Roxies £3K diary - help!

rubber_soul

_party_ Happy birthday! Hope you have a lovely day _party_

net78

Happy Birthday Roxie
I'm in the same boat about 3k cc debt plus 10k on bank loan £300 on cat/next etc.
Husband was out of work for several months now back on track as he has began working for himself.
I'm trying hard not to slip into our old spending habits but have to keep reminding hubbie we can't/do spend like we used too!

RoxieW

Hello everyone! Thank you all for the kind birthday wishes. Ive had a very lovely day despite being on a tight budget. Normally we would go for a big day out with the kids and Dale and I would have a big night out together so we'd spend about £200 minimum. However today we went for coffee and cake in my favourite cafe, to the park and then rented a DVD. I used a voucher for that lol. So the day cost about £15. buts it's still been nice. And vie got a big box of choccies to look forward to(:

I also spent £5 on 5 DVDs for the week for the boys which should hopefully go a way to keeping them occupied on not so nice days. It's a good deal as I have a card which when stamped 8 times we get a free grown up rental which are normally 4.50.

The only sag in the day was opening my gift from OH which was a £500 iPad. It's a luxury that we can't afford but he cant take it back as he's already tinkered with it and he won't sell it on eBay. He bought it before all this kicked off as I'm a writer and spend a fair amount of time on trains to meeting but I'd held off buying a laptop due to the cost. So it will get used. I just cant help thinking that all this scraping around for vouchers and ebaying is kind of pointless when he will just go an spend on extravagant OTT gifts - however well meant they are. But it's done now and its time for a fresh start.

We've had a fair few arguments about money these past few days but I think we're both just trying to find our feet. He feels like I've betrayed his trust and I feel resentful at being treat like it's all my fault. I really hate not having my cards and him taking control of the money for personal reasons from bad past experience but that's my issue and I can see that thngs have to change and this might actually work.

Tomorrow I'm taking my oldest to his regular hospital app and also return a bracelet in town so here comes e big challenge - shops! Wish me luck!

vasseur

Hi Roxie and Happy Birthday!

I'm glad you've had a nice day, try not to think that just because something doesn't cost much it can't be fun. I don't think I spent anything on my birthday this year. My DD and I went for a really long walk in the country then went and watched England lose to Germany . I still had a lovely day though!

You'll get used to things really you will and in time you will start to get a buzz from knowing you've bought something for the best possible price. I have become obsessive about it in fact!

If your OH is getting you down, rather than him just shouting off that you need to cut back, get him to do the weeks food shop for less than £100. He might not seem so controlling after all that

Have fun with your iPad though - my sis has got one and I think they're great.

I've just started my own diary and it really does help to write down what you're up to - keeps you focussed. I'll subscribe to yours anyway, it's nice to keep up with how everyone else is getting on.

P x

RoxieW

Hello all. Well have been out since 9 n just finished waiting at the hosp. My tummy is well and truly grumbling so going to take the boys for McDonald's before we set off home. 4 happy meals for a tenner lol. I brought drinks n fruit with us this morning. Though I left my flask of. Coffee by the front door. I haven't bought one though.
Then its trek home and take my middle child to a party. Already bought the gift. Oh and I'm also returning one of my birthday gifts. I got 3 lovely bracelets from friends but am gonna return one n get something to put away for a Xmas gift for someone. Just sssh don't tell my friend!
Also I hate my ipad

Ceniza

Happy belated birthday! Good luck with the £3k challenge!

jo1972

RoxieW wrote: »

Also I hate my ipad

What's wrong with it Roxie? I want one!!

vasseur

RoxieW wrote: »

Also I hate my ipad

Oh no! Is it because it's been bought on credit or do you really hate using it? I suppose they're a bit like Marmite - you either love 'em or hate 'em....

kirstyjessen

Great to hear how you are getting along am subscribing as it really good to know how to do this kind of thing it may be hard soemtimes but worth it in the long one x

Mags30

Hi Roxie

Despite the arguments your husband sounds nice, any bloke who buys you an ipad has to be nice! So sorry you aren't enjoying it, lots of gadgets just take a bit of getting used to.

Please don't feel bad about using it for money reasons, it's clearly perfect for your job and lifestyle and was bought with the best of intentions. See it as a reminder of how fab the husband is rather than another expense.

If it was me I would also remind him that while he's buying you expensive things like that he is definitely contributing to the money problems when he could have bought a bottle of perfume for £50.

You seem to frequent coffee shops and cafes, how about signing up to mystery shop these outlets? Sounds like you are out and about a lot so you should be able to fit in a few other mystery shopping jobs too. It won't make you rich but it would refund you the money you are spending on eating out. You could probably even fill in the reports on the ipad. Check out the mystery shopping threads on the "Up your income" board on here.