February is for...

Welcome to February! January with all of its dreariness is now behind us all, thank goodness. February is for, well, hope I think.  

Hope that although I might have buggered up January and have continued to eat my bodyweight in sweet treats while drinking wine in the bath (I know I am not alone), I do still have hope that not all is lost.

It is still early enough in the year to attempt to make it a tad better than last year and while sitting in soft play yesterday thinking of reasons not to scream, I listed some reasons why February is already better.  

February watch out, I got this. 

Getting Fit

I had my own Hulk (the big green thing) moment on Friday, I became enraged when I couldn't get my coat on and literally 'Hulked' out of my shirt. The armpit ripped, actually it didn't just rip, my shirt practically fell to pieces. It was a nice black and white one as well. Sad times. 

I carried on wearing it for the rest of the day- don't judge, I was in a rush and all of my other clothes that currently fit me are in a pile on my bedroom floor. I kept my coat on all day and vowed to make friends with the treadmill at the gym again. 

Which I did yesterday when the cat woke me up at 5.30 am, instead of swearing and putting him outside (ok after), I got up and heaved my gym clothes on. 

I am now the proud owner of 2 aching legs and I am thinking about going and doing it all over again tomorrow. 

January gym visits 0, February 1. Go on Feb!

Step-Mumming

I should thank my child and my step-daughters because without them, I would not have been sat in soft play yesterday and I would not have written this. So cheers girls.

I am also proud to boast that while sitting in the 'adult-only-' section, I did as I was told and did not let them into the sacred part of the café where I was, I looked out for them across the counter and when I spotted one of them, I left the room and went to them. Then, when I had ushered them back into the play area (dodging the sick where a child had thrown up), I went back to my table and empty section feeling like a good step-mother. 

Soft play is a special kind of hell, so yes I did revel in the fact that my children are great and only bothered me once in 2 hours so I could enjoy my mug of hot water with teabag on the side.

Apparently I had to open the packet myself and pop it in, all for the bargain price of £1.90, but still, I step-mummed rather well with a girlie day out. 

January soft-play visits 0, February 1. Smashing February!

Saving Money  

If I have 10p in my pocket, I will find somewhere to spend it. It used to be a lot easier back in the day when Freddo's were 10p but if you search carefully, there is always something to buy for 10p. 

One of my favourite money-spending/saving memories is when I used to work as a barmaid. I would be handed my weeks wages in cash on a Saturday night when I had finished my shift at 12.30am, I would go to the clubs until 2am. I could get through my weeks wages in less than an hour and a half. 

I had rent to pay and food to buy, but in that hour and a half, I had cash in my pocket and power drinking to do. Oh, just in case you are not aware, 'power drinking' is where you drink as quickly as you can in an allotted time. Which is both incredibly stupid and expensive. 

After a few months I had to ask my boss to keep my wages in the till and I would take £30.00 out and pick up the rest the next day. That was my first saving experience. 

My second saving experience has now come in the form of a help to buy ISA with my bank. I worked out if I could save £50.00 a week then over a year I could save £2,600. Then if I kept that up in 5 years I would have £13,000. So my first £50 is now in my account and I can't take it back out to spend on rubbish. Or booze.  

Saving in January 0, February 1. Come on February! 

I have got a feeling this is going to be a good month. I hope you have a good start to February too!