Reach for the stars...

niccatw

So, if I had my own way right now, without any effort on my part, I'd be able to complete all the work on my ever-expanding scroll of things I want to do to my wee flat; I'd currently be on some holiday forum discussing the merits of Marrakesh versus Mauitias; I'd be working part-time; actually have started yoga classes; be able to work my sewing machine; never have energy sapping sinus infections ever again; be on top of my work and my course; have a toned tummy, and a funny, handsome man. And any money sitting in the bank would be waiting to be saved or spent as I saw fit...

But hey, wouldn't that make for a journey I took a little bit too much for granted, wouldn't it?

So the reality is - I'm human! Shock horror! (And I don't want to be because I saw Avatar last night and I want to live where they live!) And I don't want to be always thinking "!!!!!!, that was a tenner for a movie at the Imax. Should have paid that to trhe credit card..."

But that's what brought me here - it's been a long time since I kept a diary, but given how well I know I am at procrastinating (things not quite started yet: the spending diary, the yoga, working my sewing machine; the course...) I think nothing short of a public flogging will get me into gear...

And so my story begins...

This, the 2010 crazy crab clothes challenge (I have a charity shop clothing addiction...), the long-hauler's thread, the oldstyle moneysaving forum and - naturally - the DFW froum are just some of the supports I'll be relying on along the way!

And to help me on my merry way, I did eventually bring my SOA bang up to to date today! If you're interested, it's here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2245393. Feel free to be brutal - I need the objectivity!

Tomorrow I will be be giving my some of my hard earned cash to an electrician rather than my credit card - but one day in the the not-too-distant future I might even have an emergency account; a girl can but dream

niccatw

Activated my card for my new Alliance & Leicester account today - and was talked into CCP card protection - so kinda cancels out the free £100 for switching. I suppose it's sensible though, given the amount of cards I've got!

Feel very grown-up today, had two elctrician's come to give me quotes on wiring up my new oven. My old one sparked and died, luckily my folks have just fitted a new kitchen so I got their old one. But it doesn't wire in to a normal socket so this months credit card overpayment will be going to the electrician. I did however get to hammer out the old casing and use my power tools so it's all good

Bought a wee book to start my spending diary too - it's sitting next to a wee pile of receipts; it suddenly became imperitve for me to do anything but work out what I've spent since my pay went in on the 28th! On the plus side, I put two cheques into the bank from my second job. I'm hoping I can put at least a couple of hundred towards my credit card as the 0% is up in April and it's still sitting at £900ish. Can't wait until I can update that on my sig.

I guess I should get some sleep, the electrician is coming first thing in the morning and I'm soooo not a morning person! (I have warned him of that already though. He said he was used to grumpness; he was married :rotfl:. Guess he wouldn't be laughing if his wife heard him say that!!!)

Lula-Hula

Hello :hello:

Happy New Diary & I hope you dont mind me subscribing ?

How you want your life to be sounds similar to how I would like mine to be too. As to yoga hmmm, in summer I bounce out of bed & easily do half an hour, last few months I've been using that half hour to wake up & convice myself that getting out of bed is good .

Oh & I have sewing machine too, it's ancient & I bough it for it's beauty & was full of plans to make curtains, clothes, cushion covers etc etc ... I turned a pair of ill fitting jeans into skinny ones, but have to say there's no sign of curtains yet I actually bought a couple of cushions last week :shhh:

Good luck with electrican tomorrow

niccatw

Thanks Lula-Hula! I have now got a list of yoga classes from my local leisure centre and the girl at reception was very good at telling which were were "gentle" and "sweaty" yoga classes. Need to have my induction before I can book a class though - that's booked in for Friday. It's amazing what you can get done when you are not at work - if only I could get paid my wage without working!

You also sound a bit more up to speed with your sewing machine than I am with mine - it takes me ages to figure the tension. I don't know how many times I've broken a needle without even noticing! Apparently there's a sewing group near me some-where so I shouls maybe hunt them out and see if I can get some expert advice!

The electrician is currently messing up my kitchen! He was an hour late but that's mostly my fault for telling him to give me a shout before he arrived as I'm not a morning person. Did manage to tell myself to get out of bed early this morning despite the freezing cold. And did the mundane things, like putting away the washing, while waiting for him - and managed to loose my mobile somewhere in that pile so when he called to check I was up, I didn't answer :rotfl:Oops!

