Smart Mart - Health, wealth and happiness

Smart_Mart

Feeling a little more talkative this morning...;)... never like my team losing.

Tomorrow sees me saying goodbye to my vehicle. I've had it for a year, I'm getting another one for a month while the new one is getting a respray. Bit complicated but basically I do two courier jobs on a Monday that take about three hours to do. In return, the man (a friend) I work for provides me with a car to use as my own. He maintains it and taxes it while I insure it and fuel it obviously. It has worked now for seven years and is quite handy.

Anyway, the car I drive now ( T reg Focus estate) will only be worth something if he sells it now so he's loaning me his (an 04 plate Focus estate) for four weeks while a third car (an X reg Focus estate) is being sprayed up. Follow??

Off to football this afternoon. It's important that the under-9's get back to winning ways this afternoon against a team they should beat.

Smart_Mart

Mixed day really. Boys won their football match 7-2 and both my twins scored a goal each which was great...:j. It was hard work though as our normal pitch was frozen up so we had to go down and mark up another pitch next door in order for the game to go ahead.

Came back tonight to the reality that I'm skint, so skint that I can't even get to the pub quiz tonight. Paying out three lots of rent in one month has killed my attempt at a budget and tonight it has come to a head. There is 90p on the gas card, just enough petrol to do the morning courier job and that is it, £1.50 to my name.

Serves me right really though for being :eek: with money.

Smart_Mart

Well someone up there likes me as I managed to blag a small courier job for tomorrow from the man I work for on a Monday. His friend is moving house so he needs cover for tomorrow morning and evening. I owe him an evening anyway but the morning is £15, he's paid cash already too so I have stuck £8 on the gas card and will put the other £7 of diesel in the car.

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted I said diesel and not petrol. We swapped cars today so I now have a diesel '53' plate Focus estate for the foreseeable future until he sells my old one, receives the money, pays for my new one to be sprayed up, and off we go!

Smart_Mart

Well here's last month's figures. I've quoted the last two month's too with November's in black type, December's in red type and January's in green. I'll make some comments on a follow-up post.

Smart_Mart wrote: »

Here's this month's figures compared to last month's. December's are in red...

Rent - £1,200 £280 £840
Housekeeping (food + other shopping + mini-shops) - £263.80 £201.60 £174.17
Fuel - £255.00 £186.00 £197.50
Twins presents - £144.73
Gas - £85.00 £86.00 £84.00
Virgin bill - £49.49 £60.97 £67.26
Football tickets - £35.00 £18.00
Tea/lunch out - £28.65 £54.77 £35.25
Household misc - £23.75 ( set of bedding, set of four mugs) £18.95 £4.47 (toaster)
TV Licence - £23.75 £23.75
Quiz nights - £17.40 £6.50 £15.26
Cards/presents - £13.66 £152.38
Haircut - £12.00
Fireworks night - £11.00
Debt repayment - £10.50
Stationery - £10.22 £2.20
Football stickers - £8.00
Postage - £6.42 £5.58 £2.56
Laundry - £6.00
Football programme & lottery ticket - £5.00 £3.00
Car Wash - £4.00 £6.00
Parking - £2.00
Advent calendars - £2.97
Bank charges - £1.85 ( withdrew money from an ATM that wasn't free) £1.75

In addition, I also spent this month...

Football training & Match fees - £30.00 £40.00
Car Insurance - £24.00
Round of Golf - £10.55
Boys Football Boots - £8.95
Game Memberships - £8.90 (part of Christmas prsent really).
Christmas Fayre - £6.00
Clothes - £2.00 (a pair of socks)

Additional costs in January were..

School trip - £10.00
Trainers x 2 - £13.99
Sun Holidays - £42.00
Unit for boys room - £10.00

waterwatcher

Ooooo deisel car, you'll notice the difference in your pocket! I've just gone the other way and could cry for my old days of deisel mileage! Enjoy and put those extra pennies to good use!!

Smart_Mart

Well fairly pleased with that really although there is still work to be done in certain areas.

The rent will settle down now and will be £560 on a two pay-day month and £840 on a three pay day month. A bit complicated but this way is best for the cashflow situation.

Knocked more than £90 off my housekeeping which is worth :beer: about. Helps having a freezer of course and not doing a mini shop three times a day...;)

The fuel has gone down a little though I don't believe I waste it. At least I'll be getting a fair bit of it back through expenses now.

Virgin has gone up again...:mad:

Meals out are still too much...:mad:

Quiz nights are pretty consistent...:p

The rest of it isn't too bad though still needs work in some areas.

SuziQ

Keep up the good work,Mart!

Smart_Mart

Good day today all things considered. Managed to get up in time for the early courier job this morning and was back home by 7.45am. Repeated the run this evening and throughout the day, got on with the French project which is now 85% completed and should only take a couple more days to finish. I can then get started on the Spanish one, finish that and get paid. The club may drop the German on which would mean my money would drop by a third but £330 is better than nothing ( but not as good as £500 ).

Spent £3.16 in Tesco's tonight on bread, milk and biscuits and this will get me through until I can do a bigger shop later in the week.

Tomorrow is another early start with a repeat courier job at 7.00am, two paper rounds late morning, school run, then football training ending up with working on either the French project or the next two football programmes.

Smart_Mart

Meant to say that I managed to organise something MSE earlier, albeit on someone else's suggestion....:T

The forthcoming game against Charlton is one of those games covered under the Sun's token promotion this week. For those unaware of it, families of four can go to a match for as little as £9.50 though most clubs are advertising it at either £19.50 or £29.50, it's their discretion.

Anyway friends of mine emailed yesterday to ask if they could borrow my twins for the game. Turns out the offer (2 adults, 2 children for £29.50) would save them £20.50 in total (as tickets for adults are £25 each). They get to save a packet and best of all, I won't have to buy two £5 tickets for the twins that day either as they'll go in with my friends. I get in free anyway with my media pass!! :beer:

Smart_Mart

Long day yesterday. Got up to do the courier job at 6.45am, back for breakfast then out to deliver 110 newspapers. WTC paid yesterday so stuck £16 of diesel in the car, bought some shopping for last night's tea (£5.69) and put £8 on the gas card. I know it seems like I've gone back to the days of little and often where the fuel, the shopping and the gas is concerned but at the moment where I'm getting paid little and often, it's the only way forward.

Took the boys to football training last night and had them till 9.30pm as their sister was in a school play...:j

Today I'm off down to the football club and hoping to do an interview with the manager.:D