Debt Free by 40 Debt Diary

oakdale_minx

Back to the studying methekidsandthecat!!!!

Hit £400 on AQA yesterday. Brain felt like a big pile of spaghetti afterwards, but glad I ploughed on. Four more days of the month left, I'm going to aim for £450 by the end of Thursday.

Had a bit of a panic this morning. Have to pay for the work on the car today and couldn't find the £50 my Mum and Dad had given me :eek:

Started to think it had dropped out of my purse because I remembered folding it small and knew it wasn't in the main part of my purse because I'd cleared it out yesterday when I was seeing how much money I had.

Gave a big 'phew' when I found it tucked away in a little pocket of my purse I don't normally use. :rolleyes:

oakdale_minx

Got my quarterly gas/electric joint bill today and I'm only £51 in debit. By the next quarter bill I will have paid off the amount I owed them from when I stupidly decided to switch companies because I thought i'd save money get a big final bill and then have to go back to them to be able to pay it off. Anyhow, my joint fuel bill should go down by about £25 a month when I get my next bill in February.

I'll have got to the end of my mobile contract by then as well, which I'll be ditching in favour of a PAYG. My mobile bill is only £18 a month anyway at the moment, but on PAYG, I don't reckon I'll spend more than £1 a month, tops.

Looking forward to payday on Thursday as my new pay rise will be reflected. I jump up two increments which, as long as i've done my maths right, will mean about an extra £110 a month. Bit of a pain that this month's will go straight on 6 month's car tax, but at least I know I don't have to paythe car tax and then cut back the budget even more than normal to make up for it.

oakdale_minx

I've started having very naughty thoughts........:o :eek:


No, not those kind!!!!!


I started to think this morning about not using all of this month's AQA money for chucking straight at the CC. I had devilish thoughts of keeping some back - as much as half :eek: with it being Christmas - just as a bit of a 'treat' really. Half would be just over £200.

I'm not going to any Christmas lunches/dinners etc, i've turned down all invitations - I couldn't justify a night at a Chinese restaurant that would cost me about £50+++!!

i've still got a couple of presents to buy and thought about using some of it for the presents - sensible surely rather than trying to use my salary which is already all earmarked for the month?

I don't even know what I'd treat myself to if I'm honest - not like me at all! , but I just wanted to cut myself a little slack with it being December, a kind of self-awarded Christmas bonus I guess (well, that's how I'm trying to justify it at the moment!!!)

Stop me!

newcook

oakdale_minx wrote:

I've started having very naughty thoughts........:o :eek:


No, not those kind!!!!!


I started to think this morning about not using all of this month's AQA money for chucking straight at the CC. I had devilish thoughts of keeping some back - as much as half :eek: with it being Christmas - just as a bit of a 'treat' really. Half would be just over £200.

I'm not going to any Christmas lunches/dinners etc, i've turned down all invitations - I couldn't justify a night at a Chinese restaurant that would cost me about £50+++!!

i've still got a couple of presents to buy and thought about using some of it for the presents - sensible surely rather than trying to use my salary which is already all earmarked for the month?

I don't even know what I'd treat myself to if I'm honest - not like me at all! , but I just wanted to cut myself a little slack with it being December, a kind of self-awarded Christmas bonus I guess (well, that's how I'm trying to justify it at the moment!!!)

Stop me!

I think you deserve a treat! dont spend as much as £200 but get something nice for yourself! from what I have read (all of your log!) you have always put others and everything else before you so take say £50 and leave the cards at home (so your not tempted to spend any more) and have a wonder round town! I know I sound like the devil on your shoulder but you have been so good and you deserve it!

oakdale_minx

Well thoughts of being a little devil have gone......smoke from the car again as I was parking and managing to get the bonnet up to see where the smoke (and smell) was meant nursing it to my garage. Apparently (and hopefully) it is the rocker gasket cover.......rocker gasket.......cover rocker gasket?????? well, those three words, but not sure in which order. He can see a little bit of oil dripping and thinks it is going on to the exhaust manifold but because of the design can't see for certain until he takes it apart. Which he can't do until Monday.

I'm guessing I won't blow up, but he did say in theory, if enough oil leaked, it could catch fire???????????? He thinks the few short miles I do each day (5-7) wil mean I am ok and as I haven't caught fire yet, I should be ok........but he wouldn't give any guarantees......

ZTD

oakdale_minx wrote:

Apparently (and hopefully) it is the rocker gasket cover.......rocker gasket.......cover rocker gasket?????? well, those three words, but not sure in which order.

Rocker cover gasket. Goes between your rocker cover and the top of your engine and stops oil coming out through the join - at least that's the theory...

oakdale_minx wrote:

I'm guessing I won't blow up, but he did say in theory, if enough oil leaked, it could catch fire???????????? He thinks the few short miles I do each day (5-7) wil mean I am ok and as I haven't caught fire yet, I should be ok........but he wouldn't give any guarantees......

Take a rag in a plastic bag. Before you start up - pop the bonnet and give it a quick wipe. Assuming you can get to the leak of course.

Might also be a time to get one of those powder extingishers - you should have one anyway.

Don't worry, I know of someone who sprayed WD40 onto a running engine, and still has a car. OK - it wasn't a completely huge fireball - but impressive none-the-less.

oakdale_minx

ZTD wrote:

Might also be a time to get one of those powder extingishers - you should have one anyway.

Whoops....:o ...might have to start my christmas list......:o

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170054694030&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=170052838314&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget
one of these?

ZTD wrote:

Don't worry, I know of someone who sprayed WD40 onto a running engine, and still has a car. OK - it wasn't a completely huge fireball - but impressive none-the-less.

Gulp.:eek:

I lost a car once to a fuel leak which is why I'm extra bothered! Had only just moved here back in 1992 and my ex and me had a Capri (stylish huh?! :cool: ) He was waiting to get the chain ferry back and there was smoke coming from under the bonnet. I wasn't with him, but he had three kids in the car he was bringing back from a schools tennis match (ex is a teacher) Because the chain ferry was by now on his side of the water, it was a 25 mile trip for the Fire Brigade to reach him.....slight write off.........:eek:

ZTD

oakdale_minx wrote:

Whoops....:o ...might have to start my christmas list......:o

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170054694030&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=170052838314&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget
one of these?

Yep, but that seems quite expensive. You could try the high street shops. Some of the discount car shops will probably have it in cheaper.

Including postage - Argos is cheaper...

beanielou

Hiya Om
I may have got this wrong but are you still saving some Tesco vouchers to convert into MFi vouchers?
If so MFI are stopping.
Check it out in Martins email this week

oakdale_minx

ooooh, cheers beanielou. I've converted mine and I'm waiting for a good sale. I'll have a look in a minute.....

Well, got to work in one piece, didn't go bang!

Managed to get a slot for my shopping delivered today so I don't have to drive to the supermarket tonight. Used a £10 off voucher with Asda so got the shopping cheaper anyway.

Okey, dokey, have I got my pay rise.......let's check my online banking......fingers crossed..........oooooooooooh, yes!!!! £1,735!!! That's £210 a month more !!! wow!!!! More than I expected.

Think I'll buy an extinguisher as well......I'll check out argos in a minute.......

Well, the extra £210 means that's 6 months car tax covered that I have to buy today as well as the £70 cheque that went towards the work on the car last week that he will bank tomorrow and should cover the work to stop the oil burning when I have that done on Monday. Excellent.