Smart Mart - Health, wealth and happiness

Smart_Mart

Got back a little tired last night so sorry for the lack of update.

Didn't do much at all yesterday as the boys game was postponed unsurprisingly. The ground was too hard to play so we stayed in all day until 6pm when I took them to their football team's Christmas party which was held at the local Bowlplex. They had two games of bowling plus a meal so I got myself a pint of cider (£2.85) and settled down to watch.

Dropped them home afterwards then went off to the pub quiz where we came well down the field. Cost the usual pound to enter but all the drinks were free as we used our winnings to buy them. Had £43 last night and have used £25 so still £18 left for next week's quiz.

Today is my work's Christmas meal so a bit more expense tonight, I'm afraid. Have an interview at lunchtime and the programme for next weekend's game has a deadline of tomorrow so plenty to do really.

Smart_Mart

Almost another day without an update... I'm getting bad at this! :rolleyes:

Yesterday, worked at the club from 2pm till 6pm so had a chance to go to Asda in the morning. Spent £24.50 in total and this included a new shirt for the meal last night (£10.00), a six pack of socks (£2.00), a tin of de-icer (£1.00) and two books for the boys at Christmas (£6.00). The shirt looked nice but when I went to put it on last night, there was a button missing so I'm taking it back tomorrow sometime.:mad:. Enjoyed the meal - whole thing including drinks cost £20 total.

Got back at 12.45am and back up at 8am as the boys were coming round at 9am. They stayed till 12.30pm as their mum had physio on her shoulder and then went shopping. Nice to have them on a Tuesday as I don't normally see them. They're coming round tomorrow for a few hours as well.

Stuck another tenner on the gas card tonight. Going to sort out my money for the next few days in a moment as I'm getting close to being broke again. Can't get the kids what I want to get them for Christmas as short of money. Benefits and invoices not paid until Tuesday so have about £90 to last till Tuesday which has to pay for petrol, food, presents for the older two and tickets for Monday's match. I think the match will have to fall by the wayside somehow...

Smart_Mart

Pretty boring day today ahead of the festive excitement later in the week.

Lay in this morning after watching a film last night till 1.00am or later. The boys came around this morning just after I'd been to Asda to get a refund on my shirt I bought on Monday. Figured that the tenner was of more use to me than the shirt....:rolleyes:

Took the boys home for tea and my mate came round to drop some keys off. Other than that, been on my own really. Getting a wee bit lonely in my old age and wondering if things will get better any time soon.

Have to do the normal courier jobs tomorrow instead of Monday as I'd swapped days over. Up at 6.30am and have to repeat at lunchtime which is better than the normal time of 5.30pm. Will wrap the few presents I have got when I get back.

Smart_Mart

Had a real shock yesterday when my HB went in five days early...:j

Used some of it to get some last minute Christmas presents to the value of £39.95 plus put £31.00 of petrol in the car and did a shop in Asda that cost £23.71.

Did the courier job postponed from Monday yesterday which got me out of the house too. Still a bit snowy here and very icy too.

Today has been my first NSD since I started the diary, day 55 to be exact. Mind you if you can't have an NSD on Christmas Day, you never will. It's been a lovely day today, went down to see DS1 and DD1 in Dorset and stayed for dinner before returning home at teatime and picking up the boys for their second Christmas present opening session.

They're off to bed now so I'll be off soon myself. Really enjoyed this Christmas and as it's Boxing Day tomorrow, there'll be a football match...:j

Smart_Mart

Had a great day today as the team played well and won 4-0...:beer::j:j

Great peformance so celebrated by having a blowout at McDonalds (first one for a couple of months...£11.27). Spent £12.00 in petrol getting down there as well.

Tomorrow sees football training in the morning, nothing much in the afternoon and the pub quiz in the evening with another football game on Monday afternoon in Swindon.

Smart_Mart

Struggling big time with this now.

Got my maths wrong regarding when my next payments are due in and now face the wrath of the landlord. He's been pretty good up to now but it has come down to a straight choice for the beginning of January. Pay my rent and have around £30 for two weeks of living including food, gas and petrol plus the electricity bill, the Virgin bill and the rest of life's stuff or ask him for three weeks grace and pay all of it. I made the choice this morning when I woke up and could see nothing ahead but strife.

