A sense of the past explains the present and foretells the future

saorsie

Hi Holmes & thank you for your good wishes. Hopefully all is hunky-dory now with H*lifax however I have noticed that they reduced my credit limit when I allegedly late paid and it has not been increased again - yeah like I really care! Will definitely be closing that account in March 2011 when the 0% promotion ends - though to be fair I did get earn £20 cashback for opening it through Qu*dco so I shouldn't really grumble too much

Well payday today and it wasn't a bad wee offering so it's all been divided up and herded away into separate virtual pots for various monthly spends and longer term savings. According to my spreadsheets I have about £250 unaccounted for (before any additional moneymaking scheme pay outs throughout the month) however I am not strong enough to shovel that straight across into my ISA to pay off H*lifax in one foul swoop I mean what would happen if ....... errr.......... or just in case errrr .......... that occurred - I am such a wimp!

-s-

saorsie

Well after an unplanned and quite random de-clutter session this afternoon, I sorted out some unwanted gold jewellery, took it to a local jewellers and got £105 for it - thank you very much! It was stuff that I haven't worn for years and though one or two pieces did have sentimental value it wasn't sufficient enough for me to hang onto them.

I think it must have been a more emotive de-clutter than I thought as whilst walking (obviously - gas guzzler still abandoned down some local street ) into town en route to jewellers, my thoughts turned to wardrobe matters and the initial stirrings of an idea started to form around capsule outfits etc, mmmmmmm workwear and off duty, seasonal etc etc. I have not touched my 'clothing allowance' for a few months as I've restricted myself to wearing stuff that I already have and also altering my previous mindset ie 'must have a new top to go out in', or 'oooooh those shoes are reduced I must buy them as they're such a bargain'. I'm now thinking a lot clearer and starting to realise that certain items form my core wardrobe and other stuff needs to work with these. Mmmmmmm still a way to go to achieve 'Gok's 23(?) items to form a capsule wardrobe' goal so guessing the clothing budget is safe for a while longer as the strategy is still in the planning stages

Blew an NSD today by caving into fish and chips with friends this evening - but they were yummy so that's allowed

Now only got £125 to add to ISA to clear H*lifax 0% - then it's full steam ahead on the bike fund :j well 15mph actually as that is the legal top speed!

-s-

saorsie

Right up an' at 'em - off to divide the wardrobe into workwear/non-workwear - think that's a good place to start.

Hasty list also needs to be written before a trip to Ald* - I am a virgin visitor to this establishment (well that's a fib actually, when I lived in Germany 25 years ago that was 'the supermarket', I never realised I was ahead of my time!) and there isn't one in the beautiful cathedral city of Lincoln, so going with friends, one of which is a fanatical Ald*/Netto/L*dl or Laldetto as it's colloquially known so hopefully will be able to guide me to the bargaintastic offers - still got £35 odd from last months food budget remaining (have not told OH as he may feel a W*itrose shop pending to fuel his addiction :eek:) so can feel a little store cupboard stocking pending.

Laters

-s-

saorsie

Well yesterday's shopping extravaganza was a little disappointing in a way in that I really struggled to spend money :cool: Thinking the MSE mindset is sooooooo deep-routed now, I can't bear to part with it even for essentials like food, I actually walked out of W*itrose with an empty basket as had sneaked in there for a timely '3pm on a Sunday - beg me to take your going out of date produce off your hands for 10p' mission but to no avail and was sooooo shocked at their over inflated prices I refused to buy anything.

Declared an NSD today already so can't possibly spend anything otherwise I will have to come back and confess my indiscretion.Am also working overtime covering for a colleague today and tomorrow so that will be going on my timesheet before month end.

Wardrobe sorting went well yesterday and will still be hanging onto my clothing allowance fund as there really is nothing I desperately need in either work or non-work section. Am assimilating a few ideas for the 'capsule wardrobe' though, more for non work as I just need to look smart not power suited, so will keep a look out in case any charity shop bargain falls into my lap - though clearly not today as that will defeat the object of an NSD

-s-

saorsie

Well yesterdays NSD went out the window for the sake of a Daily Express - princely sum 40p However the eagle-eyed amongst us will have spotted on Martin's e mail the voucher contained within for £5 off a £30 spend at L*dl - too good an opportunity to miss and obviously well worth foresaking this months NSD total for..... ish!

