Snacktime: Scuppered

I put off going to Food Club for a day, and just my luck, work then changed my hours so that I couldn't visit Food Club this week at all. It's no real drama, I'll just have to attempt to not buy snack food 😁 I decided yesterday to bake some lemon muffins, but I threw in some bicarb and they are definitely not a taste sensation. I might make some custard and have them warm with that.

On the plus side, today work had a huge pile of eggs past their sell-by date, so for the princely sum of 72p (onto the credit card...) I have brought home two dozen eggs. I really did not need any more eggs right now, but I am looking at it as a stash for my fridge. I can't afford to pass up a bargain like that since right now I'm skinter than skint.

I haven't spent time with Blondie in ages as we've each been off work and he's changed his working pattern. I got to have a great natter with him today, which was really nice. I also had a great catch-up with Pipsqueak and we actually shared some decent laughs for almost an hour. These are the interactions that I must remember next time that Dunstan excels himself in sheer unadulterated idiocy... or, as has been the case lately, in off-the-scale arrogance that gets him yet another demerit. People are now astounded that he's still got a job at all. Watch this space.

I managed to reach cashout on YouGov, which pays directly into my bank account within one working day, so I might, just might cover bills for the week. I've been keeping Prolific open in my downtime and jumping on every study which shows up, and also spending time on Branded Surveys. I've got about four days to find the last £20 without having to resort to a credit card cash advance, so fingers crossed.

Neighbours from #8 have given me a lovely bunch of flowers today 😊

Change of Plans

So what did I do? Rediscovered the t-shirts I bought which don't fit. So I took them back to the shop, and got me £14 in store credit. I also took about £6 in coins with me and was determined to stay under budget. I still went over (you're not actually surprised, are you?) but I am blaming it on buying milk. Also possibly on a packet of strawberry mini trifles for £1.09.

But otherwise, it was a fairly behaved shop of bananas, yoghurt, salad and sandwich fixings. Also a tiny pack of cheese snacks and can of drink for the movies. I just couldn't stomach an enormous bag of too-salty popcorn from home. The movie turned out to be good, much to my surprise, although I'm now exhausted from the five-minute walk in each direction.

Today I cashed out another survey site so there is a £10 supermarket voucher sitting in my email. I shouldn't need it for another week but it's nice to have. I have actually sorted through my cupboards to see what is there... turns out I most definitely do not need tinned carrots or tinned peaches 😂 but the variety of tinned casseroles is sadly lacking (ie: I've got chili con carne and that is all). Partly this is because Food Club has cut down which tins they offer. Last visit, I got myself some frozen pies and even a pizza, which were lovely treats, so here's hoping they have more frozen items this time. They should also have fresh vegies from their allotment 😍

My maternity uniform arrived at work and is both laughable and unwearable. Literally, unless I would care to expose myself. I already own three plain black fitted tunics and now I've ordered three more of the same in "work colour", despite that not being "appropriate uniform" and I will argue with Big Boss if he dares complain. I don't like wearing black because it attracts absolutely every speck of fluff and dust, and that makes me feel constantly paranoid that there's dust on my shoulders as well!

Mood: tired. Getting tired. Actually reconsidering whether I can work for as many weeks as I had hoped.

Sad Face :(

Stupid arsehole Vinted has started deleting my listings for nappies, citing their rule that you can't sell used underwear. It's not used underwear ffs, they are nappies, and there are thousands of listings for used ones. So ridiculous. I've sent them a message appealing it but I don't really expect it to go anywhere. Ima just sit pulling a sad face and will try to decide what to do with the rest of the stash that I have. eBay is one option (a Buy It Now, not an auction listing) but neither the prices nor the fees are as good.

The annoyance of the overgrown and unkempt garden has a couple of silver linings... the majority of what's gone mental out the top of the hedges is Buddleia, so at least the butterflies and bees will be happy. And for months I've been irritated by the occasional scratch and stab of vines, which it's taken me way too long to realise are blackberries. I've collected half a cup of ripe ones today and there's a lot more that are still red. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

After four days off work this week my pay next week will be hideous and I'm not sure it will even cover essential bills. I have hauled out my £20 worth of coins and am trying to do some surveys. Worst comes to worst there's one bill I can delay by a week and I could also do a cash advance for the others 😞 which is bad for a credit history but certainly better than missing a repayment. We shall see how things go. It's "eat from the cupboards" this week (and the freezer!) and I will drop in to Food Club on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I'm going to see the Barbie movie with my workmates. No, I don't know what came over me either. 😂 I already have the ticket so at least I don't need to find money for that. I will be taking a bag of microwaved popcorn with me and a drink from home... I can't turn up without snacks or else someone will insist on "lending me the money" and they really don't need to know that I neither want to be buying snacks OR paying them back!

Today's lunch: chicken & veg curry tin mixed with a "golden vegetable" flavoured rice sachet, and also some scrambled eggs mixed in (another portion is in the fridge for tomorrow). Dinner is a cup-a-soup with a hot dog roll followed by half a tin of peaches 😋 All of these things were from Food Club, and I'm kinda pleased with myself for whittling down the stash.

Snot Face

I have come down with a throat infection, and by the looks of things it's spreading into my nose. Oh the joy.

Meanwhile I'm looking over all the Vinted listings for baby stuff to gather plenty of research on what my "overs" pile is worth (the items that I bought, but realise I won't use). I think I can make a small profit from it, I have started taking pictures and uploading, so now I just need motivation to list the rest. I also clearly have too many "good ones" in the smallest sizes but at least having a huge pile will make laundry a bit easier in the first few months.

