Millie's debt diary

mildredalien

Thanks dfw, I'm chuffed I'm sticking with it really, and staying pretty on track so far Just need to not give in to the temptation to spend it all on holidays :P

Unfortunately I can't take the job yet as I have to resubmit some work for the qualification Totally gutted about that, although from a DFW perspective I hadn't been relying on the pay increase at least. Oh well, sometime next year I'll get a bumper pay packet... just hoping it's not TOO far into the year!!

freebyfifty

mildredalien wrote: »

Have been in sunny (hah) Scotland on a long weekend

Where were you, I had the kettle on and biscuits out?????

mildredalien

freebyfifty wrote: »

Where were you, I had the kettle on and biscuits out?????

Haha, I was in Edinburgh - it was chuffing freezing!! My method of keeping warm was mainly through liberal application of alcohol rather than tea though :rotfl::D

It could have been a NSD today but I splurged on a packet of vegetable crisps for a grand total of £1.10 for lunch. £1.10 for a packet of crisps!! :eek: They are blimming delicious though, and the chicken wrap I made this morning was looking rather forlorn... shouldn't spend anything else today though, have tea planned and even a couple of treats in the house if the Friday mood takes me!

mildredalien

Best laid plans and all that... ended up splurging on chips yesterday as me and DB were both knackered and under the weather. Well, I have about £8 left in my purse and I'm determined not to spend any more than that this weekend! Still haven't got any Xmas deccy's up and not feeling very festive, so I may pop back to my parents house and see if the potted Xmas tree that's been in their back garden since last year is salvageable!

freebyfifty

Ohhhh Edinburgh is beautiful but always blimmin freezin' I go about two or three times a year (have relatives there) and its always 3 degrees colder than anywhere else

No Christmas decs up in this house either although I have resigned myself to the fact they will have to go up fairly soon

And........sometimes only chippy chips will do, especially if you feel like carp Hope you're felling better today

mildredalien

I know, I love the city, I have friends there so go up as often as I can (which isn't that often given the cost of air travel these days!!) Aw you and DB would get on well, he's not that enamoured of Xmas deccies either - wanted to put them up on the 22nd even though we are off to see family from the 24th so would get only two days of festive looking flat!!

mildredalien

I've been juggling around ideas for being able to afford the holiday while still making overpayments to my credit cards.... After I'd already agreed to it and booked the flights is a bit too late to suddenly realise that Sweden is fricking expensive and I'm probably going to need a grand for a 10 day trip there!!

My current plan is to put £200/month away from Jan-April for the holiday in April, but then not have any holiday saving from May-August to put extra towards debt repayments. Hopefully by May I will also have my promotion and will have even more to put towards it too. I'm hoping I can trim money from elsewhere in my budget to cover part of the extra holiday money as well so I don't have to reduce my overpayments too much. I always have so many plans for weekends away and holidays but if I want to get this debt cleared in 2012 I need to be strict with myself!! So no more holidays in 2012!

mildredalien

Am hatching a new plan for grocery/pocket money budgeting. I have £200 per month for groceries etc., but I should be able to spend a lot less than £50/week on essentials. So, my plan is to withdraw £50, allocate £30 for groceries and put the £20 in a pot for topping up during the week, extras and treats. Whatever I don't spend will get rolled over to the next week - if I have £10 or more left I probably won't bother getting out the full £50 the next week. I'll just have to keep my eye out for 5 week months!

So I've started this week, spent £10 on my half of a food shop that should last us til Thursday evening (with maybe a couple of extra purchases for lunches).

mildredalien

Expenditures yesterday - £20 on petrol

Today should be a NSD, not planning on moving from the house all day as I have work and wrapping to do! I've started playing around with January's spreadsheet now, I think I'm obsessed! I'll forget what month it actually is one day... I'm projected to have £100 left in my bank account at the end of this month which I can use to overpay my BC a bit more, then when I start from the pit of my overdraft I'm projected to have a spare £33 in January :j:D Hopefully I can whittle down my expenses to increase that a bit.... hopefully I actually have that left...

I'm wishing I got round to selling some stuff on ebay a few weeks ago, I have a couple of dresses and a pair of shoes I've never worn that are pretty good for the 'party season' but it's too late now, and no point trying to sell people party clothes in January when everyone is hibernating!

mildredalien

So I'm going through my annual 'aaargh Christmas' meltdown, where usually I go out and splurge on extra presents for everyone because I'm unhappy with what I bought/think I didn't buy enough/find something new that I think someone will love.... trying really hard to resist this temptation this year!! It's not entirely helped by the fact that DB has spent a ton on gifts for people including my family members, which makes me feel guilty for not buying 'enough' or something. Meh. Am trying to get over it and remember that my family and friends will appreciate any gifts and just having a good time at Christmas.

Have avoided going out today AND online shopping despite the temptations, although will have to pop out tomorrow for gift tags and a little something for my sisters OH.