WelshWoofer's Staying Debt Free Mission

WelshWoofer

Had a LSD today - spent £2 on 8 cans of diet pepsi from the local off licence and £2 on 3 cooking apples and a punnet of strawberries from the greengrocers in the village - much cheaper than the supermarket and good to support local businesses I think.

Done quite a bit of schoolwork too and popped to the library to pick up books - while I was there I spotted some little maps to take away with local walks all about 1 hr long. Have picked some up and if the weather is good tomorrow I'll try one with the dog to get a bit of free fresh air and exercise.

Not much else to report really - a quiet day working at home with no mega spending, so a success I suppose!:)

WelshWoofer

Well, I'm just back from my first map walk and really enjoyed it - the dog loved it! We went down the canal path for a while, through some lovely streets, a park and back to where we started - it took about 45 mins and has made me feel quite energised! (Not like me!):p

There's a website for anyone that's interested www.walkit.com - its a national thing and you can select starting points, distance etc. May be of interest to someone - I'll try a different one tomorrow - makes the daily dog walk more interesting!:)


More school work on the agenda today - I'm going into school tomorrow for an hour or so for results day and so will use the printer there to print out all of my endeavours so far - save my ink!

In the spirit of being more sociable now I'm on my own I'm meeting a school friend on Friday for lunch at a nice cafe/restaurant (she's quite posh!) - looking forward to it now I've made the effort:o
I've also texted the fat club consultant lady to say I'm going back - that's on a Tuesday night and I got to know some of the other "losers" quite well so that will get me out and about too. My new mission will have to be getting back into the swing of things post-separation but not over spending!

I'm also looking at volunteering at the local animal sanctuary - I used to walk dogs for a charity called the Cinnamon Trust that tries to keep pets with elderly people once they are unable to walk them anymore (the dogs are usually quuite old and don't need too much exercise but do need to get out and about) but with job changing to teaching and not having as much free time to commit I had to give it up. The animal sanctuary website says you can commit what you want to - as little as 1 day a month so quite manageable.

Feeling much more positive today and ready to get on with life again after licking my wounds for a few weeks so better crack on!

WelshWoofer

Broadband decided not to work all day so schoolwork was abandoned (a feeble excuse!) and I went to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the cinema instead using a free ticket that I got from a Lovefilm trial and bought some sweeties at the corner shop to take with me so a very cheap afternoon out:)

I've also arranged a volunteer induction thingy at the animal sanctuary for early Sept - really looking forward to it! All those fluffy things don't stand a chance!

Morrocan butterbeans and couscous was nice for tea - have enough leftover for lunch tomorrow too.

Off to school in the morning for results day and another mapped walk with the dog is planned weather permitting!;)

WelshWoofer

Had a busy morning - been to school and did an hours work using their printer and ink (lots of it!) before the dreaded results came out for the skiddiwinks - lots of tears - good and bad - and hugs all around. Bless them.
Then took the dog for another long walk from the walkit.com website - along the canal and round some parts that I'd never walked around - looking at the big posh houses - couldn't be doing with cleaning one of those! (Every cloud....):p Then we stopped off at the pet shop - its the dog's birthday and its tradition that he picks his own present (a bone or something similar) - I know I'm bonkers:o. Spent £7 in total on dog food and a new collar.

ExOH has texted asking me to get the final bits and pieces ready for him to pick up so I should do that this afternoon I suppose. Always throws me when he gets in touch.

I found a dogwalking group last night on the web that meet up once a month at different venues for a walk - I have decided to join them this weekend if I'm feeling brave and its not tipping down. Look at me Ms Sociable!:rotfl:

Pasta and bits from the fridge with pesto for tea - need to do a meal plan for next week and a teeny shopping list for the weekend, just fresh stuff and dog food hopefully.
Right, lunch then some school work to be done next!

WelshWoofer

Just worked out the evening meal plan for the week from Saturday using up what's in to minimise the shopping this week...

