Diary of a (hopefully)reformed shopaholic

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Diary,
Well its nearly the end of the week and this mornings meeting (that I was dreading) turned into more of a success than the nightmare I was expecting.

DD is doing her last day of nursery tomorrow...I will pop and buy the staff something nice tonight. I have a feeling its going to be very sad for me (think DD is too excited to be upset).

Solicitors appointment in the morning, hopefully I will get some movement on this whole thing.

Hi Mummy, yes DD has a leappad, I bought it for her 3rd Birthday. It is very good and she loves it. Ex OH is talking about buying her a DS Lite for Xmas (why would she need that as well?) Anyway he will keep it at his own house so it won't make any difference to me. He keeps saying he is buying her allsorts and never does coz he is so full of $h1t.

Pay day in a week thank god!

xx

LivvyLoo_2

Well its DD's last day at nursery...boo hoo! Very sad this morning.

I have been to the solicitors and I feel a lot happier, basically he is going to offer ex 50/50 on the house as long as he pays his car loan payments with immediate effect and pays the car off with his half of the profit.

He also said that the assets in the house belong to me and if ex wants anything he has to make a list. We're not going to discuss DD's access as we're happy with it and if he wants DD to sleep over night then he will have to take me to court and pay for it. :rotfl:

He is going to tell him that it is a very generous offer plus the divorce reasons are going to be sent in the letter too.
He said that the money I had in my accounts won't be touched if he agrees to the offering in this letter...its only if it goes to court that I would have to disclose my bank accounts.

I should have £95 left in food and petrol on payday so I will put this back in my car and emergency funds...top them up a bit since I paid for the solicitors.

I've started to make my Christmas shopping list. I have 3 things on it lol.

xx

mummytogirls

Morning Livvy,

Im glad you are happy with what the solicitor is proposing to for ex. Hope he agrees to it for everyones sake!

Youve done well with your shopping/petrol this month, is it just me or does it feel like its gone super fast?!

Have a great weekend xx

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Diary,

I don't know what is going on with MSE but Im having to use HTML to space my text properly...blooming computers.

Today is turning out to be a good day after the slight panic I had this morning over the child minders bill. She had charged me for two extra days (which is £60) so I had to ask her this morning if it was correct. Anyway she has corrected it now phew!

The Solicitors have also got some things wrong on the draft letter to ex so I have also called them this morning to put them right.

I have made my shopping list but I think I will be fine until Sunday so will get Mr T's delivery Sunday or Monday.

Had a word with ex on Sunday as he took his new girlfriend out with DD again (I kindly asked him to be considerate or DD's feelings and he needed to see them on the same day don't be kissing etc infront of her), he promptly replied kicking off with me saying how he puts DD first and is a good Daddy etc and then next thing he has cancelled his access for Friday and Sunday because he is 'busy'. Well it just means I get to see DD more...so s0d him.

DD's school jumper has finally turn up YEY! Some one had taken it by accident and I thought we'd never get it back.

Mate from work came round to my house yesterday lunch time and fixed all my lights, set the wii up on my TV and fixed the door on the freezer...am really pleased as the nights are drawing in and I was worried about house viewings with bulbs out all over the place.

Pay day tomorrow WAHOO.

Mummy it has gone really quick hasn't it? Soon be Christmas...argh!

xx

samedwards27

Hi Livvy,

I hope you dont mind, but I have recently been through and read all of your diary. I just have to say you are so inspiring!!!

I am trying to change my ways, but am just such a terrible spender...£10 here and there soon adds up!

Also, what a k**b your ex is being!!!! But lucky you getting more time with DD anyway :j

I know its cheeky, but what sort of format do you use for your SS's? I can never seem to fund anything that works for me.

I'm determined to change my ways....

Sam x

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Diary,

Hi Sam, thanks for popping in :hello:. I feel like I am talking to myself alot when I fill in my diary so its nice to have people stopping by.

The first thing I did before I started my spreadsheet (properly...as I had a few failed attempts) was the tool Martin has somewhere for filling in your spends. I nearly cried when I filled it in as I was way over what my income was (you have to be really honest with it).
After this I then realised I needed to log absolutely everything that I spend, so myspreadsheet grew.
I just made my own, the main sheets are my income, bills account, and a monthly planner which is fab as I allocate my money into pots (different savings accounts with my bank) once the bills money has come out of my wages. I monitor everything I spend and it all goes in the spreadsheet, you're right £10 here and there does add up but you need to be strict until you build your pots up for a month or two and then things get easier.

I think your bills sheet is the most important to start with, you need to list every bill and the date it comes out so that you don't get any horrible suprises, I pay for absolutely everything monthly as I get paid monthly but I guess its what works for you.

It takes a lot of effort to build the spreadsheet up but once its done you won't know how you lived without it.

If you need any help just let me know and I will help any way I can...I could talk for hours about it ha ha x (I totally agree, ex is a kn0b).

Right well I have finally jumped on the Christmas pressie wagon, I got 7 pressies in the Debenhams sale yesterday.

House viewers didn't turn up last night...I hope I never move again, its getting right on my t!ts,

I have just got a quote for new home insurance...£10 cheaper a month than what I pay now YIPEEE. That starts on the 9th December so will have to remember to buy it before the quote runs out.

Nothing else to report today I don't think.

Bye for now x

samedwards27

Thanks Livvy, its tricky as my husband is so good with money its me that is terrible.
I think putting things into different 'pots' is a good idea for me/us, as even with hubby being good we still always seem to end up short

Do you think there is anyway you could PM me an example of your spreadsheet? I'm not the best with excel and dont really know where to start...as i said, the ones i have tried before just dont work for me. (I understand if you dont want to )

Well done on the Christmas pressies! We pretty much have DD's sorted now, as its her birthday in November (she will be 1)

I cant believe people just dont turn up for viewings, that is so rude! Hopefully you have some luck soon. x

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Sam,
I have put together an example spreadsheet for you but Im not sure how to attach it to the PM...any ideas?

We were rubbish with money and every month we were short, which is why Martins budget planner worked for me. You have to be able to account for ever penny, even one offs. It is a lot easier to stick to on your own but if you and your husband are both on the same page then you should be fine.

Aw, it doesn't seem like 2 mins ago when my DD was 1. Hope she has a lovely birthday.

xx

samedwards27

Thank you thats very kind, but I am afraid I have no idea how to attach it to a PM....If not I can always PM you my email address.

Hubby is definitely on the same page, he is better than me. So I guess to an extent he is on a slightly different page as he doesnt see the need to put it into different 'pots' etc whereas I think that will work well.
Accounting for every penny is how I need to be else I dont think I will ever change!

I cant believe DD will be 1 it seems like yesterday I was pregnant (and overdue!!!) not a year ago!
x

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Dairy,
We are having wintery showers here today. Hailstones and rain and its very cold.

I have bought DD two pressies this morning, I went through topcashback and also used my credit card where I get money back. She asked for one of those talking ponies last night (Candy)....£60!

We were going to my mates tonight but she has poorly children so it looks like DD and I will be having a girly night in. I will get something nice for tea on my way home from work (plus a bottle of wine) and a treat for DD seeing as though she has been as good as gold this week for her new child minder.

Hi Sam, Yes no problem PM me your email address, I'm just a bit worried to send it from my email address due to everything I have said about ex on here...prefer to be annonymous in case anyone knows him or he reads and knows its me.

You're lucky DH is good with money, ex and I were bad for each other...we liked the finer things in life and ended up in debt. Im much better now he is't there, he used to roll his eyes at my spreadsheet and when we were trying to patch things over he wanted me to do away with it as he didn't like the control it had on our money.

xx