13 Moons part 2 - Freebird & Frugabulous

Lula-Hula

Home-job driver arrived at 8.15 to collect yesterdays work & already had todays, which is fab :T.

I was online at 8.25 waiting for the ticket sales to open.

At 8.55 I clicked through to the site & started the procedure. The damn shiny new CC got refused :eek::mad::huh: so in a cold sweat & wired like an 80's broker as I'd already had 3 coffees I retrieved good old Uncle Richard & tried again ... went through without a single problem :T, phew.

So, by 9.20 I was practically hyper with excitement as I now have tickets to see .....

The Killers at Hyde Park

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Yep, I'm a wee bit excited. It's better than sex :rotfl:

They were only confirmed as the Friday night headline yesterday morning & I immediately texted my sis to ask if she was up for it ( we went together 2 years ago) but she's gong to Glasto so cant . DD has kindly offered to fill her place though . It's the friday before she goes away on her residential trip to what a fab send off for her

I had to buy some new cartridges for the printer so I can print the ticket as I stupidly clicked the fast print tab which means I print them myself via the link they send me so that was another £32.75 to the cost & again had to use Uncle Richard as stupid co op CC wouldnt work.

So, an Extremely Spendy Day today but you know what ? I dont care, because life is for living & to have events to look forward to .

DD & her friend are sooooo excited about tonight & the other mum has found a really simple train journey that avoids hassle. Her first quote for ticket was £66 for the 4 of us :eek: I told her to get back online & look for group discounts so she then found them for £33 for us all. That's much better. I'll drive to the station & then can have a drink at the gig & will be fine to drive us home from station later on.

I've done the home-job work, we wandered to the co op to buy a yummy baguette for lunch so I have even less money for next week, but will have to search back to find exact amount .

I'm now sat in the garden in glorious sunshine just chilling & revelling in the fact that although I'm not at work-job, I'm still getting paid . Those of you who have ever been self employed will understand the wonder of this almost mythical occurrence & my glee at it :rotfl:.

Not quite sure how to pay off the tickets & cartridges yet, but will probably do it on payday & may just have to take a bit longer to repay my funds

It's all about priorities & principles

Lula-Hula

Oh, and the reason the shiny new CC didnt work was become some donut omitted to activate it. I swear it didnt tell me to on the paperwork. So, I lost out on some cashback but not enough to worry about & there's always the cooker to buy * yawn *

Lula-Hula

Ohhhhhh *groans & looks wretched*

I am out of practice at late nights out & have become a lightweight .

We had a great time at the concert but my body & purse are suffering today.

Picked friends up & headed to the station, parked for free in an off road type area then discovered that the ticket office was unmanned. To be honest it's a desolate looking station which I've never been to before as we use the one near us which is the next stop along the line.

We had to use the machine to buy the tickets & guess what - no group saver tickets available, apparently its either an online or ticket office only thing, so the tickets cost a total of £66 :eek: or £33 for DD & myself. It also turns ot that off peak travel ends at 4pm :mad:. No wonder people drive, it would have cost about £5 in petrol & even if the parking was £15 it would still have been cheaper.

The train from Clapham to Shepherds Bush was rammed & I feel utterly robbed at having paid that price for tickets & then having to stand in a sweaty cramped overloaded train with strangers breathing on me & crushing me :mad:. I've never used so much alcohol hand wash in one day - we were almost rubbing it all over :rotfl:.

Finally arriving at the venue, we discovered a long queue but with a conveniently located shop selling groceries & cans of Gordon & Pimms :j They were very small cans so we had a couple each & the girls had non alcoholic stuff - inspite of DDs pleading to sip mine.

Once inside, we were amazed at the size of the place, but I really liked it, great atmosphere & 2 bars . We joined another queue to buy overpriced merchandise & I'm ashamed to say that DDs t-shirt cost more than the charity ones I refused to buy so will make an extra donation to soothe my flustered karma.

Support band were ok & got everyone going, but then the BTR boys came on & the place just erupted with squeals. Yes, I was one of them - those boys may be only 21 but I would happily have taken any of them home with me - they are so cute .

DD & her friend kept edging & weaving closer to the stage but didnt quite make it to the front although they were close enough to see their sweat - which was a good thing :apparently rotfl:

The band were really good with the crowd & did a great show and the girls were just buzzing with it so a great success of a night, although pretty expensive ( about £58 on top of the tickets) so my entire entertainment budget has gone & had to 'borrow' some ...

