Where am I going wrong???

Flylady_Flower

Well, I've just transferred the PAD payments to Debenhams... AND I checked my bank and I didn't need to transfer the £50 back plus there was some more in our Rainy Day account that I had saved, so I just transferred £100 off our First Direct credit card too :j:j:j

I know the snowball is for Debenhams, but this is money we may need, and at least if it's on the CC we are saving paying interest but can access it in case of emergencies.... so I thought save it sitting in the pot, it can be paid off!

I am very happy and have gone a bit saving/paying off crazy I think - I was going to bed but I keep looking at the account to see where I can get some more money from to pay off stuff.... I definitely can't find any more and must behave now... It's good though....:rolleyes:

greenbee

Well done flower :T:T... don't forget your packed lunch - I've done mine, and snacks (oh yes, and teabags in the hope that I won't want coffee :rolleyes:)

Flylady_Flower

Hi, just a quick update....

Spent £9.50 on a breakfast meeting yesterday - It was good though, worth the money. Also I FORGOT TO TAKE MY PASTA TO WORK :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: I was so annoyed with myself. I tried to wait all day, but was really hungry and ended up getting a Maccy D's on the way home....
Today was a NSD :j lunch brought for me because of working in the home all day so didn't have to eat my measly sandwich that I made quick today.
OK, got to go, I have a meeting - see you all later
Flower x

Flylady_Flower

Not been on for the last few days as have been manic busy work wise and totally shattered when I get home - have managed to keep the house tidy but it needs a good clean - and we now have four dogs instead of two if you pile up all the dog hair!!!:mad::mad::mad:

Soooooo, what have I been up to - well, work really. Preparing the house for the course has been fun but really tiring - mainly painting, stripping, filling, moving furniture, more painting, more moving stuff, etc etc and the drive there and back has been really tiring, but hey, it's all money eh!

I really wanted to sit down with the stuff I learned from the BLink breakfast meeting on Monday and sort out some kind of plan of action for my own business, but it's been too much to try to fit that in too - had a lousy weekend last week for sleep, so every time I've tried to sit down this week I've dozed off, and that's never good for me, just makes me more sleepy. So that is the plan once the course is over (11th June) to set out a day to plan (someone remind me about that will you ).

Spending wise, not good... we have been very naughty... (will expain in a bit) but I have been keeping a check on all spending and we haven't gone over budget on the rest of our stuff like groceries, etc... so, on with explanations...:o

The Good Stuff:
4 1/2 days work this week - total £350 to be paid and will probably be the same if not more for the next 3 weeks too! Also took DD with me for 3 days to help out so she earned herself some money too - she's coming with me next week too!
Was under budget for last weeks grocery spending - so £12 more off a bill!
Hubby earned an extra £76.34 this week on top of usual wages as a H&S bonus which was very handy.
Changed my home insurance - contents only - our renewal came in at £154.43 which I thought was too high, so I checked out a few comparison websites and came up with one for £118.27 - a saving of £36.16 which I thought was quite good.

The Bad Stuff:
Nothing really to report here - no bad bills have come in or anything and am keeping my fingers crossed that we are on top of most stuff...

The Naughty Stuff:
We went out on Saturday to get a barbeque - we always end up getting one of the cheap ones that go to pot in no time and we have to keep renewing each year, so this year, when we saw that Asda was selling gas barbies at half price (£75) we went to get one as we thought we would make really good use of it (hubby had his extra earnings this week so we were going to get it with that) I can never light normal ones so never use it but I do love a good bbq. Anyway, we looked at it, but it didn't have a griddle bit, where we could do onions, ect so we ended up in B&Q and spent £199 on one (did I mention we were impulse buyers and an advertisers dream???). It is really good and we will use it a lot (made bacon and egg muffins already :rotfl:) so I think it is worth it, but the reality is we could have done more with the money - it's really sad that I am thinking like that now, but really good too - massive guilt trip though. We thought of it this way:
1. We needed a bbq as we do use it
2. A gas one is better as easier to clean and light for me
3. It cools down quickly so we can put it away before it rains and goes rusty
4. We always buy cheap to 'save' money but end up getting something that we either didn't really want or falls to bits in no time.
So anyway, we now have this huge thing that is our barbie and really nice - we already had the gas from an old gas fire thingy that we have had for ages and is for emergencies so didn't have to buy that and it was really scrummy - cleaning was so easy - throw away the tin foil in the drip tray and wash up 1 spatula and 1 cooking plate - no fatty splashes on my cooker to wipe down either... So all in all I'm pleased we have something that we like and will last and I won't fret over it any more...

greenbee

Just keep track of the number of times you use the BBQ - and make sure you use it lots to get good value from it! My aunt and uncle use theirs all the time in the summer - if it's raining, they put it outside the kitchen window (which is about the same height) and cook on it from inside!

