Deliciosa’s DFW diary

Skint_Catt

Are you doing a spending diary - I mean EVERY penny? Then you can go through it and think could I have lived without it?

It's the question I always ask myself before spending a penny - CAN I LIVE WITHOUT IT! Generally the answer will come back as yes! :rotfl:

Catt xx

deliciosa

Hello
Yes I should use a spending diary. It would help, I guess. I might start doing one.
It’s a very good question, can I live without it. But my WANTs are sooo strong, I just want want want things. I am hopeless.
Thanks guys for your lovely words and ideas. I will check out that website and also freecycle.
Still down and trying to get out of it but not really coping. I owe so much, I have achieved so little in life, I am in a mess and what if I lose my job, and you know just everything…

slowlyfading

It is going to be hard to begin with - if it was easy, we wouldn't be here in the first place. Do a spending diary - I find it really useful to see where I'm overspending, and then you can work out how to cut certain areas down. Write down EVERYTHING you spend each day. You can do this, just take one day at a time.
sf xx

deliciosa

Hi SF - thanks, I will do that!!!
I am excited about buying a bike. I am committed to finding the best deal - I am buying today. I have just realised that I can go everywhere by bike, and it will take about 10 minutes to get to work, when by bus and tube it takes a bit less than an hour. It also turns ou that I can go anywhere with it, because in my workplace we have secure storage, in my house we have secure storage, and even in my synagogue we have a secure space for it!! So if I am in town I can just leave it in my synagogue and it will be safe, and sicne its open 24/7, I can use it as a secure, private bike parking space anytime! Yayay!
This means: -£92 monthly regular outgoings (travelcard). I will put some money on it for days of lazyness. How much should I put, any ideas?
Further commitment: I decided that I will cut back on work food. I will now allow myself £2 per day and £2 only. (I know it’s a lot but niow I am spending over four a day so it wont be easy!!!) This will have to cover breakfast and lunch and possibly afternoon snack. No more £2.60 roast and loads of 30p apples. No more 25p vegetarian sauage and loads of 10p toast. Wish me luck! A tenner a working week, that's my goal.
Another commitment, cutting back on diet coke. I have about 6 cans a day @ £2.55 (tesco multibuy). It will kill me, but I will try to do two buys / week (=2.5 cans a day). It will be bleeding hard. I am dependent on this stuff. Uhhh. So what else can I have instead: yucky machine coffee at work (free). Earl grey at work (that’s ver nice, and free). Well. That’s what I will do… ohh gosh this is not easy.
I am only having one soya latte a week and that’s on Saturday. And that’s usually free
Need to buy some clothes tho but M&S sale weekend = 30% off!!! By the way! If ANYONE wants a 20% off voucher for marks and spencer (everything apart from electronics), redeemable from 15th Feb to 18th feb, let me know, I have 5 spare. Perfectly legal, I am an employee, we have been given "friends and family" vouchers. Just PM me your address and I can send one to you. One voucher is redeemable many times, so you can buy stuff on Friday, then again on Saturday etc, Sunday and Monday. Please only ask for vouchers if you will use it.

deliciosa

Right! Apart from the whole broken nose story ( http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=731039&page=1 ) I am quite all right. Got paid today!

I got £1300.

So I distributed it as follows:
AMEX £586 - new balance now £500D
HSBC £128 - new balance now around £2450 but must check. (I know i messed up on this one)
M&S £40 - new balance now £1200.

Total debt: - £4150.

I have £297.10 on my current account (and i wonder when they will deduct the £98 for gym as they still have not deducted....)

It's dissappointing. I should have done so much better this month. And now I must live on £200 for a whole 4 weeks. Awful.

deliciosa

Diary update.

Gym still haven't deducted the fee. I hate the false feeling if having money when in fact I dont. I dont like direct debits, exactly because of this.

