Where am I going wrong???

Flylady_Flower

Am writing this very late but I am still wide awake despite being absolutly pooped after clearing another load of clutter most of the day.

I have finally moved DD into the spare room, which when she moved out became my office (DS moved into her old room) The filing cabinet is now in my bedroom and I am soooo glad I have it as I would have nowhere to store anything otherwise. All my files and stuff are in there and a big box with things in that I have to do - I need to get onto that at the weekend as the course I am working on starts next week and I will be manic busy...

I help out on 'House Doctor' courses, and in two weeks the hands on course starts, so we have to prepare the house ready for the delegates - most of the decorating will be done before they get there so they can style/place furniture/etc. as there isn't the time for them to do it in the 5 days they are there what with the training they do too, so that is what I will be doing along with sorting the trades, etc. I will love every bit, but I will be shattered too. Anyway, I need to get the house sorted in the mean time or it will turn to pigs poop while I'm out.

I will post some before photos when I start and then the after ones when they have finished - hope you like...:o

I'm beginning to get drowsy now, so will quickly do my update before I nod off and drop the laptop off the bed...

The Good Stuff...
Nothing much here to report. I've not worked apart from a couple of hours paperwork since Tuesday, so only £20 to add to the pot when I get paid.
I have also worked out that I can manage the snowball amount on my Debenhams Card this month without anything else coming in, so may be able to pay off more than that if this continues .

The Bad Stuff...
Had to pay out £549.00 for Hubbys Bike test yesterday. Most of this came out of what was left from the insurance cheque after paying off Vanquis, the rest hubby had saved from his weekly work allowance that he gets for working away. It was a lot of money I know, but I can't begrudge paying it out as he works really hard, sits in a little bedroom most nights after work bored to death just to earn a decent living, so now all he has to do is save for a bike once he's passed :rolleyes: (although he will sell his car to do this apparently)

The Naughty Stuff...
still no takeaways or any snacks or anything... we have been soooo good

Right, eyes are finally getting heavy, so off to sleep now. Take care all x

mooomin

Hey Flower

Hubby will probably find that he gets a really good deal on a bike at the moment, with the economy being what it is. We went to look at bikes the other day (Not going to buy at the moment, hut just to see what deals are like) and there was no-one in the showroom. OH was offered £900 off on a bike!

I had to drag him away....:rotfl::rotfl:

Flylady_Flower

flying_fresian wrote: »

Hey Flower

Hubby will probably find that he gets a really good deal on a bike at the moment, with the economy being what it is. We went to look at bikes the other day (Not going to buy at the moment, hut just to see what deals are like) and there was no-one in the showroom. OH was offered £900 off on a bike!

I had to drag him away....:rotfl::rotfl:

Ha ha, I bet you did - Hubby went and looked last week with his friend - not so good deals down here - robbin' barstewards that they are, but some are coming down in price so might get a good deal - we have to save up yet though

Flylady_Flower

Have been trying to upload some drivers today for a printer at our local club, but the computer in question has no disc drive, only an A drive, does not understand the concept of plug and play and has no Internet connection.... :mad::mad::mad: So I have been trying to copy all the drivers onto a 'normal' computer, then copy them onto an floppy disc and transfer them onto the computer that needs the printer, did nearly all of them (about 20 trips...) but just 2 of the files are over 1.44mb so will not go onto the floppy disc and will not copy over.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad: All that time and effort for nothing.... VERY frustrating...

Then I went home, had lunch with a friend who came round with her DD (sausage and chips) and have been relaxing ever since Well, I deserve it.

I have taken DS to work. We decided that we were having Kentucky tonight because we deserved it as we have worked really hard sorting stuff out this week - his room is even done, which is a miracle, and he has exams next week, so this is blowout time. I have also picked up DD from the hospital at 9pm when she finished work. However, I am paying for it with some cash that I was owed and forgot all about.....

