Back to Black - XSpender's 6 Year Plan

XSpender

Morning

I have been up since 6am this morning which is not like me at all! When I woke up at ten to 6 there was a big spider doing laps of the celing just above my head and I couldnt close my eyes without thinking it was going to absail down on to my face!

Finished my meal plan, sorted OH lunch for him so he takes whats on the meal plan, load of washing in, posted ballot papers and cleaned the dishwasher OS. Even managed a 10 minute walk to the post box so legs are almost recovered. Will pay in cheque on saturday and buy f&v from little green grocers near bank which should be cheaper than Sains.

OH is out on Sat with work, meal paid for but we will have to agree a budget for his drinks as he can go through money when he is out like a don't know what. I am staying in as it will cost a fortune in taxis if we both go out this week. I might stay at my friends though as there will then be 3 of us to split the fare and her OH will usually drop us off. Will decide later.

Quick update on th task list:

• [STRIKE]Meal plan for the next 2 weeks[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Make a list of what is in the cupboards and freezer[/STRIKE]
• Buy and plant some cut and come again lettuce
• Have 4 NSDs
• Pay cheque into secured savings from sale of old mobile:T -on sat
• Housework (this needs a list of its own!) - hmm made a start
• Make a start on the ironing mountain
• Walk the dogs - dependant on legs otherwise neighbour will take them out - should be ok for tonight
• Bath the dogs
• Try a run if the legs are back to normal
• Eat 5 a day:A - 4 on Tues
• Finally list scuba gear for sale (hasn't been used since 2004/5:eek:)
• Sort out scuba gear in case someone rings up about it

Must go and get on with some work as spent most of yesterday on here:o

XS

XSpender

Hi JC

I am good at making lists, its the completing of the stuff on them that's the problem:rotfl:

I have only been doing the spending diary on here and most of my spending seems to be food and drink when I am away from home. I must get more organised and take food with me. Drinks are still a problem though cos of airport security.

I can't bring myself to buy any clothes or even look in a clothes shop (not that I need anything) and a lot of my debt was buying designer stuff and just too many clothes. The last thing I bought was a pair of black trousers in december and I can't see me buying anything else the whole of this year. I am not including the 4 new bras I had to buy as when I got measured I was wearing ones 2 sizes too small:o

I hate listing stuff on ebay even though we have had some good results in the past. I am sure 'list stuff on ebay' will appear on next weeks list for me too. Shall we see if we can both get it sorted by the end of the month? Then we can have a virtual beer to celebrate:beer:
Enjoy the rest of your day

XS x

jacey98

hi

i think that would be a great idea i did make quite a lot last time so is really stupid that i havnt done it by now.

i am trying to do the same with clothes i really do have enough for a very long time.

have a good day speak later and we can make a plan of attack on the ebay mountain!!!!

jc x

XSpender

I have bitten the bullet and changed my waxing appointments from fortnightly to monthly saving me £26.55/fortnight. I did feel a bit awful as the girl that does it has gone part time and has set her new hours around me as I am her only 2 weekly saturday client.

Also rang the secured people today to get an up to date balance on the secured and it has dropped quite a bit which I was pleased about. :T
I don't need to break my neck clearing it asap, I just want to have enough money saved to clear the balance in March 2015. If I clear it earlier I may have to remortgage and give any available equity (up to 85%) to the IVA. There is no chance of that at the moment with the way house prices are as the securd puts us in negative equity.

Also added my other savings goals to my siggie. With our overspending recently we have not put away the £120 for the car tax/contingency etc and I want to build this up to what it should have been at if we hadn't spent it. Also the other savings is for a possible cheapo holiday next year if I can bring myself to spend it after saving so hard:D

It is scary not having any money behind me saved up. I was so used to having credit cards that if I was short or wanted something or had an emergency I could just wop it on the cards. If we have an emergency now we are cream crackered. There have been so many times in this last few months since we had our LBM when we have said to each other that we liked something in a shop or that we need a shower screen or a kitchen table or a holiday and said 'the old us would have stuck that on a cc and then felt sick and guilty before we even got it home, never mind opened the bill'. It's been tough and will continue to be so for the forseeable future but I feel that we are finally dealing with our debt and our overspending. We are not there yet and have still overspent but we are trying to change 20 years of behaviour and it won't happen overnight but I feel we are making more right choices than wrong ones.

