Eager Elephant's Effective Everyday Excursion ...

Eager_Elephant

Thank Brizzled - I have more motivation at the moment and I think it is down to the NST challenge!!


I am now up to 3/21 NSD's.


I paid £90 to the credit card yesterday so all my interest bearing debt should now be on 0% - statement due any day so I can check.


I also popped to H&M today and got myself some skinny black jeans with my gift card - I gave to charity my last pair as they were too big so pleased I got some more.

Abz12

Well done on your NSDs and making the CC payment so it's all on 0%!

Eager_Elephant

Shameless copy and paste from the NST thread (but want to keep my own diary updated as well):


1. I will aim for 21 no spend days. Up to 8 so far with only 16 days left (inc today which will be a spend day). So I need 13 NSD’s out of 15 – I’m going to give it a good try!!

2. I need to concentrate on my main credit card – I have £107 at 27.5% and £1030 at 0%. I want to pay at least £100 to this to clear the high interest part (£7.77 came out by DD today) and by the end of the month if I haven’t spent all my bus fares/parking budget I will move this across. I paid £100 to my credit card and will know in 2 weeks how much is left of my bus fare/parking budget.

3. I want to stick to my 2016 budget and with DH (finally) on board I think we can buy our current home in the next few years. Money has been paid in to Help 2Buy ISA’s this month by us both.

4. I often read my subscribed threads every day but rarely post – this month I will. I think I have missed one day when I didn’t post as I had a committee meeting which finished late.

5. I already play the East Anglian Air Ambulance charity lottery which is £8.68 per month (just started but hoping to win as the odds are very good). I will donate £5 to SULSAR as they came out 2 years ago to help find my husband when he went missing (mental health issues). £5 paid to SULSAR

6. I must start meeting up with my best friend every month like we used to – I know she is away in the middle of Jan so will suggest a meet up at the end. I also have a committee meeting in a pub so will definitely need money for a drink and another meeting at a caf! so may need money for drinks as food provided. Think that’s it although we have panto on Saturday – tickets purchased at the weekend, may grab tea when we leave (my children are deprived and want McDonalds!!).
It is DD’s birthday tomorrow, the birthday person gets to pick the meal and she wants Chinese (although will buy tonight as they don’t open NYD and then that won’t count as a January spend!!) The committee meeting in a pub was cancelled, the one at a caf! provided drink (as well as food) and my friend is still away and no plans to meet up yet but will arrange as it is her birthday next week.

7. We have spent most of our grocery budget on Xmas – we have loads of food and drink left and only £100 in the budget to last until 25/1/16 so this is what I will stick to. Loyalty points/vouchers cashed in for Xmas so will start building this up again for Xmas 2016. Still got £11 left which will be spend today on bread, butter, milk and veg – I fear I might go over slightly.

8. This could be interesting – not sure where I can get something for free but I will try. I got 2 lattes and a brownie at the committee meeting and a client gave me a body lotion set.

9. I need to get back into doing surveys so I pledge to do 80% of the surveys which come into my in box. I do cashback on purchases but this gets donated to SULSAR instead (I only really spend at Xmas and birthdays). I have a reward bank account so I get cashback on DD’s – last month I got £11. I am trying to do surveys each evening – I will check at the end of the month if I can ask for any payouts. I am doing an auditing job at the moment but won’t be paid until Feb.

10. I last checked my credit report years ago and managed to get some things corrected – I have defaulted on my Barclaycard since then so it won’t be pretty!! All checked and not good!!

