Not having a good day today

I am not having a good day today.  I am feeling full of anxiety, headachey & feeling sorry for myself. Which is terrible as there are so many sad things going on in the news.
I am just thinking about stuff . DD to be honest she is staying with us a couple a days a week every week.  Everything is peachy & we are all getting on.  But I cant help but be sad, as it wasn't how I wanted my family to be . I wanted us all together. But no I couldn't cope with the challenges that  my very challenging daughter brought. They were extreme challenges  I think I will always have hang ups and sadness about it all.  Its the going over things that gives me the anxiety.  I was always nervous as a youngster about different things
Coupled with depression & anxiety I find it hard ......... Coupled with feeling like the worst mother in the world because I couldn't control my daughter & she wouldn't listen to me anyway. Its hard to explain it all.  But its like feeling like you have been in the washing machine for a very long time, you feel rung out.  I am finding it hard to be positive & move forward. 
   

Monday Mini Goals

Healthy Eating - Fail
I failed miserably at my goals.  I didn't keep a track of what I was eating whatsoever. I ended up eating too much chocolate & as we ran down the freezer the food choice was limited.  The scenario ran out of so many things. A birthday etc , pissed off etc

Tea drinking - Fail 
I ended up drinking way too many teas. The reason I cut back on tea was that I do have issues with anxiety. I  read lots of places to cut back on the caffeine as it can add to the anxiety even more. 
 
Water Drinking - Fail
Managed 1 litre on a few days

Tracking Spending - Fail
Managed one day . 

I don't seem to be very good at tracking anything. I do think tracking does make you more accountable as if you write something down it is written down!

Sometimes I wonder why I blog too. I look at my blog and think who on earth would want to read any ramblings on from me.  Think I am having one of those days. So much for my positive affirmations eh!.  I look at my blog and think gosh it sounds dull.  Its hard getting the balance of what to share & what not to share. 
I don't know ............

freebie

Grab a money saving freebie. I have just signed up for one as I don't have one! Sounds like it will help with water consumption!

http://www.soapandglory.com/blog/the-2-minute-rinse-2/

Be back later !

Monday Monday ....

Today I went swimming in the morning. Did my 52 lengths (small lengths!). The pool was quiet only two of us in there.  Went & did my after swim ritual shampoo/conditioner/lime shower gel & a nice slather of body lotion. I felt squeaky clean!

Spending for today

Raspberry still water x 4 pack                                           £3.96
Lucozade Revive Lemon grass & ginger 4 pack
Big bottle of Ribena
3 x bottles of oasis

Bus fare                                                                            £2.30

Sunflower spread                                                               £5.59
Nutty Superfood salad & apple,celery & walnut salad
4 pint semi skimmed milk

I Bought the drinks in the pound shop as you get so much more for your money.  I usually have my sports bottle filled with water . Mr No Spend likes a few drinks in the fridge. I think I have touched on this before that Mr No Spend is not always No Spend!
Later on when I got home my sweet neighbour knocked on my front door with a lovely little heart tin with a white musk solid perfume inside (looks like lip gloss but not!) Smells lovely.  She asked if I wanted anything from M&S which I did so I went along for the ride and got my bits.  I bought a lovely couple of salads.  I do need to learn to make a salad, as tasty as an M&S one especially the superfood one.
I made a date slice as am having a few friends over for a coffee morning tmrow & I had some dates that had gone a bit tough & chewy so date slice was the ideal choice!. I am very proud I didn't even try it!. I will have to take their word or see by the look on their faces (good I hope!!). I gave the place a good spruce up & hoovered up a few cobwebs ( hangs head in shame that they had even formed!). I don't live in a haunted cobweb house honest!.
Going to watch broadchurch tonight too!..

Food for today
Breakfast
muesli
banana
Lunch
apple,celery & walnut salad
pear yoghurt with a few flaked almond on top
snack
8 dried apricots & 1 babybel
Dinner    
4 small roast potatoes,carrots, broccoli & a chicken
  
Managed to stick to 2 cups of tea &  managed 1 litre of water today

x

Monday Week mini goals

This coming week I want to be a bit more organized & make a few "Monday week mini goals"

Health goals
With all this lovely sunshine I feel it is an ideal time to put some health goals in place so this week my main goals are
To keep a close eye on what I am eating! That means this week no cakes, biscuits or chocolate.  Just healthy wholesome foods, keeping check on portion control.
Drink 2 litres of water a day
Only 2 cups of tea a day (this is more for my anxiety)
To swim twice this week
Read my anxiety book & start practising techniques

Spending Goals
To keep a track of spending ,every penny this week. I have been a bit spendy lately
Send electricity & gas meter readings in online
Sell my wardrobe!
Find more things to sell on ebay! (less to move when moving!)

