A whole new world, for now

Well, I'm back from the longest post teen holiday of my life. I've confirmed that I don't like being away for so long. So, while I was away, I was contacted by my credit card company. My card had been scammed and it had to be cancelled. Cue major panic then the use of dh's. This has confirmed what I have believed. I've made money matters too easy for him. He really hasn't a clue as he doesn't need to have. He doesn't even know his statement date or the relevance of this to his spends!

While we were away,I did some work pretty much every day but some good things are emerging. It's all still a bit short term but bills will be paid for another few months. Yesterday I did some bits and pieces and today I'm at a client's from half ten to four. I may also have a meeting this evening but I'm waiting to hear back. Yesterday I also had my hair cut and coloured so that was £50 spent.
I also spent a fair part of the day in a tail spin as I couldn't find my money book which has access codes for my banking on line. This was found around ten last night, it had slipped inside an a4 file. I almost wish I hadn't found it. Things will be ridiculously tight until July and then both children have their birthdays. I was so excited at the prospect of giving myself a wage. April and may have already been swallowed up. Sometimes I wonder what I'm working for. I'm 50, working long hours sometimes with lots of travel and can't even afford a pension contribution.

Also, we have committed to another trip in sept for a family wedding. We have used avios for the flights but there will still be the cost of the present, etc that we really could do without.

While we were away, we reached a decision about the house. We have a nice, fairly roomy home but it needs constant upkeep which it isn't getting. As a result, it gets me down. It is however the place my children grew up and is very much home to them. DS won't be back living here and dd moves to do her course / placement in England for 2 years in July. We are going down a love it or list it route. We have set ourselves a 1 year deadline. We either get it to be what we want to live in or we give ourselves one more year to get it market ready. That will mean that I will have 3 years of self employment so even if we have to get a mortgage, it should be feasible with dh's steady job record. It should also mean that we owe considerably less. Which reminds me, despite my lack of funds, I did a TT of 1.21 yesterday and updated my sig for both mortgage and savings.

Today, I will visit my mother and I'm dreading it. She is becoming increasingly detached and difficult. Sometimes I wonder why I bother as I've heard that she complains about how little I call. Apparently, my frequency matches that of the only other non retired sibling. Odd that. The fact that one of the retires visits only marginally more despite having free travel and lots of free time means that she makes a great effort. Right, here ends the pity party. I need to get going and get myself sorted if I'm going to earn some pennies.
Today I am grateful for
This place, where I can offload, catch up and be inspired
My family's safety
An outline plan