I'm off to cook what's on my meal plan for tea, water my veggies and walk the fur as the legs (mine not theirs) are just about back to normal

XS

prada_man

hi XS

good to see the grooming expenditure reduced

looks like u travel a lot with ur job (same as me) but why do u have to pay for expenses at airports, etc. :question: it put all of mine on company expenses

ur doing well ... keep it up... :beer:

XSpender

Hi pradaman - work will pay for a meal if I have to stay away for the night but breakfast at the airport at 5.30 am:eek: or dinner at 8pm which is the time I am usually there and lunch at an office is not covered. There is a canteen, or Bistro, as they like to call it;), at many of the sites which serve good, low priced food but it costs more than homemade soup or sandwich I have when working at home. I need to get more organised and take some bits and pieces with me to resist the chocolate croisants at the airport. I have a corporate cc for flights and hotels etc or I would be trying to find another £500 - £1000 a month!

The legs are back to normal and the dogs have been out for a walk.

BIL is coming for tea tomorrow and OH is making a curry! It is the only dish in his repetoire(sp) but it saves me a job and its on the meal plan!:T

Have sorted some clothes and my not so old SLR camera out to eBay at the weekend and need to have a good rummage through the loft to find a few more bits. I hate clutter and I have probably chucked out or given away masses of stuff that could have now earned me a few quid when I need it. What an eejit!!:o

Must update the task list tomorrow and add a few things to get stuck into this weekend.

XS

XSpender

Just popped in to update my weekly task list and add some extra ones on:

• [STRIKE]Meal plan for the next 2 weeks[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Make a list of what is in the cupboards and freezer[/STRIKE]
• Buy and plant some cut and come again lettuce
• Have 4 NSDs - 1 so far, but planning for thurs, fri and sunday to be NSDs too
• Pay cheque into secured savings from sale of old mobile:T -on sat
• Housework (this needs a list of its own!) - should be finished today
• Make a start on the ironing mountain - nope and it's grown 3 feet:eek:
• [STRIKE]Walk the dogs - dependant on legs otherwise neighbour will take [/STRIKE][STRIKE]them out [/STRIKE]- They will get walked again this week!:rotfl:
• Bath the dogs - job for OH me thinks
• Try a run if the legs are back to normal - planned for Sunday
• Eat 5 a day:A - 4 on Tues, 2 on Wed:o
• Finally list scuba gear for sale (hasn't been used since 2004/5:eek:)
• Sort out scuba gear in case someone rings up about it
• Write to IVA co with update on bills and pay rise
• Make a batch of soup and veggie shep pie for freezer if can find room in it!
• List 5 items on eBay. If OH shows me how to do it I can then do it myself in the future
• Buy grass improver stuff as front lawn grass is a mess

I think that should be enough to be getting on with. I have started to scribble down a list of tasks for next week too but am away 2 days next week with work, have another race on tuesday night and am at a concert on the friday night so not much time available. I have put in for the week after next for a weeks holiday so I can finally get organised and sort the loft out to eBay stuff but as there is a big work project rolling out that week I am not hopeful it will be approved. Will find out by the end of this week.

XS

XSpender

I was planning a no spend day yesterday which didn't happen. Had BIL over for a curry night and spent £4.13 on bits for that and £5.66 on cold sore cream. The week after a marathon your immune system is supposed to be low and that combined with how much sun I have had running it in 74 degrees has caused a break out. I look like I have been punched in the chops and my glands are up!!:( Oh well, at least I have a reason not to go out with the girls and spend £40 on a night out.

Not much to report on the debt busting front for me today. OH looked at the beers last night in sains and decided not to buy any as BIL had to drive and I didn't want any. I held my breath and said nothing and let him come to the decision himself. I was relived to say the least as there is not much left in my grocery budget for the month.

OH also said to me this morning we are having leftover curry for lunch as we are being frugal!:T It's so much easier when we are both singing from the same hymn sheet.

I still don't know if I can have the week after next off but should find out today. OH doesn't get as many hols as me but is going to take a couple of days off and has agreed to show me how to put stuff on ebay. Fished out some bits of jewellery to stick on as well yesterday whilst searching for cold sore cream. It's only costume stuff but some is hand made and a bit unusual. If it doesn't ebay I will have some more bits for a car boot sale.

Must type up the letter to the IVA co today ready to post in the morning and am determined to have a no spend day (if i can keep OH away from the beer on a friday night;)).