Do you find it helpful to have mini goals?....

H

Lovely swim

Today I went for a lovely swim. It was lovely & heated in the pool.  I pay a monthly membership which is £42.00.  I try and go at least twice a week, occasionally three times.  I didn't go for a fortnight so very cross with myself.   I blame the cold weather and the thought of coming out in to the cold air was too much!.  I am happy to pay this monthly membership with no tie in as it is my luxury & wellbeing.  Not to mention it has strengthened my back muscles swimming & I no longer seem to get that bad back I always used to get before.  Think the ironing was not helping. But no this swimming has helped.  To me that is therapy!  After I went swimming I went shopping & bought a lovely sunhat for £4.00!. Here I am in my sunhat! .

I bought a lovely  navy blue polka dot purse for £4.00 which I needed as my other purse was tatty & dog eared & had gone saggy . My bank cards kept sliding out

 

I have all my loyalty cards on one side ie  superdrug, boots, costa coffee, co op ,waitrose etc. My important bank cards on the other side. It has a safe place for coins & notes very secure too! . On the front there is a little zip bit. I usually keep two paracetemol in my purse. I usually cut them off from the pack.  Saves having to buy them If you are out somewhere & need one.  Luckily I do not get many headaches thankfully. 

 

 

 

 

I also went to the pound shops & bought a small shampoo & conditioner. I like to take full advantage of the showers at the swimming pool. These ones have 0% parabans in them.  I like to get the chlorine out of my hair.

 
 I popped into M&S & got my favourite super food nutty salad its delicious, has a real nutty flavour.  I also bought a seeded roll In M&S on its own toasted it & had some cream cheese on it.  A lovely cup of tea & a small piece of coffee cake. I am trying to exercise control round sweeter things. I find that if I tell myself I cant have something I crave it even more. So am trying to be controlled & sensible

I tried my new make - up out too.  They were doing if you spent over £12.00 you got a Bourjois blush pot free. My lipstick was £7.99 a lovely rouge colour to pucker those lips ups! A soft light gold eyeshadow £6.99, blush would have cost £7.49. Total was £14.98 for my 3 things.  I have bought cheaper cosmetics before & found that the blushers just break up and crack.  I love Aldi mascara. These will last me probably about a year!. I know there are cheaper cosmetics but I do like Bourjois.  I like to be careful with money but equally I like to buy things that I like & will use.  I go through stages where I spend nothing but equally sometimes I do like to buy a few things for myself. I bought Mr No Spend 2 packs of rice!  I sometimes feel guilty buying myself things too! & I know I shouldn't!

 Do you have an item or something you like to splurge on occasionally?! Please tell....! 

Loving this song....

I love the film PS I Love you & love this song. The film is so happy/sad . Wanted to share ! xx

30 ways to save a pound....

Thank you to http://onelifeand3kids.blogspot.co.uk/ .  I have done this as this lovely lady on this blog mentioned it on a blog post. Take a look at   http://www.moneysupermarket.com/30-ways-to-save-1-pound/.  It is quite hard actually putting it down! 

1. Instead of catching a bus home, walk home & save at least £2.00 if not more.
2. Use orange Wednesdays for the cinema (buy one get one free) & save one full price!
3. Shop for clothes at car boot sales
4. Use your local free cycle group
5. Check local colleges & hair dressers to see if they need a hair model, these can be free or considerably cheaper than paying full price as done by trainees
6. Check out your local health clubs for free trial days
7. Some beauty places also operate with a system if you introduce 3 new friends you will get a free treatment i.e. manicure.
8. When purchasing make up buy stuff on the 3 for 2 offers
9. Don't buy into big brand names try one down ; why pay for a brand name?
10. Take a pack lunch out with you when your going to work or on a day out instead of eating out
11. Book days out in advance as you can save money for prior booking
12. Buy a sports bottle & fill it with water instead of buying a bottle of water/drinks each day
13. Instead of paying to park close to your local city centre, park on the outskirts & walk the little distance
14. Join the library to have access to free books & internet
15. Do your weekly food shop late at night when food items are most likely to be reduced - they are a fraction of their price!
16. Evaluate your spending every so often to work out which things are essential & non essential
17. Keep a spending diary to make you more aware of your expenditure
18. Take advantage of when local eateries do special deals for an example dominoes on Tuesday have a policy where it is buy one pizza get one free. Do your research!
19. Travel off peak instead of during peak hours to save yourself considerable amounts of money
20. Withdraw money from actual bank atms to avoid unwanted surplus charges for an example my local convenience shop charges £2.00 to withdraw money!
21. Bulk buy things as this can be considerably cheaper than buying them individually (only if you need them!)
22. Have a loyalty card for when you buy petrol & look around at different outlets for cheapest price
23. Clip coupons & print coupons from the internet
24. Go to a clothes swish (like a swap shop) you could arrange a night in with your girls & have one..
25. Only put the heating on when absolutely necessary, make use of blankets & wooly socks
26. Having showers uses a lot less water than baths so instead of having a bath daily reduce it to a shower? Save money on your water bill! Also if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down (that's the toilet!)
27. Plan your meals in advance & batch cook, get a big chalk board & write it all on there
28. When eating out have table water instead of drinks or lime & soda as usually around 30p
29. Sell unwanted things on ebay such as outgrown kids clothes
30. Use money saving expert & money supermarket

