Carry on Questing

Lula-Hula

It's true but I've already confessed my edible sins on another thread so would hate to bore you by repeating myself .

Decide to go out & have some fun in the sun today after all the grimness of last couple of days.

Took DD & her friend over to Windsor; had a shocking lunch & then walked for miles to burn it off. Went on the Windsor Eye (smaller & slightly less scary than the London one & probably a lot cheaper too). Felt a bit unsure going up but the views of countryside, castle & river were great.

The girls tried out the big orb /spheres but both found it so hot & airless they felt like they were sufffocating & came out after about 5 seconds so the guy gave me my money back .

Decided to buy some ice-creams to get over the trauma ( both very shaky & I couldnt let them eat alone ) & have a wander along the river to Eton. So many shops that I would have spent money in had I been on my own so [STRIKE]cant wait to get back over there when DD back at school[/STRIKE] what a good job they were with me

All the spending money came out of the holiday fund & I would love to say that it's otherwise been a NSD but that would be lying, so I may as well confess to a new pair of wellies via ebay. They are very pretty though so that's ok .

Wonderful childminder has been in touch to confirm half term already - I love her & her organisedness, so on my wavelength - so that's another thing I dont have to worry about & I already have the money saved up so even better .


I know that once DD is back at school & I'm back at both jobs the NSDs will flow again & the new budget will kick in.

I really couldnt help it; I had to top up my funds rather than get the debt down to £3,500 & also had to repay the money borrowed from Car Tax fund too. I've not repaid the emergency fund & wont bother to start again until the debt is cleared. All the other funds can be used if necessary & have the following balances :

Car Tax Fund : £ 30
Maintenance : £ 20
Gas : £100
Electricity : £100

That lot is all now in the new (still inexplicably) 'linked' savings account to which I have no access other than transferring to my current account through the internet so will be safe from 'accidental' :whistle: useage.

The presents fund has a balance of £190 & is now being held in the other savings account to which I have access via a cashcard as well as online transfers.

No change to the cash funds as they are fed by home-job but I'm looking forward to seeing how much I'll have for my grocery shopping after the first week back :rotfl:.

Need to practice getting up early so best head off now,

night night
xx

Lula-Hula

DD went off swimming with a friend this morning so I got stuck into having a huge clearout of my wardrobe.

I've packed away all the clothes that didnt get worn during the summer (because I no longer fit into them :mad:). I've piled up the ones I wont want even when I do shift the inches, & as I didnt get around to ebaying (quelle surprise) they will go to the charity shop on my next visit.

As well as weighing & measuring myself; I decided to write out a list of all the items I cant wear.

05 x swimsuits
15 x bras (most brand new)
15 x pairs of knickers ( most brand new)
04 x pairs of shorts
14 x tops
04 x skirts
07 x jeans
06 x dresses
05 x cardis / jumpers

Oh the shame

I'm just waiting for someone to say that's actually more clothes than they own ... pretty sure it wont be ShoeGal that says it though

It's certainly more than the Gok-recommended 24 items :whistle:

I actually dislike having so many items and would much prefer to shop 3 /4 times a year for the whole season & then acutally wear the clothes to death then get rid of them. As I went through the boxes of shoes, I did wonder how on earth I would accommodate them all on a camper/boat :think: which then got me thinking that perhaps the idea is that there's a complete change of lifestyle required that doesnt inovlve having more than 3 pairs of shoes :eek:

At this point I started to go right off the whole boat/camper idea until it then dawned on me that 3 or 4 years ago when I was happy with my size, I didnt have anywhere near as many clothes & yet always felt happy with how I look, to the extent that I dont really remember being conscious of it eg I just got dressed without agonising.

The super fit/ body / tone dvd has arrived. I have tried it & wow does it raise the heartbeat & make a girl 'glow'.

All this thinking time I've allowed myself has made me realise that :

I need to do it at least 3 x a week, get plenty of rest & lay off the crappy food & keep on with that for the rest of my life in order to be healthy & happy.

I need to adopt a similar approach to money ie budget & save to be in control & secure.

I need to focus on just one job in order to progress my earning capacity & reduce the stress.

In order to do all the above effectively & with a certain degree of enjoyment & ease, then I need to pay off the debt ASAP.

Watch this space ...

taxi73

All sounding good ...except for the glitch with wages x

Shoe_Gal

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I'm just waiting for someone to say that's actually more clothes than they own ... pretty sure it wont be ShoeGal that says it though

I need to do it at least 3 x a week, get plenty of rest & lay off the crappy food & keep on with that for the rest of my life in order to be healthy & happy.

I need to adopt a similar approach to money ie budget & save to be in control & secure.

I need to focus on just one job in order to progress my earning capacity & reduce the stress.

In order to do all the above effectively & with a certain degree of enjoyment & ease, then I need to pay off the debt ASAP.

Watch this space ...