Flylady_Flower

greenbee wrote: »

Just keep track of the number of times you use the BBQ - and make sure you use it lots to get good value from it! My aunt and uncle use theirs all the time in the summer - if it's raining, they put it outside the kitchen window (which is about the same height) and cook on it from inside!

Thanks Greenbee - We do like to eat out in the Summer - salads and bbq's are our favs so we should get lots of use from it - used it today and will use it tomorrow too... roll on lots of hot sunny weekends

Flylady_Flower

I've not been very well over the last few days and have been sleeping in bed - some kind of cold bug I think (don't like to say I've got flu as I know how debilitating that is, but I do ache all over) but I feel a bit better today though, so I need to get dressed and get some shopping in - I have no bread at all! :eek:

Good thing is no spending, bad thing is I had to send DS to shops for F&C as we all seem to have it except DS so no-one wanted to cook yesterday... Still, another day and I will cook something nice for hubby as he took his bike test today and passed (not home till later though) so we will eat something nice tonight. So plan currently looks like this...

The Good Stuff:
I'm going to be working again tomorrow and Friday and it looks manic for the next 2 weeks so that will be good for the pot and for when things get a bit leaner.
I got a £500 voucher from Business Link towards my website! I have to use one of their businesses from the supplier portal, but I spoke to the lady today and she should be able to do me one for about £650, so only £150 to pay for a good website finally and with the extra work over the next couple of weeks, that should be fine (my current one is one I did myself using frontpage, nothing fancy and in my line of work, it needs to be something a bit better I think.) Then I can start my marketing and get my act together to build my business (again, more nagging will be needed here as I HATE marketing)
I paid an extra £96.93 off my Debenhams card this month :j:j:j as part of my snowball... I did it with my PAD payments as they really add up so that's a total of £116.93 paid off this month... Yay me...

The Bad Stuff:
Haven't worked over the last 2 days as not well so lost 2 days pay there - about £160 which would have been nice to put away to see me over the next month... (would have paid for the website...:rolleyes:)

The Naughty Stuff:
We brought Fish & Chips and a bottle of coke last night for all of us £18.90 but I will be good tonight and cook (promise!)

So, not much to update but still keeping myself honest because of this....

fabfuture

Hi FF - been in need of some inspiration and read the start and the end of your diary. Seem to have spent a stupid amount of time in the past couple of days working on my spreadsheets and nothing seems to be getting any better (guess it isn't getting any worse either, so should count my blessings).

Bought some foil food containers today to make up some meals for the freezer - and get over not being bothered to cook in the evenings. Since I work for myself too, I often work until I'm hungry, then I just want to snack immediately. Trying to find way around this - perhaps a timer in my diary - and meals to just pop into the oven, so I can still be productive until dinner time, but then have something ready when I'm hungry that isn't a cheese sandwich. If a woman lives on cheese sandwiches alone, she becomes the size of a house. It's what has happened in the past, anyway. So, although I'm not tempted by MaccyDs, I can understand your eating out there. How are you going with the muesli bar stash suggestion?

Thanks for keeping up your diary .... and the jolly colours for good, bad and naughty! It's also good to see your progress in the past year in paying off about about 15% of your original debt. Feeling flat and wondering how I'm going to pay next month's bills, because based on my current income, it isn't possible. I need to do a LOT more work in the coming week or so as well as a few clients saying 'yes' to options I've given them.

Flylady_Flower

fabfuture wrote: »

Hi FF - been in need of some inspiration and read the start and the end of your diary. Seem to have spent a stupid amount of time in the past couple of days working on my spreadsheets and nothing seems to be getting any better (guess it isn't getting any worse either, so should count my blessings).

Bought some foil food containers today to make up some meals for the freezer - and get over not being bothered to cook in the evenings. Since I work for myself too, I often work until I'm hungry, then I just want to snack immediately. Trying to find way around this - perhaps a timer in my diary - and meals to just pop into the oven, so I can still be productive until dinner time, but then have something ready when I'm hungry that isn't a cheese sandwich. If a woman lives on cheese sandwiches alone, she becomes the size of a house. It's what has happened in the past, anyway. So, although I'm not tempted by MaccyDs, I can understand your eating out there. How are you going with the muesli bar stash suggestion?

