Tales from a country cottage

greenanne

i usually try not to worry about things i have no control over,like the price of petrol.as long as you buy it from the cheapest place you can what else can you do.
that leaves us much more time to worry about everything else

Lemon_Tree

that's a good attitude Anne,
i still worry about how much petrol costs me each month but that's more because it's just such a high costs.

Ani. i know what you mean about it feeling all doom and gloomy, we watched the news last night and i just wished i hadn't it's all job losses here there and everywhere, i think also my team have realised that if the initial plans go ahead we could be finding out this time next year whether we have jobs etc so it's all worry worry worry.

ani*fan

Hi everyone :wave:

Nothing much really to report but thought I'd do a quick update anyway. I can't believe how many people are sounding so positive and upbeat on here just now. If anyone needs inspiration, go have a look at positive and focused's thread. Wonderful things are happening to dfw users right now. It could be me next!

Everything is the same as always here. The bills are getting paid, overpayments happening, the number of different debts is reducing all the time as I shuffle the debts around to pay least interest.

I've started my new strategies for managing the money. All the food money has been paid into a separate account. OH has been given the card and 'invited' *ahem* to take sole responsibility for the food shopping. As I nervously anticipated the first delivery from Mr T (possibly 48 cans of coke and 10 tubes of pringles to last us a week...:eek:) I realised that when I'm busy and stressed I get really controlling. This is not big news, I know it happens to lots of us, but handing over this responsibility was a bigger deal for me than for OH, who just said 'ok' and took it on no problem. The shopping arrived, with enough to last slightly more than a week for a week's budget. There was even fresh vegetables. The sky did not fall in. There were one or two errors, like OH mistakenly ordering 1 banana instead of 1 bagful, and getting the wrong bread rolls (we like them soft and these are like cannonballs) but we had a good giggle and I realised it didn't matter.

Secondly, all the petrol money has been paid into another account. The problem is that this account does not have a card with it. So I decided to use one of my credit cards (that has been cleared) for petrol and pay it off from this acount as I go. This is not ideal so needs some tweaking. Ideally, the petrol money account will get my expenses paid into it and also have a debit card so it will save me transferring money online. I'm thinking of making an appointment at my bank to set this up. For the first time this month I will know exactly what I spend on petrol, and how much is reimbursed by work.

So the current account now has money in it to pay all the DDs. This means I don't have to check it and do loads of sums (then freak out) every couple of days. It's all there. Peace of mind.

The only trouble is that the rest of our monthly money comes in gradually through the month. Meaning that there is no money for extras til then. But if I could get a month ahead of myself with this extra money, it would all be better.

Anyway, that's how it's all looking right now and I'm a little bit chuffed I've managed to get this off the ground. And I'll have another look at the end of the month and see what could have been done better.

I'm well and truly behind in buying my train tickets. This is because the course times are changing and I wasn't sure when I would be able to leave at the end of the day. However, I have that info now and will get right onto it. Still think I will end up paying more than I had to but need to wait and see.

I was chatting to my mum on the phone the other day and she mentioned a musical that she loved when she was a young girl and that has been in her head again now for a few weeks. I went online and bought her it for a £5 and she'll have a surprise delivery in the next week. I know it's not mse, but I love my mum and she deserves a treat as much as anyone.

OH has been going on about getting a car. We can't really afford to be a two-car family and I said so. Unless there are a lot of pretty wooden things sold, it won't be happening. (Igamogam, my OH turns tree stumps into beautiful wee tea light holders. You can have a look on facebook under 'Treedemption'. Unfortunately postage costs a fortune so they're mostly sold to people close by.) However, the car situation is going to have to be dealt with sooner or later as we are very isolated where we live and OH has been well enough recovered from illness now to want to be out and about much more. I'm trying to put off the inevitable for as long as I can.

Well, for having nothing to say this has turned into an essay! I'm off work just now with a rotten cold that just won't stop streaming. It's nice to have extra time to catch up on here though.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful debt-busting day.

Igamogam

Going to take a look at the thread you suggested. Thanks. Need a bit of positivity just now

ani*fan

Well. Who knew OH was such a cheapskate? We have hardly any food in the house, or rather, hardly any snacks. Whenever I want to eat something, I need to get cooking or have leftovers. As a result I'm eating much less. If I want a biscuit, I need to make it. Every time. We must be saving a fortune but I'll need to wait til the end of the month to see.

