A Reformed Spender - My debt diary

Reformed

Good news is that a couple of cheques into the ISA that I am paying OH off with have cleared so I will be able to knock a bit off my total debt soon - 50 quid at the moment just doesn't sound like alot. Otherwise did my pigsback clickthroughs and quidco (I am a convert) and had an NSD. Had a look round a gallery in my lunch break and having a chilled night in tonight.

Reformed

Had a good day - I did spend - but only £13 for drinks and dinner. I had a really great time out with an old friend. Was very tempted to order the most expensive thing on the menu but I knew my limits so I was a bit more realistic with my choice. Got home to see that OH has fixed up the freeview box I got for Christmas which is brilliant. Hoping for another NSD tomorrow. Been able to knock some £'s off my debt. Feels amazing!!

Reformed

So much for NSD I spent £16.15 on food stuffs at the organic supermarket. Here is my justification - I purchased 4 boxes of herbal tea: I don't drink tea or coffee, smoke and I'm not drinking alcohol so I figure a bit of an addiction is justified. Then I got two essential oils for burning in the flat so we don't spend ridiculous amounts of money on those smelly plug things. There were also a couple of food bits that we need as ingredients for recipes so whilst a little expensive hopefully it will last a long time and it was nice to treat myself. As far as money saving activity I've done my quidco clickthroughs and pigsback competitions and as its 10p listing day today I am off to rifle through EVERYTHING and post as much stuff as I can.
Take care y'all hope the money saving is going well.

Reformed

Hope everyone's having a good friday! OH and I are watching The Usual Suspects on film four. This is what I've spent so far today.
£2.10 Sandwich in the canteen with colleague
£0.40 Chocolate (mid afternoon treat - it's Friday)
£42.10 Tesco's - shopping for the week, total spent with OH was £84.20 - eek!! Included one DVD (dirty dancing) about £10 worth of olive oil (!) and creme eggs!! (easter is on it's way!) Lot's of unneccessaries but that's the curse of going with OH and hopefully it will see us through until the week after next

And I just spent £22.50 on amazon getting some sewing books for when my new sewing machine arrives and a replacement Thrifty ways book (it has some really good tips)
£4.00 tube travel to work
TOTAL SPEND = £71.10

It looks horrifying to spend that all in one day when I'm trying to cut my spending. Needless to say I am staying in this evening and keeping it very low for the rest of the weekend.

Reformed

Seemed to live out of everyone else's pockets this weekend. We cooked dinner for my dad and OH's dad and when we went to the pub afterward they bought the drinks. In the evening as OH's dad was staying he took us out for food, I drove so no tube costs. This morning OH treated me to breakfast at the cafe and then we've spent most of the rest of the day sat around in duvets (not putting on the heating) and I did a big cook and froze some dinners for later on in the week. I did go into town to buy a few bits for the house in the sales which is bad because I have overspent this week. It was unexciting things like teatowels and hangers which I needed but I don't feel any better about it. To atone for my sins I posted some books up on amazon, did my searched on quidco and pledge 3 NSD's a week. Tomorrow is the first. Bringing my lunch and will resume getting the bus to and from work to reduce my travel costs.

hypno06

:cool: good luck with the NSDs!:cool:

Reformed

Hypno. I NEED the NSD's. I find them quite easy for say three days and then I go a bit mad! I am really looking forward to knocking off the first £1000 off my debts though so that's motivation enough.

Reformed

Argh! I scuppered my plan for an NSD with a chocolate craving at 3pm, I never eat chocolate at work but my drawer of nuts and seeds and porridge just didn't cut it today and so I spent 49p on a galaxy. I could not resist!! I was going to get the bus as well but I worked late and so as to remain safe I got the tube so I spent £2 more than I should have done on transport - getting the bus tomorrow - no excuses. Looking forward to getting back to reading my books and not standing up.

Sticking to our menu planner this week so I am off for sweet chilli chicken and avocado wraps. MMMMmmmmmm

Reformed

Well I've not written for a couple of days but I thought I would write out my moneysaving actions so far this week
Yesterday was an NSD as was today. I haven't taken out any of my cards or cash and made sure I've taken in enough lunch to work everyday. I've been reading about the joys of compound interest and can't wait for my DFD when I can start saving a minimum of 10% of my take home pay and make some money!!
I got my credit card statement today - I went through it and called to claim £45 cashback from the last couple of months. The cheque will go straight into my fund to pay OH. I've done an hour and a halfs overtime this week as well.
My goal is to send a cheque towards my debt fund every couple of weeks and any of my bills budget that I have left over will go to this. Unfortunately at the moment I've overspent on my bills by a couple of hundred pounds. My phone bill was high so I'm not calling mobile phone numbers for more than 5 minutes - really trying to cut down. As I've had my mobile stolen I've not actually had to top this up. I've been using the tube which is alot more expensive but I would imagine tomorrow I will feel confident enough to start using the bus again. The other reason for the overspend are the visits to Tescos, I'm really trying to get this down but it is very difficult if I go with OH. He denies it but we do really go over the top sometimes. What with all the bits you can buy for the house there you can get carried away. We'll be sticking to a menu planner over the next week and eating OS style.

Hope everyone else is keeping it low and getting those numbers down - it is possible. And its so satisfying. I'm looking at £14943.59 and seeing £14.... instead of £15.... has been a real boost. I'm sending cheques this week so it will continue to go down.

There are problems at work, lots of office politics and I am not happy there. Quietly keeping to myself and have decided to start applying for other positions. As I am 'only' a temp I am being complacent if I don't start looking out for myself. I will find it very difficult to pay off my debts if I am not earning!!

Reformed

Hey DFW's! Hope all is going well in everyone's week!
I am sat on my OWN sofa eating my packed lunch as we have been sent home from work as there was a powercut. The weather is rotten here, torrential downpours and lots of wind, glad to be in the flat. So, I finally broke the cycle of getting the tube into work which should save me a lot of cash - I walked instead, it took 1hr 10mins (only 20 mins more than getting the bus). I felt fantastic (it wasn't raining then) AND saved myself some money. As I could leave at the same time each morning I wouldn't have to wait for any buses and tubes so this may become more of a regular occurence. Got the bus home so grand total spend today has so far been £1.00 - not planning on going out but I may buy some supplies for the new sewing machine on the net. Got lots to do, a flat to tidy and gas and electricity to switch, going to go through my bills and work out if a green provider is cheaper. In anticipation of getting paid I'm also going to send some cheques to the debt fund and get those numbers down!!