And now my living room radiator is leaking pretty badly - argh! That's causing the boiler to lose pressure so I guess I need to look into fixing that! I'll be doing ok on curbing that charity shop addiction - I'll have no money left over for anything at this rate - much less clothes

Ok, can't refrain any longer, need to go and check what the electrician is up to!

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Do as your diary heading says and you will be absolutely A1. I just love that title! Well done on your progress so far and keep going!

niccatw

Thank you positive and focused! I intend to do that - and to remain as your your user name suggests!

It's the little things that excite me - just came off the phone to Northern Rock. They've agreed to put all my mortgage overpayment towards the unsecured part on my loan instead of splitting it pro rata between the mortgagae and the loan. Woo hoo - that's almost £100 overpayment on the loan and as soon as it's gone, I can remortgage if I need or want to.

Should I really be this excited at such things! Hopefully the confirmation is winging it's way to me via good old Royal Mail as we speak!

Kayleighpea

Hiya niccatw,

It's perfectly fine to be happy about the little things! I get over-excited when I find 10p down the back of the sofa :rotfl:

Good luck with your diary & getting towards being debt free!

niccatw

Woo hoo, the electrician was cheaper than I'd bargained for :T - but that does now mean there's £40 cash stashed away and I know it's there!

So I figured, if I tell you all about it and challenge myself, it might last longer!!!!

Challenge: How many days will I last before breaking into that £40?"!!!

I'm aiming for 15th February - that's the day my friend will be visiting from the Isle of Wight. If I can keep it to then, I can have a guilt free day with her (but hopefully still keep that clothes challenge at nil! ). Even though we all know it should really go to that pesky credit card.

niccatw

I was so close to having a NSD day today, but had to pay a whole, bank-breaking 20p for parking at the doctors. I was hoping I could maybe make up for it tomorrow but I've just realised I'll need to pick up my prescription. Ah well!

I never thought I'd say it, but I love my doctor; she's fab! From some-one who has spent years trying to sort out sinus problems and getting no-where, I'd kinda given up trying (got sent home from my hospital bed a few years ago as the consultant decided he wouldn't operate as it hadn't been him that saw me in pre-op! Pah! Hadn't been near the doctors since!)

But since I'd been feeling pretty rubbish for a while - stuff going on at work, stuff going on with family, stuff going on with friends, stuff going on with money (or lack thereof) - life, I think they call it! - I figured it was about time I did something. I realised I wasn't coping very well with normal things and was getting more irritable and snappy with every-one (totally unlike me!), getting into work on time was a nightmare (and I don't need to start until 9.30am!) and I wasn't eating properly or regularly. But I guess you just think, I'm a grown-up, I should be coping with these things, every-one else is...

Anyway, long story short, my doctor is one of those lovely doctors that are always bright and bubbly, she actively listened, explained what she thought was going on and what my options are. And so I'm currently off with anxiety - and I don't thing any-one is more surprised than me! But waht a bloody relief - I'm not going mad at all, I just have low seritonin levels.

It kinda paralles my DFW journey - now I've done the hard bit, I'm working out what steps I need to take next to help me on my way - and make sure my poor, wee clients aren't left in the hands of my colleagues too long

So I'm off the the gym tomorrow for my induction. I can't see me sticking to the gym all that well, but they do yoga clesses, so at long last I might actually get around to starting that up! My mum might pass out if I tell her - she's been trying to get me to go for years

Phew! Don't know where all that came from; guess I had to get it off my chest!

:T:T:T Wake-up, wake-up, if you're still with me

Oh by the way, the £40 is still intact! And my Bank of Scotland account is now closed - woohoo! They wouldn't reduce my £1000 overdraft because I hadn't been in credit long enough! What craziness is that? So it's closed - because, as we all know, we can resit anything but temptation :rotfl:

niccatw

Just paid off 336.73 to my MBNA credit card (so it's now at an even £600). Woo hoo. Need to get rid of this quickly because the 0% is about to run out - and because I want another creditor scored off my list!

And I've two minutes to update my sig if I want to be in bed by midnight (I might turn into a pumpkin otherwise!)

meerkats

Hey Nicca!

Found your diary!! You're doing brill.....keep it up.

Am off to subscribe...



Meerkats