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

Luckycharm_2

Thank you, Hannah, for the best laugh I've had all year.

Sincerely wishing you all the best with your goals.

LCx

dalleDF

Hmmm. Not a good day for being MSE. In fact, several decisions I made today have totally cocked up my budget for the next few months.

1) I gave in and bought those boots, after getting so sick of having cold, wet feet in the snow and nearly falling on my a*se every five minutes. No, I did not need to buy such an expensive pair, but in my defence, they should last me for years like the last ones did, and after shopping around I got them from the US, delivered, for £120 less than they cost in John Lewis. No doubt by the time they arrive all the snow will have gone. Oh well.

2) I was given first refusal on some overtime at work and I passed it on to a junior colleague instead (gritting my teeth while doing so). It seemed only fair though - I did the last lot when it came up, and it really helped me in lieu of a pay rise, which I eventually got. She is not getting one for a while I don't think, is less senior than me so is getting less, and works really hard. So she deserves it more than I do. And giving it to her makes me look like less of a selfish c*nt in front of my boss. It's a pain because I really could have done with that money, having c*cked up my budget so badly with my wanton disregard for money saving.

3) I have been waiting nearly 2 years for an appointment with the best tattoo artist in London (in my opinion anyway!) and finally I am booked in! Which is brilliant, but it means committing to a large project that is going to eat up most of my spare cash for at least the next 7 or 8 months. But it will be worth it in the end. And it's now or never because he will end up with a huge waiting list again very soon.

Day 7:

Number of cigarettes smoked - 0
Bottles of wine drunk - 0
Chocolate eaten - a whole bar! Eek!
Weight gained - 0 lb
Weight lost - 0 lb
Gym visits - 0
Running around in the snow - 45 mins
Cash spent - £1.20 on a sushi wrap, £140 on boots. Eek! Plus however much a lime and soda costs. I'm off to the pub.

dalleDF

Quick update: I have been feeling so guilty about overspending and being so frivolous that I have slashed the food budget in half for the remainder of the month (will live on pulses from the store cupboard) and veggies from the freezer), put £50 into my savings account towards my holiday (I have to book the flights soon or they will go up in price), and paid £9 towards my Egg loan. Every time I have spare cash I have been chucking it at the Egg loan, because I pay £150 towards it minimum every month and I can't wait to get rid of the damn thing and have that £150 to start doing some serious snowballing. So with that small payment the loan is down to £1055. The next payment will take it into three figures! Yay!

In Skinny news, I went to the pub and had half a pint of diet coke and half a pint of orange and lemonade. Low cal, low spend. Wanted a treat when I got home so I had an Options hot choc (the lowest cal make I could find) made with a bit of skimmed milk and water. Bloody lovely. Am watching Half Ton Son on More4 and it is making me feel better about my diet. That poor sod. Imagine eating that amount of junk food every day. Horrendous.

dalleDF

I thought I had ebayed everything possible, but I think I am going to look again. There must be some clothes malingering at the back of my wardbrobe that I can get rid of. All my surplus books, DVDs and CDs have either been sold or are still listed on ebay, Music Magpie, Green Met or Amazon. Just have to get on with reading the unread books so they can go as well!

Am also looking on Gumtree etc for some cheeky part time or freelance work that I can do from home. There are a couple of things that look legitimate but am always a bit dubious about these things. Will just have to be on guard for the moment they ask me for my bank details. Not that they'd get anything out of my bank account anyway. Ha!

Have been feeling quite demoralised in my first week back at work (don't get me wrong, I am grateful to have a job in the current climate. I know many others are not so lucky). So I had a look to see what's around. Answer: not much, except I did see one thing which looks pretty good, good money as well. But it's a one year contract, and no guarantee that it will turn into a permanent job. That makes me slightly nervous. Might apply anyway though, you never know.