I received what should be (well, I think) the last bulk buy of nappies and at first was incredibly disappointed that almost all of them are either ancient or else require repair. Just as I was about to leave a yucky review, I picked up the bag and found another bag underneath full of good quality items. I've now glued a couple of items to fix them and I have more superglue on my fingers than on what I was repairing... the rest will be a huge sewing pile and we'll see when that gets looked at.

I called in sick to main job but as I told Second Boss I won't be off sick from the cleaning work unless I'm at death's door, so right now I'm working up the energy to go in. Fortunately I was in the mood to do quite a bit there last night so I can survive this evening just doing the essentials.

Dinner: a mince and onion pie, with vegies, if I can find the energy to open the freezer and then the oven, and then my mouth 😂

Washing machine going, once again.

Postscript: one of my Vinted listings has sold already, for £10. 😮

We've Dumped DilEmma!

FINALLY! And oh my god not before time. She has left her company (and nobody told us for weeks) and their "management" has been so terrible for the past three months that it really hasn't been management at all - there's talk of demanding a refund, but let's see if the other owners can be bothered with that... Anyway, today I've been on the phone to the LOVELY guy who I tried to get to replace her a year ago and he's already taken on another dozen of her clients who've also dumped that company.

Now we might actually get some maintenance and upgrades done, things which have taken a year longer than they should have already.

I mentioned earlier my cloth nappy purchases from eBay, well, after navigating the minefield that is types, methods and sizes, I have chosen out my favourites and bid on a few more of the same. I'm planning on selling the less-practical ones, mostly the "all in one" options. The main reasons are that although they're simple to put on (because they look and function just like a disposable) they take ages to dry, can't be tumble dried and have to be reassembled in fiddly ways after each wash. Luckily, these are still the most popular kind (see above, re: looks like a disposable) so I shouldn't struggle to sell them on. I'm looking at Vinted right now since their prices look good.

I also found out this baby is a girl 😊 and on the same day got given a ginormous bin bag full of baby girls' clothing, most of which looks like it's never even been worn. The whole lot is currently drying and then I'll go through my stash - again - and just keep my favourites. I'm not a huge fan of overly-gendered clothing and certainly wouldn't buy it, but I have no qualms about keeping the best quality items and those which are most practical. Included in that stash were several jumpers and mittens plus a brand new unused cold-weather parka suit (all of which I needed).

Currently cooking some sad and neglected old potatoes, plus some carrots, with a view to doing a bit of meal prep for the week ahead. I've even tidied my kitchen a bit taken out my rubbish and all my recycling! 😮 Now if only I had that kind of enthusiasm for everything else...

Earned today: about £10 from surveys, and also cashed out an extra £16.70 on two sites.

Do You Remember

...when I said that work looked like they were planning to train me some more? Well, lately I've been... running the shop floor. That's it. Which is what I was doing for them a year ago. I've asked over and over for more training and I might as well be talking to a wall. Big Boss insists that he's in the process of arranging it, but meanwhile, one of the other guys has completely finished his... and the other is half-way through. It's infuriating and annoying, but I am more disappointed than surprised. Star, at least, showed me a couple of admin-y things, but it went past me in a blur of menus and there's no way I could repeat the process myself without someone guiding me.

Also, I wore my new lovely black fitted maternity top to work (thank you eBay) and on the first day I was stopped by my manager asking if I need to order uniform? Waaaah. The last pregnant lady was somehow allowed to just wear black and several not-pregnant staff members even get away with that permanently. But me, apparently, I need to attempt a uniform order for the third time, just for the privilege of wearing a horrible green frilly thing instead. Booo. Hopefully if I keep my work jacket on over it, they'll forget to do the paperwork like usual.

I managed to give away the spare pram and car seat, my midwife found someone who needed them, so that was a feelgood moment for today. I also swung by Food Club and bought a bunch of tins I really don't need, but also some lovely pastries, fresh vegies and nice snacks. I even stayed for a piece of lemon cake, which was amazing.

Spendy: went to buy a cucumber plant but evidently it's too late as they had very little in the way of food plants left at the local nursery. I came home with a 50cm tall snack pepper plant though for a fiver 😊

Tonight: Supper club again with the other expecting ladies.

Clothing Fail

So NONE of the clothing I just bought will be at all useful. All items are too small. I am really quite annoyed as it means begging for a refund (I was so distracted by the malfunctioning self scan that I uncharacteristically forgot to keep my receipt). I'm sure they will allow me to just switch the t-shirts for larger sizes if there is no other option, but the bras, well, all we ladies know that the right size on paper doesn't mean it will fit you properly.

Anyway, I de-frustrated myself somewhat by spending a similar amount on eBay for some actual dedicated maternity tops. Even if these are too small later on, they should touch-wood fit me for now.

The Guardian had an article this week on how to save money where it comes to children's toys. I decided to see whether I could learn anything, and of course there were the standards like shopping second hand and using hand-me-downs. But to my surprise the biggest money-saving tip was nowhere to be found: the one that says "buy less, because your kids don't need most of that crap". I have a couple of rattles, some building blocks, and a brand new teether (all found at minimal cost or free) and now all I want is some stacking cups and stacking rings. I am actively avoiding everything else, at least for now.

Work is... well Dunstan AKA "Duh" is continuing his rampage of duh, his utter disinterest in anything "customer" and his complete disregard for important rules, such as not selling razor blades to small children. He is no longer just a cheery halfwit, he's begun to be seen as the staffs' arch nemesis as they catch him wasting time and screwing up, and realise they'll have to fix his mistakes and pick up his slack. Meanwhile, Duh wanders around oblivious and seems genuinely baffled that people don't adore him.

Spendy: Well, I spent the ticket money months ago, but last night I went to see Kasabian in concert and they were brilliant! I did spend a bit in petrol and on a nice picnic dinner (still budget items of course) but I had a thoroughly great evening.