's mission:

Package and send ebay parcel - wrapped in recycled bubblewrap
B/L from stores. D at m-i-l's
Reconcile budget sheet - done
Bit of cooking to take some of the weight of OH as I'm working Saturday - oooops I have severely overboiled the eggs! Saved them by plunging into very cold water straight away, then mashing them up with a LOT of mayo!
Charge phone at m-i-l's
Search for my niece's voucher that m-i-l has put away for "safekeeping"
Washing on line - hope the showers stay off - out in the sun
Poss a bit of crochet - done
Paint radiator - done
Did relaxing app - done
Gotta go round to the in-laws and help decorate their house. My dear m-i-l, every 4 years declares that the whole house needs decorating, and that this will def be the last time. The project has grown this time from wardrobes being fitted, to the entire upstairs being re-floored and painted. Then she has produced a house-wide snag list for hubs. Apparently my job for the day is to help change all the curtains and bedding. I know they both have health problems, but sometimes you just need to scale back on what you can do... I had my own plans for the day! Plus OH never has time to do the stuff I need him to do here cos he's doing it at his mum's!

Not sure how much I'll do today - it's all a bit up in the air!

Have a good one folks

clf x

allydowd · 15 February 2018 at 10:22AM

Hi February Fabulistas,

Work soon. Needs must.

Debt Free-Nillionaire Continuity Plan Year Three:

* Good, homemade, sustaining breakfast.

* Work very hard on my own mental health issues. Do App.

* Check online banking and broadband usage.

* Turned off alarm clock until tonight, it resets itself automatically.

* Soup and free bread out of freezer for dinner tonight. We will not buy a takeaway even though we both have a long day ahead and there's one three doors down!

* Made a packed lunch for work.

To live without risk is to risk not living.

What small mse things will you do this week? 12/02

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