Friday 27th October

Still halfterm. Had to run around the shops again with SJ and the girls. Had to take the kitchen bin back to Argos...second one that's broken in less that a year. Got a different model this time.

Went to B&Q. Bought TV areal cable so that we can swap round living rooms now that the summer is over. Took note of the wind turbine and solar panels. Would really like to go down this route (definately getting greener as I get older). Thinking about business opportunities and wondering if the government will ever legislate for all new homes to have alternative power installed.

Went to Morrisons for some vegetables and had lunch there. Four of us ate for £11. I felt stuffed all day after eating the All Day Breakfast!

Cleaned and tidied the house etc. in the afternoon as we're planning to be out all day Saturday at the Imperial War Museum.

MONEY SAVING: Signed up to swap telephone line back from NTL to BT. The switch (which I've signed up for their little known 3 month contract) will save me around £6 per month, but more importantly will allow me to switch to a BT line based bundle package after the 3 months is up.

MONEY SAVING: Got the Tesco pet insurance confirmation through the post today. Had a real bonus. For signing up they have given us 1000 clobcard points. So, not only did I save a few quid we've got enough airmiles from the 1000 points for the four of us to go to Legoland for FREE!

Musing: Why didn't Madonna and Guy adopt a child from the UK?? I'm sure there are plenty of children living not 100 miles from them who woul benefit from being adopted by Madge. Still, suppose it's not trendy enough.

Monday 23rd October

Still at my brothers. Had a great weekend with the family. It's my neice's 16th birthday next weekend so much talk of that.

Travelled back after lunch. Took almost 5 hours to do 200 miles as the traffic and roadworks were so bad.

SJ's mum came over. It's halfterm so she is looking after the girls for a couple of days.

Friday 20th October

Had to go fix the inlaws PC this morning and then ran around the shops with SJ. Needed a few things and started to buy some Christmas presents for the girls. Had lunch in SJs favourite cafe (normally reserved for school mum lunches) so now I guess I'm an honorary school mum...which I suppose along with my Monday maths classes and all the extra things I'm doing around the house is not surprising...roles are definately becoming more blurred on the domestic side of things. Don't worry, I'm keeping the important things in check!

SJ took the girls to an Hallowe'en disco at the school in the evening. I spent the evening playing Call of Duty online. Haven't done that in ages and the time really flew.

JT's friend came back from the disco to stay overnight. We'll all have to be up fairly early in the morning as we're off to my brother's in Shropshire for the weekend.

Monday 16 October

Had an eye test today. I've had a couple of bouts of slightly blurred vision over the last couple of months so thought I'd get them checked out. My employer provides a feww eye test every two years for computer users so I took advantage of that. Fist eye test I've had since being at school! Pleased to say that I passed with flying colours and have two above 20/20 vision. The Opterician reckons I've been having Asephalgic migraines...so need to google that later!

Visited the pound shop whilst at the high street. Picked up some bargains. That shop never ceases to amaze me. If you can be bothered to look around there are so mant bargains to be had!

Came home by bus, used my Oyster travel card which I have to have for work. First time I've used it for 'leisure'. The train company doesn't sell any travel card in less than 7 day durations and these are cheaper than buying 3 return tickets, so, I buy a monthly (yes I know a 3 month or annual would save me money I just haven't got round to sorting that one out yet...next month I think). The remaning four days of the ticket each week are usually wasted but today I started to redress that balance.

Having a coffee now and trying to sort out a few more financial bugs. NTL are STILL, yes STILL charging me for the TV service I haven't got. I used www.SAYNOTO0870.COM to find an alternative contact number for thier customer services dept. this time as I worked out it cost me almost a fiver to contact them with complaints last month! The website came up trumps. After holding for 20 mins the customer services assistant said he would credit me the wrongly charged amount and this time he has made certain I won't be charged again...yeh right. He also said he would credit me an extra £20 for the inconvenience. I'm taking the £20 and have called BT to discuss a switch back. I need to get a BT line if I'm to make a further switch to a new bundled Phone/Broandband supplier, so step one today. I reconnected the BT box yesterday so hopefully I've got the wiring correct!

Got to have lunch now, off to my second maths class at the school today. Subtraction, so at least I'll be able to check my bank statements! - only joking but it is useful to learn how the children are taught mathematics in the 21st century.

Friday 13 October

Managed some good savings this month including: -

Switched gas and electricity using www.uswitch.com from Powergen to Atalantic - saving £10 per month
Switched from eSure to the Post Office for my car insurance, saving £60 per year. Used www.confused.com for that
Cancelled my basic cable TV package, bought an arieal and freeview box (www.ebay.co.uk and www.Amazon.co.uk), installed them and set it all up myself - saving £140 in the first year then £240 per year thereafter
Switched from www.Argos.com pet insurance to www.Tesco.com, saving 1p per month, but I got clubcard points!
Saved £50 on the cross trainer from www.ebay.co.uk

Keeping avid eye on www.moneysavingexpert.com for any new deals!

Monday 9 October

Cleaned front windows and portch inside and out and garage door. Looks better.

Took DVDs back which we'd reneted over the weekend. Kids films, but I did re-join www.lovfilm.com as they offered me 3 months for the price of one. Already had four movies from them so already in credit.

Attended my first maths for parents class today. The local borough are running it to help parents aid their children with homework. 2 hours of addition! Collected girls . Cooked roast chicken Delia style (blast the oven up high, open the chicken up and cook for just over one hour...lovely). SJ went to yoga.

I helped bambi make school project before bed.

When SJ got home we had another conversation about how she is not very happy at work. If I was working full time I think she would have quit. Found a possible vacancy at a more local firm to which she may apply.

SJ has her appraisal next week so things might get better for her after that.

Friday 6th October

A while ago we decided we were fed up with the stain (quite orange varnish) on out pine TV cabinet and bookcase so we started looking for replacement furniture in more of a natural finish. Then I came accross a place which uses cold chemical dipping, so thought we'd try the place out today. Took the TV cabinet to Rochester, Medway but the chap said it couldn't be stripped due to the laquer used on it. The only option would be to sand it down and see what it looks like. Raining so came back to local shops for a wander and a coffee.

Home for lunch. Mum and Dad came to collect dog and have dinner after their two week break in Siros. Girls had friends back to play. Cooked a thai red curry for the olds.

Monday 2 October 2006

Painted rear garden fence. Only two panels but it tool me a couple of hours! The new Cross-trainer arrived. Spent a week previously trying to find one cheaper that argos on ebay, and managed it at just under £60 for a cross triner with computer. Brand new. Unpacked it...broken and parts missing. Reported it to the seller who instantly dispatched a new one. Coming tomorrow . Paid online bills and surfed the web for deals. www.moneysavingexpert.com is my saviour! Went to shop for birthday card. Collected the girls from school. Made dinner . SJ went to yoga.