Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and my overdraft needs to go on a diet!

allybee101

Well 5 NSDs clocked up since the 20th Jan (my pay day).
The way I have my counter on my spreadsheet isn't very accurate as it just totals up daily spend so I have to go through and check if any amounts are direct debits coming out for bills etc. It also reckons I could have 20 NSD this month :rotfl:
It obviously doesn't know me that well!
One of three large cheques has also come out of my account today. £49.50 for Slimming World. I shall have to start putting money in a post for the next payment. That £49.50 got me 12 weeks membership (I had a voucher for No joining fee and 12 weeks for the price of 10) so it works out at £4.13 a week. I need the motivation of being weighed so I am accounting for this spend in my weekly budget.

I'm waiting for the queue for the microwave at work to die down. I have homemade veggie soup with me, although I'm not feeling very inspired by it. Perhaps the chocolate cake this morning didn't help!

allybee101

3.5 lb lost this week and won Slimmer of the Week! - Prize is a huge bowl of fruit so that's a nice boost to the budget as I won't need to buy any!

I did then go to the supermarket and spend about £12, half of which I could have left on the shelf. Oops.
I took the white chocolate cookies into work today so have prevented some damage, but there is a bar of chocolate - the Galaxy Cookie Crumble waiting for me in the fridge at home. Nestled next to the pizza (I did manage to ignore the stuffed crust though and went for a smaller thin crust that was yellow stickered so guilt is slightly lessened!).

I will have to pick up a couple of bits tomorrow so not a NSD, but today should be!
Off for a walk along the riverside before the last of my huge veggie soup pot. Turned out to be delicious. Already plotting the next one which will be a bit less 'everything but the kitchen sink'.

allybee101

Well this week has been a bit chaotic really. Spent double my intended shopping budget at the supermarket on Saturday and had to fill the car with petrol so that's £70 gone!
The shopping was more than usual as I decided to stock up on a few essentials - beans, tinned fish, cheese, pitta etc that could last me through any weather-related hiccups.
I thought I should also fill the petrol tank as I was getting low and I didn't want to get stranded anywhere whilst it's so cold!

Disaster on the NSD front, the Sealed Pot and general budgetting this week. Today I got up late so ended up buying a sandwich and cake instead of having the meatballs and tomato sauce that's in the fridge - that'll be tonight's dinner. After SW, which I'm hoping isn't too disastrous - it's not been especially perfect this week. Although my trousers are getting very loose which is nice, but not very MSE to buy new ones. I shall have to investigate the depths of the wardrobe for an old, smaller pair!

More snow forecast for today so hoping for a snow day tomorrow, but it's not going to happen!

allybee101

Ooh, and I've just noticed that I've got a second star!
How exciting!

allybee101

1/2 lb on last night. Ooops
I do know where it came from, and I'm a little surprised it wasn't more. I need to get back to my food diary this week. It definitely helps.

Had my "naughty" dinner last night afterwards - turkey drummers and chips. I used to love the BM Turkey Drummers when I was a kid but they really are overprocessed carp. I won't be bothering with them again (better for my waist line I guess!).

This afternoon I have a dr's appt for a 'minor procedure'. I've had a skin tag under my arm for years and years - I honestly can't remember a time when it's not been there. It's fairly large - about the same as a peeled sunflower seed and catches on clothing sometimes which makes it sore. So I finally decided to talk to the doctor about it and he said it could be got rid of in less than five minutes.

So they're going to anaesthatise it and cut it off. And I'm sitting at my desk getting all nervous. I will go and have some lunch and do my meal planning to take my mind off it.
Ridiculous aren't I!

I don't think my overdraft will reduce much this month - lost a day's pay in this month's payslip from November due to the strike action and some extra spends I didn't count on.
However I have been asked to stay in my current assignment for 6 more months so I shan't be taking a pay cut in April when I thought I was going back to my substantive role. That should help with the debt busting!

allybee101

Well it took longer for the anaesthetic to kick in than it did for the doctor to sort the skin tag out! Cauterised and out the door within 15 minutes. No dressing required - it's got a tiny scab on that should fall off in a week or so. I'm really glad it's gone - no getting paranoid about it anymore!
I think they sent it off to Histology to double check there's no problems.

Today I went for coffee with a friend, it seems everyone else had the same idea and we trekked around 5 places before finding a table.
Followed up with a bit of window shopping and then a trip to Aldi for me - my first! Aldi is not practical to drive to, but I can walk there from the city centre. I stocked up for the week for £12.66 so I'm v pleased! hoping for NSD between now and the 20th so I can make at least a bit of a dent in the overdraft.

Yargo1

Jus read your thread - u r doing so well x

allybee101

Thanks. I definitely do better if I know I'm under observation so the diary means that I can't forget about my slip ups!

allybee101

Sooo, payday today. Phew!

I'm annoyed that I've wiped out nearly all last months' hard work. I'd cleared £116 off my overdraft, but then overspent by £112 this month.

I know why this is - deposits totalling £115 for two weekends away and £78 on tickets (which I'll get back this month or next), plus a dent in my payslip for strike action.

Luckily this month there's no Council Tax (10 month DD) so that's £91 saved. This is going to be transferred to a savings account so I don't spend it! It'll go back in at the end of the month. I'm not going to pay it off my CC as my car is due a service so it'll probably go towards that. The CC is interest free til next April and I've just paid £200 off it today. :T

I also managed 11 NSDs! And found a rather rusty penny for my Sealed Pot.

This week should be quite easy on the money front, I have to bake a batch of cakes for Friday and do some food shopping. Apart from the raft of usual direct debits I should manage a few NSDs.
The cakes are wickedly delicious chocolate brownie cupcakes. My mouth is watering already!

allybee101

It's been a spendy time since payday and I need to get this back under control. I've been using my card to pay for things rather than hand over the cash so I need to get rid of that habit again. I find it gives me so much less control and knowledge of what I'm spending.

I also need to jump back on the diet waggon with a re-newed effort in the evenings. Breakfast and lunch are sorted, it's just the evenings I need to fix.

This weekend I have no commitments so I will be cleaning and de-cluttering. I could do with that finger-clicking trick of Mary Poppins!

Just over £10 in my purse and planning to rack up three NSDs today and this weekend if I can.

Last weekend the chorus I sing with competed in the BBC Choir of the Year first round. We had a fantastic day! We didn't get through, but it was amazing watching the other choirs. One of them competed in Don't Stop Believing so we were up against some tough competition. We also met one of our fellow Barbershop choruses which was lovely.

Had coffee and cake with a friend on Sunday and resisted the shops, although I have ordered three items from a website to try. Two are the same item in different sizes so I know that at least a third of the order will be going back . I have been ogling the item for quite a while and finally decided to order it before it disappears. I'm a bit worried it won't be as lovely as I hope. In fact I've just gone back and looked at one of them and I suspect that 2 will be going back.
Oh well, better for the money saving pot!