Have now started on OH's wardrobe organisation - much easier than mine as he wears uniform for work {'allo, allo, allo :cool:} however I will no longer listen to his plaintive cries of 'I've nothing to wear' as 6 pairs of jeans, 5 formal shirts, 8 smart casual shirts, a casual jacket and a duffel coat, a pair of smart trousers + 2 pairs walking trousers and a suit are all neatly arranged together and that is not even starting on the t-shirts, sweatshirts, tops etc that are folded in drawers - think he was vaguely surprised to be honest, probably more at the speed of the sorting if the truth be known!

Well the ISA / Halifax 0% fund is now showing below £100 outstanding which should easily be achievable this month so will then be fullsteam ahead on the e-bike fund. Have decided that amazon vouchers as survey rewards etc are the way forward from now on rather than cash as they usually pay out more and I can 'save' them up for the things I need - first on the list being a M*gimix food processor - pricey purchase at £115 for a small basic one but will hopefully be an investment buy.

Have started an Amazon Wish List so there will always be something pending and it will be sort of like getting the things I need 'for free' or at least that's the way I'm looking at it Just need to apply myself to the Doo Yoo challenge now to get there a little quicker.

-s-

saorsie

Kicked off August with a NSD - am determined to hit my target of 15 this month - failure is not an option! :mad:

Just won £6 odd on the new J*ckpot J*y free game which was unexpected as I was just formulating the opinion that it wasn't as profitable as my old friend, the monkey - sooooo have withdrawn £11 which should wing its way to my personal account this week some time, whence it can be instantly swiped to ISA to bring the Halifax target that little bit closer. Gonna inject a little personal competitiveness into the proceedings and see if I can pay it off by the end of this week Currently stands at £78.48 ....... and we're off!!

Footie season starts again next weekend so will be back to m*tched b*tting with avengance - this will be the first time ever in 47 years that I have a) known when the season starts and b) err cared!

Water bill has arrived and despite all my best efforts at water conservation they are putting my DD up by £5 from September :mad: how has this happened?! I have been showering with a bucket at my side for the past two weeks to water the plants - what more can a girl do!!

Day off tomorrow so will be meal-planning and shopping list formulating, then heading off to L*dls to spend my £5 voucher. To release the full advantage of the freebie fiver coupon, I shall transfer the virtual additional £5 spent from the food budget into my ISA, it's a weird thing but it just makes me feel as though I'm actually benefiting directly.

Need to fly now and bung at least 3 things in a charity bag to put out for tomorrow - the wardrobe de-clutter still continues and have decided to spend *some* of the clothing budget getting a pair of trousers taken in at the tailors and a pair of sandals heeled - not as exciting as buying new I guess but both these items are part of the capsule non work wardrobe and will continue to give good service for a fair few seasons I hope so well worth the £20 odd outlay.

-s-

saorsie

B*%&**r just lost a whole post, how maddening is that?! :mad:
Soooooooo must must must resist the urge to label a column on the budgetting spreadsheet 'clothing and footwear repairs'

Have managed to herd an additional £20 to the Halifax 0% fund from some creative accounting - £5 from the L*dl grocery spends voucher - well should technically be £4.60 as the newspaper was 40p but we'll not split hairs and the remaining £15 came out of the 'presents' budget as I paid for a friends birthday gift using a giftcard I had so was able to liberate the equivalent and swipe it across. Countdown total now stands at £58.48 so still on target for a big fat zero at the end of the week


Have had a bargain-tastic grocery shop today involving no less than three shops, so should have enough provisions in for the next 10 days or so and with nearly £90 left in food budget the future is indeed looking bright :T

Have also been trying out a freebie (well 75p towards p&p so not quite nil charge) sample of soapnuts http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/id20.html and have to say am quite impressed and at 3p per load (apparently) am voting them very MSE :money:- they also proved an effective cleaner of the patio area by default - Yes, I've been doing that water collecting thing from the washing machine again <yaa boo Angli*n W*ter, you can't keep me down>

-s-

saorsie

A lovely £29.73 to A/C this morning fron the wonderful people at Qu*dco so that has gone whizzing off to the ISA and brought the target total down to £28.75 - got £11 to come from j*ckpotjoy and still awaiting £20 cheque from o2 world cup goals so if that arrives I will reach my target - if not I shall have to get a bit more creative, perhaps a m*tched b*t or a local paper ad for some 'treasure' that is no longer required.

In work this afternoon for a meeting and covering a colleagues absence so that will be an additional £35 odd in next months pay packet.

Off to shower - accompanied by my bucket!

Laters

-s-

jo1972

Yoohoo :wave:

saorsie

Hey Jo :hello: - right back at ya, thanks for stopping by

-s-