Savvy_sewing

I am sure you will do fine EE.
If at first you don't succeed .....
I'm not good at the grocery budget at the moment. I keep buying ready meals because I either forget to defrost the meat or I am too tired to bother.

brizzledfw

Hope you're doing OK EE..

and :wave: Mooloo

Eager_Elephant

Another shameless copy and paste from the NST thread - this is the final scores on the doors:


1. I will aim for 21 no spend days. Only managed 16 NSD’s – I know I did not hit target but this is so much better than it would have been if I had not been on this thread.
2. I need to concentrate on my main credit card – I have £107 at 27.5% and £1030 at 0%. I want to pay at least £100 to this to clear the high interest part (£7.77 came out by DD today) and by the end of the month if I haven’t spent all my bus fares/parking budget I will move this across. I paid £100 to my credit card and had to spend £20 on parking so nothing from this budget to go across.


3. I want to stick to my 2016 budget and with DH (finally) on board I think we can buy our current home in the next few years. Money has been paid in to Help 2Buy ISA’s this month by us both plus into other savings accounts we have set up.

4. I often read my subscribed threads every day but rarely post – this month I will. I think I have missed three or four days for various reasons.

5. I already play the East Anglian Air Ambulance charity lottery which is £8.68 per month (just started but hoping to win as the odds are very good). I will donate £5 to SULSAR as they came out 2 years ago to help find my husband when he went missing (mental health issues). £5 paid to SULSAR.

6. I must start meeting up with my best friend every month like we used to – I know she is away in the middle of Jan so will suggest a meet up at the end. I also have a committee meeting in a pub so will definitely need money for a drink and another meeting at a caf! so may need money for drinks as food provided. Think that’s it although we have panto on Saturday – tickets purchased at the weekend, may grab tea when we leave (my children are deprived and want McDonalds!!).
It is DD’s birthday tomorrow, the birthday person gets to pick the meal and she wants Chinese (although will buy tonight as they don’t open NYD and then that won’t count as a January spend!!) The committee meeting in a pub was cancelled, the one at a cafe provided drink (as well as food) and I met up with my friend last week for a meal out.

7. We have spent most of our grocery budget on Xmas – we have loads of food and drink left and only £100 in the budget to last until 25/1/16 so this is what I will stick to. Loyalty points/vouchers cashed in for Xmas so will start building this up again for Xmas 2016. I spent the whole £100 and then went over budget for the last few days until my new budget started. It gets complicated as I have a 4 week budget.

8. This could be interesting – not sure where I can get something for free but I will try. I got 2 lattes and a brownie at the committee meeting, a client gave me a body lotion set and today with my supermarket delivery I got one of my bleaches for free as it had leaked.

9. I need to get back into doing surveys so I pledge to do 80% of the surveys which come into my in box. I do cashback on purchases but this gets donated to SULSAR instead (I only really spend at Xmas and birthdays). I have a reward bank account so I get cashback on DD’s – last month I got £11. I did quite a few surveys but definitely no 80% - I have just cashed out on one of them so that’s a £10 Amazon voucher in the pot, I did my auditing but will get that in Feb.

10. I last checked my credit report years ago and managed to get some things corrected – I have defaulted on my Barclaycard since then so it won’t be pretty!! All checked and not good!!


I feel so accountable on the challenge so I will continue in February.
I must update this thread a bit more but at the moment there is not much debt being paid off - all the spare money is going into savings!!! (including DH's - whoever would have believed I would be saying that after all these years on MSE!!!)

Savvy_sewing

Just keep at it EE.
I've failed dismally this month. Had got the savings all together in one pot only to have to put them towards my business rent as I've been ill all week.

Eager_Elephant

Mooloo wrote: »

Just keep at it EE.
I've failed dismally this month. Had got the savings all together in one pot only to have to put them towards my business rent as I've been ill all week.

I didn't think you failed miserably for January - I think it was an achievement that you had savings to be able to pay the rent and other bills.


We can't help being ill and you need to take it easy until you are better:D

Eager_Elephant

I have been MIA as I was banned!!!
Managed to get it sorted overnight so I am back and raring to go!!


NST: February: Back to Basics.


