Monday, 31-08-26 - Chr*stm*s, maybe TMI!!

Morning, everyone.  So we have arrived at the last day of August.  In some ways it's not been the best month for me, health-wise and we've had some tricky weather to handle, haven't we?  But it seems to be finishing off much cooler and this morning looks like being a beautiful late summer day with some sunshine and nice and warm but not hot.  This afternoon we might get a bit more of that much needed rain - but we will see.

Yesterday was good.  I had a lovely time at Beth's where we had a good long chat about Christmas arrangements.  We've set the date for Christmas Tree Day and checked other dates.  This year, I will be away over actual Christmas but we decided it would be nice if I did a feast on New Year's Eve instead.

We talked presents, food to make, etc so when I got home I dug out . . . 

. . . my Christmas book.
It's not a fancy-dancy one, it is just a lined notebook with a festive cover but for the last two or three years it has kept everything organised for me.

Christmas 2026 has officially started now!  

(sorry)

I also finished off the August finances and am pleased to have money left over.  I don't have a rigid budget, I don't give every penny a job to do but I do like to know where I am all the time so at the start of each month I start a new spreadsheet that has all the regular payments, subscriptions, savings and regular outgoings (like Oddbox, Wonky Pods, the cleaner, Sharon, etc) already taken off regardless of whether they go early or late in the month.
So the only time my bank balance and my spreadsheet match is now, after I've finished the accounts for the month and moved any leftover money to the new month or into savings.  It makes me happy when everything ties together like that.  Works for me anyway, being a bear of very little financial brain!

This month and with Christmas in mind, I've moved leftovers into September rather than savings and today I plan to start a bit of present buying, using that money.  I know it's not quite September but anything I get will go onto the September spreadsheet.

The other festive thing I want to do is get down all the bits and bobs I already have and start matching them to people or events.  That will be good to get sorted.

Enough of this and apologies - I just like to be organised before what tends to be a busy and chaotic time of year.

There's no circuits today, not because it's a bank holiday but because Lindsey is away.  Groove tomorrow will happen as usual.

So, as said above, I'm off to the Riverside precinct to have a good nosey round HomeSense - I love HomeSense, it's quirky - and Home Bargains.  They seem to be opening at the usual times so I will get there early because that precinct can be a parking nightmare later on.

For the rest of the day it's the usual stuff and I'm finding I'm still quite tired at times so if I need to rest I will.

Have a lovely bank holiday, everyone.  Doing anything exciting today?  Have a lovely day.  xx