This week I have placed a few things on ebay . I am shocked with how much postage has jumped up.  I have made some postage errors & ended up being out of pocket.  Before we move we are using the time to really prepare & streamline all our things.  Its a good time really take a look at things. This week I have

• Sold a pair of roller blades on ebay for £22.
• Sold my vintage scales for £20.00 ( the postage for these were £16.00 , I did the postage at £15.00 so only £1.00 down.)
• Sold a t - shirt for £4.99 (cost me £1.00 at car boot sale)
• Sold a replica vw campervan for £12.70 ( I estimated postage at £5.00 it was £8.00 yikes ggrr)
• Sold a small sofa for £80.00
• Sold a black top for £3.99

As I sold quite a few things I topped the emergency fund up by £100.00 .Making it to a nice round number of  £2000. 
I am not sure how long it will stay at that as things pop up but it feels nice for today!.  I still have a few bigger things I would like to sell like a cupboard & some chairs.  Things are being put into a pile for a car boot sale as I go along.  I have given a friend a tent & sleeping bag.  I am sorry to say I need a comfy sleep ! Cant cope with camping ( I am a wimp!).  I do need to track our finances better . I start doing it then forget to keep it up.
How do you keep track of your spending, computer or diary? or other way?
x

Been busy!

Well where shall I start!.  We had been talking a while me & Mr No Spend about selling our home. Well to cut a long story short we sold our bungalow which is in a quiet residential area , good local schools etc. Popular with families & elderly. It is We had an open hour ( 2 hours!). Thirty Six viewers in that space of time & 2 offers.  One for the full asking price to!. We accepted the full asking price from a nice older couple.  Anyway we had a talk about what we wanted to do ( it is still early days & as anyone knows chains break , fingers crossed).  Our main things are

•  Mortgage freedom - The thought of having no mortgage is a strong pull.  If we sell for the asking price we will be able to have no mortgage & have some money to pay car loan off (£5000) & have some money in the bank as an emergency fund
• Location - Currently where we live is close to DS school. It is very very quiet up my road!. I am not complaining.  In the daytime if you are in you would have 4 - 5 miles to see some civilization.  Of course there are more local shops & cafes (2) .  I find living further out it is harder for me to get motivated as its a bit like living in a sleepy village!  I yearn for more hustle & bustle. 
• Simple living  - Our needs have changed.  We are different to how we were when we were starting out .  We are not as spendy & not trying to accumulate stuff! The opposite less is more

We have found a lovely flat across the road from the seafront (the picture above is the view!). The floor space is bigger than our bungalow!.  It has concrete floors that was a must for us as we could not be doing with creaking floors.  It is on the top floor there is only ground, first & second.  The thing I love is it has a balcony where I can fit a table & chairs. I can see the beach huts & the sea rolling in. cannot wait to do some storm watching ( sun first please !). the next best thing is its twenty minutes away from my mum & dads house.  At the moment I am a good 1 - 2 hours away from them by bus.  Mum & dad are in there seventies now & I would like to be closer incase needs arise. The only draw back is it is further from sons school but we have that all worked out.  I will lose garage rental income & will not be doing my ironing service (Yay!!!) .  I have been doing ironing as my main source of income for over a year & it has made my arm ache so happy to stop doing it.  I will find work out in the new area & concentrate on ebay.
Looking forward to sea air & getting out and about & new beginnings.  Hopefully the sea will make me walk more & be good for those endorphins( there is no lift at this flat so hopefully be fitter !! .  I wish I would not get too excited . I am scared to! Anyone would think I was moving continents! the way I go on. I am leaving my good sweet neighbours that I love dearly. I will see them still but they have been the best. xx