Monday, 27 February 2012
Drum roll please…
... we have made our 1st mortgage overpayment. In true frugal style rounding down the balance we have overpaid £106.00. The first of many I hope.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
DANNIE'S 12 HOUR CLIC SARGENT READATHON!
Please support this great cause, sign up and settle down for a good read.
DANNIE'S 12 HOUR CLIC SARGENT READATHON!
SATURDAY 4TH FEB 2012
Starting at 9.30am GMT
Get yourself cosy, a pile of books organised, snacks sorted and sit back and relax ready to read for anything up to 12 hours in the Great 12 hour readathon!
£5 registration fee – Register online
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/dannieadventure or email Dannie for further details. dannie992@hotmail.com
DANNIE'S 12 HOUR CLIC SARGENT READATHON!
SATURDAY 4TH FEB 2012
Starting at 9.30am GMT
Get yourself cosy, a pile of books organised, snacks sorted and sit back and relax ready to read for anything up to 12 hours in the Great 12 hour readathon!
£5 registration fee – Register online
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/dannieadventure or email Dannie for further details. dannie992@hotmail.com
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Holiday Countdown has Begun
To quote Peter Kay we “saw it, booked it, f**Ked off”, well not until March. We went with the laying by the pool option as I feel I need a complete break. So we have booked two weeks in Egypt at the beginning of March.
We did really well and had £1065 in the holiday fund and still have £123 left in it. We’ve been weighing up the pro’s and con’s of driving verses the train to the airport. We have always gone on the train, even when we had a car before because it worked out cheaper but with the train fares rising and because of our flight times we would need to get a taxi back from the train station to our village. So at the moment we are leaning towards me driving there. Some of the £123 left will go towards parking costs and petrol. We also need transfers to the hotel and I’ve found a bus company that will do it for £3.40.
We are still going to save each month into the holiday fund as we hope to have another holiday later in the year and I’d like to go camping for a weekend.
And a warm welcome to my new followers xx
Meanqueen – Thank you for the hug and the advice.
Dannie – I feel so much better letting it all go. You have inspired me with the great things on your life list.
Pink Fairy Vicky – Thank you, I hope I can stay motivated!
Mum – Happy New Year, I’m trying to be organised lol
SFT – Thanks for the positive thoughts, fingers crossed
Jayne – I agree, the support I have got from other bloggers has been amazing.
We did really well and had £1065 in the holiday fund and still have £123 left in it. We’ve been weighing up the pro’s and con’s of driving verses the train to the airport. We have always gone on the train, even when we had a car before because it worked out cheaper but with the train fares rising and because of our flight times we would need to get a taxi back from the train station to our village. So at the moment we are leaning towards me driving there. Some of the £123 left will go towards parking costs and petrol. We also need transfers to the hotel and I’ve found a bus company that will do it for £3.40.
We are still going to save each month into the holiday fund as we hope to have another holiday later in the year and I’d like to go camping for a weekend.
And a warm welcome to my new followers xx
Meanqueen – Thank you for the hug and the advice.
Dannie – I feel so much better letting it all go. You have inspired me with the great things on your life list.
Pink Fairy Vicky – Thank you, I hope I can stay motivated!
Mum – Happy New Year, I’m trying to be organised lol
SFT – Thanks for the positive thoughts, fingers crossed
Jayne – I agree, the support I have got from other bloggers has been amazing.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
After my last very negative post I am going to keep this positive. As Sft says let go of the anger, it’s not good. I think it was a build-up of stresses over the last few months and I “lost it” for a bit. Thank you all for your kind words and support.
Anyway all is good for now. I had a great Christmas. We only buy token pressies and I feel very lucky with what I received including slippers, socks & smellies. I visited mum on the morning. She is in a care home for only four weeks at the moment, I hope she can stay there permanently. When I got there she was sipping sherry and had been given some lovely presents by the staff. I stayed until they were sat for dinner then came home. Just the two of us to cook for and it was so relaxed. We had a four bird roast (from Aldi) with all the trimmings. It was great to have time off work, to know mum is being well cared for, spend time with OH (he was back to work on Boxing Day) and to relax – just what the doctor ordered!