Soooooo......:o

The Good Stuff...
I got £27.40 back today from something that I brought for the club AGES ago so it was a nice surprise to get it .
Paid £50 into our savings account today which would have been for hubby going out but as he's away I will save it...;)


The Bad Stuff...
Had to buy some shopping today, not really bad stuff, but hate spending and this wasn't planned - just some quick extras £6.49 so nothing drastic.

The Naughty Stuff...
Have given in and we had a takeaway tonight. We needed a bit of cheering up I think as we haven't had anything to celebrate and have been clearing up all week and the kids have been such a great help to me too - especially as I have been a total Biatch what with aunt flo visiting, I have been shouting and moaning at everything - even when DD cooked dinner last night it wasn't good enough because the potatoes weren't quite done enough.... I'm a horrible mother at this time... so £13.97 on KFC to make some sort of amends...:o
I have also spent £3.35 on a drink and some chocolate for us both up the club when I dropped DS off for work, and left him £3 to get some drinks (20p a can ) until he finishes work at 12 tonight (he's a pot boy, collects glasses up there )

So I have just finished watching Criminal Minds and about to start watching Dexter while having a cuppa with DD and catching up on some bits and pieces - I need something to keep me awake till 12 midnight :rolleyes:.

Oh, and I just wanted to say thanks for the continued support from everyone - Since starting this I have been really looking at where our money goes, which has helped sooooo much, so thank you.

Flylady_Flower

I've been shopping today - clothes shopping...:p and I had my hair cut :j

I really needed it cut. I help out on courses and one starts soon (mentioned it before I think, I loose track :rolleyes:) and I thought I should have nice hair as I will be helping with training and meeting clients - I had been trimming it myself up to now, so now it has been cut and it looks nice. And I needed the clothes for the same reason... my excuse and I'm sticking to it... :D I never spend on me, always the kids or hubby, and I deserved a treat so I don't care... :dance:

Anyway, I spent £30 on haircut (£28 + £2 tip - is that OK? enough or too much, what do you do to tip? I hate it in case I get it wrong) and £97.60 on clothes and tops - a lot for me as I usually shop primarks/matalan, etc and can do loads more for that, but I was in Debenhams and they had 20% off everything, including sale prices, and I got some really good deals on some lovely stuff that is lovely quality, but won't go out of style so will last me years... (Ohhh, I'm getting like my mum... :rotfl:) and I spent £14.40 on a mascara...:eek: I normally only spend about £5-£6 but I thought in for a penny, in for a pound and got a lovely clarins one...

Ohhh, it's hard to write this down, it's really a lot when you see it in black and white...:eek: Still that is out of my new allowance that you made me do! :D:D

I have rejoined the grocery challenge again - I should be able to bring that budget down to a good workable figure and save any left overs. I also want to start cooking again (I love the recipies on there and some great meal ideas...) so hope I can keep up with the thread...

Off to do my banking and update my accounts while I'm in the mood

ETA: Ohhh, and I've updated my signature - it didn't show everything I owed as on my working sheet, I put down the balance of my O/D as the balance at the end of the month, but really, I should show what the maximum balance should be, or it's not going to be accurate - hence the increase.

Valli

Clearly you do need to spend on clothes as you must look professional...sounds like an excuse for spending but it IS imperative you present a professional polished image so you're excused. Who would employ you if you looked like a bag lady?

Thanks for the update.

Are you targetting one debt again? Which one?

Flylady_Flower

Thanks Valli, I have been a bit bin lady lately... :rotfl::rotfl:

I'm concentrating on Debenhams next - that's the highest interest and what the snowball tells me - and you know I do as I'm told eh!

I have just entered everything onto my 'msmoney' programme, put in every monthly amount from the budget - car maintenance, hairdressing, clothing, everything - and have set up to transfer it to the savings account each time - and I'm actually on budget right to the end of June! :j

I have planned to pay £112 to it this month (plus anything from my PAD account ) so hopefully it will be gone within 3 months (less if I get extra work coming in) - I'm really excited now, things are actually turning around and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. You know, if I could pass on anything I've learned in the last month or so to help anyone, it would be this:

1. Budget - that is include EVERYTHING! Use Martins Budget Tool as it's brilliant. I did this wrong in the beginning as you know, but really be honest with yourself and budget, use old bank statements, any budgeting tools you use (ms money, excel, etc) and really work it out or use VERY good estimates.

