diary of a spendaholic (reforming!)

Iriahm

I hope it is ok but i'm starting this post to make sure I stay on the spending straight and narrow as I am soooo easily led.

so far this weekend I have:
bought packed lunch bag and ice pack as no fridge at work (thanks to those who suggested this). Spent £3.98
bought food for week for OH and I. Spent £24 at farmers market, butchers and sainsburys :A
spent gift vouchers in TopShop and Gap buying clothes for work. Spent £0!! woohoo!
Put £2 coins into piggy bank: £6
Emptied rest of coins into cookie jar: £6.26 (stops me buying rubbish at work)
Leaving me with: £2 bus fare only

unfortunately I have the dentist this week and the bill is going to be at least £200 due to needing 3 fillings (first fillings of my life :eek: )

thanks for reading!

CosmoCat

welcome to MSE

well done on everything you've already done and all the best for what's to come.

Iriahm

morning,

monday went very well having only taken the required bus fare to work with me. Had to withdraw £20 from bank (£10 for petrol for dentist trip :-( ) and £8 for rest of weeks buses to work. Had to spend £1 on bridge toll (to visit new kitten) and put £1 in cookie jar.

I already have one cat and lost a kitten last year so waited a wee while but Sooty is very lonely and the cost of having a wee one isn't considerable (insurance is £3 a month). I know, im a dafty but i love my animals! very excited - only 7 weeks til she arrives!!

going to hospital today to see consultant for closure on car accident injuries. Hopefully a year on, I can now get my compensation. Had to take 6 months off work as a result of injuries, which made debt situation worse. fingers and toes x

spent so far today: £0!!
cookie jar: £7.21
£2 piggy: £6

keep smiling folks, life is too short, we're all gonna get there with each others amazing support

Xxx

Iriahm

ok, last couple of days haven't been that good.

Tuesday: got invited to the cinema and had to pay £2 for parking (but nothing for cinema) so thats Friday's bus fare's gone! lol! good night out tho...

Wednesday: bought Pets at Home complete cat food on recommendation of a breeder who says its made by one of the "trusted" brands like Hills but for 1/3 of the price. Cat is very happy with it. spent £20 and bought lunch on the go £4 :-( £5 petrol.

dentist cost me £200 and i need another 2 appointments. Been looking at dental insurance but they all seem to be a rip off. My cats insurance covers him for more and thats only £3.50 a month!! any advice??

today: spent £2 on cranberry juice (not feeling too great so hopefully this will do the trick). brough packed lunch.

thanks

Floss

My cat (Stanley, aged approx 12) absolutely loves the Pets at Home dry food for the more mature cat - he's more active, looks healthier & it doesn't smell! :j

Iriahm

after a very positive start last week I have managed to:

drastically cut my weekly spending to £5 budget
signed up for a bus pass. cost £50 but monthly will save £10 per month from August.

but this weekend really annoyed me as I didn't achieve any of ebay things i needed to do/organising paper work that is massively outstanding and I spent a lot of money that I didn't need to.

It was my brother in laws graduation and we had 2 dinners, lots of drinks etc. 1 dinner and drinks were paid for by the in-laws (thanks!) but the other was a spontaneious (spelling??) evening that was ok, but as I don't drink that much and don't eat out that often I really didn't enjoy it. dinner was £30 each that i really didn't have.

Then because I felt bad I did the worst thing: shopped.

went to costco in a vain attempt to save money! bought large packs of pitta breads, small chocolate bars, orange juices etc for 5 weeks packed lunches. but then got taken in by offers on batteries (I am a Guide leader and need them for camp next week) and other stuff. Then had to go to Ikea for a few bits for camp which was a disaster for the savings. I also emptied my piggy bank but managed to leave my £2 box alone (still £6)

then on sunday i spent the entire day doing nothing in the sunshine. it was good to relax but i was stressing about how much i had to do in the house. OH wanted me to relax for a day but it didn't really help.

overall as a result of my strict controlled spending I have binged this weekend. its like i have an eating problem with money! is this normal?!

Rallya

Iriahm, I love reading your diary, please keep it up

I cant give much advice myself as I have only found this board myself recently, maybe one of the "MSE Oldies" will be along soon to give advice

cmjohnson_86

Dont worry about spending too much over the weekend, everyone needs a break from Saving saving and saving. I spent almost £300 cos it was my gf bday and went to a rave on sat Now feeling depressed. But nevermind..

Anyway keep posting its really good reading

Iriahm

thanks for the support guys, i guess after all my initial savings i felt bad about spending

i'm in the process of moving banks as i'm claiming a lot of charges back and now considering getting a cash only account so can't spend and getting a prepay visa or mastercard. Does anyone have any experience of these cards. Cash plus costs you £4.99 a month and you can load it with whatever you want and its also useful when abroad (i wish!). It also looks like a "proper" credit/debit card as apposed to a visa electron which still gets some people saying "whats this? we dinnae accept that one LUV"!

any experiences gratefully received!

lessonlearned

welcome to mse - you've come to the right place for help and advice.

Sorry to hear about your huge dental bill - £200 is a lot of money but then to be honest it doesn't buy a lot of dental treatment. I notice you still have more treatment to go. Do you know how much this is likely to cost.

I've got Denplan costs £21-55 a month but to be honest it has saved me thousands over the years - I have got "problem" teeth and am therefore on quite a high monthly charge. The lowest rate - which my son is on costs £12 and he has already saved a small fortune on treatment.

It might be worth looking into a bit more - it sounds as if you might be racking up some hefty dental bills.

The other alternative is one of those insurance policies such as HSA or similar that allow you to claim back some of your costs.

They are a bit cheaper than Denplan and you can also claim for optician's bills and prescriptions.

Anyway best of luck.

My son who is 20 pays £12 a month which nonest dennblyour ilplavge def me

elantan

hi just caught onto your thread:o just wanted to wish you all the best and give any support i can (still learning though) you've came to the right place for help ...good luck with it all