Missy Moo's No Messin Money Saving adventure!

missymoo81

Hello,

I thought with the new year now started, (mine officially starts on Monday:j) I thought I would have a shiney new diary to encourage me along and help me to focus.:T

So much changed in my life last year and money is even tighter, I do need a new game plan. And this time I have no choice but to follow it!

OH has gone away again today so I have all the time in the world to go through my finances. Now my debts not including my overdraft which is £200, equate to £1600, which I know to some people really doesn't sound a lot and it has come down a lot, but I have had this debt for just so long, I just want rid as soon as possible it is literally leaving me tight as a tight thing every month and I can't let it go on!

My target is to have it paid off by my birthday in September. I've sat and worked all my money out, and it can be done but my goodness it is going to be tough.

Here's my break down

I earn roughly £650 a month

Bills going out are:

£85 Open univeristy
£25 Phone
£25 Insurance
£100 Petrol
£150 Bills
£200 Debts

Which leaves me with the grand total of £65 for spends and anything else. Which is roughly £15 a week. Not much really!! I've shocked myself a little bit I didn't realise it was quite so low!:( But it is only until September, I'm sure I can do it.

My spending money can be spent on anything, but when OH is home, we go out a lot, so I'm going to have to try and save the money whilst he's away so that we can still do the things we always do when he's home, and any money left over I am going to put in a pot and save up and buy myself the Christian Laboutin shoes I have always wanted.:j:T:A:):D Can you tell I love them! (Almost as much as OH but don't tell him that!!!!;))

Now it all sounds pretty simple apart from this month I am already struggling because of Christmas! OH has had to pay the bills this month, as I am left with £20 in my back £15 in my purse, which is £35 and £10 my brother owes me, which is £45..... sounds good apart from my petrol bill is usually £100!!!! And I need to find £10 for chicken food!! So I'm going to have to try and figure it out. Mind you I think I have £49 from a cheque waiting for me to put it in the bank. So I best do that on monday! Which means if I eak out my petrol I might just be ok!!

Next month will also be a tough month, the rest of the credit card bill is due which is £130, but I'm hoping to get my tax back as I have been on basic rate tax since I started my job so I think I am due about £200 back which will fix that thank goodness.

The bills account is also very tight since I changed jobs and am paying less in, so I am having to do everything in my power to get the food bill down to the smallest it can possibly be. So we are buying huge sacks of potatoes and having mash with a lot of things, which is fine as we both LOVE mash, and we like anything with rice etc, and with the chickens we get eggs, so I make pasta and pastry etc so that makes everything a bit easier, but still it is pretty tight!

Because I have very little spending money, I have made a concerted effort this week not to buy lunch at all and to use up all of the christmas rubbish before my diet starts on Monday!

So thats how the land lies at the moment, sorry to bore you with all my rambling, but I'd love it if you could support me and give me advice through this as lots of you have done for me in the past.

Will post my new years resolutions from the old diary in a sec so that I can stay on track!!

Much love Missy

xx

missymoo81

My new years resolutions, kicking off on Monday which is my very own new year!

