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

Claw_back_money

Your debt is shrinking fast - its great having money coming in to pay bits off often isn't it. I miss that.
I felt a noticeable difference tackling rosemary video on Tuesday, even though I was still a bit achy from Monday, it does get easier doesn't it, this exercise lark.

your plans for sunday sound brill. OH wanted to go out for a meal but when I got excited about a poetry do in a theatre said that would be 'good for him' and that he'd like to go!!! and we're taking sandwiches and going walking first

Enjoy your weekend

Cbm

Sun_Addict

Monday again already! 3 weeks today I'll be on my way to Lanzarote! :j Getting desperate now!

Had a good weekend. Our Valentines perfumes were slightly over budget at £20 each but still a lot less than we used to spend. However, OH still went into Clintons to get my card; I showed him the card shop I use (Card Factory) but he went in and came straight out again.

Goldfish card statement was ready to view today. This month's bill is £541.73 which is a lot better than usual and I'm pleased that only £31.20 of it belongs in the "other" category (which has been over £200 in the past). I'm aiming at getting it even lower than this so all that's on it is OH's work expenses and the monthly online grocery shop and maybe just the odd necessary item bought online. I know I've got the money to pay this bill in full at the end of the month BUT I'm spending this money before I've got it IYSWIM. It's hard to explain on paper what I'm aiming for but I know what I need to do in my head. It's the first thing on my list to sort out after DF day (next week!!!!!).

Lost a measly ½lb last week but at least the scales are heading in the right direction. I'm currently 2½lbs over my WW goal weight so would like to get back to my goal weight before I go on holiday and then lose another 4lbs before summer. I can't believe it's taking me so long to lose the weight I put on over Christmas. However, I don't believe in starving myself so am just making small changes here and there. Then I've got to take into account the weight I'll put on when I'm on holiday :eek:

Just one week to go to payday and DF day!! :j

Sun_Addict

Woo hoo! Just found out I'm getting a long awaited pay rise backdated to last July in next week's pay packet!! Shop shop shop shop shop shop (not really!). Not holding my breath it will be a great amount but anything is better than nothing! Now you know what will happen - every time I get a bit of extra money something happens that costs that amount of money plus a bit extra.

Made a big batch of soup in my slow cooker yesterday so all this week's work lunches are sorted. Tonight I'll be running 3 miles on the treadmill and having a nice healthy vegetable stir fry. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I try to "detox" and eat extra healthily with no alcohol allowed. Currently trying to persuade myself to add Thursday into the equation too without much success!

BADPENNY_2

Congratulations on the backdated payrise. I don't see why you can't treat yourself to something nice just in time for your hols! you deserve it and you will be debt free in one week after all:j.

you put me to shame with your healthy eating and exersice regimes. I am sitting in my pjs as i write this and have just devoured 2 rounds of jam on toast:(.

Swinstie73

Well done on the pay-rise SA! I don't even think I got one last year come to think of it. Yes, buy yourself something nice for the holidays, no perfume though, you have just got a new one!

Sun_Addict

Thanks BP and Swinstie - will wait to see how much the back pay is yet before I make any plans for it. Might treat myself to an expensive lipstick eg Estee Lauder (my favourite) and then the rest will probably have to go towards the holiday. We'll see. The thing is I really don't need anything at all for myself at the moment so it would be a shame to just blow the lot for the sake of it.

Lovely and sunny here this morning but I hear snow is on the way overnight. When will winter ever go away? Fed up of it now and fed up of hearing OH moaning about how fed up of it he is (he works outside). Got a bit stroppy with him last night as I was all chuffed with my pay rise and all he could do was moan about his work and the weather (and believe me he can put Victor Meldrew to shame at times). I know times are hard for him but going on and on about it won't change anything. Told him unless he can find a completely different job then we're going to just have to plod on until things pick up. Now I've started moaning!

Decluttered my "walk in" wardrobe on Sunday and found 2 handbags I no longer use that can be ebayed. Wish I could be one of these people who can sell anything on ebay. I have a few items that I've advertised several times with no success and they're brand new!

Today's exercise plan is my 3 mile walk to work and then 30 minutes toning exercises in the gym or on the Wii. Got my soup for lunch and will be using up the last portion of my vegi moussaka from the freezer for tonight's meal.

Claw_back_money

Congrats on the pay rise - hopefully that might be a bit of extra spending money for your holiday too, I think you've mentioned before how much you like buying stuff on holiday?
I think its free listing days on ebay this week, so if you have time to get them organised it might be worth trying on Thursday or Friday (personally I go for Thursday on 10 day listings so they finish on Sunday when people seem to be bored and shop).
I hadn't thought of listing handbags - there's a thought!

We're having chickpea and spinach curry for tea - does that sound familiar?!

Cbm

BADPENNY_2

with the e-bay problem, try re-listing but change the description of the item. if its a branded handbag or from a decent shop always use that as the first word in the description so more peeps will see it. I always find that if you spend a bit more time on the description and put in meaurements ect i get a lot more bids. I also try and sell something 3 times before i give up on it. it can be very time consuming tho hense the reason why it can become like a full time job. hope this helps!

Sun_Addict

Tried to post yesterday but work's internet crashed and never came back on :mad:

Thanks for the ebay tips folks! Glad you're still enjoying the curry Cbm, I've got a stash in the freezer so will be having some on Saturday night.

Paid another £50 off debt today which leaves me with just the final minimum payment to come out next week of £25 and then I'm done!! :j

Put some more away towards holiday spending too so now only have £220.16 left to save. After next week I'm going back to monthly finance "doings". It's just that I'm so impatient to get DF at the moment. I will have to be patient and wait until the end of the month to look at what's in the pot and take it from there. I think if I tackle my savings goals like I've been tackling the debt then I might get somewhere. OH looks at me aghast when I mention saving; he thinks we should concentrate on just keeping our heads above water at the moment but my reasoning is if I can pay off £2600 of debt in less than a year then I can save too!

Big online shop from Tesco came last night so am stocked up with storecupboard items, cat food and heavy stuff. Just the fresh/day to day stuff to get as and when. Need to reassess my grocery spending next month as I still think I spend too much.

Claw_back_money

Glad to hear that all is well.
Like Badpenny suggests, if you've got items that can be relisted that'll be very quick and easy to do - and today is a good day to do so (free). Just a few changes to the description might be all you need to sell things?

Hope you have a good day

Cheers
Cbm