My Debt Free, Lose Weight & Be Super Frugal Diary 2009

Bambywamby

Me and Mr B have started a holiday fund in an old bank account, with all this extra work we are doing, we have decided to make sure we have enough for a little break away. So after perusing through the brochures from our local holiday company, we have put a deposit on a cruise down the Rhine. The holiday is at the end of July, so we have five months to save up. It's a five day cruise taking in the firework displays of the Rhine in Flames, trips to Rotterdam, Koblenz, The Rhine Valley and Rudesheim are included - so are meals and booze all for £269 p.p. We thought that was a total steal...so we are off. We already have £150 saved in the holiday account so we should be able to manage it...fingers, legs and eyes firmly crossed. ( 0)(0 )

It's nice to have something to look forward too, when all you seem to be doing is working and paying crappy credit cards off...it makes wiping saggy old bottoms for a living, worth it.
Just a thought,...this will be the first holiday in five years or so we haven't put on the cards...yay! :T

I shall skip off to work tonight with gay abandon...thoughts of free booze and sunshine ahoy.

Have a nice Friday night peeps,

Love Bam x

Bambywamby

Nearly forgot paid another £120 off two credit cards today...slowly slowly catchy monkey. x x

ragstoricheswannabe

Hey bamby, think you and mr bamby will deserve this holiday for all the overtime and debt busting you have been doing!!!!!!!

yay to the extra money payed off, cant believe you have nearly payed off £2k!!!!!! that is a big achievement!!!!! :T :T :T

Bambywamby

Thank you very muchly...on both counts. x x

Can't believe it's the 1st March today - where have the last two months gone?

As it's the first of the month and I am two months in to my challenges, I thought I would review my progress (the main two tasks being clearing the debts and losing weight).

Clearing the debts is trickling along nicely and we should be there or there abouts by the end of the year BUT my actual weight loss has been a bit feeble. Lose 4 lbs put 2lbs back on...and after two months of faffing around I have lost a grand total of one and a half pounds this year. :mad:
Very cross with myself...I should have at least dropped a stone.

So today is diet D-Day...no more yoyoing, eating chocolate on night shifts or getting the bus home from work when I could walk.
I am totalling emersing myself in the art of getting slim...my holidays are five months away and I will lose those 47lbs to be slim and trim.

I will start posting my daily menus, it might inspire me and keep me on the right track...ho ho ho.

I started this morning with a 30 minute dog walk/run. It wasn't meant to be a run but one of our dogs has a habit of running off with the ball and not letting the other two play with it...so you have to chase after her to get her to drop it...she thinks it's a right royal game.
I then came in and had two Oatibix (on offer buy 24 get 12 free yay!) and I added 1 tbs raisins and 1/2 tbs sunflower seeds, it was lovey and sweet.
I am now drinking my second pint of water of the day before I have a nice cuppa.

I'll report in later and let you know if I managed a full day of healthy eating or I succumbed to the cake tin at work.:rotfl: I am working 2 -9pm this aftie so I should be okay...it's working nights that make me crave sugar.

BBL x x

Bambywamby

Gd morning...wow another lovely sunny day, lovin it!

I had a good weight loss day yesterday I am pleased to say.

B/fast was as I said on the previous thread, for lunch I had stew and fat free dumplings (it was mainly veg) for tea I had soup and a thin sliced roast beef sandwhich with beetroot instead of marg and I had fruit as snacks.
I walked the dogs and I walked to work (taking an hour) and it was stunning, sunshine hitting the local fields and sending all the horses in to a giddy playing frenzy.
So day one of my DDay diet went well.

I am not at work until tonight, so I am planning to have a productive day studying, tidying up, a walk around the DIY & decorating shops for inspiration and finally I shall have a pampering bath, manicure and pedicure before work.

Cash wise...apart from milk it should be a non-spender. I shall get some DIY free mags to read tonight at work and will take some crackers and fruit for my midnight snack instead of sweeties.
Todays menu is: Oatibix, seeds and raisins for brekky, salmon and brown rice salad for lunch and beans on linseed toast for tea. Snacks...fruits and oatcakes I think.

