Living My Life But(t) N.A.K.E.D.

Swinstie73

Morning peeps (anyone)!

So, £4.05 spent yesterday on toothpaste (£2) and lunch (£2.05), must do better on the lunches at work, but haven't got any fresh bread as not been to do a 'proper' shop.

Currently have £11.35 in my purse and £106.18 in my bank, £50 of which is earmarked for the rest of my Christmas presents. I get paid on Friday so only 3 days to go to stretch my £11.35. Need lunch today but that will just be soup at 80p, lunch tomorrow, soup again then it's the work's canteen Christmas lunch on Thursday at £5.35, so £6.95 in total, leaving £4.40 woo hoo!

I THINK this pay includes travel allowances so should be a bigger wage, it's terrible but as we're paid early I really should not lift any money til Christmas Day (official pay-day) but I can't go a full week on £4.40 (plus the £56.18 still in bank), as I have my night out on Friday (weather dependant) and obviously work next week. I have been having porridge every day for breakfast but going to struggle to stretch a week.

Plan of action - £60.58 in total to do me for a week including night out - it's usually paid for by the guy's but don't want to assume it will be - also need train fare at £4.60. This is not going to work, is it! Away to get my thinking cap on......

urg123

Hey Swinstie,

Sounds like a good plan re money - you've done well considering the weather and all. I'd have been tempted with the dreaded Internet stores! Also well impressed with how well you have got Christmas sorted - still done very little and am claiming denial! Better snap out of it or i'll be one of those silly peeps buying all sorts of crap on Christmas eve!

Sorry - got no ideas for teenagers! Am crap at being creative with those things. Maybe a question on the weddings board might come up with some good ideas.

Waving to you.

Urg x x

Swinstie73

Hey urg *waves*

Plan's not going too great actually, ended up buying scampi for lunch as well yesterday and today bought a latte and two hash browns, oops! Feeling the need for comfort food cos it's so cold.

Had a look at my spending diary which I started on 18th Dec 2009, it is horrendous the amount I have spent on everything except household bills. Shocking is an appropriate word. £11,250 spent!!!

This included petrol at just over £1K, just under £4 for essentials (like food) and non-essentials and £6K spent on my Visa over the year. Also included in this was holiday fares which I paid for OH but he gave me the money, so if I deduct these costs and anything he halved with me i.e. bike carrier, this takes the total spends down to £10.5K.

I've looked closely through the spending diary but haven't dissected it yet, but nothing is jumping out at me as being extravagent. I know for a fact though that I have bought quite a bit of clothes this year (will tot that up later once I get my bravery back). Think I need a wee challenge for 2011 to at least half my spends, oops!

Swinstie73

Been so busy at work today but I'm off on holiday tomorrow, yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back on Monday though so not so good!

Well got work's night out tomorrow, we were talking about where we could go after the dinner, someone mentioned a place in Glasgow called Citation - it's a pub/restaurant in an old court building. Have never heard of it before, so had a wee looksie. Came home tonight to find I have got a Citation of my own - flipping jury duty, how weird is that? Can't do the spooky sounds in text but it's flipping el weirdo!

urg123

Ohhhh - that is weird. Enjoy your party tomorrow night. How do you feel about jury service?

Urg x x

EssexHebridean

If you enjoy your jury service as much as I did mine you'll be alright - I loved it!

Spotted your question further up about wedding favours - no, for evening guests you wouldn't usually be expected to do favours, they'll get their bit of cake to take away presumably, and the guests for the meal as well get favours AND cake.

Swinstie73

Hi guys, got a mixture of trepidation and excitement about jury duty. Would be glad if not picked and a bit nervous if I do. My sister has been on jury duty twice and she loved it too.

Well it's technically pay-day today but the way last December's pay-day worked out (the 18th Dec) that was when I started my year long spending diary, so I'm going to ignore the fact today is pay-day and this will be my last spending diary day. I will start my new one tomorrow and try big time to improve it.

Not counting spends tonight (hopefully won't spend too much), my current yearly expenditure is a colossal £11,319.77 or £10,637.77 if I deduct money OH paid me for his hols etc. That is a huge amount but I haven't had time to dissect it properly to say where the major spends were, so far though it's like this:

£1,164.09 on essential like food, toiletries, household stuff
£2,310.44 on non-essentials such as going out, clothes paid by cash, concert tickets - basically 'extras'
£943.55 on petrol and car costs (MOT etc., was saved up for)
£6,374.38 spent on Visa which included holidays, household stuff such as bbq (which didn't get used this year), CLOTHES - I've not added it up but I'm sure the last time I did it was already around £1K. This also includes wedding things - still to get back around £900 for that.

My mission therefore is to keep another spending diary and try and reduce this amount by AT LEAST 25% if not more.

Current debt (after making Dec payments) will be £1850.00, I have 3 months (til end of March 2011 when my 0% runs out) to pay this off, should be dobable.

Not going to start another diary so will just continue with this one til debt is gone. Wish me luck!!

EssexHebridean

Good Luck!

Swinstie73

Well night out was brill! We (us girls) ended up getting the rest of our meal paid for us, along with our drinks - I only had two thirds of a bottle of Rose and about three voddies, so my total spend for the night was...... £4.25 (for the train). I'm well impressed, especially since my total at the end of my spending diary is £11,324.02.

So have been looking through my spending diary (still scared to add up clothes spends, eek), but my total monthly spends totalled approx £333 per month (spent £4006 for year), which is £78 a month more than I had budgetted for. Maybe my budget was too tight, must have been if I ended up spending that amount more every month. I've therefore increased my monthly spends for essentials and non-essentials to £280 per month which is £3360 for the year, still £646 less than spent this year but I'm sure if I stick to the plan of taking lunches to work and NOT buying clothes then I should manage it.

Petrol will still be £80 per month (or £960 for the year) as this came in right on the nose. Visa spends I will try to keep to an absolute minimum, at least until paid off in March 2011. I will then limit spends to no more than £100 per month. Have tried to look at spends on this but it's too much to trawl through, as it stands now though, I spent £6374 on it (including hols etc., but this is a huge £531 per month. The aim will be to only add (if really needed) £1200 in the year, so it is manageable.

Next year we need to increase the wedding savings slightly and still have the cruise to pay for in September. I also need some dental work which I need started around May, hoping to have saved the money incase it's dearer than I budgetted for. Ok, so Saturday night and all alone, so gonna watch bit tv before I drive myself mad bothering about money already spent!

Swinstie73

Well, the dreaded snow is back! It's windy too though it a bit blizzard like.

Just back from mum's, was getting hair cut so that's me for another six weeks. Only two days since pay-day and one day since the start of my new spending diary and I feel like I've spent loads already. Forgot to pay my sister our Christmas dinner fund money so had £14 to hand over for that, bah!

Anyway, home now and settled in for the night, not venturing out til I have to i.e. work tomorrow. Got loads to do in the house but think gonna relax for an hour and watch a bit tv then get started, once I get going it'll be no problem (I hope).