Get organised for 2011

cally6008

Kicking myself as will be starting the year having bank charges. Never mind, they will be beaten into submission and leave us be.

On a good note, my affiliate amount got to the magic £20 so I can expect a payment from them within the next 3 months, lol ... long story, short version is company makes excuses for non payment and payment runs are often late, I don't want to leave them as my main affiliate is only with them and that's the one I get the most pennies from.

cally6008

1 Jan 2011

A no spend day for me personally

A no heating day for the house, we've even had the windows open on the latch today

miss_empty_piggy

Sat and thought about this and discovered:

1. wrote in diary
2. Listed lots of things on ebay (had some bids and purchases):j

Things still to do:
1. work out yearly/monthly budgets (very important)
2. get some life insurance
3. check out AA subscription as have free RAC with my bank account
4. transfer some interest-bearing debt to 0% card I have
5. Look for another 0% card to transfer more interest bearing debt
6.check out all of the other benefits I get from my bank account rather than paying twice
7. type up tenancy agreement in case I decide to rent out house and move in with boyfriend (he is nagging now).

So, although sitting here feeling rather smug with my BEAUTIFUL diary, I need to actually DO something more productive than just watching the watchers and screaming "make a bl****y bid will you". :rotfl:

I am realistic (today) and will attempt to do at least ONE thing off my list, as I know I'll not achieve much more than that! Am also pleased that I have found the "view last unread post" or something like that, as this will save me at least 5 or 6 minutes a day trying to remember where was I up to?
Have a great day everyone. x:)

Changingme

Can you tell me how to find the last read post thing as I,ve not worked it out yet not very good as this soet of thing.
Thanks.:o

lauradora

Thanks for this fab idea were on it!

david_hellier

Plan a spending diary in 2011 to prevent overspend. The encouragement of overspending by the banks is the main problem with the economy, and they will look for ways to perpetuate this, for example by the introduction of contactless cards. The complete elimination of paper money is their long term aim so we as consumers must pay hawkish attention to exactly how much is available to spend.

One of the best ways to tackle this is to use the weekly subtraction method. Firstly work out all your income. If your income is monthly then divide this by 4.33, this will give you your weekly income. Note it.

Then work out your monthly essential outgoings, but exclude food (more later). Divide this by 4.33 to give you your weekly out goings. Note it.

Take the outgoing figure from the incoming figure. This is the weekly Start amount available to spend on anything else including food.

Get any little notebook ( a spending diary) and write the Start figure in it at the start of the week. As you spend or withdraw cash deduct it as you go. Try to get to the end of the week with some left in it and carry this forward to the next week and add it to the new Start figure.

Using this method ensures you do not overspend. I suggest you include food in the Start figure because the amount we spend on it can vary widely. My personal experience shows allowing a specific amount for food is impractical, however, it's up to you.

This method also requires you to effectively ignore your bank balance, because it is meaningless on a day to day basis. What you should see is it increasing steadily.

Also remember to include any OD charges, interest or other fees in the essential outgoing list, otherwise overspending will continue.

Other top tips: stop using credit cards for further spending and make FIXED repayments, never the minimum.

I have an excel spreadsheet which can work out the Start figure if you PM me with an email address.

Wishing you all a happy new, prosperous, debt free New Year.

Dave

cally6008

2012 diary are for sale in B+M for just 89p, various sizes, various prices.

MiaowMiaow

cally6008 wrote: »

2012 diary are for sale in B+M for just 89p, various sizes, various prices.

Love this idea! Thanks for the tip Cally :)