OberonSH's DFW Diary Thread - 1 Woman, 1 Toddler & A Whole Lotta Debt!

OberonSH

Noooo - we should tell our kids - there for the grace of the gods goes you dad............

David with tears down his cheeks - you know he's crying cos I have Lovely Boyfriend.....

OberonSH

Evening chickies, chickettes, chickidees & hamsters.

It's been a mad old few days, guys. my little spreadsheets have been making me rather happy - worked out I should be debt free in 2 years at the rate I'm paying off!!! 35k in 2 years is not bad going, but it does mean I'm really skint all the time. Then the same amount of money that goes on debts is going into our Savings pot to save for the move to florida. Reckon after selling all our stuff, the business and saving like mad for the 3 years after we both get debt free we should have about £160k ($280,000 US) to buy/set up business, pay all related visa fees and live on for a year or so. Those are happy numbers. I'd rather srcimp and save for 5 years, pay everything off and have a real shot at a new life on the other side of the planet.

How about you? Do you tighten the belt to the point of cutting off your circulation for X amount of years, or take the saving slower & allow yourself treats but have longer to your DFD?

DD wa a bit teary at nursery today, not sure why but was happy enough when we got home. Think she just missed The Mummy & The Not Mummy(LB). 25 days til my absolute, shame unlike Hope_strong I'm not getting a big payout, just the satisfaction of not having The Weasel From Mars in our lives any more. Don;t get me wrong; I don't feel married, or anything, but it's like putting a line under it - I can forget about him. Though I am considering sending him a letter asking for the money he owes me for the car, insurance & laptop - that £3.5k would come in nicely. He doesn't have any money, but even a tenner a week will go towards the debts he left.

Business slow today, was bored out my brains all day. Taking my lappy to work tomorrow to get some work done.

Right, I'm off chickies, got the usual mountain of ebaying to do, then a bath and early night I think.

PeachPickle

God you seem so organised! Really don't know how you do it You're great you are

I may have cried at Dr Who too... I don't usually cry at tv stuff, but I just couldn't not! It was soooo good

How about you? Do you tighten the belt to the point of cutting off your circulation for X amount of years, or take the saving slower & allow yourself treats but have longer to your DFD?

I think that right now, I'm too far in the second direction but I'm working my way back to a (hopefully) happy balance

gallygirl

God girl, you're wearing us out!!! At this rate you'll be a millionaire by 30!!!

You really are an inspiration, keep it up!!!!!

OberonSH

*written to '!!!!!! Cheney's Got a Gun' (twisted tunes)*

Evening chickies.

I am very positive today. I am a happy debt free wannabe. In fact, we're not wannabes - we're gonnabes!!! Getting closer and closer every day. Who was it that said she'd worked out a spreadsheet to show to the hour when her morgage would be paid off? TO THE HOUR, ladies and gents. Edge away, and do not break eye contact. Hands up anyone else with an insane amount of spreadsheets??!! Yes, you at the back - hand up so we can all see.

After having read the post about shifting the debt diaries I'm going to start trying to include a tip of the day (assuming that brains in gear) - at least then peope who come in halfway go away feeling happy and not at all puzzled by the ramblings.

Slow day in the shop, but took my lunch, so no overspend there - totally offset by having to get a £8 taxi into town as missed the bus in, and we'd have been an hour late for nursery!! Business is picking up though, slowly but surely. Thank goodness. Had some crazy person try and buy my fixtures and fittings, and todays Bizarre Request Of The Day (tm) came from an obviously crazy old man who asked me for hooks to hold carrier bags on Old Lady Trolleys. Um, noticable lack of hardware type products in my store. I could have sold him a bit of wool to tie them on with....

Took my lappy to work, and spent the day getting dressmaking patterns ready for upload tonight, thus freeing up time tonight to clean kitchen, have a bath and go to bed early, instead of having to be up all night messing about with listings. Got child with me tomorrow, so no change of any work, but that's okay. 5p listing day on thursday, but thursdays I go out, so will have to list them at lunchtime - prefer to have my auctions ending in the evening, but hey, I'm saving at least 15p a listing.

Well, night night, chicks, remember tomorrow is another day closer to your debt free date.

Right - Tip of the Day - Stick something inspiration to your fridge, bank cards, in your change purse, your forehead if it helps. Something to remind you why you're doing this. For me it's a picture of my dream home abroad. Then everytime I reach for my wallet it's there - 'Do you want that magazine, or this house?'. For you it may be a symbol of a happier less stresed you, or a holiday paid in cash with the family. Maybe being able to buy a house, or treat the kids.

Mrs_A.

obi what a fab idea having a tip for the day.
my diary is soooo boring compared to evryone elses
but i suppose its just for my benefit really
keep up your brilliant work
ps can i have a photo of your shop to stick im my purse please
regards
mrs a

ZTD

OberonSH wrote:

Hands up anyone else with an insane amount of spreadsheets??!! Yes, you at the back - hand up so we can all see.

