What to adopt?

I am thinking of adopting an animal in a zoo for my son Benjamin 

My thinking is it will give him something to look forward to seeing when we visit family as we regularly visit Marwell Zoo and Chester Zoo if we visit either my grandparents or father so I'm thinking something in one of these would be nice

Plus it would give him something to research - ie what the animal is, eats, lives etc

Also he would know he is helping not only the zoo but helping towards that animals care and upkeep

So now the question is

What do I adopt for him? and this is where I need help with opinions.

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At Chester Zoo he can adopt one of the following for £50 a year and he adopts the species not a specific animal - so I could choose one of

• Red Pandas
• Giraffes, 
• Elephants, 
• Orangutans, 
• Tigers, 
• Meerkats, 
• Penguins
• Chimpanzees

and he will get 

• Two Admission Tickets that can be used at any time during the year of adoption (each ticket is valid for one adult or two seniors/children)

• A Cuddly toy

• Your name displayed on a 'Thank You' plaque near your adopted species (by 20th of following month)

• One complimentary copy of our Z magazine, packed with conservation news and zoo updates

• Thank you letter

• Thank you card

• Animal stickers

• Image of your adopted animal species

• Personal adoption certificate

• A fact sheet full of amazing facts about your chosen animal

• A puzzle sheet

(part of me is wondering though if these are their main animals or conservation projects and therefore need the most funding or they are child favourites - ie penguins)

For £55 a year there is more of a range but they don't get additional information or the teddy/stickers which I think ben would enjoy) Plus all these animals bar the panda he will see and not have to try and spot in an enclosure

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At Marwell he can adopt one of the following for £25 a year he can adopt a specific named animal and he gets 

Go Wild Scheme

For children. £25

• Adoption Certificate
• Recognition at your adopted animal's enclosure
• 1 FREE child ticket
• Photo + animal fact sheet
• Car sticker
• Online Adopters Zone

(with one of the animals named Below)

Isabella the Giraffe

Chico the Meerkat

Eva the Penguin

Wendy the Pygmy Hippo

Indeever the Snow Leopard

Kaia the Amur Leopard

But for £50 a month he can adopt any animal of 20 different species and the only added extra he gets is a subscription to the zoo's magazine 

Im thinking I could adopt him two animals in Marwell that he could specifically go looking for. What do you think? 

Pets (eventually) for christmas.......but after......

Right, I'll get straight to it

Ben wants a pet of his own. We have a rescue dog called Bruno who is 11 years old and two terrapins but he wants a pet to live in his bedroom - his own pet but he wants something he can play with etc.

Anyway this has been going on since March this year and he is desperate to be a zoo keeper.

For his birthday in May he asked again for a hamster, but with a Jack Russell terrier we werent sure this was the best idea - Bruno stays downstairs in our house - its only the bedrooms upstairs but still I didnt want to risk an escaped hamster. So we brought him a wormery, which he loved and he has been looking after them well but wasnt satisfied with that.

Well he lulled for a bit with the asking and since the beginning of August, hes been at it again asking for another pet. So I made him a deal that if he kept his bedroom clean and tidy we would see about a goldfish in his room, but he had to keep it tidy otherwise it was a no. He asked why he couldn't have a hamster and I told him if he was responsible enough to clean, feed and care for a goldfish then maybe Id consider a hamster at a later date.

Anyway I should have given my son more credit because I presumed after a day or two of trying he'd give up and his room would return to its usual bomb site


        


It is now six weeks on, his room has been immaculate every morning with his bed made and him fully dressed before he leaves his room.

Now I know you shouldn't get pets for Christmas as presents but Im thinking of getting him his tank/filter/gravel etc and setting it up as presents and then after Christmas taking him to pick a fish or two.

Do you think thats an acceptable gift?

I should also add that Benjamin does help with the other pets. He is responsible for washing Bruno's bowls in the morning before he's fed and helps walk him every evening after school. He also helps me clean up the garden too.

Terrapin wise he helps prepare their food and feed them but since they aren't really hands on pets - one of them is rather vicious - he has minimal contact with them.
Plus the fish wont be there on Christmas morning as I have read that a tank is better set up about a week before hand of getting fish so I want to make sure I do things correctly with it. 

A bit of good news for once

In all the heartbreak that September 11th brings I have had two small glimmers of good news.

Firstly, my heart felt best wishes to all those poor souls who lost their lives in September 11, 2001. My thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones at this time of remembrance and to all the 343 firefighters, police officers and medical staff who gave their all to help them - I hope god blesses you and your lives. Lest We Forget. R.I.P

Secondly, my workmates after a rather traumatic pregnancy and long labour that ended in an emergency C Section has given birth to a healthy baby Boy called Ryan yesterday who weighed 7lb 11ozs. Congratulations honey!

Thirdly, my grandmother had undergone her last lot of chemotherapy today and is OFFICIALLY in remission after a very long and hard 3 year battle with Non-Hodkin Lymphoma. Not once has she moaned, whined or complained but simply got on with it but she is an Irish ex matron edlerly nurse/ Battle Axe so I expected nothing less, but still congratulations Nan, I love you

Hope everyone else is having a good day

Funny how things seem so trivial sometimes x

Financial updates and possible solutions

Ok, so I have had a somewhat financial overhaul this week

I have been through my bills, most of which I can't not pay as I only really have basics!
So
Rent - £360 - my partner pays this
Council tax - £107
Water - £40
Gas - £49 (direct debit)
Electric - £40
NTL - £55 for tv, Internet, phone (Internet is needed as I have a child in middle school and a child in comp for their homeworks)
Debt - £40
Dentist - £32 (this is myself, partner and kids and they have taken on my step son too, there are only two NHS dentists in our area now and we are in a benefit claiming main town do I pay for te dentist as we are guaranteed  to be seen quickly and our dentist is lovely)
Food Shopping - £200

The last few months I have also had to find money for school uniform and catch up on my debt bills so I have neglected to pay my Tv license which I know is now at £97 and passed to a collection agency, as well as owing £49.50 on our old flat which again I haven't paid

My income is £300 wages from my work ( I do 2 nights a week at 12hrs a week so I'm
Home to care for my daughter in the day and whilst my son is in school, I have no family around me - and all the lcal childminders are full because we are in a small village, so I can't work any extra hours)
I get child benefit of £130 but this is for my children and divided between their bank accounts incase they need anything.
Tax Credits, I and my partner get £300 to top up our income.