I put all the train tickets on my shiny new CC ( straight in there with that cashback ) so friend gave me the cash for hers & there were 2 x £2 coins in there so they've now gone in the almost sealed pot. I now have £125 in there

I must remember that some of the £55 wad of cash I now have is actually my share of the train tickets too, but rather than pay it in to the bank & then withdraw another £30 on friday for grocery shop, I'm just going to use that cash for the next 2 weeks grocery shopping & add back the £4.90 thats' in the underspend pot.

If I manage to keep grocery shopping within that £60, then I will have stayed within the budget for the first month since January :j

Although it wasnt my choice of music, last night was a great reminder of how much I love being out with people all milling about & having a good time & that going to live gigs is something that I've really missed n the last couple of years & am happy to spend my money on. Unlike other forms of entertainment where appearance is all, no one gives a toss what you wear to a gig so that's my new focus.

I should get a £15 discount on my next purchase from ticket seller too so that's pleasing.

Now have to go hang laundry out before I get todays load of home-work to do I was asked to work 3 days next week as Bank Hol has messed up regular routine so I've agreed as my new life style demands financial backing

Bye for now
xx

Shoe_Gal

All sounds fab hun - and I fully support the 'having a life' mantra :j

Lula-Hula

Oh happy day :j

home-job is finished now until Tuesday & next week I'll be working both jobs which is a bit grim, but only for 3 days & then it's another 4 day weekend.

I've earned enough from home-job to top up the funds this week :

Presents : £120 ( used £10 for a gift for Auntie last week)
DDs clubs : £40
Clothes : £70

We need to go to town today as DD needs long sleeved tops & long trousers for the school trip. They're not allowed to wear jeans which is very annoying as she has 3 pairs that would be perfect as they're stretchy, knackered & about to be grown out of.

We've been scouring the internet for new bedding for her room ( which resembles a bomb site again so cannot be decorated) but cant find any that she likes so will have a look in shops today.

The likelihood of this decorating occuring in the next 5 days is remote. Maybe if I buy all the bits, she'll then be motivated to sort it out ... yeh, right !

She did mention that it woud be best if I did it while she's away which was the original plan, but I now reckon that's her way of making sure I dont go off on a holiday without her .

She hardly moved yesterday claiming extreme tiredness - true - but is likely to slip into extreme apathy if I dont keep a watch on her.

Someone needs to keep a watch on me too ( that'll be you guys :A) as I've started brandishing the shiny new CC about now.

Having spent hours calculating the best deals with regards to discounts, offers & cashback I finally made a cooker purchase :eek:. I'm not excited - it's just a necessary applicance & my concerns are aesthetics rather than what it can do ( oven chips ? yes ? great, I'll take it :rotfl:)

Decided against stainless steel or silvery colour and just went for plain white but was fairly limited for choice as I prefer that it be gas & insist that it has a lid; keeps it clean & tidy looking. The best deal I got was from currys - 15% off the price & with the disconnection & removal of old appliance & connection of new one the grand total is £432.14. It's being delivered on May 1st so will plan something fab for a meal - oven chips maybe

I now owe £498.44 on the shiny new CC & £146.45 on Uncle Richards & therefore, a mere 2 weeks after clearing debts, I have tumbled back down the slippery slope & owe £578.59

I dont like it, it makes feel a bit edgy as I know just how easy it would be to just get swept up with replacing stuff on impulse.

I actually feel 'safer' by having just the 6 months 0% deal on the shiny new CC as it's a very clear & not too distant date by which any amount owing needs to be cleared.

I did briefly consider getting one of the long 0% CCs but know I would just abandon all my non-consumerist principles & go wild.

It really is like an addiction & I must just remember that having conquered various other ones, I can control this one too.

I'm keeping up to date with all my spends & enter every single spend on my expenses spreadsheet but when I start 'borrowing' from one fund or substituting methods of payment / cash for bank funds it all goes a bit vague around the edges & I lose track.

I did read my meters first thing yesterday morning & submitted them - the electricity bill is only about £60, but the gas is a scary £149 ish, but I do have enough in the funds to pay. At about 11.30 the meter reading man arrived - typical :rotfl:

Time to get organized now, so will report back with spends later,
bye for now ...

xx

Lula-Hula

Aha, guess what arrived in the post today ???