It gave me time to work on plans for next year which are:
FINANCES
Overpay mortgage. I would love to give an amount but anything would be good
Have emergency savings of £1500 - We need to save another £700 to get to this figure
Continue to save into holiday fund - We are doing well with this
Sell – The stuff we don’t want. I want to use ebay lots and maybe do a car boot sale. This money will be used for things we would like to get for our home
HOUSE & HOME
De-clutter – There is stuff in every room that I want to re-home, either sell, give to charity shops/freecycle
Decorate – Every room apart from the bathroom needs fully decorating. The conservatory is the only room that just need a lick of paint the others removal of wall paper etc.
Grow more vegetables – After starting off really well, other things took over this year but the things that grew were very nice
Enjoy the garden – We didn’t sit out much at all this year. Next year I hope to enjoy it more
FUN
Have two holidays – Hopefully, we are saving for a main holiday and then a week somewhere later on in the year
Go camping
Do things from my life list – I am working on this and will post it soon
HEALTH
I want to and need to lose weight
Swim each week
Increase my (non-existent) fitness
So to start with I'm going to do the No/Low Spend January Challenge that alot of bloggers are doing.
I have freezer and cupboards full of food, so should only need to buy fresh vegetables/fruit, milk etc. Menu planning should make the most of everything we have and I don’t want to have any waste food.
I am fully stocked on toiletries but did run out of the tablet’s I have to take over Christmas so need to buy them.
The only other thing I can think of that I will need is petrol and cat food.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE XXX
Anyway all is good for now. I had a great Christmas. We only buy token pressies and I feel very lucky with what I received including slippers, socks & smellies. I visited mum on the morning. She is in a care home for only four weeks at the moment, I hope she can stay there permanently. When I got there she was sipping sherry and had been given some lovely presents by the staff. I stayed until they were sat for dinner then came home. Just the two of us to cook for and it was so relaxed. We had a four bird roast (from Aldi) with all the trimmings. It was great to have time off work, to know mum is being well cared for, spend time with OH (he was back to work on Boxing Day) and to relax – just what the doctor ordered!
It gave me time to work on plans for next year which are:
FINANCES
Overpay mortgage. I would love to give an amount but anything would be good
Have emergency savings of £1500 - We need to save another £700 to get to this figure
Continue to save into holiday fund - We are doing well with this
Sell – The stuff we don’t want. I want to use ebay lots and maybe do a car boot sale. This money will be used for things we would like to get for our home
HOUSE & HOME
De-clutter – There is stuff in every room that I want to re-home, either sell, give to charity shops/freecycle
Decorate – Every room apart from the bathroom needs fully decorating. The conservatory is the only room that just need a lick of paint the others removal of wall paper etc.
Grow more vegetables – After starting off really well, other things took over this year but the things that grew were very nice
Enjoy the garden – We didn’t sit out much at all this year. Next year I hope to enjoy it more
FUN
Have two holidays – Hopefully, we are saving for a main holiday and then a week somewhere later on in the year
Go camping
Do things from my life list – I am working on this and will post it soon
HEALTH
I want to and need to lose weight
Swim each week
Increase my (non-existent) fitness
So to start with I'm going to do the No/Low Spend January Challenge that alot of bloggers are doing.
I have freezer and cupboards full of food, so should only need to buy fresh vegetables/fruit, milk etc. Menu planning should make the most of everything we have and I don’t want to have any waste food.
I am fully stocked on toiletries but did run out of the tablet’s I have to take over Christmas so need to buy them.
The only other thing I can think of that I will need is petrol and cat food.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE XXX
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Anger
I woke up angry and am still angry now!!
My role at work has been added too.
I was more or less told yesterday that my work isn’t as important as colleagues, I can put mine aside to answer calls but they can’t, they are far too busy. We are all busy and should work together as a team. That is fine but part of my responsibility is ensuring a legal requirement with deadlines is met. And we have been meeting them as the figures show but, no this new phone structure is more important. So guess what happened this morning when the report I have to do wasn’t done, “RC can you drop everything and do the report by 11am”. It just bugs me so much that when we expressed our concerns before they introduced the new system and they were just completely ignored.
