misstara's debt diary 2014

I spent £23.65 at the supermarket earlier. That included getting croissants and smoked salmon trimmings for a lovely birthday breakfast tomorrow and some fresh cream sundaes for pudding tomorrow. Yummy food all day tomorrow

AleMrsT wrote: »

Happy Birthday MissT!! :bdaycake:. Hope you have a lovely day, breakfast sounds fab.
As ever, you're doing fab, I love reading your diary, you are so focused and disciplined. I need lessons!!
Going to follow your lead, set mini targets and count every penny, see if this helps.

Thanks AleMrsT, I've had a lovely relaxing birthday and a NSD too as I haven't actually left the flat. I got some fab presents, I had made a list of things that I needed but couldn't really justify spending money on like expensive face cream, perfume and vouchers for clothes so really pleased with all I got.

I had a good chat with OH tonight about the future and our plans for the next couple of years. We both feel as though we don't do enough together so have agreed to put in £15 each into a wee fund each month so that we have money to go out for a meal/cinema/etc. We used to do this when I first started my diary but it fell by the wayside pretty quickly. With getting the emergency fund up and running, I'm probably looking at being debt free in about 18 months. OH reckons he should have finished paying his debts by mid/late next year so we would both start 2017 debt free :j. We then really need to start properly thinking about pensions, I pay in about £50 a month through work (employer puts in about £75) so not much and OH has no pension at all I need to decide whether I definitely want to back to uni to do nursing or not, still can't make up my mind. OH wants to start a family now, I'd rather wait a couple of years (OH is 41 though so sooner rather than later) so we'll need to have a proper discussion about it soon. We would also like to start saving for a deposit once we're both debt free. So plenty going on in the next couple of years

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Glad to hear you had a nice day. When I was fighting the credit card fight, I tried doing without perfume but it was the one thing that really troubled me so I used to ask for it as presents. It really makes me feel so much better.

Thanks INOD, yeah I'm the same and always ask for it as a present. I wear perfume every day and feel a bit naked without it

I've been to the gym this morning and tidied the flat. After the mammoth clean on Friday, I'm trying to keep on top of it. It will be a NSD as we don't need anything.

My contact lens direct debit has gone out this morning and OH has informed me that his phone bill is now paid so at least that's done. He's been keeping a close eye on his next bill and has been logging in every couple of day to check recent charges so next phone bill should be much lower After the loan and broadband direct debits go out, I worked out I will have £8.23 left in my account. This can then go towards the electricity bill if I don't need it to buy milk, bread, etc before Friday. I have £4.10 in my purse but will need £4 for bus fare on Wednesday as I'm planning on going out to see my gran.

I've managed to pick up a shift from 2nd job for Sunday (You were right INOD, I really need to stop stressing over this). It's a place that I'm not particularly keen on but beggars can't be choosers. It's a 6 hour shift which will get me around £53 after tax, that will pay for my direct debits the week after. OH said he will give me extra money this week which can either be put towards the electricity bill or car club bill.

The lady I was speaking to at 2nd job when I phoned for the shift was saying that it is really quiet at the moment and that at least I had another job as some of their staff who only work there are really struggling. She's right, me and OH could just about survive on my monthly wage plus what he makes if we really tried and cut back on everything. Hopefully though the shifts will pick up with 2nd job soon.

monz wrote: »

Miss Tara! Look at you on the ball and I been away two weeks and you been blasting through it all! Sorry to hear about your other halfs bill ! Nearly half way though xx

Thanks monz. I know, so close but feel like it's taking ages to get there especially since I've decided to focus on the emergency fund for a bit. However, usual loan payment goes out tomorrow so that will take me a bit closer to 50% :T