Carry on Questing

Lula-Hula

Bonsoir & welcome to the next instalment in my epic & largely unsuccesful attempts to be come debt free .

Those who have travelled alongside on my previous Quests will know just how very seriously :whistle: I take all this debt busting & never get distracted by such things as clothes, shoes, wine, holidays, interior decor, men or fish :rotfl:.

It seems to me that I've always wanted to become debt free by 31 August 2011 ... but somehow between having a dim lbm in April of last year & now, I havent really progressed that far so, I now intend to put in far more effort than I ever did for exams at school, learning to cook, maintaining relationships that were very secure but soooooo dull or becoming a loyal fan of Tatco.

Lets get this straight right from the start;

I HATE TATCO. I really really hate it. If I go there it makes me :mad: & want to behave like a brat (kick people, stamp my feet & scream). I'm not going there more than once a month to stock up on household items & fuel for my car & that's it. Dont bother telling me how cheap it is, I dont care .

I also hate 40 mph drivers :mad:. You know, the ones who pootle along at 20 mph under the speed limit on A roads & then continue to go at 40 when they hit a 30 zone. Hmmmm, perhaps they have no real relevance here :think:, I'll move on.

I am a happy, optimistic, slightly bonkers ENTP type single woman in her late 30s (ok, I'm thirty ten but :shhh:) with 2 daughters, a rented maison, a share of an allotment, a job I tolerate because it suits me for now & I know it's not forever, a car that I love, a penchant for wine, gin & tonic, nuts, chocolate, unsuitable men ( Johnny Depp :heartpuls), sunshine holidays , banging 'choons' & being Fabulous . I'm also quite partial to waitrose :rotfl:.

I have been very rubbish at dieting too this year & have managed to lose & gain 8lbs at an alarming rate ( the gaining that is :rolleyes:) so I have now declared to lose a whole stone by December 1st. I need to, it will be cold in December & I have 6 pairs of jeans that dont fit me & only £15 left to spend on clothes until the end of the year . I'm not eating biscuits until October 1st :eek:.

My basic plan is to continue to pay rent, council tax, utilities etc as I have been but to cut down on areas that I've been wasting money on such as food. I've decided that I can feed DD & myself for £35 a week & plan to do this by using allotment stuff as much as possible & buying only 2 or 3 days worth of stuff in one go. Cant cope with more than that in meal planning terms.

At present out petite maison is full of shabby & just waiting for the chic to emerge. Over the next 2 years I plan to overhaul the whole place on a very petite budget & continue to declutter at the same time. I long for simplicity & aim for DD & I to be people who do stuff rather than people who have stuff. Yep, I still want the camper van & that comes under doing rather than having as it will open up such huge opportuntities for travel within the UK.

The debts are currently hovering around £5,980 & in order of both balance & interest rate : CC1 = £2,769, CC2 = £2,127 & CC3 = £1,080.
Not brilliant but it could be worse.

Inspite of having these debts I am actually quite good at saving money & have now learned how to budget for future bills & expenses. I am saving Child Benefit payments towards a holiday next year (this doubles up as emergency funds if needs be). I save towards car tax, DDs clubs & hobbies, gas & electricity bills, dentist bills, presents & have now started to save £2 coins towards any future home improvement projects. I need to save towards car repairs, mots etc but have only just had one so not too panicky yet.

After much deliberation & input from the other fabulous single people over on sarahb s thread I've come up with a Treats Budget of £100 a month. My 'treats' covers, alcohol, cosmetics, entertainment ( lovefilm etc ) magazines, shoes, lingerie, accessories, home trinkets ( as in stuff I want but dont really need) & fuel :eek:. Yes, I am putting my petrol costs into my treats budget as I dont need my car for work or taking DD to school therefore it is a luxury/treat.


To kick start this new way of living I've rejoined the NSD challenge & today can declare my first one of 12 achieved :j.

bye for now

lula

sarahb123_3

Hi Lula, just wanted to be the first person to reply and show my support.

Good luck with Carry on Questing and of course have subscribed immediately:D

Looking forward to discsussing money, food, life and of course clothes, shoes and biscuits:D

Lula-Hula

Awww bless & thank you oh fabulous one :A. I'm sure there will be many discussions over the long & winding path of my Quest & I really will try to stay focused on the task in hand :rotfl:

I did forget to mention that I also redeemed some lightspeed points for a £10 HMV voucher which ( via Quidco of course) will be used to buy cd 'Now 3,753' or whichever one the latest is :rolleyes:. I'm pretty sure I can remember when they were still in single figures .

