Michelle's Big Push to Christmas Challenge

remote_control

Well it has been two months of this challenge so far, its gone so quickly.

Health - Stay at current weight (have recently lost weight and now lost motivation) So far so good, have been going to the gym alot but making up for it by eating lots of chocolate, a happy balance but not very MSE

Wealth - OP £500 by Christmas. Not going to happen due to lack of well paid job, but good news is on the horizon

Up the Ante - Get a good job Done!!!!! yay! and hopefully will be able to OP regularly from payday

Frugal Fun - Start the Christmas shopping now and aim to make Christmas carbon neutral (i.e. harmless) by doing the following things: buying from charity shops (not necessarily second hand stuff), making presents at home, buying presents using survey vouchers. That way any money I do spend will be going to a good cause therefore guilt free spending. Oxfam by us does lots of new stuff and fairtrade food bits too. About two things in my Christmas drawer. This is where I need to do some work

Keep up the good work chaps. :T

puddle96

Have n't posted for a month so here goes
Wealth -a bit confusing.
The mortgage balance will be where I hoped it would be at the beginning of December.
The holiday came in under budget,
The garden is going to come in under budget but they haven't started yet so that money is still off setting the mortgage.
The confusing bit. I deal with two tax offices. One gave me a tax refund for the current year - good. The other has changed my tax code, is planning to tax me at 40% on all future income and then tells me at the end of the tax year i'll owe what tax office 1 gave me back.

Health
Well I've walked every day and up every hill I saw while on holiday. Been doing 6 day weeks since I came back so haven't managed my hill yet and will have to work on this. Will be going walking in the Lakes next year (haven't been since i was a teenager and am now nearly a pensioner) so will need to get into practice if I'm going to be able to do the big hills one more time.

Up the ante - was doing really well on the wine front until the last week. Shared the driving on holiday so no wine when planning to drive. Came back with really heavy cold/flu like illness - flu meds and wine don't mix. Sad news and horrible work pressures mean't I haven't done so well this week.

Frugal fun - NSD are now a reality in my life (even on holiday) but the spending either side goes up to compensate - must try harder

Hope you are all doing better than me
puddle

themadvix

remote_control - congrats on the job! And that's great news on the regular overpayments!

puddle96 - hope the news wasn't too bad, and don't feel bad about progress, I'd say I'm struggling with the challenge now which isn't intentional, but sometimes life just gets in the way of plans!

So update:

Health: well I played badminton last night - first time in ages, but it's a start. Weight is still going down veeeeeery slowly. Have started making my own bread which seems to be more filling than shop bought, therefore I seem to snack less during the day - whether this has an overall positive effect has yet to be seen! Walking, not been going so well... because....

Wealth: I know I keep saying I've been mega busy with work, but a) it's true and b) it's new! I've been self-employed for nearly five years now and this year is the first year it hasn't been very part-time! Another £450 paid to wedding savings this week :j (and would be the extra £50 but I bought shoes and a tiara instead!! -Ebay of course :A).

Up the ante: Appointment booked with accountant for Monday! :j Have realised that probably won't get an agreement in principle from a mortgage provider unless my accounts look vaguely reputable, so actually got my bum in gear and rang the accountant. (I'm not sure why but am scared that he will disapprove of my total inability to keep accounts up-to-date :eek:)

Frugal fun: Lots of this this week - took dinner round to my best friend's house on Thursday (she's got an 8-month old so expecting her to cook seemed a bit harsh when I'd invited myself). The four of us had a wonderful time. Also saw friends in Epsom, but that required a bit more petrol, so not so MSE. Received a 1-year anniversary-of-our-engagement card from fiance yesterday - a total surprise and completely MSE as he'd ordered as a freebie from funkypigeon!

Definitely waffled a lot here, sorry! Have a good week everyone!

