Handbags & Gladrags – Confessions of a Recovering Spendaholic

savingholmes

Get that happy listed!

Enjoy the concert!

It sounds like waitressing is a good option.... better than the cleaning you were considering.... You will soon pay for the shirt!

Sun_Addict

Hi Swinstie

Hope you enjoyed your concert! Well done on getting some extra work! Sorted out some stuff to ebay yesterday, OH took some photos and uploaded them onto laptop. I decided to have a look to see what was what, how you ebay stuff etc and ............

have done nothing towards selling my stuff but have bought a skirt!!!!!!

However, I will be weighing the items at some stage this week and may actually get around to listing them without (hopefully) buying anything else this time.

Enjoy(?!) the last day of your detox.

Swinstie73

At last the detox is finished - must admit though that I had a few Smirnoff Ices at the weekend and a very overpriced vodka and irn bru at the concert last night! £7.50 for two drinks, I asked her to fill it up to the brim to get my money's worth, .

Concert was brilliant, but so tired today so have ended up eating sugary stuff to try and give me an energy boost, is not working. From tomorrow onwards I am going to try and keep eating healthily with only one or two bad things a week!

Very naughty Sun Addict buying a skirt, sounds like something I'd do! Well bit of a disaster, emailed friend about job on Friday and turns out they wear a black top/trouser combo so my cheap white shirt is useless. But managed to buy a black top & trousers cos didn't have any for £19 from New Look - went on the CC though so that's me over £11K AGAIN! OH owes me £56 so not too bad, am determined to pay it all off by next Sept.

Have got the grand total of £5.85 in my purse right now, not looking good, but at least paid cash for shirt so will get that back in my hand. Think will need to take all the shifts I can get, but still have a life so won't be working too hard

Will also try looking into ebay at some point - need to get some motivation!

Swinstie73

Well CC used again in Tesco, £19.30 but that included a pair of shoes, a t-shirt and some knee highs, urgh! They will be under trousers, phew! So £9 on that and the rest on food, even got some cheap almost out of date mince so have made a big batch of spag bol with some added veggies. Going to have to try eating stuff from the freezer til pay day. OH going to give me money he owes at the weekend which is good but wanted to pay it to my Visa, looks like gonna have to use it to tide me over til pay-day.

So got all clothes for part-time job, made spag bol and caught up with some tv, only 12 hours of progs to go but Heroes on at 9pm. Will get gym stuff for tomorrow sorted and maybe something to wear. Going to have to take a leaf out of Karen_30's book and try not logging on here so much, might even get some work done (usually on here at lunch-time too), and also housework is driving me mad. Still not finished toiletry list but could maybe take laptop upstairs and do that whilst Heroes is on, good idea Swinstie.

Have a nice night everyone, really need to get myself sorted. x

Swinstie73

Good morning everyone,

Sorry but be prepared for a big post.

Well detox is finally over and I would like to say that I feel great, look great and have lost loads of weight but that would be telling fibs :rolleyes:.

In reality, my skin is looking quite good but I haven’t really lost weight as such although clothes feel better but think that’s because I don’t feel as bloated. Been drinking loads of water too, which is probably why my skin is looking better. Not exactly bouncing with energy but feeling a lot better than I did a month ago. Still not drinking tea but did have a couple of (read that as half a pack) of chocolate hobnobs last night and I ended up with a stonker of a headache – so no more chocolate in large quantities for me. I’m going to go with the ‘eat everything in moderation’ practice of keeping at a healthy weight. Cholesterol being checked in two months time, so hoping for a drop in that, as don’t want to end up on anymore pills!

So today is a good day to start with my new challenges, it’s exactly 13 weeks til my holiday and it is mine and OH’s 2nd Anniversary today (of going out, not being married, ha)!

Have noticed that in trying to reduce my debt i.e. getting a part-time job, that my debt has actually risen (had to buy some workwear) so it is currently sitting at £11,078.02. OH owes me £55 for the rest of his concert tickets and cinema tickets, so that makes my actual debt £11,023.02. Have spent £130 on clothes alone this month, trying to justify it by saying it is holiday clothes etc., but considering I have exactly £72.87 to do me til payday, this cannot go on!

Challenge 1: STOP SPENDING MONEY

Challenge 2: Stick to healthy eating in order to lower cholesterol and keep weight steady.

