My money saving ways

La_escocesa

Well hello there Diaryland :santa2:

Welcome to my literary corner of the DFW world

My first diary - Money Saving Musings - saw me through the first stage of my journey towards a debt-free lifestyle. Towards the end, my diary got full of wedding prep so I thought I should start a new diary, especially now I'm all newly wed and all that

Anyway, back to business...

Last year, I started out with a massivo credit card and ended every month in my overdraft - had just over £5k to clear. I'm thankfully outta the overdraft lifestyle but still got some credit cardness to contend with... It's currently at £3.5k between me and OH. Hopefully going to get this cleared by April 2011... Ambitious? Perhaps... We'll see. Gotta aim for the stars and all that - never know where you might land.

So what steps am I taking and what else am I going to do???

• I'm on the small things thread every day - come join us
• Joined the Virtual Sealed Pot challenge :cool:
• Taking lunch to work as often as I can and not spending my salary in my lunch breaks
• Trying to reign in my spending on toiletries (Lush is my vice!)

My diary will more than likely consist of lots of lists that I'll go through and tick of as I go. I love lists and they keep me focussed!

I'm also hoping it'll be a positive place where I can record and mull over what I do do/want to do, rather than ponder on the things that aren't happening/can't happen for one reason or another (mainly because of the current lack of cash situ...)

So here goes! I'm firmly back on the band wagon!

Come along for the ride! (And please pick me up if I fall off )

:beer:

jwil

Hi La Escocesa :wave:

Happy new diary!

To be CC free by April would be a fantastic result, you can do it!

La_escocesa

Hi jwil! :santa2: thanks for dropping by!

No yoga tonight so time for a wee update...

I bought a CD but then saw that sis already has it. Just noticed on the receipt that H M V only give exchanges tho'. Guess I can just get a credit note and then put it towards something for DH's bday in Feb...

Also need to take something else back...:o I seem to have lost my hat - I've got a bad habit of keeping my hat in the hood of my coat but think I must've gone out with it in there and then it's blown out! Bought some head band things but decided I'm going to knit one instead and take back the two new ones I bought...£20 saved that way and hopefully I can knit it up tonight. We'll see if I've got enough wool.

Need to check all my banking and everything tonight. See where I am for the weekend. Pay day on Monday too :T

La_escocesa

Just watching Christmas or Bust? on Tonight on ITV. Oooh, interesting times.:money:

La_escocesa

OMG! First Christmas I can remember when I've not used my credit card!!!! :j:j

Greenqueen_2

Yes I watched this programme tonight. How sad were the couple in South Scotland? Couldn`t afford to have Christmas they said, so they were not doing anything. I`m sure the voice over man said they had tree/decorations in the loft?---it would`nt cost anything to bring them downstairs and how come they didn`t have any cards to display if they had shelves full last year? I think there is more to that tale than we were told--just that he works for public sector so his job MAY be under threat. Well, I worked in PS and my job has already gone (finish date 31 Dec), but I have not let it deter my Christmas spirit. Our 20yr old artificial tree will be coming out again and I`ll decorate the house with home-made/sourced bits which cost nothing. Yes Christmas is expensive, but only as much as you let it be.

La_escocesa

Hi Greenqueen, yeah, that's exactly what I thought! I bet they filmed in October/November before they wouldn't have put up decorations anyway. And I so get what you mean, they should've introduced them to the other couple who were making the homemade hampers and finding new ways of doing things that didn't cost so much.

When the other couple came on (who pay every spare penny towards their mortgage) I was seeing elements of myself! I guess it's just what my generation does now only difference being I also managed to work up a little £5k of debt on top of that! Grrr to home improvements, eh?!

La_escocesa

La_escocesa wrote: »

Also need to take something else back...:o I seem to have lost my hat - I've got a bad habit of keeping my hat in the hood of my coat but think I must've gone out with it in there and then it's blown out! Bought some head band things but decided I'm going to knit one instead and take back the two new ones I bought...£20 saved that way and hopefully I can knit it up tonight. We'll see if I've got enough wool.

Need to check all my banking and everything tonight. See where I am for the weekend. Pay day on Monday too :T

Hmmm, just found my hat! ...in the basket I keep it in...funny how I can't find things when I've put them away in the proper place :rotfl:

determined_new_ms

hey ecsy!!! Saw ur ole diary on the board & thought I'd pop in! Am routing for you on clearing the cc next year - you can do it! Think I'm going to start a diary for Jan for my spending diet... Hope you stay outta trouble today x

La_escocesa

It's payday on Monday so I better think about what I'm going to do...

• Money in bank: £100 (and expected £20 to be refunded)
• Money in purse: £51.50
• CC#1: £5 odds - clears in full on 30th
• CC#2: £3452.82 :eek:

So plan for CC#2 is this:

1. Pay off £120 from current a/c
2. Pay £51.50 from my purse, or however much I have left (Grandad's birthday meal tomorrow and we're not sure if we need to pay for it... )
3. Usual £400 payment
4. £650 payment when cheque clears

So that's £1221.50 off my card before Christmas :T

And no credit card bill in January!! :T

pixiechick99

Hey mrs, just found your new diary....slow on the uptake, moi?!:D

I love new diaries...might start a new one myself, have very little motivation to update mine right now:(

Fab news on the credit card payment this month - that's loads, well done you:)

And you post as many lists as you like....I love lists too, could write a list of the lists I like to write:rotfl: Food to buy, meal plans, presents to buy, housework to do, college work to do (thats a long one;))....and the list goes on;)