Winning Big....Yay!

I went to Sainsburys this morning and put my monthly £10 worth of petrol into the car.  I handed over my 200 points voucher and could have kissed the cashier when he said " Oh, you've got the big one!" 


I had won 5000 points worth £25. It will be a massive help with the Christmas shopping.  I celebrated by treating myself to a skinny cappuccino in M & S....

Then I went into Sainsbugs to get a few bits of shopping for the weekend where I also picked up some staples for the food bank (toiletries as well as pasta & sauce etc) My 5000 points were added to my Nectar account immediately.  As I had spent £13 the till churned out another voucher worth 500 points (£2.50)….

 

 

 

 Oooh I like this game :)
 
My Nectar points total has risen to an amazing £66 so far, so I won't have to worry about food for Christmas.  This will be particularly helpful because DD is finding it a struggle at the moment so I will be able to help her out too.  This also means that I can happily use my sealed pot money (pot opening day 1st November) to buy gifts. I'll let you know the total of that soon.

I have had a small craft sale of £10.37 nett to add to my Stash to Cash challenge...

Who else has had a good result at Sainsbugs?

Stay safe everyone and thanks everso for popping in x

Stash to Cash Total £177.02

What Do Points Make?

G is driving me mad at the moment.  Not only am I getting little sleep but I have to keep doing things during the day to keep him occupied and tire him out!  Personally, I prefer a little chill out time each day to keep me sane.  An hour quietly reading perhaps, or a couple of hours crafting.  I'm happy to go out at some stage each day either walking, shopping or tidying the garden but then I need some QUIET time.  I have just sent G out for a walk round the park so that I can relax and, at least, write a blog post in peace.  He has had acupuncture again this morning and I'm sure it's livened him up :/

Do you relish time on your own too? Company is lovely but not all the time! How do you feel about it?  How do you relax?

A heads up for anyone with a Sainsbury's nearby.... it's SCAN & WIN time again...yay!...  If you spend £10 or more, just scan your Nectar card and you will win at least 200 points (worth £1)  This is my win....

Tomorrow I will go and buy some fuel so should get another crack at winning big.  I won 5,000 points last year (worth £25) which was an enormous help with Christmas stuff. Do let me know what you win..... Good luck! :)

Stay safe everyone, wherever in the world you happen to be x

Sleepless in Seattle and Plucking up Courage

Yes, I know I've been decidedly AWOL but life has been throwing a lot of lemons our way lately. G is still suffering with his twitchy head and we have both been losing enormous amounts of sleep.  He has had Physio at the hospital, visited an Osteopath and had manipulation as well as acupuncture in his neck over the last 3 weeks, all to no avail at the moment.  He is now on the hospital waiting list for Botox injections but the appointment could be 2 months away.  It's currently costing us £90 a week in fees :/  He is very stressed by it all but I really don't want him to go down the slippery slope of taking Diazepam.  He is already on pills for other things including high blood pressure.  The reading has hit the roof and he was prescribed Calcium Channel blockers early this week.   Last night we both got around 2 hours of restless sleep and I have felt like a zombie all day.  G was brave and went in to work.  He'll be back around 8.30pm tonight.

This morning I set to and sorted the spare room out.  The wardrobe has been cleared of unused 'stuff ' most of which went to the CS but I gave an artist neighbour a nearly new easel, gave a hardly used backpack to a cheerful young care worker, who visits a neighbour and took several black bags of rubbish up to the skip.  This now means that, if necessary, I can sleep in the spare room on the floor in a sleeping bag so that G doesn't worry so much about waking me up when he has to get up for painkillers or to put the kettle on or put his heat wrap in the microwave.  When your bedroom is right next to the kitchen in a park home every click and rumble is LOUD !

When I was in town I plucked up the courage to speak to a young man who appears to be homeless and who sits on the pavement in all weathers.  He made eye contact and said hello so I asked if he minded if I offered to get him a drink.  It was blooming cold.  He asked if he could possibly have a hot chocolate so I bought him one as well as a slice of hot, fresh pizza.  Now that I know he doesn't mind being approached it won't be the last time I buy him something.

My craft sales have been a bit neglected over the last 3 weeks due to me being exhausted most of the time so I can only add £11.50 to the total.  I am, however, determined to keep going....

Stay safe everyone and thanks so much for popping in x

 Stash to Cash total £166.65

On Frost and Planning for Christmas

After a frosty start, yesterday was a gorgeous day.  The sun shone, the birds sang, I did shopping and so much washing that my basket is almost empty.... a satisfying day.  We had so little sleep on Friday night that I felt like a limp rag yesterday morning but lots of activity interspersed with 'feet up' moments meant that I got through the day far better than I expected to.  Luckily, last night was a good night for G regarding getting off to sleep so it benefitted us both and we woke up refreshed.
I have a craft fair next weekend so I'm busy prepping for that and I have also had some modest sales on eBay so I'll update my challenge total next weekend.

This year I have really struggled to make any savings for Christmas out of the weekly food budget.  At the moment I have just £15 which won't really buy much in the way of festive groceries and we're three quarters of the way through the year so I think I will have to use my sealed pot savings on food instead of gifts this year.  I will be opening the pot on 1st November so I'll let you know how much I have then.  Gifts will be paid for from my Stash to Cash challenge money.  I have written a list and will need to allocate a certain sum for each person.  Some (mainly little ones) will get cash in their Christmas cards instead of a gift.  And I'm on the lookout for brilliant bargains to snap up!

Anyone else written their lists yet?  I absolutely have to have lists!!

