Mrs. P's Diary

MrsPorridge

Sunday

Had an NSD today.:j

Weighed myself and stayed the same - goodness knows how:D

Monthly grocery spend:

Tescos £140 (inc. £20 phone top ups for me and DS)
Vegetable man £8.80
Butcher £27

total monthly spend £175.80

Will have to top up on milk, fruit, cold meat for packed lunches etc.

Batch cooked cottage pies and chillis.

BBQ for dinner tonight

Packed lunches made for tomorrow. Tea tomorrow night will be salad so quick and easy.

MrsPorridge

Haven't filled this in for over a week.

Not done too well with the diet, but am going to start back on it again, counting all the points and writing down everything I eat.

Moneywise not going too well really. Not paying anything off and not adding to it.

Although do have to pay for our holiday and also two new tyres for car.

This week things to do:

find out about childcare vouchers for school holidays

attempt as many NSDs as possible

stick to diet.

MrsPorridge

Right - today is the start of my "new" diary. I am now going to be more honest about the state of my finances,:eek: about my weight:eek:
I am going to be more positive (I am generally a positive person).

DFW Target is to have paid off at least £500 off my CCs by 1st October and have no overdraft.

Weight loss target is to lose some weight by 1st October - I shall aim first of all to lose 12 lbs - which will bring my weight down to just under 11 stone.

DH and I pool all our money into one pot so to speak and I have control over it:j However, I've done such a terrible job over the years that I want him to take over, but he says he would be far worse than me.:eek: However, he is on board with this and does what I say (most of the time):rolleyes: Enough of that - its all in the past - now I am a changed woman and its onwards and upwards.

I feel that over the last few months I have slipped quite a bit. Almost like I have been taking one step forward and two back. I think if I am honest in my diary and write down everything that is going on then it will spur me on - something has to.:D

DFW

We have a mortage, several loans (one secured) and 3 credit cards. I am far too ashamed to post how much we really owe. I have decided to take it one step at a time. First thing to tackle is the CCs:

As of today the balances are:

MBNA - (this is a lfetime balance of 5.9%) = £2,566.04

Mint - (this is 0% till February 2010) = £4,300.85

Egg - (no special off) = £0.00 - this card is used for purchases and is then paid off at once (or worst case over 2 months)

We have £2,600 in premium bonds. Some of this will go towards our holiday (more about that later). The bulk of this will go towards paying off the Mint in January.

Current Account = + £4.50.

Still to come out of this account is petrol estimated approx £180. We live in a very rural area and both of us have around at 45 mile round trip each day to go to work. DH uses a motorbike and I have a car. From this £180 I have to do two very long trips for work each approx 130 miles round trip. I will be reimbursed this expenditure but not until the end of July. Also have our weekly spending to come out of this and this I have estimated at £90. This will be DS' pocket money of £5 per week, plus extra food e.g. fruit, milk, eggs etc. The other item to come out is the deposit for our holiday £80.

We are taking a week's holiday in August have rented a cottage in Wales for £300. Yes, I know we can't really afford it and I'm not going to justify it. We want it, we're going to have it. Its a far cry from our normal kind of holiday (which is what has got us into this mess).

Other things coming up:

new tyres for car approx £140

Dentist - I need to have a lot of treatment on my teeth (not cosmetic) but needs to be done to avoid dentures (God I have admitted it now). I feel so ashamed. I have a private dentist and have always visited every 6 months. Anyway - the treatment will be spread out probably over a year, I can pay as I have the treatment or they can sort out some kind of payment scheme (probably involving interest). However, I don't really know enough yet to comment. I have to go back in early August and then I will find out what work is involved and the cost. I have already had four appointments, X-rays, moulds, measurements lots of stuff which has cost £250. Apparently this will be deducted from the main cost if I go ahead. Will report back.

Positive things that have happened today:

We went Digital - and it wasn't painful at all:D Plus it didn't cost anything:T
Had an NSD today:j
Decided to sort out my finances and write an honest account in my diary

MrsPorridge

I've just had some help from a lovely person on the "reclaim PPI" board. I've written the first stage letter to try and claim back the PPI on the secured loan. I think its going to be a long-drawn out saga, but at least I feel like I'm trying to get my act together now.

If only I had known about MSE 10 years ago - it would be a different story today. But - I do know now and am determined to make a difference.

MrsPorridge

Just completed my PPI Stage 1 letter. Will post off this afternoon.

Horace

MrsP - try not to fret about the holiday, you deserve one, at least you are staying in a cottage, you could be staying in a tent instead which although ok is not so nice:rolleyes:

Dental treatment can be expensive - I don't know what an NHS dentist is as I have never been to one (unless I went as a kid but as soon as I turned 18 I was paying). Have you thought of a denplan scheme or something similar whereby you get some money off your treatment? It's worth a thought.

I am really miffed that I missed out last year on some hospital stays because I failed to submit a claim to the Saturday Fund (they confused me by saying that I couldnt claim for hospital stays to do with my eyes - seems now they have changed their minds:rolleyes:) so I am making sure that I claim this time and I will get about £200 for an overnight stay (Horace rubs hands with glee).

Anyway, I think you are doing a brilliant job so stop beating yourself up.

MrsPorridge

Thanks for your kind words Horace - much appreciated.

MrsPorridge

Current account +£4.50

Not an NSD for me went into Tescos and spent £17.:eek::eek: Had a bit of a set back at work and decided that I didn't care - luckily I'm now back on track 2 hours later.:rolleyes:

Will definitely be overdrawn when I check my account tomorrow.

MrsPorridge

Current account now stands at -£140.57. this prompted me to look at my overdraft facility. I was horrifed to find it was £3,000 - I have requested (and been accepted) to reduce it down to £1,200 (because you never know). The rate is 18.9% annually.

MrsPorridge

feeling much more positive about work today. I asked for a rise yesterday and was told "no". Was told I am doing a smashing job etc. However, I was upset about the money side. Thinking on it overnight - how selfish can I be - there are people on here without jobs and I'm whinging on about a rise. No more. I am going to count my blessings.:j

I love my job and everything else about it is extremely positive. I wrote a list out last night and there was only one negative "money". However, it is good money for what I'm doing and for where we live.

I don't know whether I can count today as an NSD. DH and DS are going to the cinema tonight to see Transformers and I have decided to stay at home. I saw the first Transformers and thought it a load of tosh! I've made my mind up it is an NSD for me if not for DH (and its all the same money).

From here onwards I shall count and NSD when I don't actually spend any money (regardless of whether DH does or not - and to be honest he never spends anything - he likens himself to the Queen and never carries any money anywhere)! Maybe I sould be more like him.:rotfl::rotfl: