A path out of the Jumble

Jumblerina · 16 September 2016 at 4:01PM

After my run of NSD's today has been a bit spendy :eek: I knew I'd be going to the Dentist for my Hygienist appointment and I'm due to have some treatment (3 small fillings) so booked my appointment while I was there.

As I mentioned earlier, they take payment when you book your appointment - so I walked out of the Dentist £137.70 lighter :eek: now I'm a bit of a nervous Nellie when it comes to the Dentist, so I pay privately and boy do I pay! I hadn't budgeted for it, so will have to come out of the debt re-payment fund this month.

I haven't yet got a sufficient emergency fund to cover personal and household expenses - it currently stands at £100, which could pay for part of my dental treatment. To add to the spends, I got home and my drains were blocked :eek: luckily I've got a very trusted and reasonably priced handyman, he's going to come and fix it for me. Yet it will be another cost I hadn't budgeted for

ah well, it's a lesson that an emergency fund is a must!

I went into S@insburys to see if they'd let me spend my £10 savings stamps, they wouldn't as they no longer have the scheme. Yet they agreed to add the equivalent of £10 to my Nectar card, so it's given it a little boost for Christmas

While I was in there I got milk, bread rolls and bacon as I've been craving a bacon roll, some snack bars for my OH to take to work (on offer) and a YS Beef Madras for him to have tonight. All in all, I spent £6.79 so not too bad - I was tempted by the Chicken Katsu Curry but they were £3 each, so I put them back

I also joined the local library and got an application for a DIsabled Persons Bus Pass which entitles me to free travel 9.30am-11pm Monday to Friday and all day weekends and bank holidays

it will really help if I need to get the bus when my OH is at work or if I fancy a little jaunt on my own at the weekend

So, dear readers it's been a mixed day and I treated myself to a cup of tea after the Dentist at £1.60, it was worth it to relax while I waited for the bus

I'm feeling really quite tired and achy, so going to rest now.

Hope you're all having a lovely afternoon

Eyebright · 17 September 2016 at 7:18AM

Sorry to hear about your spendy day lovely, but that was good of Sainsbury's to give you £10 worth of points as an alternative so you haven't lost out!

My emergency fund is a measly £150 atm, though I also have a separate emergency fund for the car, which currently stands at £208, so I guess in a dire situation I have £358 to put towards something. Having a savings cushion is my next priority after debts, I think I eventually would like £1000 in both accounts.

At least your emergencies haven't added to your debts, just reduced your debt repayments, so all is not lost, just a minor set back xx

:):)

Jumblerina · 17 September 2016 at 7:56AM

Thanks EB

I didn't think of it like that, I'm going to figure out some way of building a small emergency fund and add it to my budget for October.

I'll pop over to your diary and say hi soon

xx

Jumblerina · 17 September 2016 at 8:14AM

Morning Diary,

It's that time of the week again, I'm finding it really useful to look at my spends each week. Just knowing that I'll be doing this review helps me to think twice before I spend anything and decide if I really need it before handing over the cash!

So here goes

Saturday 10 September 2016
Weekly food shop: £58.46 (Budget £55)
Cake tin liners: £3.99
Spotify: £9.99 (I forgot to cancel my subscription!)

Sunday 11 September 2016
NSD

Monday 12 September 2016
NSD

Tuesday 13 September 2016
NSD

Wednesday 14 September 2016
NSD

Thursday 15 September 2016
NSD

Friday 16 September 2016
Bus fare: £6
Dentist: £137.70
Tea: £1.60
Drains: TBC
S@insburys: £6.79

Total weekly spend: £224.53
NSD 5/7
Takeaways eaten 1/7 - paid for by my lovely OH
Cupboards or drawers de-cluttered - I've lost count :rotfl: 15 bags/boxes donated this week :T

Things that have gone well

I'm sooooooo pleased with my NSD's

I can't believe I forgot Sunday in my previous post, making it 5 in a row! I have been tempted to buy different things I thought I needed, such as a bigger food bowl for my puppy, a scrubbing brush for the patio, new coat hangers for the wardrobe.

Yet when I sat back and thought about it, the only real essential is a bigger food bowl for my puppy as he's outgrown this one. Even that can wait until after I'm paid on the 24th

What I've learnt

The pesky Spotify subscription snook up on me out of the blue, I got 3 months for 99p at the start of the summer. Three months felt like a long way off at the time and I totally forgot! So, with this being the second time this has happened (the first a costly, yet useful £79 Amazon Prime subscription) I'd be a fool to let it happen again!

