The MSE diet - in all senses of the word

Flylady_Flower

Hi FF - you seem to have it all under control - well done you! :j

Had to check out your diary after you asked so nicely... Will continue to read with interest, and have checked out the ticker too... LOVE that idea (do you mind if I put one on mine?)

You'll be going great guns if you manage your debt in 10 months - I will be greatly impressed, deeply in awe and getting as many hints and tips as I can...

Thanks for the encouragement you have given me, hope I can do the same in return
FF x

fabfuture

Ta FF Original, it's starting to get under control, slowly. And definitely go for the ticker - it's another MSer's idea I borrowed as well. Checked account today and mortgage payment has gone out and even when a few extras are paid for, I still have £400 of my overdraft left. That's a really nice feeling. Will be an even nicer feeling when I'm not in my overdraft! Also looking at cash flow for coming two weeks and think I can make my cc payments early. Although I also have a client who was due to pay me a chunk of money (more than £1000) last week & seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. I've left messages on her work and mobile numbers and work email. I now have her personal email and home address, which I will write to today, as well as calling her work number & see if she picks up. I can survive if she doesn't pay, but life would be much, much better if she does.

Did a slightly bizarre thing today I've never done today. After checking my account & then checking the cash in my purse to see when I would next need to take out some, I thought it all looked a bit wrinkled, so popped on the iron & made a few tenners & a fiver all face the same way & ironed them. Figured that if I took really good care of them, they might stay in my purse longer. Think I have enough to see me through the weekend, buy a friend's birthday items (my sister and I are putting together a hamper of things she likes, including a bunch of biscuits & cakes, but she's an Aussie & we're going to include a few things from the Australian shop) and pay for an afternoon tea with a friend today. I'm not going out at the weekend, apart from free things like going to the park or using my travelcard. It's nice knowing that I can write a cheque or take out cash safely.

Thanks for your words of encouragement on paying off the debt. I will finish all my backlogged client work by tomorrow and next week is about marketing, as well as visiting my sister for a couple of days. There aren't many phone calls at the moment and I need to make the phone ring and the email mail (if that makes sense).

Time for a mug of tea & to get dressed. Have a good day FF x

fabfuture

Had a really nice chat with a friend yesterday. She recommended a virtual assistant she uses when she is busy - and I will use her for marketing when I have some cash flow back. Certainly I'll contact her & find out how much she charges. It would be nice to have someone else doing that for me every month, with very little thought. I'd stopped marketing because I had got behind, so having someone else putting in 12 hours on marketing front monthly would be brilliant.

Also have been looking at selling a particular product on Etsy. Had been thinking of selling it on a CD - a product for children, but lots of Etsy has downloads ... and I can't make the product into one download - or at least I could, but that wasn't my initial thought. Will replan that one. Also looking at how much people are charging on there, so I can get some idea on pricing.

Just opened today's post & found my insurance broker has asked me to pay household insurance of £430 urgently. Part of me is fed up that this will mean I'm up against my overdraft limit again and part of me is pleased that I am able to pay it - if I hadn't been keeping this diary and such an eye on things, I would have spent more & not been able to.

Right - have had carefully weighed out yog with bargain muesli - unbelieveably huge bag of the stuff (sugar free) & compote and mug of hot water with bit of lemon in it. Have just about run out of yog, so will walk to the shops to get more and get some exercise. Am on a mission to lose weight before the holiday and there's been such a long way to go that I thought I'd just concentrate on an amount for the holiday. It would mean I would be lighter than I have been for a good five years.






Off for walk.

fabfuture

Had someone behave OTT officiously tonight when I was doing some volunteer work. She didn't know me - and I've never had anyone behave like that towards me where this happened in the past year, so I just smiled and told her I'd be happy to fill out her form & mentioned the people I had organised the visit through. She then stomped around saying there wasn't time to get the form filled in (well, do you want me to fill it in or not?).