XS

XSpender

I am feeling a bit fed up. :mad: I have written my letter to the IVA co confirming my pay rise of 3.1% and adjusting my payment to take into account the 0.1% extra to them from the pay rise and the increase in some of my utilities. I rang the customer services to confirm that I was doing it right to be told that the person I spoke to at the end of April gave me incorrect info and I cannot keep the pay rise. I could keep 1.5% of it if my IVA had been running 6 months but it has only been running four.

I am not annoyed that I have to give the creditors the extra as this is the nature of the IVA, rather that I was misinformed back in April. I hope they dont ask for the extra from April and May's pay backdated as I don't have it. I suppose if I had got my finger out and written to them at the end of April I wouldn't have got used to having the extra. It is only fifty quid a month but fifty quid is a lot when you are not used to budgeting and are trying to save.

My budgeting is based on our income including the pay rise so I will need to look at tightening our belts if I want to get some savings behind us, that or up the income. There is not much point in getting my utilities and insurance down as the IVA will get the extra which does not help me. I wonder if I could persuade OH to cancel sky sports til next season;)

I need to be much more in control of what I am spending and cut back on the food, fuel and other areas where I am given an allowance rather than having to provide bank stats or bills to confirm my payments.

The spending diary is working well and I am hoping to have approx £100 left over this month to go in the savings accounts,I want to have something to show for how hard I have worked at budgeting our money this month.

In addition I have started the pig off again with loose change and my £2 week Christmas savings that are not really to spend on Christmas but that is when I will bank them. I am hoping to make presents and hampers this year to keep costs down. Oh my! Talking about Christmas already:eek:

OH asked if he could have some beer tonight and I told him it would have to come out of his going out money this month. We have not set a budget for this as yet, well I have been working on about £90, as I really would like him to think about how much he really needs to spend. He doesn't usually go out this much, he used to go out much more but has cut right down, but has work events and family birthdays in June.

My NSD has gone out of the window too as I have had to sponsor a colleague £5.

Oh dear. That is rather a long and boring post!

XS

XSpender

XSpender wrote: »

• [STRIKE]Meal plan for the next 2 weeks[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Make a list of what is in the cupboards and freezer[/STRIKE]
• Buy and plant some cut and come again lettuce
• Have 4 NSDs - 1 so far, might manage 2
• [STRIKE]Pay cheque into secured savings from sale of old mobile[/STRIKE]
• STRIKE]Housework (this needs a list of its own!)[/STRIKE]
• Make a start on the ironing mountain - Hoping to make it to base camp by Sunday
• [STRIKE]Walk the dogs - dependant on legs otherwise neighbour will take [/STRIKE][STRIKE]them out [/STRIKE]- They will get walked again this week!:rotfl:
• [STRIKE]Bath the dogs [/STRIKE]
• Try a run if the legs are back to normal - planned for Sunday
• Eat 5 a day:A - 4 on Tues, 2 on Wed:o Thurs and Fri 0:eek:
• Finally list scuba gear for sale (hasn't been used since 2004/5:eek:)
• Sort out scuba gear in case someone rings up about it
• [STRIKE]Write to IVA co with update on bills and pay rise[/STRIKE]
• Make a batch of soup and veggie shep pie for freezer if can find room in it!
• List 5 items on eBay. If OH shows me how to do it I can then do it myself in the future
• [STRIKE]Buy grass improver stuff as front lawn grass is a mess[/STRIKE]

Ooo the list looks better than I was expecting but not much progress made on the debt busting/saving stuff.

I think I need to set some smaller short term goals as pay off the secured in 6 years is a bit too big to tackle in one go and make the diary a bit more focused on the money making/saving.

I'm going to set some weekly money making and money saving tasks for the next three weeks. OH is out tonight so I can get on with it. I might make him a little list too:D

Other plans for tonight include doing some batch cooking to make the most of the stuff I have got in and avoid wasting anything, find 20 things to stick on ebay and sort out my diving gear. OH is going to set me up my own ebay account and show me what to do so I can just beaver away at the ebay pile as I go along. I want to list at least 5 things tomorrow.

I want to make £100 by the end of the month and have earnt £4 so far:o. I will try and ebay, carboot and sell everything that isn't nailed down (except the jack russells!)

If anyone has any tips or suggestions for making a bit extra cash they would be willing to share I would love to hear them.

XS