I've had a bad cold with some flu symtoms the last week and I just can't seem to come back to life. I'm so so tired, it's horrible. I need to go back to work tomorrow and I'm dreading it.

I've also just forked out a fortune for all my train tickets up until the april break. I'm not in uni at all in april and for half of may as I have a ton of course work to do instead. It will save me money which is good and the long journey.

The tickets are part of the reason I'm not updating my total every month. I buy them on 0% then pay them up as I go. So my total debt will look discouragingly large til this gets sorted. In the long run, it saves money. I'll maybe update it again at the start of April. Maybe every quarter?

Anyway, I am so looking forward to spring coming. I can hardly bear this weather for one more day. I'd love one of those lamp things that cheers you up but I just can't afford it. I was in floods of tears this morning about nothing. Horrible.:o

Enough of the misery, it so could be worse. There is money to pay the bills and pay the debt, and all is well in my world. Keep on keeping on everyone.

greenanne

hey ani*fan,
sorry to hear your feeling a bit down.i think you maybe suffering withdrawl symptoms from your husbands harsh rations.a packet of chocolate hobnobs can work wonders,i'd mention it to him.:)
seriously though,i hope you're soon feeling brighter and manage to shake of that cold.

Igamogam

That cold virus thing is really 'orrible. My energy levels only really just getting back after the bout of whatever it was I had a couple of weeks ago . Friends who have had it all report a long recovery too. As for the snacks get the OH to bake some flapjacks or something - better for you than shop bought stuff and cheaper too! Chin up you are keeping yourself on track What course you doin BTW? Just nosey !!

Knitting_Nora

Hard to shift a cold when you're feeling down in yourself...hugs and lots of tlc are a good start though *dons her walking shoes for the 'hug an Ani' trek*

Oooo, chocolate hobnobs or home made flapjacks, and a cuppa.....can't possibly stay blue for long with either of those!

In the meanwhile, try getting out and about a bit - know it's cold/snowy/end of the world weather, but 15 mins a day outside does wonders for the soul...and for the SAD, promise!

Nora.x

wot-a-mess

Hi ani, havent dropped in for a wee while but looks as tho you have really organised finances very well - well done.

ani*fan

Thanks for the support everyone. And yes, I'm feeling much better now.

We're only half way through the month but it looks like the new way of organising the money is working.

The food budget is looking like it will last all month. So much so that I'm considering trimming it by £20 for next month to see how we go. I'm definitely feeling trimmer too and the cats are losing there wee plump bellies. It's all good.

The petrol budget is a mystery to me still. I have enough left to last 'til the end of the month with possibly some to spare. But I had a week off sick when I didn't use any so I'm not sure how this will be next month. I have discovered the joys of faster cash transfers between banks (didn;t they used to take about a week and now it happens in minutes?). So I have decided to resurrect my old abbey account to use for the petrol budget. It has a debit card and it's the account my expenses go into. So I will keep it all tidily in there and be able to see how much gets spent and claimed back easily.

The DDs are all covered and we had £20 to celebrate Valentines day. Me and OH went to the movies (£11 for both) and had a McD's afterwards (£5.40 for both) so we came in under budget. The film was briliiant and we had a right giggle. Happy times for cheap! Not that I'm a fan of McD's and their dodgy ethics, but I'm too skint to have principles right now!

I have now finished my weekend work as it was proving just too much to cope with. I was so exhausted and tearful all the time. I'm feel better for having my first real weekend in 6 months. What isn't looking better is the budget for next month without this cash.

So, I need to look at ways to up my income but from home, with no huge petrol outlay and that I can do at times that are reasonable for me. Goodness knows what that will be but I'm up for a challenge.

OH is busy selling everything that's not tied down. Great stuff as I can't be bothered with putting photos online and all that.

I was hoping to have the overdraft paid off by the start of March but I'm not quite there yet, though it's reduced. I tell you, there is nothing like debt repayment to make you appreciate the value of cash. £100, so easily spent in seconds then hanging over your head for years and so hard to pay back.

Never, ever again will I allow this to happen.

Onwards to another debt-busting day. Have a good one everybody.