Drop Debt Diva – ‘Plus-Sized Debts to Plus-Sized Savings’

Sun_Addict

Hi Swinstie

Here's another old face in for the ride! Good luck!

Swinstie73

Well, I got picked! It was soooooooooooooo boring but back tomorrow and possibly Friday so at least it's better than being at work. Me and three other woman walked in together and three out of four were called, what are the chances. So at least I had got talking to a couple of people.

On another note, haven't spent a penny, couldn't, ha! Was actually going to go shopping tonight after work (or court) as I had seen a nice pair of grey trousers in RI that were in the sale, didn't have my size though, but, I decided I wouldn't buy them (or even look) - am I cured???? Probably not but it's a nice thought all the same.

romylou_2

Well done on the strong resolve not spending on the trousers. Good for you, I'm impressed. How are you getting on with the wedding plans?

Swinstie73

Hi romylou,

Wedding plans are going ok, got to go visit the venue in February so will need to decide on numbers for the meal and choices for meal too. We talked about having more people during the day i.e. aunts/uncles but it'll muck up our numbers and the long table we planned won't happen. I've already got ideas (and bought some stuff) for a 20ft long table and I'm loathe to change them, also the extra cost of more people IYSWIM. Only other thing I've done is got my wedding shoes (£9 of ebay) as I didn't want to spend much on ivory shoes I'll never wear again, they are the same height (almost) as my purple ones so will change into these at night.

Well been watching The Biggest Loser (with a cuppa and two - only two chocs), but got the munchies and want more which is why I'm on here. Going to start logging what I eat so I can see where I'm going wrong, this is how it looks so far (well what I can remember):

Jan 1st - Zilcho - was as rough as a badger's you know what so ate nothing - drank some water
Jan 2nd - couple of cups of tea, two tea-biscuits, roast chicken, mashed tatts and veg, 3 Quality St and I think a slice of toast
Jan 3rd - porridge, soup with one slice of bread, 3rd of a beef curry from the chinese with some chips, few cups of tea
Jan 4th - bacon buttie (grilled), bbq pork chop, savoury rice and sweetcorn, couple cups of tea and two 'luxury' chocs
Jan 5th - porridge, split pea soup/crusty bread and sarnie (court lunch), bbq pork chop, pasta in sauce and sweetcorn, couple cups of tea and two 'luxury' chocs - It's just after 8pm though and I'm still peckish, help!

That's just a quick run-down, there maybe some more tea in there - defo no more chocs than stated, honest. Going to hide the rest of my chocs until the QS ones in the freezer run down then split up the rest and freeze. Booked in for Body Pump on Saturday so will pick up a schedule for another gym I can go to on the way home from work, last weighed in on 31st Dec, so going to weigh in the last working day of each month - get weighed in work. Here's hoping I'll be down at least 1lb by then.

Goodness I'm so bored, maybe I should go and sort my clothes for tomorrow (or something).

Swinstie73

Evening all,

Did a post earlier and then lost it, thought it had posted!

Well court back in tomorrow, didn't start until 1.30pm today even though we were there from 9.30am (had lunch inbetween though), today it was broth with a crusty roll and chilli. Something was missing though (i.e. kidney beans) and it was a bit dry but hey ho it was free. Spent £1.50 on a mag and a bit of chocolate, which I shared.

Having dinner of a Chicago Town pepperoni pizza and the rest of the pasta from yesterday, not very good but can't be bothered making anything better. No chocs tonight, as just remembered, also had a cereal bar today. Got nothing planned for tonight except the tv, although I suppose I better do a quick tidy tonight. Still got christmas tree to put in loft and ironing board is still sitting in livingroom.

Managed to get my spreadsheet working again, so actual amount paid off since Oct 2008 is £23,858.54 and I added £12,116.80. This deducted/added to £14,571.12 leaves me with a balance of £2,829.38, with MY actual debt being £1850 (the difference is wedding expenses). So still on track, made my Visa over-payments today and will try and make another payment later in the month if all goes well.

Swinstie73

Ok, so you know how I said no chocs, well I have just eaten six of my 'luxury' chocs with a cuppa and now I feel sick! They are really nice chocs and one or two is usually enough but I crammed six down my neck, what an idiot. There is 10 left (out of 20) so they are going in the freezer, really couldn't face another one for a while.

Well, 14 days til pay-day, think we get paid early on 21st Jan instead of 25th due to the holidays and I have £41.82 left in my budget which is just under £3 per day, have just filled up with petrol (£40) on 4th Jan, before that it was £35 on 23rd Dec, so hoping this will last me. OH is working this weekend which means he will come down in the car, saving me driving to his on Sunday. I can do it, can't I?

After taking off my council tax and phone bill, I will have £114.28 in the bank, also expecting a cheque for £30 for gas being off, so £144.28, not sure whether to pay extra to my visa or not this month. Already had and extra £59 this month which means and extra £90, if I hadn't had this, I'd only have been left with £24, must do better. I have managed 4 TSND (Total no spend days) since my spending diary started on 18th Dec, 20 days in and could be better though.

Split my spending into essentials and non-essentials, so have also had 4 NSD's on essentials and 6 NSD's on non-essentials on top of the TNSD's. I really need to plan my spends better so I can get things at the same time, i.e. petrol when grocery shopping etc. It's the little trips to the shops that are killing me.

One bit of good news (for me) is that I have NOT used my credit card AT ALL this year, in actual fact it has not been used since 16th December, that is a record for me. Going to aim not to use it the rest of this month. Well better get off to bed, don't want to fall asleep in court tomorrow, ha!

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary

urg123

Hey Swinstie,

Hope you are feeling a bit better. No spending on CC is great - keep going. CCs are for emergencies only!

You'll find it tight getting to the next pay day but if you plan your food at work, I reckon you can easily do it!

urg x x

EssexHebridean

I found that the key to boring days at court on jury service with nothing happening was a good book - I had constant changes of people through mine as well, there were only about 4 of us from the total 20 in my intake who were there right through as some got released early, and only two of us went on to do the extra (third) week, when I ended up at Coroners Court which was fairly :eek:. Good thing though is that they seem to ask you if you're OK to do that, and will look for alternative people if you are really unhappy about it. I have no regrets about doing it as the experience was interesting, but if asked again (if I got called on Jury Service again) then I would say no on the basis that I'd done it before. Not something I would like to repeat.

Re the extra payment to the visa, maybe hold off doing anything until you are confident that your money is going to last out? You can always make the extra payment next month instead if there is slack in your budget.

Swinstie73

Hi all, well court is over at last, I actually quite enjoyed it and I think we all got on fairly well.

Phew what a start to the new year - I was going to add to my challenges - Do something everyday that scares you - well this scared me a bit but I don't think I want to do something like that everyday. Think I will go for - Do something with scares or excites me once a month - I'm a wimp, I know.

Anyway, got some steak pie defrosting, wasn't sure what was for dinner then remembered had that in freezer from NYD, at last I'm getting my NYD dinner! Also clears loads of room in freezer (and I didn't spend any money either).

Got my cheque of £30 so will go and put that in bank tomorrow hopefully. Also got expenses to get although think I could lose money out of it. I will wait til nearer pay-day before I make an extra payment to my CC as I don't want to use the card cos I've left myself short.

Well, have a nice weekend everyone, I'll definitely sleep tonight (OH is working tomorrow so he'll be early to bed too).