Vicky

B-J-D

wealth-have £2155 saved in isa against stooze credit card to be paid off in march have managed to put £1600 away
-not put any of christmas on the credit card, need to start saving now have got £200 in an envelope under the bed and bought 3 pressys!!!

health-go for a run with the dog every week morning when ds sons back at school
-get to my goal weight at slimming world to go for free
-conceive baby no 2 in wich case #1 will be a walk not run!! (thank god!!) and #2 can go straight out of the window!!! yippee! (i joined the slimming group because we have been trying for a long time and i needed to keep my mind busy with other things!) still pregnant!!!! walking dog everyday now im feeling better

up the ante-make £80 on surveys got £35 om one poll, £6 VO, £7 on my servey, need to up the ante on this!!!
-make lots more effort to meet up with friends for a cuppa seen a few friends but this time of year is usually quiet with the planning of xmas nite outs (saving money ect)
-be extra organised for christmas, thortfull gifts not just bought at last minute, make very special for family esp ds got quite a few lists on the go and planning my sons advent activities

frugal fun-stick to my weekly budget been up the past few weeks due to going off foods and craving others plus this includes take aways and we have had a few more then usual, will try have a feww tight weeks
-monitor electric (try use more over night when its cheaper)
-have 14 NSD every month 14 done in sept, only 10 in oct, will try this month, none so far!
-cook from scratch, healthy, cheap, filling meals. plan, use up and bulk cook to keep spends down gone a bit to pot with bad morning sickness but will do when im feeling better

will keep on track this next month

[Deleted User]

Time for an update and to review any progress!!

wealth - By the end of the year Id like my mortgage balance at £119 xxx (this is mortgage only not incl savings) and ideally be MF because my flat has sold!! :rotfl: fingers crossed this is all on track!! Mortgage-savings may just hit the 119 xxx K mark by time its sold! so not too bad

health - Id like to fit comfortably into my size 10/12 clothes by xmas...this may involve losing about a stone, but more importantly Id like to up the exercise to 3 times per week and make sure Im eating much more healthily...*ahem*..... I can squeeze into one pair of size 12s but the stone isnt shifting at the moment and havent been the most healthy the last couple of weeks! exercise apart from walking at lunch a bit has been virtually non existent too .... must rectify this one!

up the ante - I am a bit of a nightmare anyway for energy useage and will stick with this as we go into winter! Id like to say no chocolate or alcohol till xmas but its unlikeley so I will instead aim to be good-ish on that front and am going to aim to make £60 through selling/vouchers which I may then spend on a xmas-reward-treat for all of my hard work at all of the above! have listed £3.50 worth on music magpie, 5 items on amazon, and sent off for a phone recycling bag nothing else saleable that I can find! also have a top I may put on ebay ..... then again have been saying I will ebay for a year and not got around to it yet!

frugal fun - Try to get back to £110 -£120 ish p/m food shopping (added £10 for rising food costs!), this will involve more meal planning, whoopsies and also using up whats in the cupboards rather than buying more. Id ideally like to get down to this figure for food shops every month till xmas if poss! Also could keep a spending diary for the next few months to see where my "fun" money dissapears to every month
spending diary kept -it would appear much of the fun money goes on coffees, parking and top up shops!!
food shopping for this month around the £120 ish mark , not sure this will totally stretch and currently trying to use up the stock of cupboard and freezer stuff!

originalmiscellany

Wealth:
Will hit the target for 10k saved by Christmas (31 Dec 2011) I think - I think it's key to keep focussed and save hard, as we're in a position where we are fortunate and I don't want to waste anything.

Health:
Target was 50 in 4 months - I think I'm sort of on track -
13 in September, 12 in October and I'm doing 1 gym session tonight and one sports session tomorrow, which will mean I'm about on target. I also aimed to do 60 ideally, but I'm a bit behind there and don't think I will do it, although 50 is achievable, and I will get there, esp. as over CHristmas we're going to be local, I'm going to be bored and the gym is close by...

Up-the-ante:
Didn't put one down as I couldn't think of anything to say!

gratefulforhelp_2

23 pounds lost of 28!!