Making savings before it's too late

I prefer council tax over 10 months, I like the 2 months off

I just bought a silk night sleep cover for my hair, yet again my short hair has split at the back and I get part up and part down. I had the brainwave of a net but silk is nice on hair so I treated myself to a purple silk cover. Reminds me of the period films when they wore night caps.

I also ordered chocolate from love cocoa, to be sent to dd who broke 2 bones in her arm yesterday and had a plating op, still in hospital and should return today. I am going to have to explain to her how important it is to rest that arm for quite a long time, until it knits. She is always active and has horses to see to plus work

As always, bad things happen but it is how we deal with things that counts. Not `oh s**t but how do I deal with it

Kittie I hope your DD is ok.

I like paying my council tax over 10 months, I don't miss the extra in paying months and the two non-payment months always feel like a bonus. Tbh I doubt if I paid it over 12 months that I'd save the difference:(

Like Caronc I used to leave mine to it. I sometimes wonder if my now adult youngest still thinks the floor is a wardrobe.

Morning .

I'm just sat down currently enjoying a coffee and catching up on recent posts.

The past few days seem to have gone so quickly. I can't believe we are nearly in March.

So what's been going on then?

Well last Thursday, I spent the day with a friend helping him out. Later on I experienced a mini meltdown and my emotions were all over the place, cue reaching crisis point. Thankfully my friend was there to calm me down and I spent the night at his to take my mind off things.

On Friday I met up with an old friend and we sat in Asda's cafe having a drink and a catch up. We ended up being there for three hours however spends remained low. £1.25 for a latte and £1 for soft drinks which were refillable so we made the most of it. I then picked the boy up from school and took him to his ice skating lesson and that evening I went back round to my friends and had a couple of drinks just to chill myself out. I ended up on the phone to my care team telling them I wasn't impressed!

On Saturday I woke up mid morning and the boy announced he wanted to go swimming. So I decided to take him to our local leisure centre which is where I wanted to join the gym. I decided there and then to sign up to the gym where I received a discount meaning the total I'll pay each month is £22.50. I'm happy with that if it improves both my physical and mental health. The membership includes the use of the swimming pool so that was obviously "free" for me and I thought I only had to pay for the boy. It turns out because he does swimming lessons and it is paid by direct debit (his dad pays this), that the boy could swim for free too. What a bonus, so it ended up a no spend day and we enjoyed a free activity together. I'll definately be taking him more often now where time allows.

On Sunday, although I've been on annual leave all last week, I agreed to do an extra shift to help out. I'll receive the pay for that on Friday which will go straight into the fund for my Mum's surprise 60th in April.

And so far today, I was up at the crack of dawn and at the gym for 7.45am where I had an induction. I spent 40 minutes in the gym then went swimming for half an hour. I feel so much more refreshed and energized right now. I'm definately going to set aside the time for this now and allocate it into time slots around my shift patterns/home life.

I'm off to a friends house later for a coffee and then I'm having some beauty treatments done later on today which will cost £30. It sounds alot but I honestly feel better for it and only have it done around once every 6 weeks. I fit this into the budget somewhere and allow myself to have fun money for treats, not alot but just enough to keep myself happy.

I think it's important to take pride in your appearance. When I experienced periods of depression, I never took care or bothered about what I look like. These days I'm more conscious and aware and will put in the effort, even when I'm having a bad day. It makes me feel better and in some way allows a mask to the outside world and allows them to think I'm okay even when I might not be. I tend to fake it until I make it. If I'm happy with how I look it improves my confidence and self esteem. People always tend to comment on my hair and makeup. I hope I don't sound vain writng this because I'm not, I'm actually far from it. It's just what works for me.

I best get on with my day. I have some washing that needs doing and several other things to sort out.

I've still not made a start on my bedroom but have pulled bits and bats out here and there. I'm going to make a start tonight and concentrate on one area/one box at a time and do this over the next couple of weeks so it doesn't become too overwhelming.

I also need to write out and send the invites/drop them off to family members and friends for my mums birthday.

I really need to crack on! It's yet another busy week ahead of us.