Champagne Lifestyle Lemonade Budget (My attempts to get debt free by April 2010)

Claw_back_money

Santa hat with bells sounds really practical and useful as it could keep the warmth in - I had the daftest present ever - a pot for cooking chestnuts in!!!!!
Quite sad really, the stupid thing cost about £40, none of us like chestnuts and its huge so is going to take up room somewhere. Its for me and OH from my parents which makes me feel a bit sad about getting rid of it. I guess it can join the smoothie maker, donut maker, chocolate fountain (which we have used) and the other random carp in the loft.

I hope your first day back at work went well, at least being busy can help the time go.

Cheers
Cbm

beanielou

So glad nobody gave me a chestnut thingy.
Take it you couldent take it back & get something well slightly more useful?

Sun_Addict

Hi everyone hope you had a good Christmas. I'm afraid mine was a bit boring as OH started with a tummy bug on the 23rd which lasted all over Christmas so all plans for nipping out for a festive drink/pub lunch went out of the window - the plus side is we've hardly spent any money! On Christmas Day I started with a sore throat/aching all over type thing which has kindly come out into a cold ready for back to work today. OH thinks maybe we should go on holiday next Christmas and come back after New Year - rather expensive time of year to go though but perhaps if OH's work picks up next year who knows.

Cbm - can your chestnut pot be used for anything else other than cooking chestnuts? I've never seen one myself. When MIL was alive she used to buy us all sorts of assorted rubbish that we never used and she never ever liked any of the Christmas presents we bought her! Didn't get OH the santa hat with bells on by the way, had left it too late and all that was left was a pink one (which I doubt he'd appreciate!) and a cheap and nasty £1 flimsy one (which I bought and he wasn't over impressed!).

I've managed to book New Year's Eve off as a day's leave so only one more working day to go after today. :j I doubt very much if we'll be going out for the evening though as it's such a rip off so will probably stay in and drink the bottle of Moet & Chandon DS bought me for Christmas! OH is talking about going to Skegness for the day but I'm a bit wary of going all that way when snow is forecast again. No snow where we live at the moment but the sky has gone a very strange colour so is probably on the way.

One good thing about being ill over the last few days is we haven't been able to go to the sales. We popped out to a small retail park near where we live yesterday and I spent the grand total of £11 in the sales! Quite pleased with myself actually! I'll be going out at lunchtime today but fortunately only to Sainsburys so no sales temptations there.

Starting my no clothes/shoes/bags challenge on 1 January and this will run until 1 April. No one believes I'll do it so I'm all the more determined. OH is back at work next Monday but only for a couple of days and then there's nothing else after that at the moment which is quite scary but we should be able to manage this month if he's not working. Hopefully things will start to pick up soon but he's quite gloomy about it (although he's not as much of an optimist as I am!).

Have worked out that if I put away £4 a day between now and when we go on holiday in March I'll have paid off my debt. My new goal is to have it paid off by then but of course it all hinges on OH's work as usual.

If I don't post again before 2010 begins I hope everyone has a brilliant New Year and that we are all debt free by the end of 2010!!

Claw_back_money

Hi SA
Sorry to hear you were poorly over Christmas. Some friends of ours thought it was cheaper to go away for Christmas itself (which they didn't want to do) than before or after, so it might be worth looking into maybe?

Chestnut pot is a blooming big terracotta thing with holes in, and I can't think of anything useful for it. :mad:

Very best wishes for 2010 - and enjoy your day off tomorrow! Good luck with the challenge too.

Cheers
Cbm

Swinstie73

Claw_back_money wrote: »

Chestnut pot is a blooming big terracotta thing with holes in, and I can't think of anything useful for it. :mad:

Plant pot

Happy Hogmany SA and all, hope all your hopes and dreams come true in 2010 xx

Claw_back_money

How was your New Year's Eve SA? Hope all went well...

Cbm

Sun_Addict

Happy New Year everyone!!

Now almost recovered from cold so feeling raring to go :rolleyes:. First full week back at work (boo!). Usually in Lanzarote first two weeks in January and am really regretting putting it back until March but too late to cry over split milk now. Am blaming OH for this wise (?) decision. He went to work this morning only to discover everything was frozen solid so had to go back home and he remembered why we always go on holiday the first two weeks in January.

I've got loads of goals to fulfill for 2010:

1. Be debt free by March 8th when we go on holiday.
2. Lose the Christmas excess weight - I can't believe I've put on 5lb :eek:
This is all the over indulgence from more or less the beginning of December so only have myself to blame!

3. No buying clothes/shoes/bags from 1 January to 1 April.

4. Stick to budget!!!!

5. No putting stuff on credit card when I don't have the cash for it.

6. Once debt free start saving with a vengeance.

7. Pay for next Christmas by using survey earnings/vouchers/money left over from grocery budget.

I think that little lot is enough to be going on with for now.

Cbm - New Year's Eve was ok but still felt full of cold so we just went out for lunch and stayed in on the evening and drank the bottle of Moet & Chandon DS bought me for Christmas. Champagne is very good for sore throats - it's the bubbles

Hope everyone is sticking to their New Year resolutions!

Claw_back_money

I bet this weather is really making you wish you were somewhere lovely! We've got about 4" of snow and it looks very christmas cardy - fine on a card but not very a practical scene to live in!!!

Good luck with budget and becoming debt-free
Cbm

Sun_Addict

Hi everyone

Snow is not too bad where I am so unfortunately have been able to make it into work. However, it's badly affecting OH's work as he's in building trade and this is now his third week off. As he's self employed no work means no money! It's not looking good for the finances but will see what happens by the end of the month. I'll be totting up on 29 January and will know where I am by then. At least I'm not being tempted to spend on anything unnecessary as there's nothing to spend!

beanielou

Yes must be hitting hard for self employed.
At least your debts are really low now