Sat - veggie fajitas
Sun - cheese and onion bakes and beans
Mon - quorn fillet and salad
Tues - veggie lasagne and salad
Weds - quorn chicken burgers and wedges
Thurs - fish, croquettes and peas
Fri - mum visiting so not sure yet

The shopping list has ...
fruit, salad, dog food and chews, sour cream, chocolate spread, furniture polish, squash and salt on it. Will pop into the butchers to see if they have any trays of offcuts for the dog too. So hopefully the bill will be less than £15 - always easier said than done!

WelshWoofer

Been going through the bank stuff for the rest of the month and I have £125 to last me to payday if I don't go overdrawn. There's money in savings but I don't want to touch this unless absolutely necessary.

Payday (when i get a payrise!) is in 2 and a half weeks and I have plenty of food apart from fresh stuff so hopefully won't need to spend more than £30 on that. The car is two thirds full of petrol so should last ok.

I'm going out for lunch tomorrow so will probably need £15ish for that (can't find a review of the place or menu on the internet but will stick to something smallish and cheap).
There's nothing else planned that will cost much until the end of next week when my mum is coming to stay for a few days although thankfully she doesn't want to go shopping ( I hate shopping and only go to please her). We've spoken about a big dog walk one day and cinema another day (I have a free ticket so that shouldn't be too expensive) and I'll try to think of some more things we can do together that doesn't involve shops or spending too much. Any ideas?

I'm also joing to rejoin fat club next Tuesday so that's another £10.

So the known spending is......
£30 (hopefully less) on groceries
£15 lunch out
£10 fat club
£5 cinema
Total = £60
That leaves about £60 for extras and pocket money or £30 a week. It sounds better when you break it down like that!:)

WelshWoofer

Well, lunch out today lasted from 12noon to 5pm:eek:. My friend was a bit late and instead of buying a magazine to look at whilst I waited I read the free paper - in a posh little cafe/restaurant too, how uncouth!
I'd hoped to spend no more than £15 and managed to stick to the budget (just!) - it came to £14 each and then was rounded up to £15 to leave a tip. So day 1 of not overspending on the minibudget until payday has been a success:j
The carpark was £1.70 and came from spare change so I'm not counting that.
I took £50 out of the cashpoint this morning and will use the remaining £30ish (£4 spent in shop this morning) to buy the groceries and for spending money for the week - I will HAVE to make it last!

Staying in tonight to watch the soaps and have a rest - this social life thing wears you out:rotfl:

WelshWoofer

Just back from T*scos and managed to spend £15.07 - 7p over budget!:rotfl: I did get some extras chews for the dog and a bag of crisps for me but otherwise stuck to the list - I even carried a basket instead of a trolley to stop me picking up extra stuff - I have arms like a monkey now though!

I'm not taking the dog on the walking club walk today as its absolutely minging weather and he hates the rain - 2 hours in a field in a monsoon with a sulking dog is not my idea of fun:o At least it will save on the petrol getting there (about a 20 mile round trip).

So, today's its walking the dog locally, watching the rugby on telly and school work. I'll stay in tonight and watch something recorded on the Sky box - life in the fast lane!

Lemon_Tree

hi, just read your diary and wanted to say hello.
i shall follow if i may because within 12 months i should be debt free and fingers crossed my OH and myself are moving house and will be doing it up the old fashioned way.

determined_new_ms

Hi Welsh :wave: I saw ur diary this morning & have been reading it on/off all day between laying in bed feeling sorry for myself! I like it & have been really inspired by it! I pampered myself by having a bath and head to toe pamper sesh so thank you :T

I've also changed what we going to eat to use up the bacon & not be so wasteful! I need to get into the habit of going through the fridge/cupboards every day to stop wastage. I've been trying to do this but was annoyed with myself today as had to throw out some yogurt :mad: anyway off to subscribe & probably back to bed...