The family came to visit this afternoon, so we had a lovely catch up. The GC, at the ages of 11 and 14,  are so much easier now.  They chat, occupy themselves, help with cooking tea (pasta bake, lots of salad and warm crusty baguette) and darling GD dried up the crockery afterwards without being asked to.  They have gone home so I have my PJ's on and am ready to watch some TV.  Vanity Fair is on later, shame that Bodyguard has finished :(  Anyways...….

Stay safe wherever you happen to be and thanks so much for popping in x

Brrr...Get Ready For Autumn



photo from Google

 



Brrr...it's chilly this morning.  The central heating thermostat is set at 13 degrees and it clicked itself on at 7.30am this morning, a sure sign that it is indeed officially Autumn.  Half an hour of heat has warmed us up enough to get out of bed without shivering :)  And the sun is out now so, hopefully, it will warm up a bit before we go out to do the 'big' food shop.

The thicker duvet has been put back on the bed, the LPG tank was topped up last week (£57.34 so not a shock thanks to the hot summer) and the boiler serviced (£65)  Our bill for 6 months electricity dropped on the mat last week too so another £269.16 left our account, but that should be it for the rest of the month then it's just council tax by direct debit in early October.  My budget calculations seem to have worked out pretty well and there might even be a bit of a surplus at the end of the year but I don't want to jinx it by being too confident.
 
Has anyone seen the Halfords offer of a free MOT with any purchase?  I found out from the Martin Lewis website.  I bought a chamois demister pad for £1, thinking that there was no way I would qualify with such a small purchase but, several days later, I received an email containing a code to input in an online booking. Voila! Free MOT booked for end of November!  I hope it doesn't mean that they will try to find something wrong so that I have to pay them something but my car is 8 years old (never failed before) so its' a possibility.  I'll let you know how it goes....

The craft fair 2 weeks ago was very slow, hardly any footfall at all, and takings of just £7  but I have another coming up in 2 weeks time so intend to have a bit more Christmas stock just in case people are more in the mood by October ;)  I take comfort in the fact that other stallholders had disappointing sales too, it wasn't just me.

Anyway, I'm off to check cupboards, fridge and freezer and make a proper shopping list.  We will need comforting food soon I'm sure, and there's a budget to stick to!

Stay safe everyone, wherever you happen to be.  I need to catch up with reading my favourite blogs.  I've missed so much...

Thanks everso for popping in x

A Quick Update & Peppa Pig!

This is just a quick post to update my Stash to Cash total.  My sales on eBay have been small but steady, with a total of £44.23 to add to the pot. This brings it up to a satisfying £155.15 and I have the monthly craft fair next Saturday too.  Is it too early to put Christmas stock on my stall do you think?  I know many of you, like me, like to start preparations early (I already bought 2 small stocking fillers)  Ooh, decisions...decisions.... :)

On the home front, G is still suffering with his neck problem although he has seen a consultant physiotherapist for an assessment at the hospital and is awaiting an appointment for more physio treatment.  He is still on tablets but, at least, this means we are getting some sleep now albeit sometimes broken sleep. We would love to take the caravan off somewhere for a couple of nights before Winter sets in but simply can't at the moment until G's appointment comes through. I thought that last year was bad with G's 'toothy troubles' but this year has been even worse somehow.

It has been GS's and GD's bithdays within 5 weeks of each other so I was very glad of having my Stash to Cash money.  I put money in their cards instead of buying a gift they didn't want or need, which they were really happy about. They both bought new clothes and/ or trainers so I feel it wasn't money wasted :)  I will carry on with my challenge until the end of the year, only now it will go towards Christmas gifts. Oh, and I'll send something to my little GD in Australia.  She will be 3 at the beginning of November and I usually send birthday & Christmas things in one parcel.  She is in love with Peppa Pig and dinosaurs! Has anyone seen any Peppa Pig clothing at a reasonable price please? It needs to be as light as possible due to postage costs and with short sleeves because it's Spring in Oz.  A bit of a task, I know.....

Well, considering this was to be a short post, I've rambled on a bit!  I felt quite down when I woke up an hour ago but feel that I've been talking to friends and feel a lot more cheerful.  Thanks for listening....

Stay safe everyone, wherever you are in the world and thanks so much for popping in x

Stash to Cash total £155.15

On Wine And Sleepless Nights

Thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post.  Some of you naughty ones would try tasting the wine and Cherie really made me giggle!  We decided it wasn't worth the risk.  The first bottle opened with a pop but didn't smell very nice and was full of sediment, the second didn't pop so must not have been airtight.  It smelled awful, so both were poured onto a dry patch of the garden.  We fully expected to see dizzy bumble bees and other insects but they all seemed to be unscathed :)

At the moment G is suffering badly from his neck problem.  His tummy bug cleared up but the last 2 nights have been spent largely sleepless due to this head twitching he is getting.  Last night he was in and out of bed so often that I got up with him and made some tea.  We were still up and awake at 5am.  At 5.15am we decided to try to get at least a couple of hours, managing to doze off until just after 8am.  This morning he has managed to get a GP appointment because this can't go on.  He has more than a week to wait until his physio appointment at the hospital and I'm sure that something more is going on other than a spinal problem.

For this reason my blog will go quiet for a while.  I am exhausted; too tired to think, in fact.  I will continue to read other blogs when I can and I am carrying on with my Stash to Cash challenge until the end of the year so might update the total periodically for my diary.  There is no craft fair this month but I do have some online sales to total up.

Stay safe everyone and thanks everso for dropping in x