What is important to you? That is what you will naturally focus on and that is what will take up most of your energy, so choose wisely. Keep your eyes on that goal this month. What will you fill your head with this month? Remove excuses, unsatisfying filler activities (tv, FB, PC time) and dedicate time to your chosen focus. My allotment is very important to me but I can only get up there at weekends as I work full time. I never get the time to watch TV and always have loads to watch on the planner and then panic when it gets full. I will cut down on my computer time and watch some TV with DH and on alternate nights I will go to bed early and read – I so miss reading!!

• Cut back to the basics. Be austere. Definitely back to the basics this month.
• When is your Debt Free Date? How much do you need to pay each month to achieve this? Can you bring this date forward? What are the consequences of not meeting this date? My DFD is far, far away!!! All my debt is on 0%, one ends in about 19mths and the other is a defaulted debt so will always be 0%. I am saving in various pots including a Help2Buy ISA so all spare money will go in here and I will pay off my credit card when the 0% expires. The only consequence of not paying off my 0% is that I will be charged interest which I don’t want so it won’t happen!!

Food: If your cupboards are stuffed, then you are to hone and tone them. Be creative in your concoctions. Downshift brands. Set your budget and stick to it. Can you reduce it by 10% We had managed to eat the cupboards down quite well and I did a monthly shop on 31/1 so we are well stocked again. My budget for 4 weeks is £350 for 4 people. I only have £8.50 to last until 14th Feb.

Every penny has a purpose and a job. Allocate a role to them all. Pay to your debt/savings first. Do not give your money to coffee shops, canteens, vending machines, corner shops, takeaway outlets. Budget before the month starts and ensure you compensate for food, vehicle malfunctions, birthdays, travel, outings. And cut it back to the bone. I have done my YNAB budget and every penny has a job – I just need to update with the DD’s which came out yesterday and move my money into savings.

Buy a homeless person a tea/coffee; donate to a foodbank or the trussell trust; volunteer. I am already on 2 committees so volunteer my time but will donate to a food bank. I don’t buy drinks for homeless people as it encourages them to beg on the streets when we have drop in centres for them to go to and to engage with to get off the streets. (Sorry if this offends but I work with a lot of vulnerable people and I know that the majority of the people on the streets in my town actually have somewhere to live but they beg to fund drug and alcohol habits)

Recharge your batteries. The lighter days are coming. Do what you need to do to lift your mood (that involves no spending…!) Do it 5 times per week. So, clear stuff out and recycle it/give it away/donate it; sort out the paperwork that bothers you; exercise; listen to music; dance. Reading and watching TV will lift my mood as I rarely do it.

Use what you have before replenishing eg toiletries, cleaning products. Use up your freezer and cupboard stocks. Plan your meals. Take your lunch to work every single day you are there. For some reason I have never had excess food, toiletries etc so I only buy what I need for the month and the monthly shop is in so we might look excessive but will all be used by end of Feb.
I have to take my lunch to work every day otherwise I lose a NSD!!

Avoid the virus that puts the over-riding feeling of ‘want’ beyond what you actually ‘need’, that makes us spend, waste food, accumulate debts. Weigh up every spend and if you decide to buy it, keep a note of it in your notebook. I rarely buy anything but may have to get DH an anniversary present!

Reduce your outings. You cannot afford to go out every weekend! Arrange them before the month starts and cut by 1. Can you do it cheaper? I rarely go out – long gone are the nightclubs every weekend!! Hopefully I will meet my friend for a meal again and also it is my anniversary so I think we might go for a meal or maybe get a takeaway.

Yellow stickers are your friend. If you need to use these or can get to a supermarket at the right time, then set yourself no NSD target (but keep within your budget). For those who prefer rules, you have to get 16 NSDs (not lost if you need medication, fuel, regular activities that need paying weekly or only buy reduced items) I need to stay away from supermarkets to keep my NSD’s so I will be aiming for 16 NSD’s.


Who is with me?


I am!!


Thanks apple for running the thread!!

Alice_in_Poorland

Great post EE. Some great positives and good objectives in this post.

Xx