Exercise...hmmm, well I have been on a dog walk this morning and I think I will get an exercise DVD out this afternoon. However if it stays this sunny I may be tempted to have take brisk walk for 40 minutes, you never know how long we will be blessed with such delightful weather.

Time to put the washing on cool and get it out on the line, shouldn't take too long to dry in this gorgeous sunshine.

See u soon,

Bam x x

Lemon_Tree

this sunshine's lovely isn't it, i'm so mad at myself that i didn't put a load on overnight so it could be out already, at least there's one on now. Just hope the bad weather which is forecasted arrives much later in the week.

sharronloves2spend

:j For your holiday bamby!!!! It's so lovely when you have something to look forward to, espically after all your hard work you have put in this year, and it's only March. That really is a bargain aswell, well done you!!!

My diet took a bit of battering too this week, dd was 6 last tuesday and ds3 was 9 on saturday, so i have eaten lots of birthday cake!!! My birthday is on the 17th and dh asked the other day what birthday cake i would like, when i refused he said 'You have to the kids will be dissappointed!!' lol. Can't beleive where this years gone already, although 21 months untill we are debt free and i'm almost wishing my life away!!!!

Hows the Ebay doing?? I'm going through a can't be bothered stage at the minute. I am gonna do a car boot sale in a couple of weeks to try and raise some more funds for our passports, should be fun:rolleyes:

Well off now to put out some washing, really beautiful sunny day here today in Liverpool, although doesn't the sun show up the muck!!!! My windows are an absouloute disgrace will have to get dh onto that one when he's home from work.

Bye for now Sharron

Bambywamby

Morning all :beer:

I am very much the same with Ebay at the moment, there seems to be so many other things to do that Ebaying is taking a back seat. Most of the things that I have left to sell are summer clothes anyway, so in a months time or so they would probably make a better price.

Well I have been on a dog walk this morning and it's beautiful sunshine, but by eck is it chilly.

The diets going well but I am soooooo bored of porridge with skimmed milk lol, I really must invest in a different breakfast. Fresh fruit salad with natural yogurt for change maybe, I do have some manky fruit that needs using up.


O/H got paid today, so we have managed to rack up another £400 off the CC total...whoop whoop! :T

I keep thinking about looking at matched betting but it seems soooo complicated...I might have to print the instructions off and sit and read them over and over until it sinks in. I normally speed read and rush through everything, I don't think you can with matched betting. I have used this site for info - http://www.matchedbetting.co.uk/ I will be taking it to work to peruse through tonight.

Next Wednesday I am off work, so I think I will take advantage of the Orange Wednesday bogoff and take Mr B to see Marley and Me...I am so looking forward to that film.

Well it was just a quick update, I am off to hoover and tidy now.

Happy Birthday for the 17th Sharron :beer: "just in case I don't post that day".

Keep warm,

Bam x

ragstoricheswannabe

Good morning bamby.........you are steaming ahead with paying your targets off, are you on target for paying the whole lot off????

I am being very good with my "healthy eating" regime (i have an unhealthy attitude to diets, being taking them to the extreme) but got sick of porridge also. Found nothing else cereal wise kept me feeling full till dinner so now having scrambled egg and beans, beans on toast, poached egg on toast, mushrooms on toast..............................takes just as much time to cook in the mornings but oh so nice and filling.

ebay is a little slow at the mo, i had 9 things ended last night and only one item sold for the price i started it at, none of the items had watchers either. Might wait a week or two as most people get paid middle to the end of the month!

do you actually have to be with orange to take advantage of their wed 2 for 1 deals????

Bambywamby

Hiya Rags...

...Your brekkies sound yummy. I might start having the odd grilled "fry up", the protein might fill me up longer than those cardboard cereals.

We are about £125 behind our debt free date at the moment but Mr B has some shares that mature in May and that will be an extra £1000 thown at the debts so that should help if we have any shortfalls.

Yes Ebay has certainly slowed with this blasted credit crunch thing, pity they still charge listing fees for no sales...it would be a lot better for the poor sellers if they didn't.


Have a great start to the weekend,


Love Bam x x