Health/fitness:
Eating much more healthily, taking exercise and generally looking after myself a little better..... ok a lot better
Money:
Pay off loan by my birthday, start saving for next OU course, sort out a spends budget and stick to it, get out of overdraft and stay out, make and sell stuff on ebay to top up earnings.
Crafts:
Sounds a bit of a silly one I know but for ages now I have really wanted to start making things, but have finally got my sewing machine out and worked out how to use it, so am on my way!
Studies:
This is so very important, I am doing my assignments and passing them but only just, not with flying colours like I am sure I am capable of, its just laziness and motivation which are holding me back. I'm going to set aside 2 hours a day to do my reading, and sort out a good place for me to study.
Love:
Again sounds silly, but I get so imersed in myself and so grumpy so much of the time, my lovely husband really suffers and I really need to show him I love him more, he doesn't deserve a grumpy wife bless him!
Looking after me:
I really need to start being the glam well groomed person I was, I have really let things slide, and now days my toe nails aren't even painted which makes me feel grumpy and frumpy and that wont do!
Happiness/Optimism:
I really need to start looking on the bright side and not always being the grumbler or worrying so much about things, about weight and work etc.
Friends/Family:
This is a big one, I need to stop saying no and start saying YES. I put off seeing friends because I'm tired (lazy!) or I leave early from my dads instead of staying over (which would save me money in petrol and make it so I had a nicer time) all these negative things need to STOP!
Organisation:
I really really need to get organised in every aspect of my life, I need to organise my clothes and get rid of things I don't need, I need to organise my studies, my work space, my time, shopping trips/filling up with petrol etc etc, which would all save money. I need to organise my time better.
Laziness/Tidiness/Motivation:
All of these things lead to a very boring and messy missy, the house is always a right state to the extent I live in fear someone might call round unexpectedly (don't get me wrong its not dirty or anywhere near "How clean is your house" standard) but for me who is a perfectionist in most aspects of my life having the house untidy is horrid but I am too lazy and unmotivated to do it!!! I think a lot of that has to do with diet and fitness and I don't have any energy.

This weekend is going to be spent getting myself organised, I've got no plans to go out or do anything else just to get myself sorted. I am going to totally declutter and chuck out and reorganise then hopefully I can start my adventure!:T

missymoo81

One of my first tasks is to do a cupboard invetory to see exactly what we have in the cupboards, and to see how long I can last without having to go to the supermarket! I love doing cupboard and freezer inventories, does that make me sad? Probably .

missymoo81

Well best foot forward this morning, I have hung up the washing (inside, I can't believe the rain!) and am going to make yet another cup of tea and go through my cookbooks to find some lovely meals to put on my money saving meal plan. We just tend to eat the same things all of the time, which just gets extremely boring, so finding new and exciting things to eat, cupboard/freezer inventory and decluttering is what is called for today!

Oooh I can hear my cuppa calling me, back soon.

Missy x

Pippajo

Happy shiny new diary, good idea to start afresh as so much has changed. My diary contains so much personal and business info I might start a new one too, one that keeps the focus to my resolutions rather than a general tell the world my story - just in case someone works out who I am .

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missymoo81

hey pippa hun, lovely to hear from you! I thought the same thing with my diary to be honest, there is so much on there with me rambling on about feelings etc, I need to focus on debt busting and moneysaving!!

Thank you for subscribing x

Well I've just returned from my journey downstairs to make a cuppa, and have indulgently cooked myself a croissant, I found some lurking in the freezer and thought why not, they need using up and OH doesnt eat them, so I can pretend I'm french eating my croissant and drinking my tea, probably should be coffee if I'm pretending to be french, but C'est Le vie!

yum yum

x

missymoo81

I just worked out that since the first of january I have had 7 no spend days, including today, it would have been no money spent at all this year, but I wanted to put some money in to someones leaving pot yesterday. But I'm really proud, and I haven't bought anything in the sales!!!! Which is pretty amazing, although I literally have no money to spend apart from maxing out the credit card which I really don't want to do, so no money spending for me! yaaay!

missymoo81

hi ya

have had a lovely day, decluttering cleaning and have come up with 33 ideas for meals, new and innovative ideas at that, everything looks yummy, and cheapish so good all round!! just chilling watching grand designs and having a glass of wine, have some italian ragu in the making in the slow cooker, the house smells scrumptious now. Just having a rather lovely day really, which is rare when OH goes away. Hope you've all had lovely saturdays.

x

scubaangel

Shiney new Diary Well done on the day spent decluttering, all I seem to be doing at the moment is recluttering my room...

missymoo81

lol scuba, well things are at the point of they get worse before they get better and I have things all over everywhere as I have emptied drawers etc! But thats what tomorrow is for! Am making ragu but it still doesn't seem to be cooking down, sometimes I hate my slow cooker!! grrrr!

scubaangel

Ironically one of the things I added to my heap of stuff in my room today was a slow cooker. Can't wait to move in to the flat now, means I might actually be able to see a floor at some point! Gonna be worse later in the week too when the bed frame gets delivered.