Thanks for keeping up your diary .... and the jolly colours for good, bad and naughty! It's also good to see your progress in the past year in paying off about about 15% of your original debt. Feeling flat and wondering how I'm going to pay next month's bills, because based on my current income, it isn't possible. I need to do a LOT more work in the coming week or so as well as a few clients saying 'yes' to options I've given them.

Well done for making a start FF (another one with same initials must be something about MSE...:rotfl:) starting is half the problem and I totally understand how you feel - I could do spreadsheets for England... I love fiddling with stuff and can make figures fit whatever I want them too even when it doesn't really work (mmmm, maybe I should be a politician? ), which is why we have always gone wrong. Stick with it though and be honest with yourself.

If the figures really don't work out, seek some help, speak to your debtors and see if they can help - some may accept lower payments, others may freeze interest for 3-6 months, so definitely worth a try.

We were lucky because I got a £1200 insurance payout or we wouldn't be as far ahead as we are and like you, I'm self employed and dependant on work coming in or we have nothing - I've been lucky these last 2 months and we've managed to get a bit ahead but not so much lined up for the next few months so I need to get some work in too - have you spoken to your local Business Link? They offer some great advice and free courses too which are great to go on to learn stuff but also to make some great business contacts (I use them a lot when I get a chance). What do you do by the way if you don't mind me asking?

Takeaways are our biggest thing - and for the same reason as you - by the time I'm hungry or the kids are saying what are we having, I'm too tired to cook or too hungry and need food NOW - great start with the tin foil boxes - I was told of these links on the Grocery challenge so hope they help you because they've helped me think of some different stuff to do rather than my usual boring stuff...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=179221&highlight=freezer
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571339&highlight=building+blocks
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=242856&highlight=batch
http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/193/batch-bake-minced-beef-recipe
Hope they help...

Also, I've started doing a big batch of pasta and mixing in some nice stuff to snack on during the day - just mix it with some mayo or cheese sauce (I cheat and use Bisto instant granules - I know my limits :D) and chopped up bits of ham, sweetcorn, tuna, bacon, chicken, whatever takes your fancy really but much better than having to keep getting up and making sarnies or nipping to Maccy's... - I put it in the takeaway pots (the kind you get from the Chinese shops, not that I would know that... :rolleyes:) and take it with me to work too - you can get a pack of 10 pots and lids from our £1 shop and they are then washed up and used again (when I remember to pick it up out of the fridge ) but still need to start that batch cooking properly - might have a go this weekend... Oh, and the stash of breakfast bars works - can't keep them in the house unless I hide them from my DS - as he would woof them in 1 day and not MSE but great for snacks in the car - maybe they would work for you to keep you going till dinner was cooked?

Thanks for reading anyway - it really helps to know someone is interested and keeping a check on me...



I was a good girl today and DIDN'T get a takeaway - even though hubby wanted a Chinese to celebrate (luckily they were shut on the way home, conveniently :rolleyes:) but then we had an argument (over boxers - don't ask!:mad:) and he went back to work early because of it, so special dinner didn't happen (he left at 6pm instead of 8pm coz he can be a stroppy git sometimes) but we have spoken since he got back to his digs and all OK now - just 2 hours that we could have been together wasted... stupid pig headed men eh! sorry, bit of a rant there...:p:p

Sooo, I still haven't eaten and I'm starving - so will go cook myself something quick now.... see you all later

fabfuture

Hi F-Flower, thanks so much for your recipe suggestions - brilliant links - especially the use of frozen half-cooked or simply cut-up vegetables.

Ta for the hint on debtors too. Not sure how much I can do there - but have been taking the past month or two to catch up completely with client jobs. Am going to be completely done in about two days, then will return to marketing. Have been in business long enough (8 years) to fairly much know how to make things happen and have good client base, but have had things in the past that took more handling that I thought they would - a nightmarish flatmate & a divorce among them. Know many here have much worse to deal with - and not having to deal with anything nasty like that now, just the debts from that time. Thanks also for the tip on BusinessLink. They have some good basic ideas, but some of the people running courses are trainers rather than business people and I have found that frustrating in the past.

Will return to marketing next week - and pull out all the stops. I'd rather keep what I do to myself. It is odd trying to talk around it, but if I said what it was, MSers could probably identify me fairly quickly with a bit of googling, so I'd rather not say.


Just want the coming month to be over ... :rolleyes:

Have subscribed to your diary ... and will be reading with interest. Ta x