Earthgirl gets back on track!

earthgirl

I can't believe how long its been since I posted!!

I'd say the last week and a half have been a bit of a mixed bag! I had to work really hard at school to get everything done on time, and I took as much work home as I could fit in my boot! I did all that at the weekend yey!:A This means I have a bit of a head start when I head back to school.

Rushed up to Glasgow for a in laws party on Friday, which was great, didn't spend a penny! Relaxed and worked all the rest of the weekend, and I loved being by the coast and seeing beautiful views "sigh".

Back here on Sunday night, and went for an all you can eat buffet as a treat, and was really sensible!!

I did 3 tutorings on Monday, and one today, so that money I will use to cover my break expenses.

Yesterday my brother and family, and my dad came to visit, so I spent £38 taking them to the zoo, and £7 on chicken breasts as part of the meal I cooked (everything else came fromthe cupboards and the allotment). I loved spending time with them and taking the little one to the zoo - it was so lovely to see her amazement with the animals.

With the remainder of the money from the tutoring I have booked a pamper hour tomorrow - I can't wait! Straight after I'm going to go and see my mum for the rest of the week, and I can't wait for that either!

I have a wedding to go to at the weekend, and I haven't bought a new outfit and I WILL not (I really want to!). I will take about £20 with me to the wedding, so it should be a cheap weekend!

Before I go to the pamper hour I plan to

- do any banking/ filing incl. finalise life insurance.
- go to gym
- do small business work
- pack for weekend away incl. wedding outfit, shoes, card and present.

earthgirl

Done some banking and wanted to show my updated sig.
We've paid off 3000 in 3 months so only have another 42,000 to go (as long as the endowment stays on track!)

I kind of wish I'd pushed myself and paid off more as it seems to be going down very slowly!

I've worked out I should have spend a lot less on wine - despite me getting some good deals on it, OH still gets what he wants, at a cost of about £500 last month!! arggh I don't kno what to do to et him to rein this in - I'm stuck!

earthgirl

Had a go at finishing my xmas shopping yesterday and spent another £60, but thats another lot of presents sorted out.

I still have a long way to go!! I need to get 2 bottles of whisky, a bottle of gin, 3 selection boxes, wrapping paper, and the following vouchers £15 each-

k-hmv
c -Waterstones
r -Gamestation
s HMV
s hmv
c hmv
J hmv
J hmv


Does anybody have any tricks to get vouchers cheaper - I daren't add it up!

hypno06

Get onto toluna - tedious surveys but you can get hmv vouchers from them.......if you don't get any in time for this year, you can get yourself a head start for next year.

Also, lightspeed - they do numerous vouchers, and their surveys can add up really quickly - alternatively they pay cash into paypal which you can then withdraw and put towards vouchers......

earthgirl

Right time to get things back in oder in the Earthgirl house! How can I start clawing more money together to make bigger OPs whilst still having a life and being healthy?

Health - Mum has given me the money for 4 months of Gym membership for my xmas present (Dec - March) this kind of fits in with when the season improves and I should be back out on the allotment. If I do join up, then I'm going to have to really commit to getting the use out of it, and going every other day or more. I'll reduce the water bill and electricity bill as well.

I should also not be spending money on extra food and rubbish, and eating more of the allotment vegetables. I'm also going to try to make xmas as stress free as possible, by getting all my school work done as early as I can so I don't have to do it in the hols!

Life - (ha ha only I could come up with a bullet point 'life') OH and I have a weekend away booked for new year to go to a family party, we are going with friends and are sharing the costs. I will bring food and drinks with us to keep the costs down. I need to book something to do on New Years day thats not too expensive! Other than that a camping holiday booked for summer and we are trying to save up the airmiles for OH to go to NZ.

OH and I have got lots of meals and parties to go to over the next few months, so I don't think we need to buy any other sources of entertainment!

Income
-I'll try to get a few more mystery shops in if I can
- I'l try to get more tutoring customers by expanding my area slightly - I've been turning people down lately.
- keep up the work with pigsback and bingo port to try to get vouchers.

Expenditure
- Looking at my list of vouchers to buy I was appalled - its far too much to buy. I've changed my mind - the young teens can have £10 voucher, and the older teens I will choose a present for - maybe on a 3 for 2 basis at one of the hight street stores offering this. Its not the value of the gift, but the thought that counts after all.

I've opened a halifax reward account as get £5 a month for transfering and £40 for letting them switch my DDs. That £100 II will spend on OHs xmas and Birthday presents - golf vouchers.

My MIL has given me a small cheque for xmas which I have spent on face wash and lovely beauty things which will keep me going for a while, and my mum has just cut my hair so not needing that for a while! (she used to be a hairdresser, its not that bad!)


Action Points:

- join gym when trial finishes and continue to go
- buying extra snacks and drinks is banned
- update tutoring website and advertise a little
- keep up the pigsback and bingo port, check and complete some mystery shops

Other things still to do:
- book meal for new years day
- life insurance still ongoing
-change mortgage dd

Louba

Hi Earthgirl, just started reading your diary - so impressed and inspired by your progress

earthgirl

Thanks Louba, it is sometimes just complete ramble, but writing REALLY helps me to reach my goals, so I keep going with it! Reading comments and encouragement means a lot:j

Had a really bad day. Had a problem with a teacher not wanting me to do breakfasts in the breakfast club room cause of a new carpet. I never make a mess though and was told to just ignore her and get on with it, but I don't really like confrontation! Anyway after a bit of an argument its all sorted and will go ahead as normal - its really important as some kids don't get breakfast at home.

My PC has broken, needs a new hard drive, I may be able to get it fixed but might have to get a new one.:eek: This means I can't do the small business work I need to do.

Our website rankings for our small business have dropped a little - I've got to start putting some serious work into the small business.

Finally,and most tragically, OHs uncles body has been found washed up on a beach, this is a complete shock and he leaves a family behind. No suicide note and no idea what happened at the moment - but hopefully we will find out - Horrible for the family.

Kind of a hard day to recover from, but thats what these posts are for, to set me off in the right direction again! So on a positive note, OH seems ok, I have been going to the gym and have lost a few pounds, and have eaten healthily, having NSDs.

So tomorrow I'm going to go to the gym, and I've got an extra revision class and two tutorings after school. If I've got any energy left I might do dome small business work or do a bit of cleaning. I need to use all my time effectively so that I get plenty of time for small business work at the weekend.

Right off to pack my gym stuff and get my broken computer into the car, sure I'll have a better day tomorrow!

Kittikins

Oh gosh Earthy, that's dreadful news, poor OH and family. Sending hugs your way. The poor man xx

Blimey, you've got a packed day today! Makes me feel tired just to read it! My day today will be - struggle to get DD to school (I have a slipped disk and keep on thinking I'm fine then realising I'm knackered), come home and sleep, eat, watch TV/ipl*yer, get DD from childminder, reheat yesterday's leftovers and go to bed! Fancy a swap?

setmefree2

Truly tragic news. Hope your OH is ok.

evab_2

Sending you and the family hugs, that's really sad news x