Cherry takes the reins

Pear and mincemeat tarts all round, then.

Lots of people at work seems to be going down with colds, and DH, who had the same symptoms as me about a week before, is taking a tissue of Olbas oil to bed to help him breathe. I'm okay today but I know he had a few days between the bad throat and the spread of symptoms so I'm not saying I've escaped it. TOPM, thanks for the reminder, I'm having vitamin C and zinc before bed.

Today was the last really early shift for a few weeks, though I'm in at 8 tomorrow for training. I got my Friday off, which I'm glad of. It will give me a break but also enable me to keep an eye on DH as he recovers from his hospital appointment.

So today: work, then not quite tired enough to fall asleep so I threw some laundry in (it's now hanging around drying as I haven't given in to temptation and put the tumble drier on), had a chat with my neighbour and went to the shops. A few groceries and some makeup later, who should show up but DH, so I got a lift home. After tea J and L turned up with a gift for DH (L's brother gets samples from a 'good brand' through his work) and I suddenly remembered I hadn't given people the gifts we brought back from holiday, so that happened too. By then instead of falling asleep as I had been half an hour earlier, I was wide awake so a bit of ironing got done.

Spending:
Toiletries £10.74
Housekeeping £11.00 approx (DH contributed a handful of change, the self-service till refused to acknowledge some of it, I put another £1 in, the assistant came along and said it was playing up and refunded us a lot of small coins... which I'm hoping all comes out even).
MS:
Some bargains in both the above.
10th coin savings 25p (that brings this pot to £33.40)... it didn't grow at all while we were away so maybe I ought to put bigger coins in for a bit, or make it every 9th coin left in my purse at the end of the day?
Confession time:
The makeup wasn't strictly necessary. I bought cheap mascara a couple of months agao and it's hard to remove so I'm trying another with a different eye makeup remover.

It's more than time I was in bed as I'm needing to be up early again: it had better be a quick bath tonight.

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I get very down when I'm overtired Cherryfudge. It's amazing what a difference being tired makes to the mood. I've noticed you post on here quite late sometimes so maybe you're not getting enough sleep? I like to get my light out by 11pm if I have to be up at 7am the next day. I get miserable without my eight hours sleep.

I think a good 80% of it is lack of sleep, Hairy. I'm terribly late and that thing about gradually working towards an earlier night doesn't seem to work for me. I have a routine for getting to sleep which usually works but I do have to be sufficiently tired at the right point or I can lie awake till 3am or later. I used to work nights so I don't think that helped: I learned to go right through without going to sleep. That said, it was wonderful immediately after our holiday: my body stayed on far eastern time for some days so by 8 in the evening I was ready to sleep!

Today was mostly work, followed by a visit to the physio which was, as always, helpful. She's going to refer me to the scar clinic (I never knew there was such a thing) as I'm having a few issues with the remnants of my op. We also discussed what physical components of work I'm ready for, which isn't yet all of them but the range is extending.

Pizza for trea then an evening at my friend's house. I've signed up for a Christmas flower arranging demonstration: J did a similar thing to make a wreath last year and it was very effective. I think I'm going to put that under 'entertainment' as it's not really a hobby.

16/10/18 Spending:
Entertainment £10.00
Housekeeping: £3.?? (check receipt) +£2.50
MS:
Wombled 3p
10th coin savings 20p
Decluttering:
Half an hour or so tidying in the garden.
I'm getting into the habit of tidying the kitchen before bed and I put a lot of now-dried laundry away.

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

The Christmas flower arranging sounds good. I am always amazed at how people make a few cutting of evergreens look good.

I am torn between leaving the holly and ivy for a couple of months (and inevitably till spring) in order to have some for Christmas, and having a tidy hedge as an 'easy win' in an otherwise scruffy garden.

This morning I had a lovely long sleep then spent hours on DS2's computer game, pausing only to open the door to a meter reader and some people to fix a difficult lock. Eventually I felt guilty enough to get up and do some work, which came in the form of about three hours of gardening. There is now a fairly good 'clear' patch but there is such a network of ivy down one side of the garden that I can't call it really clear until I can see clean soil. Every time I pull a handful of ivy out, it brings home to me how hard it is to get it all.

I've put the mixed fruit for the Christmas cake to soak in brandy! DS2 and I inspected it and ate all the sultanas that still had stalks on, then had a discussion on getting drunk on fumes. He refused a fourth soaked sultana in case it made him unfit for duty in the morning. I hasten to add he's in his twenties... I'm not being a bad influence on a toddler.

Dinner was from the freezer so it was going to be an NSD but we had a church meeting and stopped on the way back to buy bread... at a cost of £1.01, of which DH contributed the £1 and I contributed the penny! I wonder how many people have lost out on an NSD for the sake of 1p?

Spending:
Housekeeping £0.01 :rotfl:
MS:
Dinner from freezer
a small handful of blackberries from the garden
Clear space makes the garden look better and cost nothing
10th coin savings 30p
Decluttering:
3 big bin bags of bramble and ivy for the recycling centre.

Hi Lucifa73 I got the 10th coin idea from the book 'The Richest Man in Babylon' (which I found quite annoying but it's one of those things that keeps coming up as reading material for those wanting to take control over their finances). In the book he just saves every 10th coin, as if it makes no difference how big it is, but I save one in ten (including notes) depending on how rich I feel. It's true I haven't missed them and it's working out as accumulating more than the (abysmal) interest on my ancient ISA. Of course I need to get my act together and find somewhere more profitable to put my savings.

So, I'm sorry there isn't a definitive answer. If I've overspent early in the week (housekeeping is budgeted weekly) it's likely to be less. More when I feel inspired to save.