'I love you but I love ME more' Souk's 2011 diary

Souk08

Hello all. Well here I am almost a year on from when I started my last diary. And what fun we all had so I decided to do another one! Since then my money situation has thankfully changed and I am 6.5K a year better off. However, I love socialising :beer:and spend a lot on this and have lots I want to do this year so hoping that with the help of all my lovely MSE friends I can stay on the straight and narrow and do what I want to do with 2011.

Also my fabby job is up in October (I'm covering mat leave) so I may have to move then. As I have no idea what I will do and where I will be going I am saving £200 a month for a buffer fund so that I can either move cities or stay here in a new job and have a trip to see my sis in Oz with the cash. :j:j:jAs I am carp at saving this money goes via my lovely Mum aka the Chancellor of the Exchequer who will hold it for me. I am also going to be giving her £100 a month for my holiday fund as this WILL be the year I go to Majorca and see all my old pals from my holiday rep days.

Lots more to say but here's a link to the old diary to give you a few ideas

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2164285

Souk08

Some other plans for the year.
Start a theatre fund and put all spare cash (under £1 into it). This will be kept in my wee piggy in the house.
Plan and do something different each month. This can be theatre, cinema, art galleries, visiting a different city or similar.
Have a card stash and keep a proper address book/birthday list so that I can keep contact better and be organised.
Look into getting Sky if/when there’s a good deal on.
Change mobile providers when this contract is up in July to get some cashback to put to either my theatre or holiday fund.
Save for my friends wedding in June by saving the £46 I will be spending a month on my glasses when the glasses payment stops in April i.e 3 x 46 = £138. The hotel is booked and will cost me £80 so I will need to find more for this for booze, a meal the night before the wedding, a gift and a dress etc. Plan to buy the dress and gift with other months money and use most of June spends on this to cover it but can’t leave myself short as I need to have a bit of flex for spontaneous fun. What expensive glasses I hear you say and they are but are a rather smart Paul Smith pair...and I am blind as a bat!
Get fitter as I am quite creaky and prone to sitting on the sofa for hours on end when not at work


And plans for the horrible dreich month that is January:
Start the South Beach Diet and eat fresh and healthy to start the year. Want to lose my belly and the money saved on wine (£14 = 2 bottles a week for 2 weeks on the hardcore phase) will be spent on my panto ticket. We’re getting them cheap from a pal. This takes care of my something different for Jan goal above.
Budget for Jan £420
This is my spends budget for the month after my rent, CT, electric, phone, internet, haircut, opticians payments, buffer savings, loan and OD payments, Lovefilm, contents insurance, mobile, charity payments and grocery spend (£60) are out and just refers to my money for food out and in with friends, booze, cinema and any other bits and bobs.
This is lots BUT I want to buy a flight ticket with it and will have to divide the rest by 5 to cover the month.

hypno06

Happy New Year, Hun - enjoy the ride x

Souk08

Oh and last but not least...about me. I'm a 32 year old retail manger and live in a big city in bonny Scotland. I came back here 3 years ago, NOT to settle down but to have more fun and adventures. :j:j:jI am usually happy and positive as I think you only get one shot at life but I do enjoy a good rant as well! I have done lots this year thanks to the wonderful Memory Girl and her matrix and have lived my dream and gone out on my first personal shop thanks to their encouragement. That's my dream job and something I want to work on this year.

I am kept aloft but my fab MSE friends including Shoe Gal, make up, Lula Hula, Mags 30 and all the ladies of the Matrix.

Oh and the thread title comes from my favourite screen heroine Samantha Jones from the late, great Sex and the City. I too am a single lady and live, love and laugh my way through life. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

happy_money

Hi there!!

I've just subscribed to your thread! I've been a lurker on this forum for a few months now but I've decided that a change is needed for the New Year and I'd love to make some friends to help me through my debt busting!

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on this year

Mags30

:wave:Happy new diary! Glad you decided on the fun Samantha inspired name, that'll get you loads of fans:p

Reading all your plans is so exciting:jjust the sort of positivity that's needed just now with everyone moaning about Christmas stresses and snow/travel problems.

Quick suggestion, if you are getting SKY it comes with a 12 month contract so get it now if you might be moving in a year.

MatyMoo

Happy New Diary Souk :j

Another one tagging along for the ride

Double_Trouble

I think the new title is great and we all need to love ourselves more and thanks to you I do:A

Have a great Christmas

DTxx

NorthernLas

If you have Lovefilm, a Freeview box (or FreeSat) and you socialise a lot, why do you need Sky? Is it like a gym subscription i.e. something that feels sooo good in Jan, but by the end of Feb you are thoroughly bored?

Er, and Mags is right, it comes with a 12 or even 18 month contract

Souk08

MMm interesting re Sky but I WILL look at what kind of offers there are in Jan as I'd love GOLD and UK Style etc IF it's cheap enough as my broadband/landline is about to go up anyway with the VAT so this might work out better for me as a package. I don't have a Freeview box NL and wouldn't be up for paying for one upfront as it would have to come out of a particular months money IYSWIM.

Back later with more.

P.S Hello and welcome to happy_money X

susan946

Hi Souk

Thanks for posting the link on the matrix site. I shall hitch a lift along with you and come along for the ride!!

Sue