Holiday Jobs

There are so many things I want to and need to do it's hard to know where to start.  As I've said before I am a great procrastinator or as my mum called me a "gonna" gonna do this and gonna do that but actually end up not doing anything.  As a child my school reports use to say I'm easily distracted, even the nurses in hospital when I was born told my mum that if they were feeding me and someone came in the room I moved my head round to see what was going on. (I was ill when I was born and my parents had to leave me in hospital and visit me daily but the nurses obviously fed me when my mum wasn't there).

I have all next week off work and hope that I can achieve some of the things I need to. We have a few maintenance issues with our home that need sorting and I want to give the place a good clean and sort out.  I hope to make a start on our spare room as it needs new floor boards.  It has been used as a dumping ground and I want to be able to use it more as an office/snug.  I want to decorate it with an Indian theme in mind with orange and purple walls but my husband isn't so keen so we shall see... ;)

When we bought our house the furniture was given to us to go with the few bits we had as we couldn't afford new or even second hand.  Now we have been able to put some money aside to replace items of furniture, some of which are well past it and as we haven't had to think of what we would like in terms of style we are struggling, there is so much choice out there.  We are starting with upstairs first, hence doing the spare room.  Our room has blue walls which we are sticking with just going to re-decorate to brighten it up and are going to buy white wardrobes.  We have ordered a new bed as after 20 plus years the old one has finally given up and so has our backs!


 

Menu Plan

MONDAY
Lunch - Tuna and salad wraps
Dinner - Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

TUESDAY
Lunch - Homemade soup
Dinner - BBQ chicken/pork, sweet potato mash and vegetables

WEDNESDAY
Lunch - Ham and boiled egg salad
Dinner - Roast chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables

THURSDAY
Lunch - Beans on Toast
Dinner - Sausage casserole and mashed potatoes

FRIDAY
Lunch - Tinned Fish salad
Dinner - Chicken and lentil casserole

SATURDAY
Lunch - Homemade Soup
Dinner - Pizza, potato wedges and salad

Last nights dinner, Lamb Shanks, dauphinoise potatoes and parsnips (using yellow stickered potatoes for 4p and parsnips for 3p) and vegetables. Yummm...

 

Things to Do

I am trying to get things in the house organised.  My mate keeps threatening to call some man off the tv who does a de-cluttering show.  I think I have spoken on here about my hoarding problem!  Anyhow I have been on a bit of a roll (of me) and have made a start.

I had bags of clothes that I hoped to fit into but they have been in cases in my spare room for years!  I went though them with the thought of selling them on FB but know that they would just sit there again so I bit the bullet and took 7 bin bags to the charity shop.  I have kept a few items back to list on Ebay as they are more "named" clothes.  One case I gave to the charity shop and the other two to a friend who is moving to transfer her clothes in.  This has just made a small dent in the mountain of stuff I have but it is a biggish step for me. 

So for this week I have made a list of things I want to get done:

List all I have to sell on Ebay
Finish Little Table (first chalk painting project)
Ironing
Sort holiday paperwork out - book car park, travel insurance and cattery
Mend clothes
Sort paper work out and file
Take bag of jumpers to homeless shelter
Make soup
Continue sorting the spare room
Deep clean bathroom - sort toiletries out

So instead of sitting here in my pj's I better make a start.  I'll just have another brew first....

 

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

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.

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...

Did I do All The List...

Nearly, I did all but re-pot the plants from my list.

The tea-light holders from free-cycle are all glass and look lovely on our mantel.

I left the biscuits for my freind in my kitchen but got her a nice basket of plants for her flat.

I sent a cheque off for the credit card bill so it is now has a zero balance.

I updated our spending/bill spreadsheet and we have £250 for the money to spend. It sounds alot but we need to re-stock the freezer and I will be using more petrol to visit mum as the new hospital is alot further away.

My OH and me went to Scarborough today.

The weather was great, especially for the 1st November. We were so hungry when we got there we had fish and chips.

We got takeaway as it is cheaper than a restaurant and sat and ate them looking out to sea.

We took a slow walk along the beach, just enjoying our time together and chatting.

We didn’t venture into town this time, just got an ice-cream on the way back to the car.

On the way home we called in at the new hospital my mum is in. Its a lot smaller so there should be more one to one care. She has settled in well.

Once again thank you for all your comments, I love reading them.

SFT – My OH is learning well about being frugal, I think the butties tasted all the nicer for being free! Hope you got your shampoo at a bargain price lol. You’re my inspiration with mortgage payments, I think we are going to half any money we have left at the end of the month with one half going on overpayments and the other into our emergency fund. Even if it just a few pounds every little bit helps.

MUM – Thank you for comments and support and see you for tea :)

NSD – You’re right about the “jet lag” days but I can’t complain as he is working and enjoying it which is great after he was out of work for a while.