Challenge 3: Have at least 2 car boot sales (before holiday) and if don’t sell everything, either put it on eBay or give to charity. Pay debt with proceeds (if any)!

Challenge 4: De-clutter and organise house, it is driving me mad (looks like could be more than 2 car boot sales)!

Challenge 5: Turn Sealed Pot Challenge (currently at £105) into Xmas Fund – was supposed to be for a new TV but have bought a new fridge freezer (essential) and a laptop (non-essential) this year so no new TV until all debt is paid!

Challenge 6: Try and reduce debt by at least 50% by end of 2009! If can even reduce it by 40% will be happy!

Challenge 7: Pay off ALL debt including loan by end of Sept 2010.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, my head is already hurting trying to plan how to do everything but I think it can be done in the timescale. Also going to list my toiletries later (still going through them), a mini challenge will be not to buy anymore – you will see why this is one challenge I could easily achieve!

Going to update a couple of times a day and try and spend more time on other activities, such as housework, ahem!

Have a good day everyone x

Sun_Addict

Hi Swinstie

Re the card spending problem - have you thought of opening another card to use just for spending which is paid off in full each month? Then you can chip away at the debt card separately. I have a card which is used for stuff such as internet food shopping and OH's petrol, basically anything which needs to be put on a card. I know it has to be paid off in full at the end of the month which stops me going too mad.

Swinstie73

Ok, have joined the Flylady thread and have just pasted this here so I know what to do tomorrow. I will get the hang of this housework malarky!

Wobbly Wednesday - Living room, hall, stairs and porch!
Level One
Declutter ALL the floors!!
Clear coffee table of junk
Level Two
Vacuum/sweep all the floors.. stairs too!
Vacuum/sweep under furniture you can safely move!
Vacuum sofas
Level Three
Wash the windows
Wash any soft furnishings that need it
Wipe down ALL the paintwork!



Extras

1. Wipe and water plants
2. Dust all the electricals.. carefully.. don't want any frazzled flybodies
3. Binbag dance

Swinstie73

Ok, so have finally finished going through toiletries/perfumes and in order to see the error of my ways and to keep me out of Boots, I am listing (re-listing the perfume list as found more) both lists so I can happily score off everything I have used up. Looks like I won't need to buy anything (unless run out) until the end of next year, ha!

Perfume
Narciso Rodriguez For Her - 1.2ml
Issey Miyake -L'eau D'issey - 1.2ml
Bvlgari Jasmin Noir - 2ml x 2
Bvlgari Rose Essentielle - 2ml x 2
Dior Addict - 20ml
Dior J'Adore - 5ml
Dior Miss Dior - 5ml
Dior Pure Poison - 5ml
Dior Addict 2 - 5ml
Very Valentino - 4.5ml x 3
SJP Lovely Rollerball - 6ml
Palomo Picasso - 5ml (Almost finished)
Flowers by Kenzo - 4ml
Guerlain Insolence - 30ml
SJP Lovely - 50ml x 2
My Givenchy - 50ml (Almost finished)
Dior J'Adore - 100ml
Ralph - 100ml
SJP Lovely Winter Sparkle - 100ml
Gucci - 50mlVery Valentino - 50ml x 2 (One almost finished)
Jean Paul Gaultier Summer - 100ml
Jean Paul Gaultier Classic - 100ml
SJP Covet - 100ml
Vera Wang - 50ml
Clinique Happy - 100ml
Alfred Sung Pure Moment - 100ml
Alfred Sung Pure - 50ml x 2 (One half finished)

Must remember and tell family and friends to NEVER buy me perfume

savingholmes

Hi Swinstie - have you tried just using cash and leaving all cards at home. The trick is to withdraw a weekly amount and then divide it into tubs or envelopes for the different things you need during the week eg groceries, petrol, travel etc with say a small amount of free spend. No going back to the cash machine for more... Some friends of mine did this and spent 50% less than normal - give it a go!

Swinstie73

Hi SH,

Brilliant idea! I currently give my sister money every month to put by for road tax/car maintenance and that has really helped. I have worked out I would need ten tubs or jars to divide my money up, so will raid the cupboards for empty jars, ha! I suppose it helps to see if you have money left or worse, have none left at the end of the month. I do have a spreadsheet but that really only shows money already spent.

Will give it a go.