That decision made, I spent £9.50 at lunch, £10.00 on gas, £3.89 on a mini-shop and £15.00 on petrol. All this on the way to football this afternoon. I can't afford to not go to many games otherwise I'll lose this job. I aimed at the start to get to 75% of games secretly hoping that the figure would be higher. It currently sits at 81% which is good but I'll miss the next game on Saturday so that will drop.

Bought a programme (£3.00) and two tickets for the boys (£18.00). Decided that my trip to Liverpool will be a solo one and I'll collect the boys at 9.00am on Saturday morning. It makes sense as the weekend will cost me upwards of £75 otherwise. At least today, I'll get my petrol expenses paid; it's only £13.32 but better than nothing.

Tomorrow needs to be a decent day's sorting out. The boys have football training one afternoon this week so must get as much done early in the week as possible. Have tons of stuff to take to the recycling facility which I want cleared by the new year.

Smart_Mart

Decided yesterday morning that I have three days to sort my life out once and for all. I'm fed up with being a disorganised idiot who doesn't help himself so forced myself to get up and about to get things sorted.

Firstly, went to the local recycling facility with about half the total amount to be recycled, will do the rest in a minute. Then went into the local town and got a beige valance sheet for £8.95; only a little thing but the fact the old one was lilac and my bedding is red and cream was bugging me....:D

Did the weekly shop in Asda braving the post Bank Holiday crowds. Spent £30.30 in total including a couple of A4 files for my paperwork. Nipped in and got my black cartridge refilled for a tenner and got a six pack of stamps. Sent off my begging letter to my landlord too, just waiting for the fallout now...:eek:

Came home, did two loads of washing, put them out to dry and had a quick tidy up around the house. Last night, sat down and wrote a letter to about three-quarters of my creditors offering token payments while I save up for a DRO (I think). Tidied up my desk too so it looks a bit smarter now.

Today is more recycling and the boys are having an extra training session this afternoon before Sunday's big cup game.

benbenandme

Mart I'm gonna be brutally honest with you, hope you're not offended ... Is the valance still in the packaging? If so, head straight back to asda with it and get your £9 back, if thigns are as tight as they seem then that £9 can be much more wisely spent, start it off as an emergency fund, put it towards rent or football (dont risk losing that income), any of those things are more vital right now than a valance. Keep the wrong colour one and let it bug you and every time it bugs you let it act as a reminder and motivator as to why you want to get yourself out of this situation Hope I haven't spoken out of turn, I'm just commenting based on what you've written. Happy new year and hope its a more financially sound one for you :beer:

Smart_Mart

benbenandme wrote: »

Mart I'm gonna be brutally honest with you, hope you're not offended ... Is the valance still in the packaging? If so, head straight back to asda with it and get your £9 back, if thigns are as tight as they seem then that £9 can be much more wisely spent, start it off as an emergency fund, put it towards rent or football (dont risk losing that income), any of those things are more vital right now than a valance. Keep the wrong colour one and let it bug you and every time it bugs you let it act as a reminder and motivator as to why you want to get yourself out of this situation Hope I haven't spoken out of turn, I'm just commenting based on what you've written. Happy new year and hope its a more financially sound one for you :beer:

Hi BB, happy new year to you and the little man....:beer:

You haven't spoken out of turn at all or offended me; I wish I had your drive, enthusiasm and commitment when it comes to money...:T. I also wish I took the time to understand matched betting as that would help too!:rolleyes:

It's out of its packaging now and I slept on it last night so it's no-go to a refund, I'm afraid. I take your point though about it acting as a motivator though - good idea.

Don't ever think that you're speaking out of turn, BB. I really appreciate your thoughts and comments whenever you post them. Thanks a lot for posting...:T

Smart_Mart

Turned out to be a decent day in the end.

After the earlier post, did pretty much all the recycling... just have a little bit to do later. Settled up the car insurance and the TV Licence, both of which were overdue, just the electricity bill to go. Tossing a coin whether to have a key meter fitted; would rather not but it might help me budget.

The twins mum dropped them round at 2pm and I took them to football training almost straightaway. Got soaking wet so bathed them and gave them their favourite tea when we got back. Took the decorations down tonight and packed them away in the spare room. Front room now looks very bare but much tidier...:T

Have arranged another celebrity interview for next week, a DJ who used to be on Radio 1 but is now on 6 Music. Interviewing him on Monday lunchtime....:D

Just chilling at this precise moment and umming and aahing about taking my Plenty Of Fish profile down as it seems not to be working....:rolleyes::p