DANNIE – It has really focused my spending on food and made me think about what we eat.

A Day Off :)

I've have got today off from work but have a few things that I want to do.

They are:

* Update spending spreadsheet to see how much we have to spend this month
* Collect some candle holders that I got from Freecycle
* Buy and deliver a freinds birthday present - she is so hard to buy for as she doesn't have any hobbies. We have decided on a house plant and a nice box of biscuits
* Pay cheque into bank
* Pay off visa bill completley
* Re-pot some plants
* Go somewhere with OH - maybe seaside?
* Visit mum at the new hospital she moved to yesterday
* Meet up with blogger friends for Mums Tea Party

Right, I better get a shuffle on!

OCTOBER TARGETS

FINANCES
I really want to cut back on spending this month. I don’t think that we make too many unnecessary purchases, however our down fall are takeaways. We have a freezer full of food and I’m determined to use it this month. I am going to try and only have £10 each week to spend on groceries. To be honest I have no idea if this will be possible but am up for the challenge. All we should need is fresh veg, bread and milk.

We are having a loft hatch and ladder fitted this month which is £235. I have saved this up but would love to try and replace some of this by the end of the month from cutting back.

I have yet to venture onto ebay but hope to give selling ago this month. And also have an old mobile that I’d like to sell.

Hopefully we can claim attendance allowance for mum, which will help with paying for the careers. I have a 44 page form that needs filling in!

I also want to have some sort of plan for the next 12 months. We have managed on one salary for over a year and its just now that we have a little bit more money coming in. It would be very tempting to “waste” this but we both would like to have an overseas holiday next year so we need to sort out what we want/need to save for that and if we can save any for our emergency fund – which has been dramatically reduced over the last year.

HEALTH
I want feel healthier. I have felt so tried and have had a few migraines which I think have partly been due to stress but also think that if I was healthier might be able to deal with the stress better. I know that when I eat better, I feel better. Also I haven’t been swimming for a while due to looking after mum but I have missed it so will make a real effort to go this month.

HOME
The house is a complete mess, each room needs de-cluttering and then decorating. As mentioned we are having a loft hatch fitted which will enable us to get into the loft (we can’t at the moment due to its current location). I need to make a list of what to do and decide what to do first – there just seems to be sooo much to do.

FUN
This month I want to spend time with friends I haven't seen in a while if possible. I have already arranged to call to see a friend tomorrow to give her some strawberry plants I got from Freecycle and catch up. I also hope to go out for a curry (using a Groupon voucher) with another friend. She is in the process of moving house so we might not manage it this month.
At the end of the month another friend and me have booked on a Glass Creations course. It is a free half day course the council is running. We are also doing a rug making one in November. So all in all even though I will be out and about it isn't costing alot.

I think thats all for now - wish me luck!

Mini Targets

I have a few small things I would like to achive in August. They are:

* Go swimming at least twice a week
* Take lunch to work each day - This is to stop me spending a fortune at Morros
* Pay Visa off - will be so glad if I can manage this
* Send thank you card to my uncle - He very kindly sent me a cheque as he knew I'd had a bit of a rough time with Mums illness
* Apply for job - I have decided apply for the part time job, with the view nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I find it too hard I can give it up
* Look into getting a lodger/student to rent my spare room
* Carry on sorting the garden out
* Menu Plan - I still have lots in the freezer and need to sort mums freezer out as she doesn't cook anymore. I would like to do small home-made freezer meals for her so the career can just heat them up for her dinner.

I think that is it for now :)

Busy Day

I have a day off from work today and want to make the most of it. My list of jobs are:
* Take car to garage
* Do washing
* Do ironing & put away
* Freezer/cupboard audit so I can ..
* Do Menu Plan
* Clear board in garden - its totally over grown with weeds, no plants in it yet
* Clean bathroom
* Tidy Kitchen
* Clean oven
* Tidy and clean lounge
* Tidy and clean conservatory
* Update/check bank accounts/spreadsheet

Right I better move my butt off the sofa and make a start!

Easter Jobs

After folling other blogs (savingfortravel especially) I thought I'd too make a list of things I would like to achieve on my four days off work.

• Paint fence
• Paint Shed
• Tidy shed
• Put greenhouse up
• Move white drawers into bedroom
• Do all ironing and put away
• Plant all veggies still to go in
• Put up pictures and toilet roll holder in bathroom
• Sort out any seeds that are left over from planting & put in proper box
• Write shopping list for big shop next week
• Decide what to do with old bedroom drawers

There are a few more things I’d like to do but worry that if the list is too long I’ll get put off – something that happens a lot.

I also have my volunteering tomorrow morning and my OH is coming to see me there for the first time which I’m excited about.