She annoyed the heck out of me. Came home & had glass of cold wine & spaghetti with mozzarella & sundried tomatoes & fresh basil (value ranges & Aldi, with basil from plant I've managed to keep alive for more than a month). Delicious, although not particularly diet-conscious. At least I managed to not spend any money while out and will be more active tomorrow. Walked for about 25 minutes today.

fabfuture

Checked bank account today and first payment for new computer has gone out - hadn't put that in the cash flow - and an annual subscription, for a total of about £170. Stupid of me not to have noticed or put in cash flow ... and now feeling extremely broke, after writing insurance cheque. Know this can only get better - can plan for this in future, but very bored with this just now. A client who I've been chasing for several weeks about her contract I've just managed to get hold of through her work number - and by calling her on my mobile so my regular work number doesn't come up. She has effectively cancelled the work. She had paid a deposit, but we didn't have a contract in place, so I now won't get that money. She was very prickly when we did talk & said she had been in and out of the office for the past couple of weeks. I explained that I had been in touch via her work number, mobile and email over the past week and she had not got back in touch. Also said she had told me via email some months ago. Rubbish. I did not receive an email from her. Also very cross at myself for not having chased her months ago.

fabfuture

Realise, having had a look at the last couple of posts, that I'm being a bit of a misery guts here. Today didn't start the greatest - weighed myself and I seem to have put on about a kilo overnight. Shouldn't be due to hormones, so I'm stumped as to what that was. I have had more than my fair share of cheese sandwiches in the last few days - not a diet food.

Once upon a time, I would have signed up immediately for WW online or the nearest meeting or similar. Instead, I returned to FitDay and had a look at CalorieCount.com and planned a 1500 calorie diet, which would give me a 2lb (maximum possible) weekly loss. Have stuck to it today - including spending about half a day at a trade show - with packed lunch & water & took coffee in insulated cup. Went shopping in Asda on the way home. The cheapest apples are in an aisle separate from the other apples, and in the price comparison section under the more expensive apples, there is no kg/lb price - just the overall item total & no weight on it. Dug my heels in at this point & weighed said season apples & found the best priced apples were indeed the ones in the separate aisle. Also found a lot of meat was on special - guess the weekend's hot weather meant people either didn't eat much or switched to BBQ versions. Got some pork steaks hugely reduced & will cook up tonight in tomato and red pepper sauce - some for dinner and freeze some. Spent just over £20 on shopping, including some stationery for work and padded postage bags (cheaper than Sainsbury's).

Had a call from a client about invoices I had sent. I had emailed chasing when I could expect payment, they had been sitting on the wrong person's desk. It seems now - a week later, one is correctly addressed and written & the other needs to be directed to another person in another related body. *Sigh* No idea how long it will be now before one or both invoices are paid. Had been hoping in the coming week.

On a positive note, since it is the end of the month, I'm due payment from some online sales that a company hosts for me. It pays me monthly less its monthly fee and a percentage and I hadn't calculated the whole month's sales, so more money will arrive in my account tomorrow or Thursday (hopefully) than I had calculated. Another client just put an order through, so that is the June monthly fee covered & some cash due at the start of July at least.

penguin83

Hi FF, you are doing really well, hope your client pays up soon.

Dont worry, you are not being a misery, diaries are great place to have a vent and a moan and no one minds...honest!

fabfuture

Ta Penguin. I may not be able to make money rain quickly into my life (although I could do some rain dancing!), but have realised that I can have control over what I'm eating. I've stuck to a calorie controlled diet today - just over 1500 and fairly much MSE. If I keep doing this, even if the finances are slow to turn, I should be able to lose weight - and/or inches over time. It's quite nice to have the short-term weight goal which seems manageable.

Right, got up at 6am and started work for the day so am now knackered. Will put pork meals in freezer and go to bed.

Swinstie73

Thanks Fabfuture, after reading your last post, I have eaten two chunks of cheese - all I could think about was cheese after reading about your sarnies, ha!

I really need to stick to a diet, only 10 weeks til hols and have eaten everything in sight today, look forward to see if you manage to do it! Nite!

fabfuture

Hah! Does cheese freeze? Have a big block of cheddar in the fridge and only 'need' a small amount.

Right - back to where I was on the scales two days ago. Whew! Glad about that ... and looking forward to the scales doing down again. Have food planned for today including snacks. Also have gym visit planned. Am going to stay with my sister & family tomorrow so won't be able to work out per se until next week. Looking forward to the break.