I have about 3 chapters of The Lovely Bones left to read so am heading off to bed now ...

G'night
x

sarahb123_3

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I did forget to mention that I also redeemed some lightspeed points for a £10 HMV voucher which ( via Quidco of course) will be used to buy cd 'Now 3,753' or whichever one the latest is :rolleyes:. I'm pretty sure I can remember when they were still in single figures .

I am the proud owner of the album "Now That's What I Call Music." That is before it occurred to them they might need numbers.

Lula-Hula

sarahb123 wrote: »

I am the proud owner of the album "Now That's What I Call Music." That is before it occurred to them they might need numbers.

Wow :T now I'm going to have to try to work out who might be on the album .... rough guess : Adman & The Ants, Duran Duran, The Jam, Howard Jones, Hairct 100, Nik Kershaw, Tears for Fears, Spandau Ballet, Kajagoogoo, Thompson Twins, Depeche Mode ....


curses, you've distracted me already :rotfl:

sarahb123_3

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Wow :T now I'm going to have to try to work out who might be on the album .... rough guess : Adman & The Ants, Duran Duran, The Jam, Howard Jones, Hairct 100, Nik Kershaw, Tears for Fears, Spandau Ballet, Kajagoogoo, Thompson Twins, Depeche Mode ....


curses, you've distracted me already :rotfl:

It is currently in the possession of my parents but I strongly suspect you are correct:D

Poosmate

Hi Lula, long time no speak! I've been off MSE for about a year and just recently returned.

Congratulations on your new thread, I hope you will soon chop those debts up good and proper!!

Regarding the biscuits, I believe if you can abstain till October 1st you will be able to abstain till December 1st, I'm sure you'll soon be back in those jeans again.

Very best of luck to you my friend.

Poo

ETA: Oh, I forgot to mention, I loved all those bands from the 80's. Spandau Ballet were my favourite and The Human League. We are the 80's chicks!!! I'm going to love chatting with you two! lol

Bowski_1011

:eek::eek::eek: I have lost my post twice now :mad:

*wonders if Lula has sent some kind of special request to MSE that her thread DOES NOT allow long babbling posts from Bowski*

Just wanted to say congratulations on the new Diary :j:j It's looking as fabulous as ever. I love your posts they always make me giggle.

Best of Luck with your plans.

Well done one such a good start to the month with your NSD and biscuit challenge :j Start as you mean to go on and all that

thriftymomma

All the best with your plans. I love your posting style!
PS I loved The Lovely Bones. Great read!

moo2moo

I have to admit to owning and then E-baying the first 18 Now albums. My poor mum purchased them all in the hopes that they would be more pleasing to her ear drums than thrash metal. Not entirely sure what I saw in Obituary apart from the ability to hang out with the upper 6th boys whilst being a mere 4th year. Being tall with big boobs always did have its advantages.

Lula-Hula

Morning all *glows at having so many Quest guests* :j

Bowski hun, your posts are always welcome here although I still havent forgiven you for making me give up biscuits :D

Poosmate - Cant tell you how delighted to see you back here :j, have often thought of you & wondered how you were getting on, hope your world is treating you nice

thriftymomma - hello & welcome :wave:we like a good read here & welcome any recommendations

Moo2 - always a pleasure to have you on board :A, no doubt you will have many tips on how to repair my entire house/create fabulous outfits with some Landrover parts, chicken droppings & a homemade flapjack :rotfl:.

I have done my 20 minutes of yoga stretches & am currently sipping on peppermint tea :eek:. I had great plans to go to the recycling centre & charity shop to offload all our carp today but DD is still in bed & I'm now loathe to use my car until I know I can cram as many little errands as possible into one trip. She doesnt go back to school until tomorrow & is making the most of the holiday that's left - pyjamas were worn until 2 pm yesterday.

Have just realised that the bosses party on saturday is from 4pm onwards so I think I shall take DD along to play with horses & dogs so I can drive & therefore not have to get completely hammered & have to share a very expensive taxi with others. It also means an earlyish escape . Will have to think of suitable present ...

Time for toast & honey now ... :shhh: in case the diet police are watching.