The other thing I am absolutely fuming about is mum. Since being diagnosed she has been on medication for her dementia which has to be kept up. This was expressed by her mental health nurse and I checked while she was in the main hospital and they agreed. Today she had moved into a care home and I was discussing her meds with a member of staff and they said that this hasn’t been prescribed. I rang the hospital she was discharged from only to find out that a junior doctor had taken her off these tablets on the 4th November but they don’t know why. There is no note in the file. I am so bloody angry because she shouldn’t have been taken off the tablets and also if there is a physical, medical reason that should be recorded. They have said they will ensure she is put back on them, which to me says there was no reason for her to be taken off them. A manager is going to ring me tomorrow.
Sorry for the rant, I’m going to have a cup of tea and relax – deep breaths now :)
STF – I will start again with a new list, just got to keep battling on
Dannie – Thank you for your support, it is emotional but in a good way if that makes sense as I have so many happy memories.
Thanks for the video to dvd info, I will look into it.
My role at work has been added too.
I was more or less told yesterday that my work isn’t as important as colleagues, I can put mine aside to answer calls but they can’t, they are far too busy. We are all busy and should work together as a team. That is fine but part of my responsibility is ensuring a legal requirement with deadlines is met. And we have been meeting them as the figures show but, no this new phone structure is more important. So guess what happened this morning when the report I have to do wasn’t done, “RC can you drop everything and do the report by 11am”. It just bugs me so much that when we expressed our concerns before they introduced the new system and they were just completely ignored.
The other thing I am absolutely fuming about is mum. Since being diagnosed she has been on medication for her dementia which has to be kept up. This was expressed by her mental health nurse and I checked while she was in the main hospital and they agreed. Today she had moved into a care home and I was discussing her meds with a member of staff and they said that this hasn’t been prescribed. I rang the hospital she was discharged from only to find out that a junior doctor had taken her off these tablets on the 4th November but they don’t know why. There is no note in the file. I am so bloody angry because she shouldn’t have been taken off the tablets and also if there is a physical, medical reason that should be recorded. They have said they will ensure she is put back on them, which to me says there was no reason for her to be taken off them. A manager is going to ring me tomorrow.
Sorry for the rant, I’m going to have a cup of tea and relax – deep breaths now :)
STF – I will start again with a new list, just got to keep battling on
Dannie – Thank you for your support, it is emotional but in a good way if that makes sense as I have so many happy memories.
Thanks for the video to dvd info, I will look into it.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Did I get it all done?
Short answer is no. Thank you for all your encouraging comments. I have completely underestimated and forgotten how much work goes into packing up and moving.
Thank you for the prioritising idea. I did it, with the cheque’s being first off the list.
I managed to pack up all of the things from mum’s kitchen and defrost the freezer. I didn’t empty the cupboards under the sink out as I will need to use the cleaning things.
I emptied the book shelf into boxes. I found a video that had the name of the farm on it. I can’t remember what is on it or if I’ve seen it. I have a feeling it might be a bit emotional as I think my dad could be on it. Can you transfer videos onto dvd’s?
I cleared out the chest of drawers in the lounge that housed things like light bulbs.
I started to bag up clothes for the charity shop. I didn’t drop them off as there was a Christmas market and parking was difficult.
It was a trip down memory lane, more of which I will post another time.
All the Christmas cards are written, stamped and ready to post. I have written mums too, working from a list that she had in the Christmas card box. Once I see who sends cards this year I will write a little note explaining that mum has been ill, and also of her new address.
Secret Santa’s for mine and OH brought and wrapped, with a couple of other pressies.
I had planned to do more yesterday but had a migraine so struggled a bit.
