From debt to freedom...

I thought I'd get ahead and got the sausage casserole made ( Sun evening), got the cooker set and it didn't quite go according to plan. The ex came in during the day, saw the lights on the oven were on and turned it off, realised his mistake and then turned some dials back on but not enough to make the cooking programme work :mad::mad:. I guess on the positive side, he had the grace to admit it, as I puzzled over how and why the cooker setting had failed. So we had the evening meal after the firework display. The local display was amazing, the best display I've seen in recent years .

DS2 presented me with a list of ingredients for his cookery lesson tomorrow - thankfully it's a baking type recipe so for once I have all the ingredients in:j.

A NSD today making 2 days in November thus far.

Winter sunsets are always amazing too! The colours across the sky are often breathtaking. I always think the sunsets are compensation for the cold of winter!!

Today was mentally exhausting. Meetings, including performance management took a fair amount of the day. Thankfully DD2 cooked this evening, so we had stuffed butternut squash which was quite risotto like but lots of Mediterranean vegetables. As a vegetarian dish, it was certainly filling. I am always thankful to eat tea that I haven't had to cook:rotfl:

It has been a low spend day rather than a NSD. Halfway through the performance management meeting I realised it was my aunt-in-law's birthday, so nipped to get her a gift after work. It is a big birthday so was important to remember. DS 1 needed food for his event tomorrow so stocked him up with energy snacks!

I didn't sleep very well last night, simply worrying about future living arrangements. I need to get our house valued, which is a job in itself with the destructive chaos that the puppies leave behind them. I know much will depend on the valuation and then negotiation, if possible, with the ex. If not possible then I guess a court will settle it. I do love where we live at the moment, but don't like the fact that the ex can wander in and out whenever he wants, so buying him out would be best, if I can afford to, which I won't know without a valuation. My friend has just had a new kitchen fitted and commented that an estate agent had said to her that if she'd had her old kitchen and put her house on the market, they would have knocked £20k off the asking price and said in the advertising blurb that the house would need modernisation. It got me thinking about what needs to be done in this house. I have started the painting but every ceiling could do with being painted to freshen up and most rooms. Not sure how to fit that in, both in terms of money or time. On the other hand, as the children get older and become adult I'm wondering if finding somewhere with an annexe would be better. Or whether I can afford anything at all. The downside of living in the county I was born in, is the high number of second homes that pushes prices up. You can see I've been going round in circles for much of the night.

Last night DD3 wanted to make toffee apples. She remembered the fun we had making them for last Bonfire Night, when I couldn't find any in the shops. I had forgotten how relatively simple they are to make, so we had fun making 7 for pudding at some point today.

I have to get one DD to a birthday party this afternoon. I'm hoping the weather will hold so that I can go for a walk while waiting for her. Driving back home is not an option due to the distance.

It's going to be a tight week this week as DD2's insurance is due. I pay it monthly but it's £105 that I've tried to squeeze into the budget, that has little wriggle room. DS 1 can learn to drive in 3 months time, so I've had a chat with both of them, to explain that ( and I felt awful about it) I can't afford to pay 2 lots of insurances so the best I could do was give them £50 each a month towards their insurance and that they would need to earn the rest. DD2 has got a job that would enable her to do that. DS is looking for 1.