Operation Sort Stuff Out

Smilerwoman

Thanks for the advice Linz, I'd never heard of TopCashbacks, and I definitely have 5 minutes free in the evenings, so that's very helpful. I'll start tonight.

Sorry to be so down and grumpy today. I was revising my budget last night, putting ticks next to the payments I made, when I sort of started berating myself for allowing things to escalate to this point.

Basically, I really need a break away from my life and the world, so I'm really gearing up for my holiday. Don't berate me for it, I know it's a massive expenditure, but I really need to be away. So all my efforts have been put into trimming down my budget to make sure that every available penny that isn't being spent on debt is being spent on sorting out my holiday fund. I have £15 in £ coins in a jar for sundry airport spends, and £115 ready to go. I've budgeted that by the time I get my September pay cheque, I'll have enough to be able to go away, have some spending money and buy some beach wear.

But then I thought to myself. Yeah, but what happens after that? I have to find money for my MOT. Then there are only two more pay days til Christmas. Then my car insurance is due. And I started to get really angry with myself for spending all my stupid money in the first place. I've given myself a hell of a mountain to climb, and for what? A coffee and a croissant in the morning? I frittered money away and now I'm paying the price and I'm CROSS. :mad:

I suffered a bit from depression mid-year, as a result of my job, and I learnt from experts that it isn't healthy to dwell on things that have past and I need to look to the future. But I'm angry with me. It's a bitter pill to take.

Hey ho. I did a bit of food shopping on the way home, mostly for tomorrow night's tea, cos I'm intending to have a NSD tomorrow. Fingers crossed and Linz, thanks for the tip!

linz

The liligo clicks are new, and they prob won't be around forever, so do them as many days as you can sooner rather than later. You could also think about joining cashbackkings.com. It's along the same lines of topcashback and has the liligo clicks and moneysupermarket.com. On there you can do the moneysupermarket one daily! I've heard there is a limit of 10 times, so free £20 after 10 days, but I don't know if it's true yet as i'm on 9/£18

See how you get on with topcashback and if you get to grips with it try cashbackkings aswell and remember to click through to a retailer or the cashback won't track

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

I'm with TopCashBack and haven't seen much in the way of cash back for car insurance...I just renewed mine last week and didn't get any cash back

Thanks for clearing up the fact that you have to click through to a retailer linz. I used the comparison sites for my insurance and only one tracked, musn't have clicked through on them all!

Smilerwoman

Very sleepy tonight. But managed to pull off a NSD today, so that makes 7:j.

It was tough today. I was HUNGRY. And I've been feeling a bit down in the dumps. Hopefully a good night's sleep will sort me out.

I did do something sensible today though, so I'm very pleased. I reduced the credit limit on my Barclaycard, by £500. So there is absolutely no chance that I will go into that debt again.

savingholmes

Hi just popping along to wish you good luck on your journey

well done for lowering your limit too. I am looking forward to the day when I can cancel most of my cards rather than keep them open in case I need to transfer 0% balances

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Well done for lowering the limit :T

Have answered your question about the student loan over in my diary!

clippy_girl

Smilerwoman wrote: »

I've given myself a hell of a mountain to climb, and for what? A coffee and a croissant in the morning? I frittered money away and now I'm paying the price and I'm CROSS. :mad:

i can totally relate to this it sounds so silly when you put it into perspective of how much debt you are in but it is so true. i am the same with buying my lunch as i regularly cant be bothered to make it (even when i have bought food for this reason) so just buy it at work. costs £4 which isnt a massive amount but eventually it adds up.

i dont regret alot of my debt as i have done a lot of travellng straight from uni so did not save up first. i have done amazing things and have good memories.

however i do regret frittering away money on lunch, coffee etc... since i have been working as i could have used it to repay the debt. i dont look back and think that that £300 i have spent on jacket potatoes this year was worth it!!

i have started doing mystery shopping to make extra money. the thread on here is very useful.

Smilerwoman

Hi Clippy,

I'm trying to remain positive, because I know that dwelling on my previous stupidity isn't really going to help me deal with the debt. But I'm irritated because, like you say, it's ridiculous how much of an indent I could have made with my debt had I got up half an hour earlier, to eat breakfast at home. Or if I'd got up off my backside at night to make my sandwiches for the next day, rather than watching Coronation Street.

I'm only in my mid-twenties and I don't want to be faced with this debt by the time I want to settle down, buy a house, get married and have children.

However, I do feel that I've learnt lessons from that, and that's a good thing. Like today. I overspent a tiny bit in my food budget, but got a load of things for work this week, so hopefully can go for a couple of NSD.

One bad thing - I've got to go away on a work conference next weekend. Because it's work, I can claim it back on expenses so none of the money I'll be spending will be MY money. But I will have to spend it first and then claim it. Which puts a bit of a dampener on my NSD target. Eek.

Smilerwoman

I have spent pretty much the entire afternoon browsing MSE. :eek: So no ironing done, but I didn't spend any money!

One thing I have learnt today is that solidarity is a wonderful thing. Browsing other people's threads made me realise how important this site is. So thanks people, for keeping me on the straight and narrow these past few weeks.

Oh, and I got my cheque from my old bank account, with £1.43 in it. Not much, and I felt v embarrassed putting it in the bank! But I've moved £1.43 to my Barclaycard. Every little helps, as they say!:rotfl:

Smilerwoman

OMG. Went to see Toy Story 3 today. It is WONDERFUL.:j May have cried a teeny tiny bit

Drove to the pictures, parked for free and got discounted tickets with a voucher I had, so only £4.50 spent so far. UNTIL. I got to the concessions stand, and had to buy some Ben and Jerry's. Do not feel guilty because it was gorgeous and I am £7 under budget anyway (well, not anymore!)

Aiming for a NSD tomorrow, got everything sorted for work and hopefully will not spend any cash!

Also, Pennies, had a nightmare with the student loans people. Took about a million years to get through, then when I did, she locked me out of my account! Still, deep deep breaths.:D