Flo's Debt Free Diary

Florence_J · 28 June 2016 at 10:01PM

I am cream crackered!

Got up at 5 to await my Morrisons delivery at 6am. Had job interview (didn't get job but they said nice things), and this evening I have hoovered the house, ironed some clothes, dusted, put the clean clothes away, put on a wash load, put out the clothes, packaged up the ebay items and it is only now that I am sitting down. I've just poured myself a pint of fizzy orange juice and it barely touched the sides.

Am going to relax with a film.

Florence_J · 29 June 2016 at 7:16PM

I waited up till 1.30am for my boyfriend to come home from a gig he was seeing in Bristol. As a result of that I slept till 1pm today!!! :eek:

Had lunch with my boyfriend, then went to the Post Office to post the ebay items, I arrived just in time as when I was finished I saw that the queue behind me nearly went out the door!

Found a bag in a charity shop that was the right size to be used as a laptop bag so I happily bought that, then cooked Lasagne for tea.

Boy and I are about to go for a jog but are just watching some WWE first.

Tried on lovely lush clothes in Peacocks but didn't buy any as trying to be good.

Still got some chores to do but will get them done tomorrow.

As much as I love football i am actually glad there isn't any on tonight. :rotfl: means my boyfriend is more likely to be convinced that It's his turn to do the washing up.

Florence_J · 30 June 2016 at 9:40AM

Last day of TCB's 'Sweet Treats' competition, aside from my 10p instant win I haven't won any money, but do have 22 entries to the main prize draw of 2500 pounds, which would be pretty sweet to win as I could pay off my two bad credit cards.

Off to the doctors soon. I am going back to my parental home in Worthing on Sunday for nearly a week to see the family. My brother is back briefly for a visit (he teaches English in Vietnam).

Have one final ebay item to post, then will take things to the charity shop, then it's girls football club today, woooo. I love it. Considering coming back next Thursday so I don't have to miss a session.

Florence_J · 30 June 2016 at 10:45PM

Ok, scores on the doors, this is where my money went this month:

TRAVEL COSTS- £94.98 (£60 on train ticket to family home)
NON ESSENTIAL FOOD - £90.38
CLOTHING - £139.48 :eek: (This is truely shocking as between jobs and it is more than the other months this year combined!!!)
HOBBIES - £42.08 (Increase due to taking up new sport-football-will make this a 'bill' next month)
STATIONARY - £29.54 (will soon pay for themselves-it was mostly thank you cards and stamps to send to companies in return for vouchers)
TOILETRIES - £5.69 (please don't think I'm skanky, things both me and the boy use are included in the shopping budget and i do have a good stockpile)
DEBT - £16.80 (Can't remember what this is, ooooh just had a check, it was my balance transfer fee, 45p library fine and i lost 20p)
SOCIAL - £21
GIFTS - £6.77
HOMEWARE - £45.91 (another category that went completely over budget, but do now have some nice things for the home)
POSTAGE AND PACKAGING - £118.94 :eek: (But all but one were ebay purchases, so was subsidised)
EBAY FEES - £13.01
BAD TIMES - £10 (I should explain, 'bad times' was my category for my smoking costs, but I gave up last year, the £10 is from bets i made)
CLOTHES MAINTENANCE- £8 (Two wholes on a dress and a hole in a jumper were fixed)
HEALTH - £10 (Groupon voucher for exercise classes)

There is work to be done for next month, this is what I want my accounts to look like next month

TRAVEL COSTS - £30
NON ESSENTIAL FOOD - £21
CLOTHING - £20 (I do want it to be £0 but I know that if i see something pretty in a charity shop I'm going to buy it)
HOBBIES - £10 (as the football club will be a bill)
FOOTBALL CLUB - £16
STATIONARY - £0 (I do not need to buy anything)
TOILETRIES - £7
DEBT - £0 (Don't want to get into debt)
SOCIAL- £30
GIFTS - £30 (A couple of birthdays)
HOMEWARE - £20
POSTAGE AND PACKAGING - £10 (Nothing more to ebay)
BAD TIMES - £0
CLOTHES MAINTENANCE - £15 (need to fix a pair of shoes)
EBAY FEES - £0 (hopefully)
HEALTH - £20 (may invest in new classes)

This is in addition to my ordinary bills and also the house shopping budget of £165

I hope it can be done.