So I'm going to review all my subscriptions and put a note in my diary to review/cancel any I'm not using

I need a plan for the unexpected personal and house expenses - it will make me feel better and will help me avoid using my credit cards, I eventually want to get rid of them

Review of last weeks goals

[STRIKE]I'm aiming for 3 NSD's to help me think twice about anything I spend[/STRIKE]
Done

got to 5 in a row!

[STRIKE]Have done a meal plan, with all the food we need in the house the temptation to eat out is[/STRIKE] less
Done, although I didn't follow it to the letter, we only ate takeout once

and all other meals were eaten at home. Coffee made for my OH each day for work saving him £11 this week

[STRIKE]Continuing with my de-clutter plan to be ready for the BHF collection on Thursday[/STRIKE]
Done - much happier with my spare room, drawers and cupboards

will continue my plan this coming week.

Goals for the upcoming week

Aim for 3 NSD's

Do a de-clutter/house cleaning plan - have two tasks a day, thanks to EB for the tip

Take the bus to my appointment/s this week - a taxi is easier for me, walking wise yet if I take it steady and walk slowly I'll be fine

it saves so much money, over £10 per return trip and will be worth it!

Review all of my subscriptions - cancel any I don't use or need, set a reminder in my calendar for all review dates.

Look at my budget to build in a small amount each month for an emergency fund.

Hope you all have a great weekend

doingitanyway · 18 September 2016 at 12:47PM

Pleased you have the free bus pass as I was thinking how expensive your bus fares are.
Re your dentist's appointment, my dental hygienist's appointment costs £53 for 20 minutes of cleaning. That's £159.00 an hour! I'm in the wrong line of work...

[Deleted User] · 18 September 2016 at 4:07PM

Hi Jumblerina, I love your weekly review, it's a good way to see where you can make adjustments.

Well done on the NSD's, you're doing really well.

Jumblerina · 19 September 2016 at 9:08AM

Thanks DIA

maybe we could both re-train as Dentists and open up a practise :rotfl: hope you've had a good weekend

Jumblerina · 19 September 2016 at 9:09AM

Thanks PMO2

I'm a kinda all or nothing girl, so those weekly reviews move me away from that mindset, glad you like them

Jumblerina · 19 September 2016 at 9:35AM

Morning Diary,

Been a bit of a mixed weekend, had a lovely day with my best friend on Saturday having a good old natter and making plans

then yesterday I was in a stinker of a mood! I'm a massive over thinker do sometimes I get stuck in my own head, so today I intend to get out of my head and move my body.

Despite waking up with bit of a headache (lack of water?) I'm going to get my body moving by doing some cleaning and tidying

I'm working my way through the shredding mountain, so that's an easy task to start with.

This morning I took time to reflect (always gets me on the right track)

The good

I have.....

A wonderful best friend who listens to me, without judgement who I can share my deepest, darkest hopes, dreams and worries with.

An amazing OH, who is in some aspects the polar opposite to me, is always there for me. He may not always understand me but he's always there with a hug and a listening ear.

So many opportunities, possibilities and paths I could follow, at times this can be overwhelming - yet when I sit back and think about it, I realise what a truly lucky person I am and for that I'm thankful.

The ugly

My health isn't great at the moment, nothing serious, just enough to impact my day to day life. I know it will be temporary and I'm so thankful it isn't anything serious - I need to remember this on tough days.

My debts are the highest they've ever been and I'm just starting out on my journey to get rid of them. It feels like a long road to the freedom of being debt free and all the wonderful things that come with it. I could be overwhelmed by this and bury my head in the sand, yet I'm not going to do this. I have a choice, I'm lucky to have that and I will be debt free

My life hasnt exactly turned out the way I'd thought, I'm at the age now that I realise not everyone gets what they hope and wish for in life. The realisation that I may have to let go of certain dreams, go on a different path and make peace with that is a little scary. At the same time, I'm thankful for having the choice to make my life what I want it to be and the wisdom to let go of things I can't control.

Reading that back, maybe a little bit deep for a Monday morning :rotfl: yet, it is, what it is. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have a great week ahead of you

Jumblerina

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 19 September 2016 at 10:34AM

You'll get there Jumblerina!

I know what you mean about life not turning out quite how we thought it would. It's certainly not as easy as my teenage self once thought it was going to be.
It also seems like other people find it a lot easier

Keep going xx

A path out of the Jumble

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