Work has been busy this week, and my days have been long. I've been leaving the house to get the bus before 7am and not getting home until almost 7 that night because my bus never showed up. The first night that I missed it I was standing opposite McDonald's and I was freezing... but I never went in.

I found a dress in the sale for SG's Christmas. It was £3.00.

I've been distracted this week - had a few things on my mind. I will probably leave that until another post for now though. But the good news is that we still have food money left.

I'm working four hours extra this weekend. Hubby is doing a nightshift after his dayshift.

My mum's coming over today. I was meant to meet her for a coffee but I'm not feeling well so I've invited her over here instead. I think hubby gave me his cold.

Ok. I've decided to list here what I am planning to do for this Christmas.

- Where will Christmas be? Not sure yet, so unlikely we will be hosting
- Cards - send out or email? Send out. Need to buy in cards for close family.
- Gifts - got quite a few for SG, will get a few more and an outfit for Christmas Day. Other gifts:

Hubby: he's picked a dvd (£10-£15 I think)
Mum: jumper and pyjamas (£20)
MIL: will discuss with hubby, but pyjamas probably
BIL: a book
3 cousins: pyjamas for all three (also got a birthday in December)
SG's "cousins" aka my cousins kids: money for oldest, bodysuits and socks for younger two (this was requested)
Friend's kids: books (done this last yr, hardly ever see friend but she gets SG)

I also need to buy another packet of lights for the Christmas tree. I'd like us to have a new outfit to wear on Christmas Day but only if it's doable.Also, we haven't got any hanging decorations for the livingroom - but they're not a necessity, just a want.

Have I missed anything?

I finally got around to making the root vegetable and lentil casserole - which has curry powder in it so looks more like a curry. Either way, there will be leftovers. I searched how to make spiced onions at home, and it looks easy, so I will try that soon to go with the poppadoms that we have in the cupboard. I didn't realise it was only us Scottish that have spiced onions until I was looking for recipes.

Next week I will be making:
- pork and butter bean stew
- cheesy vegetable pasta bake
- butternut squash soup
- lentil spaghetti bolognaise

Capital One sent me a letter telling me they are increasing my credit limit next month, due to how I've been managing my payments, or something like that.

A present for SG arrived today. I used my catalogue rewards so I wasn't out of pocket - it was on sale at £3.

We've been saving all year for Christmas. We got our high street vouchers a few weeks ago yet we haven't been shopping yet. This is unusual, we normally go as soon as we get them. For the record, we have £200 plus I've got £40 on a gift card that I started a few months ago.

I used the last of my food shopping money.I noticed that 500g packs of pasta were half price - 50p each - so I bought some in. I also bought in reduced mini naan breads which I've put in the freezer for when I make a curry soon.

There was a sale at work. I spent £12.15 on clothes for SG's Christmas. They were all half price, and were items that I wanted to buy when they were full price.

I made spanish potatoes in the slow cooker on Monday. We had them with wraps and then paninis the following two days. It felt like a takeaway because all I had to do was heat them up. I'll be making them again soon.

We gave one of hubby's friends a loan of money this week. It was £10. Hubby said we will get it back today. The last time we gave him money it took him weeks to give it back. We'll see.

My mum's coming over for lunch tomorrow. Normally I go out of my way to find a really nice recipe for us and then I make it. This time, I'll use what's on hand - it'll be something with lentils or baked potatoes and beans probably. I had a look at cooks.com (thanks Snafu) and found a lot of nice recipes using lentils.

Oh, I checked Capital One today. My new card arrived yesterday so I'm going to activate it soon. Normally I wouldn't activate it so quickly but I'm worried about security now. Anyway, it looks as though they've increased my credit limit. I now have 474.03 available, I'm sure there was less available credit last week.

On payday I ordered a personalised Christmas stocking for SG. It was on sale for £10 plus £3.49 P&P so in total 13.49. Of course afterwards I googled stocking fillers for toddlers and managed to write a list of possible stocking fillers - 13 items! Now I'm not going to buy all of these. It does make me realise how easy I could throw away money by buying all of this.

So far I've got:

- my first playdoh set (free, used rewards)
- 4 finger paints 90p
- 4 dough tubs 90p
- wooden puzzle 1.75

Total: 3.55

Should I count the stocking as a present?

The other day I read CCF's post about withdrawing money from PayPal. That reminded me to check mine. Sure enough, I had £1.10 in my account so I transferred it to my bank account, then made a payment to CC1.

I bought a wooden puzzle on Saturday for SG's Christmas. I bought it from our local shop that relies on donations. It was still in its original packaging. I also handed in a bag of SG's old clothes.

SG's first Christmas present was delivered today. I got her my first playdough set. It was reduced from £20 to £6 but I used my rewards from my catalogue, so it was free. I'm now on a mission to think of what else I can get her since she will be almost two by the time Christmas comes.