Nearly there!

January20

Not a frugal weekend so far! I was going to update this diary last night - or at least reply to your query about a DF summer GreenSaints - when my dd called, offering me to accompany her on a trip to town to do a bit of shopping and get some dinner. Well, I had planned to do some shopping today but an opportunity to do it on a quieter Friday evening and to spend some quality time with her is never to be sniffed at. I spent a huge amount of money in Bravissimo - can't even write it down - but I needed to, seriously I did! And dd went half on dinner! And then today, after emptying the garage of most of the rubbish that was there and taking it to the tip, I went to the cinema with a friend and we saw "The most exotic Marigold Hotel". Very good and very funny. Cunningly avoided going for drinks afterwards too lol!

Tomorrow will be a more frugal day. I'm planning to do the second part of the garage clearance and some necessary food shopping. We don't even have a piece of cheese in the fridge tonight!!

The DF battle starts again on Monday

GreenSaints

I do love Bravissimo and can understand why you spent so much! Glad you had a nice day with your daughter. I just spent the day with my mummy in fact

I did a bit of clearing in our utility room today. I had enough of bike equipment and camping stuff all over the place, so went to the tip with 14 paint tins! :eek: So its cleared two shelves and the bike stuff is put away.

Got to get my BF to sort out the boxes of screws, raw plugs, nails etc! Couldn't just throw it away 'just in case' The fact most of that stuff hadn't been used for years is not the point!

January20

I know that feeling of "just in case". I have stuff in my garage that I keep "just in case" and in fact I have a big bucket thing full of screws and metal bits that I really need to send to a better home! However, it is raining here (hurray as it's been dry and we can do with a bit of rain) so a good excuse not to complete phase 2 of the garage clearout and spend the day reading, surfing the net and cooking Sunday dinner! :-)

GreenSaints

I really fancied going for a bike ride, but I quite like vegging out

January20

I've lost some work in my second job. It means I'll probably lose something like £45 per week, not a huge amount but still! It's supposed to pick up again in April but you can never be sure with these things.

There also seem to be a funny smell in my bathroom (a bit like over-cooked pop-corn) and I'm wondering if it's because the shower is on it's way out. I've only had it for 2 years I think but it's not been great (it's a reputable brand too!) and I've already had problems with it! I really don't need to be dealing with that now, finding a plumber or an electrician or both, making decisions about what to do! (this is when a boyfriend would be useful!) But I refer myself to you quote in my signature GreenSaints: the road to DF is long and bumpy"!

On the DF side, I'm now at a balance of £491.79 :T So why do I still feel like I am heavily in debt? Why do I keep having a tight knot in my belly, worrying about the future? Why do I feel guilty that I am going out with friends for drinks or lunch? Will I feel any better when I have paid it all off? I'm obviously a very bizarre creature! :rotfl:

GreenSaints

Hey,

Sorry to hear about your extra work Luckily you aren't too reliant on it for debt repayment now. Once that CC bill is gone, you'll quickly remember how precious your spare time is!

Well done for breaking the £500 barrier! Weirdly enough, I also feel heavily in debt (maybe because I am!) but I've cleared nearly £11k, but it doesn't feel like it. I think it's the DF mentality is tattooed on our brains forever!

Haha! I have a BF and he's useless with DIY! Computers and technical stuff - great, anything else - pants! May I suggest mybuilder.com or myhammer.com to find a plumber or electrician? I've used it a number of times and always find good tradesman at the right price.

January20

I think that's what it is! It's tattooed on our brain! (I won't have to get that tattoo after all then )

I'm not so reliant on the second job to pay off my debt, you are right, but it does allow me to pay extra or to get little treats. For instance, if everything goes according to plan until the end of this month, I could possibly pay off an extra £100-150 which would be absolutely fantastic! I'm trying not to think about that at the moment though!

I'm feeling less frustrated by my debt this morning. I spent yesterday afternoon in town with my friend. We went for lunch, then a mooch around town, spent so long in the Chinese supermarket (pretended I was on holidays in a foreign country lol), then had afternoon tea a bit more of a mooch around. I paid for lunch and it was lovely to be able to do that without it having a huge impact on my debt repayment. In fact, it won't have any impact will it?

Today will be chores food shopping and housework grrrrr! not very exciting but I might take a trip to Ikea tomorrow after work! Oh the highlights of my life!!!

January20

Well, it finally has happened: the shower has blown! dd tried to have a shower and smoke just came out of it. Her bf took the front cover off and the little box with the screws where all the wires meet is burned! Not happy about this! Have cut the power off from the fuse so it's safe.

It's been a mad week and I was tired yesterday so couldn't deal with it. I've been out 8am- 8pm most days this week and I need some time to think. Over the weekend, we will do without it (anyway I'm at work tomorrow morning so won't have time to do anything) and on Monday I will phone an electrician and see what happens.

Then I am seriously considering having the bath removed and changed as well as the damaged taps. I need to do some measuring and go and have a look in some shops but at least I have time to think about it.

I could do without this extra expense!

So clearing the cc is a bit on the back burner until I know how much the shower is going to cost me, and I'm also hoping that no nasty problem will be found in the wiring. Fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed!

On a positive side, I've had a chat with dd and from now on, she will pay less board but she and her bf will do their own food shopping. I will still buy the staples like butter, milk and eggs for us all but that's it! This is a big relief for me as they don't eat the same things I eat. It also means I will spend less time at the supermarket every weekend!

GreenSaints

Oh no! Sorry to hear about the shower. Suggest having a look in Homebase - they are always selling off shower units.

Hopefully it's good news for Monday

January20

Thank you GreenSaints!