January Aims

By the end of January I hope to have done:

* Booked driving theory test
* Changed dates of direct debit payments
* Withdraw money from Credit Union
* Check Halifax ISA balance
* Check HSBC ISA balance (sort out tax allowance)
* Loose 5lbs
* Clear all ironing

Days Off

I have got a long weekend with Friday and Monday off - yay :).

There are lots of things I want to achive on these four days. They are:

Decorate the Kitchen - Strip wallpaper off, prep walls (fill in holes), paint ceiling, paint wall
Do ALL ironing
Clean oven
Start sorting out spare room - At the moment you can't even set foot in it. I want to try and sort out what needs to be binned, freecycled, stuff to sell on ebay/car boot and charity shop
Put books on Amazon/Green Met
Batch cooking - Meat man delivering today so going to make shepherds pie, bolognese (for spag bol & lasagne) and curry to freeze
Tidy main bedroom
Type DH CV
Drop duvet off at laundrette (depends on weather)
Finalise budget for next year
Catch up on recorded tv

Hopefully will get it all done.

June Targets

Made a start on paperwork today. Put all statement from last year in a box ready to put in order and then to store. I labelled up the file’s and put everything in the correct one. So much has gone out ready to be shredded. My aim is to keep on top of this by filing and dealing with everything regularly. I never know how long to keep things for. I got rid of old gas etc bills but have kept payslips and bank statements.

Had one NSD yesterday, should have had to buy myself lunch but my colleague treated me, which was nice of her.

Have been using my bread maker over the weekend. It so nice to have the smell of baking bread wafting through the house. I want to practice with different recipes so going to the health store this week to get some difference flour and seeds.

One step closer to getting a new bathroom fitted. One of the men from work came last night and gave us a very reasonable quote, and came up with some good ideas. He also said that he could to most of the work in one day and as he’s quote was good hopefully we can look to replace the shower as well. Once we get the bath suite fitted I’d like to look at having it re-tiled too, just depends on the pennies!

Re-capping

I've re-jiddged my list, putting things into categories such as home, health etc. I want to then try to have mini targets and to pick a task then try to break it down into how I am going to achieve it. I am one of the best procrastinators and this list is making me focus on what needs doing. I will post my June targets over the weekend.

Going Veggie

As it is National Vegetarian Week I thought I’d have a go at No. 99 – Go Vegetarian of a Week. So far it’s been ok, apart from when I forgot and finished of some tuna and mayo left-over from sandwiches for DH pack-up. I have cooked all meals from scratch, eating a lot of salad and fruit. And have lost 3lb J.
I listed some books I don’t want on https://www.greenmetropolis.com for the first time. It was very easy and hopefully may make a bit of money. If they don’t go on there will give them to charity. Also goes towards de-cluttering.
Have a man coming on Saturday to give us a quote to fit a new bathroom suite. Hopefully it will be acceptable as I can’t wait to get ride of the old one. We have lived here for 5 years and have put this off as other things have taken priority. The colour of the suite we have now is dark brown and even has carpet up the side!!! We didn’t choose it I hasten to add lol.
Looking forward to some good weather at the weekend (if the forecasters can be believed!), going to tackle some more of the garden.

Wind!

Been a bit laxed this week with the list. The History Boys was brilliant. If we hadn’t known it was amateur’s we’d never have guessed. The young lads acted their little socks off.
Unfortunately my new greenhouse blew down in the wind, taking all my seeds with it. Was gutted L Hubby was great and rescued what he could but am sure there will be onions springing up in the lawn. I was then taken shopping after work and treated to couple of propagators which won’t blow over and more seeds (I’m very lucky). I also got a prayer plant for the bargain of £1.
I’m still impressed that work is organised – got a bit behind as had a bit of project work to complete and meetings that went on forever. On Friday I wrote down everything I want to do this week and I seem to be able to prioritise a bit better.
Posted my 1st postcard on Postcrossing (no. 19) and the lovely lady sent me one back to say thank you. I need to get an album to put them in.
I’m going to set some targets for May (idea “borrowed” from another blog). I realised I been working on the “nice” tasks on my list rather that ones that are more difficult/scary e.g. losing weight/learning to drive.

Organisation and Theatre

(No. 101 Be more organised at work) I tidied and cleaned my desk on Friday before I left work and it was nice coming in to that this morning. Today I sorted all my emails out, deleting loads, dealing with some and putting the rest into folders. We are so much more organised this year and hope to keep it this way. In fact it is almost like I’m looking for something to do now as we cleared most of the backlog before the end of the financial year and I’ve cleared the rest over the last couple of weeks. It is good because we are finally getting round to the jobs we have wanted to do for ages but haven’t had the time.
I saw a play advertised today but only running until Friday (no. 3 on list). It is at our local amateur theatre and is called The History Boys. I saw the film a few years ago and loved it. Hopefully they will still have some tickets available.