The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Into 2011!

[Mouseface]

Hello and a Happy New Year!

I'm Mouse, one of the passengers on this wonderful journey to sobriety!

We are a real mixed bunch of people, all trying to control or give up the booze - ONE DAY AT A TIME.

Come meet the others.........

And here are the previous threads, the journeys so far

Hi all.
Desire Well done on 12 days - that is fab.
I'm feeling much more positive than last week. Note to self - ignore negative thoughts.

Red Sorry to read you're not well. I suffer with depression and can empathise.

Sorry you're still ill Mouse

mouse so sorry you are still poorly. Are you feeling any better at all?

ruby it's a bugger, isn't it?? Obviously it's made worse when I drink - the added shame, humiliation, self-loathing, guilt etc does not help!

Much better than I was thank you lovelies. Just this cough to deal with.

Tired more than anything

Red - hugs lovely. xx

desire - 12 days it great!!

You ladies are all doing so well.

Well the pasta tasted better than I thought but I now feel sick I ate too much. Note to self - stop being a pig

zany nothing wrong with a bit of a pig out! (As long as it's not booze )

mouse thanks for the hugs, makes me feel much better. Although looking at the clock and it being 5pm would be ever better!

bugger!! DH just told he has to take a 10% pay cut until further notice or there will be redundancies on a last in, first out basis. Guess who was last in?
10% of a low paid job with a 70 mile round trip commute at current petrol pirces is going to hurt really bad. We can only barely manage as it is...

I am really sorry to hear that ma No good advice as I am totally rubbish with money just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you.

Same here Ma

That's so crap ma.

Not being flippant, but have you worked out how much you used to spend on booze? For me it was in the thousands

We saved a lot by doing all our food / household stuff shopping in cash rather than paying by credit card. We got real money out and when it was gone, it was gone. Learnt a few lessons that way!

Ma - firstly, are you in the UK?

Secondly, what does he do? PM me if you like......

DH runs a recruitment company.

So sorry to hear that. Not nice xx

Sorry to hear about you DH Ma. When I realised I was going to have to 'tighten my belt' I found it helpful to list absolutely everything that I spent, it was then easier to see where I could cut down. Saying that I still have a gym membership I hardly ever use

So sorry Ma to hear that. Times are just so hard right? It's coming at us from all angles. I phoned Eon today to be told that all the prices have gone up 9%!!!! FFS!!! But, she said, you've had 3 price reductions in the last year.

NO I SODDING HAVEN'T!!!

Until the end of Feb, I have just written a budget of unavoidables, ie. the house bills plus food and petrol.

We have one evening out that has been in the diary for ages, we will go on that, but otherwise, no treats, no going out. Nothing for a while. It's going to be hard, but we have no choice.

Not long til the hour of doom... going to distract myself with sorting out DD's clothes, bathing and bedding the DC and then finishing the ironing whilst DH sorts out the dead animals in the garage .

Dead animals

Going out for a meal with my parents and think I will have a glass of wine with my meal, the big test will be if I can come home and not carry on drinking

Dead animals = our supper for about 6 nights in the next few weeks, ducks and geese for the pot. Yum yum.

Good luck twinny.

Evening all. A slight wobble last night - various small annoyances culminating in the baby pooping all over the living room rug! - and I thought I'd have a glass of wine to make it better

Obviously it didn't but at least I stuck to one before giving up and going to bed.

DH out tonight and I'd normally reward myself with wine for getting all three children in bed unscathed. Instead I have my favourite dinner - cauliflower cheese and bacon, which no one else likes - a film - Julie and Julia which DH would complain all the way through if he was here! - and a CLS to drink!

Hi everyone

I'm shattered - as always - but have shopped for chocolate and lots of fizzy drinks which are my alternative treats. I have been brave and dipped my toe in on AIBU which if there are those with longer sobriety willing to join would be great.

Day 9 (tired smile) for me, and a good meeting to head to tomorrow night.

Love to all x

Evening :)

Sorry I haven't been back since introducing myself on saturday, we had a major household crisis and I couldn't even think about the fact I wasn't drinking.

Anyway, I think I'm doing well because despite that I haven't had a drink for five days yay me!

I knew I'd have a wobble mid-week and here it is. I've eaten though so it's unlikely that I'll drink now (not that there's anything in the house anyway) but it doesn't stop me wanting to. I've eaten about a tonne of biscuits to compensate

I don't know if I keep up with who you all are, this thread seems to move quite fast!

Evening Brave Babes.

I may pop from over eating tonight so I could be added to the dead animals for the pot?

thanks all. The cut down on the drinking is saving us money certainly but even so the cut is likely going to finish us off. Everything has gone up - electricity, gas, mortgage, petrol - and there is nothing spare at all. We have no luxuries, no takeaways, no cinema trips and now no holiday, which was only ever a week in UK anyway but at least it wasn't here.
Mouse - DH is a support worker in a residential unit for children in care. It is pretty low paid £21K before the cut but he had overtime to help boost the salary but that has gone too
Don't think its worth him carrying on working when it costs nearly £300 in petrol just for him to get there and back.
I'd turn to drink if I could afford it -

It doesn't seem fair does it Ma when your DH is doing a caring and supportive job and yet is one of the ones who have his pay cut.

I am back from my meal out, had 2 medium size glasses of wine and nothing since I got home. This is unheard of for me as I would usually have a drink before I went out, seen as it;s local I would walk, and then carry on drinking when I got home. Feeling a bit in shock that I have done it. Although it hasn't been long its amazing how you don't think of your when your next drink will be once you have cut down for a few days.

Been asked out on a couple of dates on an internet site as well.

Hello anyone?

I've been working on a rationalle for a report all bl**dy afternoon and night, and it still reads like rubbish

Just caught up, and am so psyched up can't go to bed just yet.

Ma I feel really angry on your behalf, your Dh does one of the most important jobs ever, how dare they cut his salary (who are these bl**dy they, as if I didn't know!).

My salary has been frozen for the past two years, and looks like it will be for the forseeable future. But, I am staying because I love what I do, and I am really lucky that I'm not the major wage earner.

I am incensed that people in the caring professions are trodden over because they care.
starting to write a report on here now

oops, just checked back, I didn't mean I was going to write about us, I meant I sounded like I was writing a report.

Nighty, night, will try to wind down by reading an old Cosmo, I have just found!

Sending you all fairy dust, sleeping babes. xx

Good morning all.l
Thurso Hope you managed to get your report done. You made me laugh with you thinking you had to explain that you weren't going to write a report on brave babes!

Ma I'm sorry too that your DH has had a pay cut. Has he considered training as a Social Worker? They get paid better and there is a shortage. I guess it's the cost again though. Does he work for local government or private org?

Hello again Scrumpet I hope you have sorted out the crisis and well done for not drinking.

Red Yes, depression is a bugger. I don't tell anyone about it usually because it's really difficult to explain and it's made worse by drinking. Hence why I'm trying to control it.

Hey Zany Well done to you on not having another when you get in. Are the people who have offered dates nice? I've done internet dating and really enjoyed it. Are you going to go on the dates?

Morning Ruby, you sound bright this morning, how are things with you?

Morning. Hope mouse and JWN are recovering, and taking things easy.

I am off for a couple of days to run a course, but I'll be thinking of you all. I've bought a magazine which is in my bag as a treat to read in my hotel room tonight, and I've got to an exciting place in the book I'm reading - will keep me away from the bar.