rags to riches (hopefully), my diary.

Crap_with_money.com

Hi ragstoriches,

Just had a wee read through your thread - I started a diary of my own the other day in the hope it'll give my motivation an extra wee boost!

one of the other DFW-ers recommended a site to me for Christmas Shopping www.halfcost.co.uk (I think that's it anyway!) They're a clearance site, so might not necessarily have anything you'd want - but I managed to get some nice wee things to add into my sisters' and my niece and nephews pressies - plus, if you enter the code FF15 in the promotions bit, you'll get an extra 15% off!

Might not be any use to you, but worth a look - even just for little things to bulk the pressies up a bit!!

Good luck with your debts - I'm hoping to go back to uni next year - so trying to prepare for being out of work for a year as well - although for very different reasons obviously!!

xx

ragstoricheswannabe

thank you cwm, i think i will check that website out, might just be able to get some stocking fillers from there.

good luck with uni, what will you be studying?

ragstoricheswannabe

I am so proud and happy with myself today i think i deserve a round of applause!!:T

Went xmas shopping today which for me (a certified shopaholic) is my downfall. I have managed to get the majority of it done and only spent £150 of my £300 budget!!!!!!!!! :j

Went to tesco's (can i name shops here??) and had got some vouchers out of the paper (spend £40 on toys/clothes and get £10 off and spend £25 on clothes and get £5 off) but they were also knocking 20% off all clothes so all in all i saved £20 in there!! (equates to getting my mum's and partners pressies for nowt!!)
Had got my £300 out of the bank so i was handing over cash so it made it more real, but i found i was being more selective of what i was getting, spesh for the kids where as i would normally not look at prices and chuck what ever in the trolley. This is not like me but am so happy for it!!!!!!:D I have turned a corner, maybe there is a dfw in me! ha ha ha!
Have worked out that i should of only spent about £200 once its all finished, (used to spend well over £600 easy) need to find some cheap fabric paints......... any idea's??

Does anyone know if asda/morrisons still take vouchers off total bill even if u havent bought the items on vouchers???

Have also done a few surveys so have £7.05 pureprofile and £3.40 onepoll. Joined pigsback but so far have only had 2 offers where u earn 5pp for clicking so dont really understand it. (might be a blonde moment again....:doh:)

Right im off to watch gordan ramsey with a glass of wine (homebrew'd by my mum!!)

Pips_Mum

Hello everyone!!
Im back after a little stay in hospital, alls well now but I had a Pulomonary Embolism so bit scary:eek:

Yep I am really lucky that I get 6 months full pay but I had to go on leave earlier than I would have liked as I had been so poorly so it will run out when the baby is 4 months. I would like to have a bit longer off but know it will be hard. Sat in the hospital and worked out manageable repayments for next few months to 2 of my debts so hopefully they can be cleared before my full pay runs out.

:T Well done on only spending half your budget:T

ragstoricheswannabe

oh my god pipsmum, hope you are ok? im a nurse so know all about them but it would scare the living s**t out of me personally.

well done for using your time in hospital dfw/mse way though!!

i havent really had such a productive weekend, had to stop oh spending money on crap (the pancake stall, the pie shop, takeaway coffee.......)
Spent sun afternoon going through the os board looking for cheap meal ideas and recipes, made the chocolate weetabix brownies and both oh and ds1 loved it! it didnt last very long. Found some great meal ideas too.........

my little one is teething now so not had much time to do anything really, keeps me out of the shops though which is a good thing!! (unless its to buy teething stuff)

going into work on wed to discuss going back in march but worked out i will still have my 5 weeks holiday to take so going to try and get the last 3 weeks in feb as annual leave so will get a wage in march (feb is a short month for wages anyway).
Hoping to get some help with childcare costs this time, they kept telling me me and oh earned to much to qualify when worked with just ds1, had to work full time in the end to make it worthwhile ( luckily i do 12 hour days so only worked 3 or 4 days)

My mum has kindly kept all the used filter coffee granuales from her cafe as i have read somewhere on here that it can help compost heaps. mine has completly stalled i think so going to give it a try, watch this space...........................................

ragstoricheswannabe

i now know what everyone means when they get the third week blues!! (although think i am only in week 2) dont feel like i am getting very far, can see small dents in cc and next card but thats about it. all my attempts at reducing spending doesnt seem to be helping me get out of the overdraft!! my oh still goes on about not being able to afford stuff then will continue to buy (expensive) coffee at service stations!!:mad: i nag and nag and he will take a flask for two days then conviently forget the rest of the time!!

ok, rant over and i feel a little better, going to try and keep my motivation up and think of more ways to help.

waiting for my camara to come back from argos (it broke within my guarentee which is a first) then can put my massive pile of things to sell on ebay. that should help a little.

ragstoricheswannabe

Have been and checked my banking and what i owe and feeling a little better now. Have changed my sig and its nice to see at least one debt coming down! Still need to work on the overdraft but so far not used as much of the od as previous months! long way to go still but taking little baby steps to get there.

Pips_Mum

Yep did scare us quite a bit but i am well on mend now. Got to have injection until the baby comes and weekly blood tests but not too bad really.
Baby steps are much better than no steps, so well done x x

ragstoricheswannabe

I have finished my xmas shopping!!!!! and (round of applause needed) came in well under budget!!!!!!:T :T :T i only spent £205 of my £300 budget, so might wait untill closer to xmas and top kiddies pressies with chocolates and stuff that will be reduced! will still be under budget which i am so chuffed about! my oh really didnt think i could do it....................

another thing i am happy about is my (free) thrifty ways for modern ways book arrived yesterday so going to read that and get loads of usful tips that i can keep going back to. (tend to find good stuff on here then loose the thread when i need it)

Have paid slightly more off my next account this month as my bt to egg cc counted as a payment, should start to see that reducing more, cant wait till its under £500 as it hasnt been for over a year.

slowly getting there, would like to see my overdraft decreasing a bit more than it is though.....................................

went to work yesterday to talk about going back, going back in march but taking feb as annual leave so will start getting a good wage in march, that should help the debts reduce if we stay in the mindset of only having my mat leave and oh's wage. the only decision now is do we put the extra cash into paying off debts or put it towards getting out of the overdraft??!!

ragstoricheswannabe

O,k. when we took out our mortgage, we had £16k deposit so only had to borrow £143k, now it seems that i owe £152k??!!!! not quite sure why, interest rate is approx 7% but that doesnt add up over the 2 years and i havent missed a payment. think i may need to ring them as when we renew next nov, i wont own as much of the house as i did before meaning crap if not no deals for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how can it of gone up £10k in 2 years??? (am on a repayment mortgage)

On a more positive note, found that i was being very good when doing the weekly shop and bought stuff i could make meals out of and not just snacky things. Filled up my "cooking" cupboard so can bake cakes and biscuits instead of buying them and found my breadmaker in the back of a cupboard! (well i say mine, its my nan's really but lets me use it as she doesent) made a milk loaf last night and its pratically all gone!! (coutesy of my oh and ds1)

Right am off to ring northern rock and see what they are playing at with my mortgage, really dont want to lose the £16k!!!!!!!