Yes, the letter saying my shiny new CC has been approved ( a week after I receive it) & that I should ring said number to activate it.

I knew I wasnt that much of a donut

Well, we have shopped in a very serious way today. We visited everying single store that does bed linen in an attempt to find something for DD. She didnt like anything we saw & now says she doesnt even care about having her room done :wall:.

She cared a whole lot about the new baseball style jacket we found though in new look . I was pleased with a couple of leather skinny belts at just £5.99 each, a white cotton cardi for £8 & positively delighted to find a pair of boots like the ones I bought online ages ago & had to return as they were damaged but instead of being £48 ... these were only £12 in the sale :j.

I also managed to get all the clothes she needs for the school trip, in primarni for a very cheeky £12.90. 2 pairs of kids tracksuit pants but no long sleeve tops, so we went to the womens section & chose some of the size 6 ones which are fine as a bit stretchy so dont look too baggy .

We needed a snack so that was £4.60, the car parking was £4.40 & there were lovely lads cleaning cars & mine is sooooo filthy & I really, really hate cleaning the outside so I gave the nice man £6 & when we returned my car was gleaming, the wheels were shimmering silver & she looks beautiful again so I gave him a £2 tip because he really did such a great job :T

It's such a joy to be able to see out of the windows & have the car look cared for, so I've decided that now that I am back in control of my finances there should be a small allowance in the budget for car cleaning. I budget to have the windows cleaned every couple of months, so why not the car too .

We also had a wander in to the phone shop so I could check out Rosa s recommendation . My first thought was how huge it is :shocked: compared to my neat little phone but I think I could get used to it. It has a great camera & the assistant told me that if I wait a week, then the new model with a flash is coming out . I can definitely wait a week, but am still a bit unsure as to the monthly cost :undecided.

Tomorrow I need to do some grocery shopping & apparently there's a big chocolate feast on sunday & I havent bought a single thing for it, so need to accumulate some goodies for that, should probably do a bit of quality control before passing them on .

fedupandskint

Life sounds pretty good for you atm Lula - just remember now to go for it too much with the CCs - reign it in or make sure you stick to your repayment plan. Not preaching at all btw just a gentle nudge!

As for me I'm off now for 11 days - yeah! and trying hard not to spend to not go over my OD limit until payday next week. Then must cut back bigstyle in May as have lots to save for/pay off and also camping things to get. Trying to be a frugal as poss with this and plan as much as posssible the spending

Anyway better dash now and tidy up a little so not leave it all as usual for the weekend!

Lula-Hula

Hello fedupandskint,

thanks for the gentle nudge - I do need it.

The shiny new CC was always intended to be for buying a couple of bits for the home & to pay off before the interest kicks in.

The gig tickets area bit of treat for me - kind of celebration of gaining control & as I have spent nearly £400 on DDs school trip, I thought I kind of deserved a bit of a treat too

I am very aware that I'm not 'cured' yet hence my decision to stick around here for while.

What sort of camping equipment do you need ? I have quite a few bits & might be able to help you out

RosaBernicia

Lula-Hula wrote: »

We also had a wander in to the phone shop so I could check out Rosa s recommendation . My first thought was how huge it is :shocked: compared to my neat little phone but I think I could get used to it. It has a great camera & the assistant told me that if I wait a week, then the new model with a flash is coming out . I can definitely wait a week, but am still a bit unsure as to the monthly cost :undecided.

It's bigger than I was used to as well but I've come to love it

(if only I could find a man I wanted as easily as a phone :rotfl:)

Mine was £35 a month on 18 mth contract, £90 Quidco cashback. I agree flash worth waiting for. (yes, phones again )

Rosa xx

Lula-Hula

RosaBernicia wrote: »

It's bigger than I was used to as well but I've come to love it

(if only I could find a man I wanted as easily as a phone :rotfl:)

Mine was £35 a month on 18 mth contract, £90 Quidco cashback. I agree flash worth waiting for. (yes, phones again )

Rosa xx

I so agree with you there

I like the sound of your cashback too - not quite sure how I go about that as technically, mine will be an upgrade. Maybe I should cancel my current contract & then start a new one.

I dont want to pay as much as £35 as already have a virgin phone/tv/internet package that costs about £38 a month, but will increase minutes allowance so dont need to use home phone at all for outgoing calls. I've noticed that the lower the monthly cost, the longer the contract though .

Ah well, got to keep up with technology