the debt free, slim, makeup artist challenge!

misselvis

Just wanted to say hello and welcome to the MSE family. You have made the difficult yet necessary step towards dealing with the debts. It must have been nightmarish for both you and your hubby but together am sure you will work together to reduce this debt mountain. Good luck and am looking forward to reading your entries.

mariagti

Hi floris,

I found your diary!

Thank goodness you OH came clean about the debts! Now you both know you can work together on knocking that debt down!

Yes i agree every little helps! The survey sites are a reallly good help if you can make the time to do them, the vouchers come in so handy for gifts, and esstentials like toiletries etc.
Another must to join is a cashback site, Quidco i think is the best site to join. Whenever you buy something online just go through the link of the shop on Quidco and they give you a certain amount of cashback. Ive earned lots of extra money from quidco. Theres even free trials on there like Lovefilm, pay join lovefilm's free trial and Quidco pay you for e.g. £10 for doing the free trial. Just make sure you cancel before the free trial ends. Then you've been paid £10 to watch some dvd's for free!

Try to post up your SOA so we can see if we can help you cut down outgoing's

floris_2

well, i somehow managed to lose 1/2 lb .. really havent been that good, but am not going to torture myself - today is another day
ive given myself a new goal - to lose approx 1lb a week, so that i have lost 4 stones in 1 year .. i shall hopefully be able to afford to go on holiday this time next year and be 4 stones lighter into the bargain!

slimming world w/c 13/7 - week 1

day 1 : good start, although not perfect!
day 2 : ok(ish) - could try better !
day 3 : again, ok .. will be able to stick to it better when do a new food shop
day 4 : went out for a curry tonight, didnt go too mad so hopefully ok
day 5 : my willpower is failing me, cakes again at work - but didnt go too mad!
day 6 : not too good, this week isnt going so well is it!
day 7 : fair, not brilliant .. although my clothes do seem looser, i think i may have lost a lb or two

yay : i lost 2.1/2 lbs !! dont see how as havent exactly been brilliant, but now have the right "slimming world" shopping in - hope it will be easier this week!

floris_2

w/c 13/7

update on debts/ways to make/save money:

most of my dd go through at the begining of the month and are paid with my salary so no real updates, there simply isnt any surplus money to pay off any more at the moment
have earnt some points on toluna which i hope to trade in for vouchers to use over xmas
have also joined pigsback and plan to renew my house insurance with hsbc through them so should hopefully earn £50 in points which i shall trade in for theatre vouchers to take my daughter out for a treat (this debt thing has all been so hard on her, she's missed out on so much )
still looking to sign up with more survey sites, although admitedly im not as enthusuastic as i first was .. lols
will also look into the scratchcards thing, but need to find out a little more about it
sorting out some stuff to do a bootsale at the end of the month .. we have far too much clutter in the flat so if it can go to a good home and we are able to make a few ££'s into the bargain - great!
have also put my name down for an extra shift next saturday - i work very hard, and i loathe to do extra shifts - i really feel it, but with the school holidays coming up i need to earn a little extra to make some cash for days out with my daughter
whilst sorting out stuff for the bootsale, i found a stash of beads etc from my jewellery making days, so thinking about making some bracelets, earrings over the summer to give away as xmas pressies, and perhaps to sell also through work

update on makeup kit fund:

again, not enough money left over to put into the fund - to be honest, most of the money will be going in towards middle 2010, once ive paid off significant amt of debt .. so perhaps will start some mini goals, need to save £50 for cpl makeup brushes as i have further training begining nov - have decided to put away just over £10 a month but to pay it off my credit card (to reduce, if only a little) then use card to buy brushes in nov, ok not ideal but at least will have reduced interest a little, if only for a few months

floris_2

new challenge: to get flat looking more like a home!

had a surprise visit from my brother yesturday, he lives abroad and we dont often see him .. it was really lovely to see him, but at the same time i felt embarassed and humiliated at the state of the flat
its not dirty or anything, just very, very basic .. we have just had a new wooden floor put down (from proceeds of sale of grandfather clock which my husband inherited) and although it looks great, makes the rest of the flat look shabby.
we basically dont have the money to furnish or decorate it the way we would like and it just looks so bare, the sofa is 10 yrs old and we all have to fight to sit on it (3 people / 2 1/2 seater sofa - not ideal!) coffee table is scratched to pieces, dining table has paint and glue on it and again scratched to pieces, tv is old, there are no pictures or nice touches in the flat as we simply dont have the money to buy them!
the rest of the flat is pretty much the same, appart from my daughters room which is very pretty and girly although that too needs things doing to it - new blind, painting chest of drawers etc..
my sister has moved to my town and her house is like a palace, everything is from laura ashley, habitat or heals etc .. im not envious of her - its just that her amazing house reinforces to me how cr*p our own home looks, and that really gets me down - particularly as the reason we are unable to spend any money on making our flat a home is because of my husbands greed and stupidy, getting us nearly 20k into debt (i know i shouldnt judge, but his actions come back to haunt me every day of my life and its just so tough sometimes)
so, as i mentioned earlier in the diary we are going to spend some of the leaflet delivery money on buying bits for the flat, im going to set mini projects every month to try and feel as we're getting somewhere if only little by little .. i basically dont want to have to make any more excuses to friends and family not to come round and visit because i am so ashamed

mini goal for aug, paid for with leaflet delivery money & bootsale money
paint bathroom walls
buy new bath mat
buy new towels
buy decs for top of cabinet
approx cost: £70

dors1

Hi Floris

Why not check out the Yahoo group 'freecycle'- I've recently joined my local area group and I'm amazed at what people are chucking out and its all free. The aim of the group is to stop stuff going to landfill. You may be able to pick up some bits and pieces - I've known people get paint/curtains/blinds/sheds/kitchen sink;) - you can also place a post detailing what you're looking for. Might be worth a look. Just go to Yahoo - Groups and type in 'freecycle'.

floris_2

slimming world w/c 20/7 - week 2

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