Florence_J · 1 July 2016 at 9:08PM

Ok, spent a bit today, need to update my budgets

TRAVEL COSTS - £3/ £30
NON ESSENTIAL FOOD -£7.86/ £21 :eek:
FRIEND 1 WEDDING - £25.60/£385 (Bought the clothes today as there was a 20% sale on)
CLOTHING - £14.40/£20 :eek:
ACCESSORIES- £8 :eek: Hadn't budgeted for this. Will have to move things around.

Florence_J · 1 July 2016 at 9:29PM

Ok, so you may remember I decided to give up coca cola for a month. I have just finished a can of rum and coke I bought in June, It is my first drink with coke in for 30 days.

I'd say the experiment was a good one in that It got me trying new drinks, and discovering Tescos sells diet orange and diet lemonade 4 can packs for just over £1, which is very nice. I came to like them.

I'd say it was also a bad experiment in that I ended up drinking a lot more beer than usual. :rotfl:

I'd say that It also didn't save me any money as you can't deny due to the ubiquitous nature of coca cola, it is very cheap to get, whereas other drinks cost a little more.

Also it is harder to find diet versions of other soft drinks as easily as you can find a max/diet/zero version of a coke drink. Which is why I think I have a much more stubborn 2 pounds extra on me this month.

I have come to lose my taste for coke, though I'm sure it will return before too long. I like that I experimented with new drinks, but i think for both financial and diet reasons I will soon be returning to coca cola.

Florence_J · 1 July 2016 at 9:47PM

So was looking at the balance transfer cards on the eligibility calculator on here and came across an 80% approval rating for the HSBC18.9% REP APR HSBC - 32mths, 0.75% fee LONG 0% PERIOD WITH A LOW FEE Card.

Sounds good right?

Ok, so it's not a 0% balance transfer card, but I'm unlikely to get one of them for a good while yet, and my previous balance transfer card is working out well.

I think I will apply for it to clear Vanquis, but I won't do it just yet, I'll do it when I have a full time job lined up, as I need to be sure I can pay it off in time.

As a Welsh resident I am watching the football and am currently very happy (no offence to any Belgium fans reading this)

My boyfriend is upset as he is doing a BBC betting game with his work colleague, and they get points for guessing the correct scores, and my boyfriend put down it being 2-1 to Wales (it is currently 3-1)

I think this is great for Wales but am very glad I am not in the centre of Cardiff tonight.

lcc86 · 2 July 2016 at 8:14PM

Hi Florence, I've finally got round to reading your diary in its entirety! You've made some great progress and I'm sure you'll be debt free by 30, if not before. I can certainly empathise with your anxiety and mental health struggles having been in a similar position myself. I think another commenter mentioned it but have you tried mindfulness meditation? You can do it at home by listening/watching youtube. I found it REALLY helpful when I was at my lowest last year. I must confess I've fallen out of it recently but it's a great relaxation method.

Florence_J · 2 July 2016 at 9:52PM

lcc86 wrote: »

Hi Florence, I've finally got round to reading your diary in its entirety! You've made some great progress and I'm sure you'll be debt free by 30, if not before. I can certainly empathise with your anxiety and mental health struggles having been in a similar position myself. I think another commenter mentioned it but have you tried mindfulness meditation? You can do it at home by listening/watching youtube. I found it REALLY helpful when I was at my lowest last year. I must confess I've fallen out of it recently but it's a great relaxation method.

Thank you, I haven't got round to Mindfulness just yet, but I borrowed my friends book about it and will start reading it tomorrow. My friend is going on a meditation mini retreat near the end of the month and I may join her just to help kick start the habit.

Florence_J · 3 July 2016 at 6:43PM

I have decided to give up crisps for a month, starting from today. This is because I overindulged at the BBQ yesterday on doritos and pringles and dip and now feel very, very bad. I have decided each month I will set myself a challenge-something to go without-as this may help me to learn to eat less bad things. Last month I gave up coke, this month is crisps, next month will either be cheese or chocolate.

Flo's Debt Free Diary

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