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: too right it won't!

More seriously, all the other stuff makes perfect sense :A I, too, am finally realising that long term, slow and steady lifestyle changes is what we need - not loads of 'quick fix' schemes

Good luck - we can support each other through

makeup

Hello

Am back off my hols - had a fab time but was a bit spendallicious sadly. I'm blaming it on the rubbish euro exchange rate but I did come home with a lovely tablecloth in grey herringbone for my dining room which will suit my intended charcoal / tumeric colour scheme.

I also had some good news, my Grandmothers estate has now been settled and as a result my parents have knocked £2k off what I owe them so that means I should be able to pay them off in 2011 in total. Perhaps even quicker as my lodger moves in next week :j

I'm angry on your behalf about the wages fiasco and I dont' think you should feel bad about needing your wages on the day they're due. I think most people are like this - even if you have savings or what have you - they often take time to clear and transfer.

And as for Goblin talking about setting up DD's for 7th - well quite frankly she is lucky! My mortgage date was set by the mortgage company and my rent / service charge by the Housing Association - I had no choice and did ask to change it as I get paid on 20th of month but they couldn't / wouldn''t do this.

Anyway your plan sounds fab and I definitely think you will be able to do it! :beer::j

ps thanks for the plans re: tiles :j

Souk08

So far so sensible lady. Now in my new job I am seeing ladies of all ages and shapes....and have come to realise that if I allow the weight to pile on then I will have to deal with the consequences forever and I really don't want that so I have to keep it in check and not get any bigger than I am now. It has also made me realise that ageing will not be fun so I need to enjoy what I have now!

Lula-Hula

Hello all you lovely people,

Welcome back makeup - so glad you had a great holiday & great news about flatmate moving in - think I missed that you were having one. Nice bit of news about the loan to parents as well so all good I havent yet had a chance to get back to the museum/gallery, but as soon as I do will be in touch

Souk - This weight/size thing has been a real shocker of an eyeopener to me - having spent most of my adult life as an effortless eight, it seems like the minute I turned thirty-ten I ballooned. Clearly not going to the gym 3 x a week had some impact too as well as the reduction in bedroom gymanstics too :rotfl:

Exercising is the way forward; for health reasons as much as vanity so I did a workout with Davina on both friday & saturday & wow did I glow :eek: I've decided to do a session 6 days a week & then rest on sundays.

Although we havent been away on holiday I've really made the most of the headspace & rest time. Most importantly I've realised that actually it's ok NOT to do stuff even if other people think I should . I'm the worst at trying to do a bit of everything, failing miserably, stressing myself out & beating myself up over it etc etc.

My health has to be a priority for life & that means eating healthily, getting plenty of exercise & rest. No more jugging coffee to get going in the morning, stay going at work then continuing with home-job too & then needing alcohol to wind down & then get to sleep , followed by feeling crap in the morning so starting the cycle all over again.

I am actually having a Gordon right now & you know what - it's the first one I've had since I started holiday & I'm only having it to finish off the mixer so I can recycle the bottle. I have detoxed my system & can happily go all day just drinking water now .

The next 6 months are all about pulling in the money to clear that debt. That means head down & working during the week & then relaxing &/or having fun at the weekend.

I'm not doing any decorating, big refurb projects, garden overhauls or other projects until that debt is gone and I quit home-job.

I'm not going to try to be an old-style heroine by allotmenteering, sewing, decorating & cooking from scratch. There will be time for that when I only have to do one job & I will look forward to it.

The home, the garden, the non immediate family & friendships are just going to have to tick over for 6 months.

I have already laid the foundations with some of them by saying that I need to work hard to save for DDs school trip & then new school uniform & equipment & also that I wish to build up an emergency fund

So, today was all about getting ready for the first 15 weeks of this epic journey. That's how long it is until my next proper break at christmas.

Trip to Waitrose to stock up on bread (reduced to 25p ) milk, yoghurts & snakc for DDs lunches. Total grocery spend was £28 which brings my total so far this month to £89.30.

Trip to M&S to buy 2 new pairs of school trousers, underwear & slippers, total cost in there was £27.

The non-immediate family have been visited. Every washable item has now been washed, dried, ironed, aired & put away. The wardrobes have been decluttered into a charity bag, the bedrooms tidied, the floors hoovered & washed, the kitchen & bathroom cleaned, the plants all watered & all the paperwork dealt with. I just need to sew some name tapes in tomorrow & then we're ready to rock :cool:.

I've just paid £120 to Barclaycard so the balance (pre statement & interest) is now just £80.

Total debt is now £3,580.

The countdown has begun :cool:

moo2moo

Whoohoo to having a plan that you can live with and to almost seeing the back of the evil Barclaycard. The next 15 weeks will whiz by.

Souk08

Go you! Great plans and be fab to hear how you go with them.

taxi73

what a great start to the countdown...go you...will be following with interest xx