2011...............and I'm still learning!

Snowdonlily

So far so good

I'm approaching half a NSD here...........I've been to the Bank and the Post Office wearing invisible blinkers to pass the lovely shops along the way :j

So far the £30 remains intact and safely tucked away in my purse!

I'm having tea at my parents' house today with DS1 + girlfriend and DS3. DS2 phoned to say he won't be there, he's going to the sales, but he might call in the shop on the way to say hi!:T

Something nice happened to me this morning. I'd lost touch with a friend over the last year, but after a few text messages and phone calls over Christmas, we're back in touch. I'd told her all about the split and about new BF. Anyway, she popped into the shop today with a NY card for me and the boys, but she'd also put BF's name on the card. Now, I know that this is just a tiny little thing, but for me its a huge gesture and means the world

I sent Christmas cards to all the "friends" I saw regularly before the split and not one of them sent one back.

It just goes to show, you may think you know who your friends are, but you don't always get it right!

katie2407

Just want to wish you luck . You sound really positive.
I have been doing surveys on Toluna for a while now and managing to order a voucher approx every 10 days, the only thing about them is they take over 8 weeks to get delivered

maman

Lovely story about your friend SL. She must have bought that NY card specially, what a nice lady. You'll appreciate your 'real' friends all the more. But don't think too badly of all the old ones, who knows what ex is telling them.

Remember what I told you in December, your budget is do-able. Sadly, there are lots on here with far less than that to feed a young family. Pleased you've got money put aside for ski clothes. Anything else to pay or is that all left for food/petrol etc? Write yourself a budget planner including meal plans and shopping lists. Use up anything you've got in the cupboards/freezer and remember you'll need picnic food for when you're out walking. Oh and cut tube in half and eke out every bit of that foundation!!:rotfl:

Snowdonlily

Hi Maman. you're right, I'm very lucky compared to some people here and the budget will be very tight but doable.

Out of the £279 i need to pay the following:-

1. £50 to H towards DS3's upkeep. Not giving more this month as I'm paying for all his skiing gear.
2. £15 for DS3's phone.
3. £35 for my phone.
4. £20 Denplan.

Total outgoings:- £120

Which leaves £159 for petrol and food :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Everything else is paid for. I also have £30 cash in my purse, still untouched :T

I've always liked a challenge, so lets see how long this money remains untouched!

I have about £100 in ebay sales so far, but the plan is to transfer this into my backup fund and leave it there IF I can.

Great idea with the foundation, I'll definitely try that.

Had a lovely evening at my parents house with the boys. I'll be so sorry to see them go back to Uni

Sassers - I had a look at that website...............its great, I can get my magazine fix for nothing now :T

Hope everyone else is ok x

maman

Well done for taking on the challenge. What's absolutely great is that you have the ebay money as a back up and none of it will be on credit!!

I'm planning to fill up the car this weekend because I assume come Monday the prices will go up (again:mad:) because of VAT rise. I'm not certain about this but there probably is VAT on fuel???

Oh and I would allow yourself a little treat of a notebook (assuming your last one is full) or a file for your spending diary/meal plans etc or you could get a cheapie one and cover it yourself.

Snowdonlily

Hi everyone

Maman - I have the diary ready and waiting. I bought it a while back, a lovely pink one and a lovely pink pen.

Bit of a panic at work today, we've got a burst water pipe.....water dripping everywhere :eek::eek:

Head Office is closed till after New Year so I've had to phone the local plumber, who can't come until tomorrow. He's really busy apparently, so I'm lucky he can do it at all! I've turned the water off at the mains and got buckets all over the place (thankfully in places where the public don't go!). Nothing else I can do at the moment.

The bosses are a bit fussy about which contractors they use, so I'll probably get it in the neck for using someone I shouldn't. If I leave it till next week there'll be serious damage done so they'll just have to like it or lump it.

BF wants to go for an Indian tomorrow night, then see the New Year in together at my place. I love the idea, but also love the thought of keeping that money in my purse..............don't know what to do! I'm a Libran and can never make up my mind

Today will be another NSD although I have spent £45.64 on petrol for the car, but I don't count that 'cos that's an essential

Nothing much else to report except that I'm almost half way to a voucher with Toluna.

Katie - a voucher every 10 days is really good going :T

maman

Well done for sorting out the plumbing problem. Hopefully Head Office will see that it was better to get it sorted PDQ than use their favoured contractor.

For NYE, I was going to suggest a compromise in that you could go for an Indian (not usually the most expensive of meals out) and drink very little. Then go home and drink more there which is always cheaper than restaurant prices. It does seem a shame not to go out on NYE when you have the chance. Is BF in on your reasons for economising?

Snowdonlily

Morning everyone, hi Maman

We've decided to do what you were suggesting. We've booked a table for 7.30, then its straight back here

Yes, he knows all about it. He's much worse off than me and can't really afford to be spending too much either. I won't go into too much detail now, but two months after he separated from his wife two years ago he found out that she'd run up huge debts in his name amounting to over £26k. Because they're in his name, she can get away with not paying back a penny :mad:

It makes me so mad, 'cos he's such a nice guy. At the moment, he's only making token payments to each card, but I've persuaded him that he needs to do something about it and he's managed to get an appointment with the CAB in early January. You can't believe how difficult its been to get him an appointment with the debt counsellor - they must be overwhelmed!

Snowdonlily

Just updated my sig - the loan is now down to £18,556.20 and have transferred £1.77 to the Virtual Sealed Pot......every little helps!!

maman

Snowdonlily wrote: »

Morning everyone, hi Maman

We've decided to do what you were suggesting. We've booked a table for 7.30, then its straight back here

Yes, he knows all about it. He's much worse off than me and can't really afford to be spending too much either. I won't go into too much detail now, but two months after he separated from his wife two years ago he found out that she'd run up huge debts in his name amounting to over £26k. Because they're in his name, she can get away with not paying back a penny :mad:

It makes me so mad, 'cos he's such a nice guy. At the moment, he's only making token payments to each card, but I've persuaded him that he needs to do something about it and he's managed to get an appointment with the CAB in early January. You can't believe how difficult its been to get him an appointment with the debt counsellor - they must be overwhelmed!

That's a horrible story about the behaviour of BF's ex. It's an appalling anachronism (get me;)) that a wife can run up debts in a husband's name like that and get away with it. I'm all for women's rights and that means taking the rough with the smooth. You can't have independence when it suits and see men as meal tickets at the same time!!!:mad:

Well done on getting him to start sorting it all out. At least you're on the same wavelength as far as spending goes. There are lots of free, fun things you can get up to!;):rotfl:

Have a lovely time tonight.