The hilariously over-optimistic goals I am setting myself in 2010....

dalleDF

Right, batch cooking done for the evening. Made some Mexican spicy chicken legs and wings, roasted carrots, parsnips and beetroot, and some sausage and cheese eggy mini muffins which will be good for breakfasts for the rest of the week. I wonder if I could freeze them or if they would turn nasty? Also did a little Asian marinade and put that on some more chicken bits for tomorrow, and the carcass is left so we can make stock / soup at the weekend.

Lowered the price on a couple of my eBay things as they don't seem to have attracted much interest so far and I really want to shift them this week.

Finally got an email from freelance man which was full of excuses and maybes. No dice. Have given him a deadline after which I will start small claims court proceedings. No time for messing around.

Managed to get one up on the estate agents by getting in touch with a potential landlady myself (through sleuthing and use of contacts!) so hopefully can bypass the rude, obnoxious, money grabbing scoundrels altogether and do a deal direct with her. That'll learn em.

Today is 40 days without booze, and 14 days till debt free.

dalleDF

Feel rubbish today, full of a cold. Everyone at work has got it so it was only a matter of time really. Busy day today and again tomorrow. Can't wait for the weekend and a bit of downtime.

Bought myself some salted caramel ice cream which was on offer in the shop (£2.60, bargain!) so that is making me feel better at least. Time for a hot bath and an early night.

Obsessively checking eBay and bank balances although nothing much has changed! Waiting for a couple of payments to go out. I am so in the red in YNAB, really need to get some cash in from my ebay sales otherwise I might have to get the bank to extend my overdraft for a week until I get paid to avoid charges. It's more a cashflow problem than a no cash problem, but still, not great. So, in summary, feeling fed up and want this week and this cold to be over ASAP!

juicyjackieb

Glad to hear your being mrs bada$$ with the person that owns you money!!

Just a nosy question, does an overdraft effect your credit rating? I'm not sure? If it does would it be better for your mortgage to dip into your emergency fund for a few weeks rather than adjusting your overdraft? Tackle my old debt is my plan for next year and I'm already dreading clearing my 1k overdraft

dalleDF

Well, the issue is that I can't touch my emergency fund yet or I will lose the 6% interest rate - I have to lock the money in until July. I could pull some money out of my tiny credit union savings account I suppose, or I could reduce one of my DDs which is due to go out in a week. You're right, that is a better solution that extending my overdraft. We'll see how my ebay sales go when they finish tomorrow, it might be ok. I was hoping to last until summer without an actual 'liquid' emergency fund to dip into, but it seems like I do need some ready cash available for times of poor cashflow management like now! At least overdraft is only £500 so should always be manageable.

Some more bad news, I have had to resort to putting a flight and some train tickets on the Barclaycard. Ugh. The reason is that my boyfriend has been able to book some time off work unexpectedly. We had already planned a couple of days in Scotland which is my Xmas present to him, all budgeted for, but we thought we would extend our trip and go and visit our families for a couple of days each as well. It will be lovely but it means have had to book extra travel. Obviously have done it as cheap as possible and through Quidco, and I should get a partial refund on the flights we are no longer taking, so I'm only £30 out of pocket on those, but still it means another £150 to clear off the CC payday. I refuse to add the CC to my signature again, it will just have to vanish on 25th Feb.

Still ill with Man Flu, not even going to get dressed today. House needs hoovering and laundry mountain needs tackling, but I don't feel like doing that either.

dalleDF

Just checked my credit record on Noddle and am happy to see my rating is now 4/5 where before it was 3/5. Good news!

Just called First Direct to close my CC which was a balance transfer card and is now paid off. Can't wait to do that for the Lloyds card as well. I might keep the Barclaycard for times when a credit card is useful (when hiring cars they seem to prefer CCs for some reason), but I think it will be living in a block of ice in the freezer.

Finally got off my butt and did some laundry. Also drinking tea out of one of those massive Sports Direct mugs which holds about a pint. Wonderful.

Hungryhouse is doing 33% off takeout for saddos like me who are home alone on Valentines Day (boyfriend is at work) so I've ordered myself something delicious. He bought me a couple of scratch cards the other day but I didn't win, not a sausage. One of these days though....!

juicyjackieb

Man those sports direct mugs are ugly but so useful! I was thinking I needed to buy a jumbo mug to heat soup up at work and totally forgot they existed so thanks for the reminder I shall pick one up tomorrow, I remember reading a tip somewhere that removes the decal so you can pretend its not from there.... must find it!

Bet it felt great to close that First Direct CC too!! Well done, you are getting there!

dalleDF

They're great aren't they? I do love a pint of tea.

Right, so have managed to sell 2 out of my 3 items on ebay for a reasonable price, cashed out on paypal this morning so my budget is looking a bit better now, no need to extend overdraft.

I cut down my DD to Lloyds card by £100, that is due to go out in a couple of days, so it means I have a bigger chunk to pay off on the 25th to clear it. Hopefully I can do it and not have to extend DFD by another month. I've got to start putting cash aside for moving costs from the end of the month as well, and for our trip away, so it's going to be pretty tough until about May I reckon.

Had to do a Morrisons online shop as we have run out of a lot of stuff. I tend to get the heavy stuff like tins and bottles delivered. Somehow I always seem to spend more than I want to though! You don't seem to get a lot for £40 these days.

dalleDF

Have had yet another Barclaycard balance transfer in the post today, that's about the 4th letter they've sent me in the last couple of months! They actually have an option for you to transfer cash from the credit card straight in to your bank account. That seems like not terribly responsible lending, although I suppose if you have an expensive overdraft to clear it might be worth it. Three years ago I would have maxed that out to get cold hard cash in my current account with no hesitation. How times have changed.

Have had a day of procrastinating and finding it really hard to concentrate on my work. I am constantly worrying about money, juggling figures in my head, checking my balances and adjusting YNAB. Sometimes debt busting really does seem to consume your every waking thought, doesn't it?

juicyjackieb

I've become a prolific balance checker too BUT I'd rather do that than be how I used to with my head buried in the sand. Your debt free day is do close!!!

dalleDF

Well I needn't have bothered changing my DD to Lloyds card in order to balance my budget - they took £445 instead of £145, I have no idea why, I checked online and it is registering the amount I requested! I have another payment going out to day which would send me over my overdraft limit, so have had to call the bank to agree a formal overdraft extension, just for a week until I get paid. Am happy with this though because it means I am saving the £5 a day penalty charges I would have had to pay otherwise. And I would have cleared the Lloyds card this month anyway, it's just annoying that they have done that. Can't wait to close it down forever.

Today is 6 days till DFD.
48 days alcohol free.