I visited mum on Saturday to be told by a nurse she was moving into a home today. It was all very sudden. However I got a call this morning to say she had a bit of an upset tummy over the weekend and they couldn’t risk moving her in case it was an infection. They hope to that she will move this week. We haven’t visited the home yet so I hope its ok. We have to wait 4 weeks for the financial assessment as they have a backlog. I will be glad when that is sorted as I’m worrying that it.
I picked up the fire guard from a Freecycler for my friend. It was a surprise for her as she mentioned last week that her new kitten – who is sooo cute – keeps trying to hurl herself onto the fire! She has been away this weekend so I left it outside her home, with a little note. She rang last night to say it fits perfect and to hear the joy and surprise in her voice was lovely.
OH has managed to pick up another shift tonight so that is some more money for the holiday fund, every little bit counts.
Thank you for the prioritising idea. I did it, with the cheque’s being first off the list.
I managed to pack up all of the things from mum’s kitchen and defrost the freezer. I didn’t empty the cupboards under the sink out as I will need to use the cleaning things.
I emptied the book shelf into boxes. I found a video that had the name of the farm on it. I can’t remember what is on it or if I’ve seen it. I have a feeling it might be a bit emotional as I think my dad could be on it. Can you transfer videos onto dvd’s?
I cleared out the chest of drawers in the lounge that housed things like light bulbs.
I started to bag up clothes for the charity shop. I didn’t drop them off as there was a Christmas market and parking was difficult.
It was a trip down memory lane, more of which I will post another time.
All the Christmas cards are written, stamped and ready to post. I have written mums too, working from a list that she had in the Christmas card box. Once I see who sends cards this year I will write a little note explaining that mum has been ill, and also of her new address.
Secret Santa’s for mine and OH brought and wrapped, with a couple of other pressies.
I had planned to do more yesterday but had a migraine so struggled a bit.
I visited mum on Saturday to be told by a nurse she was moving into a home today. It was all very sudden. However I got a call this morning to say she had a bit of an upset tummy over the weekend and they couldn’t risk moving her in case it was an infection. They hope to that she will move this week. We haven’t visited the home yet so I hope its ok. We have to wait 4 weeks for the financial assessment as they have a backlog. I will be glad when that is sorted as I’m worrying that it.
I picked up the fire guard from a Freecycler for my friend. It was a surprise for her as she mentioned last week that her new kitten – who is sooo cute – keeps trying to hurl herself onto the fire! She has been away this weekend so I left it outside her home, with a little note. She rang last night to say it fits perfect and to hear the joy and surprise in her voice was lovely.
OH has managed to pick up another shift tonight so that is some more money for the holiday fund, every little bit counts.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
A List as Long as My Arm
Things to do this weekend.
• Send thank you card & cheque to mums carers
• Send note & cheque to mums window cleaners
• Start writing Christmas cards
• Buy works Secret Santa’s
• Wrap Christmas presents
• Sort out box of kitchen stuff from mums
• Tidy kitchen
• Washing
• Ironing
• Pack up rest of kitchen things at mums
• Defrost mums fridge & freezer
• Clean mums kitchen
• Sort out stuff under mums sinks
• Bring sewing & knitting things back from mums
• Empty desk at mums
• Empty drawers in lounge at mums
• Empty & pack up mums books shelf
• Pack up mums clothes that are too big for her & take to charity shop
• Pick up fire guard for friend from Freecycle
but first I'll just have a cup of tea...
• Send thank you card & cheque to mums carers
• Send note & cheque to mums window cleaners
• Start writing Christmas cards
• Buy works Secret Santa’s
• Wrap Christmas presents
• Sort out box of kitchen stuff from mums
• Tidy kitchen
• Washing
• Ironing
• Pack up rest of kitchen things at mums
• Defrost mums fridge & freezer
• Clean mums kitchen
• Sort out stuff under mums sinks
• Bring sewing & knitting things back from mums
• Empty desk at mums
• Empty drawers in lounge at mums
• Empty & pack up mums books shelf
• Pack up mums clothes that are too big for her & take to charity shop
• Pick up fire guard for friend from Freecycle
but first I'll just have a cup of tea...
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