Just another DFW diary - Mizmir's progress

mizmir

Day 3: Pooh! Forgot to get the stuff out of the freezer for lunch, slept in and no time to defrost - so had to buy lunch today. Lesson learned - am going to get some instant lunches as emergency rations (cup a soups, noodleboxes etc) when I do the shop at the weekend for when this happens.

No bids yet on eBay but a couple of watchers and early days yet - but I did get a £40 refund on something that has been dragging on for a few months! Yeah. Put that towards my £100 overpayment.

Also have had a couple of people wanting me to help them with their dogs one to one (I am a dog trainer in my spare time!) - will get paid a little for that - hopefully some in December.

So of my plans:

• Work out a budget and plan the week's meals. Have got the budget (£50) but need to do the meal plans - any favourites?
• Look out stuff to put on eBay. Done some - have loads more to list
• Check if we can get a better mortgage deal. Still need to do this - OH's brother is an IFA so will ask him to look into it.
• Check current status of mobile phone contracts, car insurance and broadband and make notes to get better deals as soon as we can without penalty. Still to do.

So making some progress. Finding it hard not to obsess on this - can't do that - still have to work and do stuff at home! Yet I'm finding myself browing MSE, doing spreadsheets etc when I should be doing other stuff!
Does anyone else have this problem??

Nuclear_Tom

Obsession is good!!!

Glad to see you are making fine progress indeed. Moneysaving takes time unfortunately - I took 2 days off to get my paperwork ship shape and the like, but once into routines its a doddle!

Keep up the good work!

mizmir

Nuclear_Tom wrote:

Obsession is good!!!

Glad to see you are making fine progress indeed. Moneysaving takes time unfortunately - I took 2 days off to get my paperwork ship shape and the like, but once into routines its a doddle!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks - actually this is the first chance I've had to get to MSE all weekend so perhaps I still have a life!:rotfl:

Keeping a spending diary is proving a terrifying experience! I know it is coming up to Christmas and everything but money just seems to be pouring out right now :eek: . I'll spare you the detail till I get to the end of the month then will have a clearer picture but if this is typical then I am surprised we are not even deeper in debt!

Still I once heard it said "if you know what you do you can do what you will" so I guess knowing the worst is the first step to sorting out the mess - even if it is painful.

On the plus side I went shopping with a list today and only got what I needed for planned meals and lunches. That's a step forward.

mizmir

One week in:

Busy weekend so not much time to work on MS stuff. In London yesterday for work so spent a bit but will get it all back as expenses. Did at least manage to resist Christmas shoppng in Regents St! Still waiting for the balance transfer money to come through so that I can clear my two higher interest cards. Had an email from MBNA the day after arranging this offering balance transfer for free :mad: - but I don't think the interest rate was quite as good. That said it was probably better than my OD so I might get in touch and see if I can get another transfer to clear that. Don't know about anyone else but I find it really difficult to keep track of my account when it is always in the red - so easy to think you have more money that you have as you have x amount free on your OD! Would be easier to keep to budget if I was dealing with positive numbers I think!

Not sure if anyone is actually reading this but it does help me to stay on board with this to write it. It holds me accountable somehow.

Edited: Damn! The MBNA offer was time limited - only valid the day it arrived. Ah well. Teach me to read things properly.

itswhat

mizmir wrote:

So making some progress. Finding it hard not to obsess on this - can't do that - still have to work and do stuff at home! Yet I'm finding myself browing MSE, doing spreadsheets etc when I should be doing other stuff!
Does anyone else have this problem??

umm... nooo... *looks around carefully to make sure no-one can see her nose growing*


well done on the progress so far. I'll look forward to reading about your achievements

IW

mizmir

Yeah! Bank transfer came through - so high interest credit cards now cleared! :j Am on 2.9% till June so will concentrate on knocking as much as possible off that before then.

mizmir

Have joined Michael's £21K in 2 years challenge (see here) - if I can do it it will bring forward my DFD by years! But it is quite a challenge - to succeed I will need to make/save an extra £300 a month on average for the next 2 years. It is not impossible but won't be easy.

My ideas from scouring MSE:

Saving - work up to cycling to work, see if I can get better deals on my car insurance and income protection, think about remortgage to cut monthly outgoings, save coins where possible, shop at Aldi as much as possible and stick to meal plans and lists.

Making - use Quidco, sell what I can on eBay/Amazon, do some matched betting, do car boots when weather better, develop my dog training as a part time income, do as much extra at work as I can.

Any other favourites anyone? I won't get £300 this month with Christmas but would like to aim for that from January!

slowlyfading

You sound really determined and that's always a good start! i wish you every sucess in this
nicola x

mizmir

Feeling a bit disheartened today. Things are pretty tight on the overdraft and we don't get paid until next Friday - I've done some shifting around and we have cupboards full so we should be OK but OH has just had to pay out £100 for a work thing (will get it back but not till January ) and my car has its MOT today. Could do without these big outlays just before Christmas as was hoping the little slack we have would cover the last presents, food etc for the hoiday.

We'll manage - just hope my car doesn't need major work - I know it needs a tyre and windscreen wiper but I hope there is nothing else.

Really want to try matched betting but don't have the cash flow to do it at the moment - maybe after Christmas can get going on that.

So - today I need something MS to do to boost my spirits! Any ideas?

miggy

Hi, how about doing some baking and putting some of it in the freezer for lunches/snacks?
Cheese straws, muffins, muesli bars (I don't think they freeze) etc.
Of course you have to be ingenious and only use things you have in though I might allow you to get sugar, flour and margarine if you go to Aldi for them :-D
To counteract all those calories - free gym - put a CD on and dance for 20 mins or so!
And while on the caring-for-self theme - go through your wardrobe and try clothes in different combinations. If you're lucky you will make nice discoveries and extend the use of what you have. If not - at least it's good for a laugh!
And put in a few minutes enhancing the dog-training skills to build your new side-line.
All the best with it!