In my defence, it started off small and simple, then I got bored and creeping featuritis took over.

Now it's huge and complex, a victim of "Pimp my Calculations".

jessicamb

ZTD wrote:

In my defence, it started off small and simple, then I got bored and creeping featuritis took over.

Now it's huge and complex, a victim of "Pimp my Calculations".

I also have to hold my hand up to 'pimp my calculations' but I do it for a job!

I'll have to start the bar high with a fully formatted pivot table with groupings and custom calculations and a few whizzy macros linked from multiple sources.

I'm off to update my CV now because pimp my calcs sounds soooo much better than financial modelling.

I have to admit though at home I'm 'pimped' out and tend to resort to pen and paper.

OberonSH

Mrs A - I'll send you a pic of my current 'average customer' instead, in a bid to make you see sense . Lets call her Mrs Wool. Mrs Wool is somewhere between 60 and 160, and wears what only can be described as charity shop rejects. In this heat the preferred perfume of cats, strong tea and a million Meals On Wheels dinners has been oversome by a wave of Eau De Unwashed Granny.

She has cats. Oh so many cats. Sometimes dogs, but most usally cats. Hairy, shedding, not-house-trained specimens that make a Siberian Tiger look like a terrified vole. These monstrous feline horrors are referred to (frequently) as Mr Tibbles, Fluffy or Blacky - even if they're not black. You must remember the cat's names, toilet habits and birthdays, or risk offending Mrs Wool. Offending Mrs Wool means spending the rest of your life getting evils from evrey old lady you meet for the rest of your life, and mutters of 'Cat Hater' every time you go near them.

This is Mrs Wool. She will frequent your shop, and will expect nothing short of the best service and constant attention, despite the fact that the shop is packed and she always picks the same wool and never spends over £1.60. Should you ever not have exactly what she wants (whether it exists or not) she will huff, puff and make comments just short of actually being rude, but enough to get your hackles right up.

So Mrs A. Please, don't do it. And if Mrs Wool and her hundreds of cronies haven't put you off, watch this space, cos if you fancy moving to Lincolnshire there may be wool shop up for sale in the not too distant future...

Evening chickies, quick one as I've a ton of stuff to do. Bad day at shop, took £20. Child was sick just as we were about to get on the bus, and I'm knackered. Slime ball from Planet Og was ont eh phone last night, and that always usets me. Still, I treated myself to a thai curry sauce (39p) and am enjoying yellow thai curry mince and noodles before cleaning the kitchen before LB comes over. Cheque to one of my main suppliers bounced today, but ont he upside I've paid off my sofa ad matress, so that's one debt down. Worked out I've paid nearly 2k off my debts since I started, I have no idea how, but that makes me feel better.

Picked up a bottle of cheap plonk for B&M's - got it got the blurb on the back mentioned an indian myth about the seventh moon - basically this represents joy at the end of a well travelled journey - that's what we're aiming for peeps!! Seventh Moon. Plus it tastes pretty nice.

I will atempt to update more Friday, when I'm not so knackered. Love to you all, I'm really proud of te lot of you.

Obi

PS Tip of the Day - Never ever go food shopping hungry. This makes you put stuff in the basket you wouldn't consider usually. Take your list (done from your militant meal planning) and stick to it. If somethign I was going to buy is reduced or on offer, I allow myself the saving on some little treat like a mag or some new ingredient to play with. Last time I got a bottle of rosewater. Any ideas?

ZTD

jessicamb wrote:

I also have to hold my hand up to 'pimp my calculations' but I do it for a job!

Well, that's the story of my life. I think I'm doing OK, then some pro comes along and flashes her bits, and I'm left standing there - inadequate... (*sniffle*)

jessicamb wrote:

I'll have to start the bar high with a fully formatted pivot table

I must confess, I use pivot tables vary rarely. I've learned from bitter experience to push most of the calculation back to the database backend. This stems from when I absentmindedly tried to drop 6 million rows into Excel. :eek:

I'm not sure if the squeak that I heard was: Excel laughing as it died; Excel screaming as it died; or Excel whimpering as it died.

jessicamb wrote:

with groupings

Ha! Groupings! Twice ha! I do groupings in my sleep. Thrice ha!

jessicamb wrote:

and custom calculations and a few whizzy macros linked from multiple sources.

Ooh macros! I don't think I've used macros in anger since VBA came out. Though that's probably showing my age...

jessicamb wrote:

I'm off to update my CV now because pimp my calcs sounds soooo much better than financial modelling.

I have to admit though at home I'm 'pimped' out and tend to resort to pen and paper.

Strangely, I'm the other way round. My work spreadsheets tend to be transient, and a means towards an end, (rather than a final product) so I spend virtually no time on them. My mortgage spreadsheet will be with me for some time...

But, we'd better stop talking about spreadsheets, or Obi will become cross about us hijaking her thread (sounds like she's had a bad enough day already :grouphug:) and will set Mrs. Wool onto us. :eek:

P.S. And mines bigger than yours - pppttthhhhpptttt!!!!!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: