I think I am happier when i have more to say

I suspect it because it makes me ponder things more.

I did a few frugal things to make me happy!

• Signed up for audible. Might seem an odd thing to do if you are sensible with money but Fahed is dyslexic, so all of his books need to be audio books. They can be pretty pricey. So this way we get a book, to keep forever, every month for £7.99. If the book he wants is cheaper then we could just buy it but not many audio books are some are an absolute fortune!
• I have printed off 12 months of single months planning sheets as Jamal and I are planning to plan! Specifically menu plan but also what people are up to and especially times they wont want to be fed. Honestly you would think there were twenty of us the fuss we are making about sorting ourselves out but its only three, or sometimes five, and occasionally 8. Oh yes, I see why it gets complicated.
• Back on my diabetic medication and i feel fantastic, except for constantly tired, arms aching etc but hey ho. I am thinking positive thoughts. Also being medicated means all of my prescriptions are free. Not that i need any prescriptions apart from the one which makes it free but next time i need something then i guess I am ready.
• I cut all my hair off! Well and truly. Surely that a shampoo and conditioner save and well as hair colour?
• I don't contribute to my employers pension scheme anymore, as my employers are thoughtless and selfish and don't care about staff loyalty, oh wait I mean, because my employers cant afford to keep it going (utter nonsense, don't kid someone who actually works in the finance team). If I retire at 60 then I get £10k a year less than if i wait until ages 65. But i just realised, durr, that its about claiming not about retiring, because I am not putting any more in. If i retire but dont claim then its still good. So those five years could be pretty tight!
• I made approx 2 gallons of passata from my and my dads spare tomatoes. And it tastes fantastic. We'll be cooking with that over the next few months for sure

Oh and in the interests of full disclosure so bad news too!

• An old debt I didnt know I had came out of the woodwork from somewhere. I studied it, checked it and basically did everything to avoid acknowledging that it is ours but I think it truly is, so I have made a payment plan with them. i'll overpay it but its nice to h ave a plan in place. I hope i don't have too many surprises in store for myself :(

I never learn

Came home from work dog tired. Neither Fahed nor I can sleep properly at the moment and I am just getting more tired each day. Fahed hasn’t cooked as he is also feeling it. So Jamal and I decided to ha e a takeaway as we saw a restaurant that looked really good and had 40% discount. It was awful! 

I am about to write a reminder on the blackboard. Am also planning to make a change to our meal planning ideas. I have lost the plot lately!

A bit of money saving

I don't know whats up with me. I wake up even more tired than i go to bed. I cant concentrate and fun is very thin on the ground. I don't think i am being grumpy with people but it certainly isn't the best 'me' I can be.
It'll all be fine after holidays wont it? I just need a rest? oh and I have a cold. But not an awful one, so I am still doing better than the rest of the family so why so whiny!

Lets concentrate on some money saving things I have done this week and see if i cant pump up the positive today!

1. Booked our car hire for the holiday and saved 200 euro by buying the 'excess insurance' separately. I wouldn't have known this was a possibility if it wasn't for www.moneysavingexpert.com. Martin knows everything!
2. My doctor sent me for x-rays at Winchester. Not sure how much this saved against havng to pay for x-rays if we didn't have the lovely NHS but it was quick and efficient and ill get my analysis by net Friday.
3. Got a text from my surgery also telling me to come in for my free flu jab.
4. Loads of tomatoes from my dad and from us too actually. We seem to have over-planted. I am making a concentrated sauce with them and onion, olive oil and garlic. Four tubs in the freezer and am expecting plenty more.
5. Started up some rhubarb gin for Christmas with my own rhubarb
6. Shipped a load of stuff out to Crete from here, to replace the stolen stuff. We have a lot less duplicates here now and I sorted the box sizes for the shipping to maximise what we could take for the money.
7. Bought some fancy boots from ebay. Brand new and still have the sticker on the bottom which says £85, paid £20 and some of that was covered from sales.
8. Jamal has decided to ask our neighbour if we can grow veg in his garden. This may sound a bit weird but Tom next door is always bemoaning having a garden and what a nuisance cutting the grass every few months is! he he. They are away in the caravan at the moment and go for a couple of months at a time. We are sort of hoping we can negotiate a patch of  his garden and in return Jamal keeps the rest of his grass short, or something. I don't know when we can ask and I don't know when he will come back but its something for the future.

Well its not a ton of things but its getting somewhere.

Happy Sunday xxx

More light relief

My little great niece started school today. Isn’t she cute in her little uniform. 

Oh and my son and his girlfriend just went on a joint stag and hen do camping in Cornwall. Aren’t they cute too!! I love Becky’s hair!

Getting back on top

I treated myself! I think I needed a bit of spoiling and I am just the right person to do it .

So I finally got around to booking the facial my mum wanted to by me for my birthday in June. £16.95 using groupon. I haven’t actually had it but baby steps. I am not sure why I didn’t do it before. It perhaps felt too trivial with all the sadness around me. Anyway now it’s finally book.

Also I decided that my hair needs a slight restyle and lightening up a bit, so am also treating myself there. But I go to a very rhigh asinably priced Salam so shouldn’t be too expensive.

Lastly, and in a break with tradition, I am considering having my nails done!  So not me. But we have a wedding to attend and then a few days later off to the other house for three weeks. I am not completely committed here yet, I’ll only do it if I can get a real bargain but I must say planning treats is fun and I feel treated even if I don’t actually get as far as doing the thing. I guess it’s because I briefly become the focus of my attention.

And then there was a whopping great treat. I bought myself a iPad Pro. With full 3G and all the rest of it. It’s lovely. My old iPad, and I mean old, had got so slow and could only hold a few books etc. This one though, ah, I love it. And it’s full of space so I can have lots of music, books and maybe a movie or two for when we fly.

Today serious housework needs doing, and grass cutting and general tidy up. The house is fine but not it’s usual comfortable, welcoming self so I need to lavish some attention on it today.  

We have a wedding in two weekends time so I must have a good wardrobe sort out and see what would be a good outfit for the wedding. They are lovely kids and nice and quirky so I feel I don’t need to be too dull in my choices.

Ok, let’s get moving!

Autumn on the way

Ah its Saturday and it feels like a very lovely day.  I was up at seven and stopped until now, nine, and haven't yet got to a single thing on my to do list for the day! Oh dear. Still its all things that needed doing I guess. And i started a bit of a clothes sort out so now have a charity bag on the go too.

Today will be composed of the usual Saturday cleaning things, laundry, scrubby tidying things.

But also a few fun things:
Picking apples and rhubarb in the garden, and perhaps some more tomatoes
Sorting out hire car for holiday and airport taxi for the way home
Visiting my friend for a coffee and taking her some clothes which don't suit me
 A tiny bit of shopping to top up my larder
A basket of sewing which is mainly adjustments and adaptations but should be pleasurable.
Booking a facial which my mum has bought me for my birthday, last June.
Off to visit Mum and Dad tonight too

If i get all of that finished and its not raining then i'll go for a wander in the hope of picking some sloes for a Christmas slow gin.