In other money news, I paid £1 towards my Egg loan today. I like the idea of the Payment a Day thread, it's nice to be able to see your total debt go down a little bit every day. But when I tried to do it for a whole month I found I got carried away and paid too much, always wanting to take it down to the next nice round number, and before I knew it I had left myself short. So am settling for a Payment Some Days.

I've been reading the Use It Or Lose It thread as well, and am aiming to try to use all my toiletries before I buy any more. God knows I've got enough half empty bottles of shampoo and shower gel knocking around!

In Skinny news, I am still gaining weight, but eating less than usual so I don't know what's going on there. Have been sticking to my meal plan pretty well. Maybe I'm eating more than I think because I'm not smoking. My stomach feels a bit flatter though. No Boot Camp today, next one is on Monday, so will try and go to the gym over the weekend. Still no fags or booze.

Have a good weekend y'all!

Corona007

Hey Hannah, have been having a chuckle reading your diary. Can't say the whole quitting drinking in January think is my cup of tea (only because I know I'd fail miserably) but you seem to have the right frame of mind to do it.

Best of luck with it all. I'm sure if you keep focusing on it and keep posting on here to get some moral support you'll succeed in style.

dalleDF

Thankyou for the encouragement! It's nice to know someone's reading. And if I can give them a giggle that's even better!

dalleDF

Woo hoo! Weighed myself this morning and I have lost 3lbs overnight! Are my scales broken perhaps? Belly feels flatter as well even though I have just had brekkie. Yay! Goals for the weekend:

- Do some yoga in the living room (there must be some instructional vids on YouTube right?)

- List as much stuff as possible on ebay

- Do the washing up

- Go to the market for cheap fruit and veg

- Make a vat of stew with pulses and pearl barley in it for lunches next week

- Go to the gym

- Apply for 2 jobs

Last night I had my first Friday night in without booze in god knows how long! And I hardly thought about it actually.

Right, have to stop watching Gok Wan and start doing productive things so I can feel smug later on. Yay!

mancbird

Hiya Hannah :hello:

Your diary has given me a good giggle It sounds like you got into debt in pretty much the same way as I did. It makes me shake my head in amazement at all the money I wasted at uni , I'm paying for it now though :rolleyes: I'm another one who is having a dry month in January; me and my fiance are trying for a baby so I have decided to give up alcohol. It's good to know that I'm not the only one making a sober start to the new year :A

Anywat, just wanted to wish you luck on your debt free journey.

Mancbird

dalleDF

Hey Mancbird, thanks for the encouragement. Hope your dry Jan is going well. And good luck with the baby plans!

dalleDF

Well I had quite a productive day yesterday, but today I looked at the budget (again) for the next few months and it does not look good at all.

The good news:

Things done:

- Laundry (gym kit and sheets)
- Hand wash laundry
- Washing up (then flatmate dumped a load of dirty plates in the sink which are still sitting there)
- Cleaned kitchen
- Meal planner and shopping list for coming week
- Listed perfume on ebay
- Written first draft of job application
- 30 mins of yoga
- Discovered there is a Lidl not too far away, so went there for cheap fruit and veg

Also had a lovely day seeing some girlfriends.

The bad news:

- Ate some chips yesterday and a croissant this morning (both of which my friend brought round so I blame her for this lapse.)
- Result = weight gain of 1lb
- I have a budget deficit, and the only things that can be squeezed anymore to make the books balance are the fun things, namely my holiday, my hair, and my tattoo. Nooooooo! And it means a tiny food budget and no going out until about May. Boo.

I am going to have to start buying scratchcards or something I think!
I know that what I need to do is grow up and realise that I can't have everything. I have to shorten the length or reduce the frequency of my tattoo sessions for starters. I need to read the I Want It Now thread for inspiration. Actually, what I might do is list my Uggs (currently in transit) on ebay because I should be able to make a profit on them since I got them cheap, and then buy myself a cheaper pair from somewhere else. That would be a sensible thing to do. So I probably won't do it.