Our outgoings are £563 so from the £600 I am left with £37.

I am so fed up of this situation I can't begin to tell you. There is no work local to me and I don't drive so getting anywhere is really very hard. I'm even wondering if I can start to do something from home as I have textile A levels etc so maybe I could make something to sell.

I've also sold off most of my possessions to make ends meet.

So I've been looking at some solutions.

I've managed to haggle my NtL down to the £55 - it was originally on £65 so at least that's a £10 saving.
Also my food shopping - thanks to some of Froogs meal plans and ideas - I'm pretty sure I can get that down too. Each year my wok gives us shares of the profits and we got £150 last year so I brought a chest freezer with it when we moved home as we are in an inaccessible area now when the weather is bad, so it was multipurpose but I'm hoping I can fill it with Tesco Value vegetables and meat as well as discounted or reduced products and that it will help me stretch our shopping budget.

Im on the cheapest I can get our as and electric but I will be researching ways to heat proof the house this winter so we don't have to rely on the central Heating and gas so much. We only have an electric shower (no bath) so the only gas we use is for heating water so if I can minimise that then it will be good. I think that may be my next plan of action with a room by room list of what I can improve.

Right I'm off to put the kids to bed and ponder just that.

Night all
Xxxxx

Financial Hardship and Time Of Reflection

Recently myself and my partner have had a few financially tough months. 

Last month we literally made it to my pay day with pence in my pocket, and by then we had run out of bread, milk and butter and I was utterly miserable and to the point I was having to bake to make sure my son had a lunch box full. I don't want to be like that again any time soon but sadly its not the first time and I have just about sold everything in my house I had, that I could sell to make ends meet.

We were meant to go on a camping holiday for our 10 year anniversary, but after we'd brought the tent and sleeping bags we couldn't afford to go away any longer so we decided to leave it and we'd go away another time. 

Today presently, after money check ups etc I now have £22 in my Wages bank account and in my Benefits account I think I have nothing - I will double check this tomorrow morning though as my bank are utterly useless on the phones after 6pm. Should also reiterate that by benefits account I mean the account my tax credits and child benefit are paid into - this is money for my children and their well being etc.

I cant pick up any extra hours in work as I cant fit the shifts around my children. 

The two shifts I am able to do are Thursday 5 - 10pm and a Sunday 3 - 10pm. My partner works what hes told which is 8.30am - 6pm (Mon to sat) and 10am - 4pm (Sunday)  but he works 5 days a week but he is on a rota and not set days off. So if he is working the days I have my shifts then my mother in law has the kids for the hour that we cross over.  

The rest of the time I am at home with the children - my daughter is only 2 years old and not in education yet and her childcare would take up any wages I did mange to earn.

My son is in full time school from 9am until 3.20pm. 

I am wondering if there is any work I can do from home that means I can be here for my children but I can still boost my income

May have to look into varying sources of income. 

 

Its time to 'Ber'......

Right,

The 'BER' months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER ~ see what happened there? ) so I have and will officially get started. That means my household kicks up a gear to get ready for winter and subsequently Christmas.

The house needs heat proofing and after a winter in the house last year I have somewhat figured out where the cold spots are and what needs to be tackled.

The hallway is a main one. You come in the front door and are immediately met by the stairs, through the door to the right is my living room, then up the first half of the stairs is a small landing with a window, then up the second part are the three doors to the bedrooms. There is no heating in the hallway which basically means on a cold morning you have to walk out into a fridge which is not pleasant. I need to find some way to warm this room.

Last year I put a curtain over the front door and there is a blind on the small window, but apart from that I'm somewhat confused. There are two plug sockets at the bottom of the stairs though which means I could plug in a small heater to let the heat rise if I could find a plug timer for the mornings.

Also our central heating is VERY noisy. It makes one hell of a racket so if I can not turn this on in the night then that would be good. We have just brought the kids sleeping bags for camping but Im thinking these might be worth using in winter to keep them warm. Our double sleeping bag can be unzipped and put over our duvet, plus my partner who tends to hog the duvet means I would actually get a blanket. Ben's is more a cocoon style bag which he is loving sleeping in , and Holly's can be unzipped to a big blanket as well.

Other cold spots are the bathroom and back door, which similar to the front door in that the back door opens and directly in front is the bathroom. Thus making this very cold and unpleasant so that needs a door curtain too I think.

Other than that I need to find or make the dog a new bed.

Then make a stock list for the freezer, because we live on top of a hill and its is horrid, absolutely horrid walking to the nearest shop which is a 15 minute downhill walk away, and then about 20 minutes back up depending on what you are carrying! So needless to say with an 8 year old and a 2 year old in cold weather it can get very unpleasant indeed and my partner is not home until 6pm so in those hours Id need to be prepared.

I think I need to get list making.

Righto Im off to do just that