2. Double check the budget - I can't stress this enough. make sure you have everything on there, anything you spend throughout the year, including one-off payments you might make.

3. If you have extra left, snowball it - if you pay out more than you earn, seek help. Check out this site for ways to do this - there is loads of help on here, but don't bury your head in the sand about it.

4. Set up some standing orders with your bank to transfer the odd payments on your budget (car maintenance, clothing, holidays, christmas, etc) into a savings pot. It's a waste of time budgeting if you end up spending these as when you need the money for them, you won't have it (which is exactly what we were doing... )

I hope these help someone - it's not rocket science, but I needed a rocket up the backside to make me do it for some reason. Why I don't know when I think I am an intelligent person I got in this state in the first place, but at least the light bulb has finally begun to shine brightly - and I can tell you, once you start saving, it's SOOOOO addictive :D

Good luck to anyone trying to be debt free - go you! :T:T:T

Valli

Brill news Flower - because clearly even with yesterday's splurge you're still in track.

Flylady_Flower

Have just done hubby's tax return as he had 3 different jobs last year (the joys of contracting...:rolleyes:) but one of those was self employed, where he paid loads of extra tax and......... (drumroll).......... he is due a £1060.60 refund :j:j:j

I'm really pleased, as it will go towards his bike and he was so dispondant that he wouldn't be able to get one this year with us trying so hard to get debt free.... I haven't told him (I've only just done it online) and it will be a nice suprise for him when it goes into the account...;) Mind you, I'm carp at secrets, so we'll have to see how I go...:o

Also, I have just worked out that from the beginning of November, I will be £25 per week better off! That is because I have been saving towards Christmas with our Christmas Loan Club and they are not running it again next year, plus I would have paid back the £500 we had at the end of last year towards our hols (you had to have a loan because it's a loan club, but they just stop you about £13 for it and on £500 that's not bad ) anyway, that's £25 a week saved. Actually I will continue to save £10 a week towards Christmas (£500) but can use the other £15 pw (£60 pm)towards another bill which I will have to see at the time which one it will be... :j:j:j

I have also been spending again today... but I have been looking for a wardrobe for my DD for ages now on freecycle and even visiting the charity shops, but nothing, so I went to IKEA and got a PAX one from there for £39.15 + £4 for the hanger. I didn't get the doors as they always have deals in the bargain corner on PAX and I will get the doors when they are there for £5 each or something. I also spent £2.34 on a set of 6 new glasses that we needed (only had 4 left) and a frame (£5.86) for a poster my DS has from when we went rallycross a few weeks ago (it was signed by the driver who we know really well). so all in all £51.35, but as I have been putting lots of bits and pieces away lately, I won't even touch my current account so I'm pleased with that.

The bad news is that we went out last night and had to draw out the £50 I had put away thinking we wern't going out this week, so I will transfer that back The good news from that is that we had a great time, hubby popped home just for the night and drove back this morning but it was worth it to see so many old faces. It was a 50th birthday party and we hadn't seem some of these people for about 15-20 years... Not many had changed though, and it was really nice to catch up and say hello - got lots of phone numbers and because it's hubbys 50th next year, I will be in touch with them.

So all in all an expensive weekend but a good one - lots sorted out too. I'm at work all week now, but looking forward to the weekend as I am soooo tired, don't know how I'm going to get through the week - lots of strong cups of coffee I think

DS has his first GCSE exam tomorrow - Maths, so fingers crossed and good luck vibes for him and also for anyone else taking exams at the moment. :A

NOTE TO SELF: Must remember to do some lunch for tomorrow...

Flylady_Flower

PS: Thanks Valli - certainly feels like I'm getting there, but no more splurging...