However I went there on Sunday and it turns out that I might be able to get out of the contract so that I only pay for Feb and March and I dont go from april. And I dont pay from April. I will speak to the manager this weekend. It would be very good. And as for excercise: I got a stepper, a friend of mine gave her old stepper to me. and I am cycling to work every day (aiming to, dunno what will happen when it starts to rain.... anyone got ideas for cheap water resistant coats, please do not hold back...)

This will save me the travelcard. I could upload £20 on my oyster for the odd journey here and there and hope it would last a month. right now my travelcard is costing £92. True, the bike was expensive, but it will be worth in the long run plus i exercise.

Now my new frugal life started on Sunday.

Sunday spending: £3, on a week's shopping! pretty good huh? I got apples (8), croissants (8) pasta (big packet) , pasta sauce (just tomato, both discounted at local shop) - will be enough for three occasions. Then tomato soup and minestrone soup, both enough twice each.

Food shopping at work: I spent £1.10 on breakfast (but its cus I forgot to bring croissant, Ill do better next day!) and then £1.25 on sandwich for lunch wont do again I promise) then I found cheap tesco chunky cheese rolls for 21p each - yumyum. (bought and ate two - 42p)

then in the evening I treated myself to a diet coke (60p - i know...) and that's it.
So it comes down to £3.37 spent. I know most of you can do better (and trust me I will do better tomorrow!!!!) but for me this is a big thing when I used to spend £15 just on dinner, and then £3 at work on food, plus snacks....

Now I also found some loose change at home - £4.25. This will be spent tomorrow on a six pack diet coke - £2.66 tesco, that will do me good hopefully until the end of the week. Then I will get the chunky cheese rolls at lunch time again (42p) and maybe a soup from work (95p) and that will be nice. No food needed in the evening as am volunteering at synagogue = they give snacks for free.

wish me luck! (is anyone reading?? )

ZTD

deliciosa wrote: »

anyone got ideas for cheap water resistant coats, please do not hold back...)

Charity shops. Especially ones in major footballing towns. Fans who buy "this season's" water proof coat, send "last season's" to the charity shop.

Other thing that never lets in water is a waxed jacket.

deliciosa wrote: »

wish me luck! (is anyone reading?? )

Good luck! (not me...)

deliciosa

Thanks!!! dont knoe any charity shops around here... need to look. i also need pump, inner tube and something else for the tyres which i forgot...

but wouldnt it be amazing if i could really ride EVERY DAY? so far I feel really motivated and actually looking forward to going to work, on the bike!

the bad thing is that i feel i had a proper workout therefore i can eat naughty food. NOT good. I have to stop the hashbrowns for breakfast. (and they cost £1.10 anyhow. If I treat myself to one or two hash (20p/40p) and eat one croissant (already got 'em) and maybe one toast with butter (10p) - I know I am a carbocholic. then then I get b'fast for 50p at work plus elevenses an apple (I eat a lot I know but loast year I stopped eating when moneysaving and that didnt do me good, I ended up in hospital...) so that's 50p for breakfast, this could be my daily limit. then I could do £1.50 for lunch (this includes tesco rolls, plus maybe a soup) then I would be at £2 per day plus occasional treats like DC or such.. that would be good for me.

I have to buy some simple clothes though. It's 30% discount day at M&S fri-sat-sun-mon (for us, employees) so I will hit the store and buy a few cheap tops and maybe a skirt. what sort of a budget should I set for myself? average item £15 (pre-discount, so say £10) and need at least two tops and a skirt (more expensive) so should I say £40?

andromache_2

I'm reading! Good luck! You're sounding really positive I'm *very* impressed by how much you'll save with the cycling as well - it just goes to show how extortionate London public transport fares are, doesn't it!

deliciosa

Thanks andromache!
I am very impressed by YOUR challenge, £4000 a year, wow I wish i could do that....

Today: cycled in again. I decided to revise my food plan as will have to eat some fruits and vegs. so i will have an apple and a croissant for b'fast, going now.

I found more cash around my room! will count now.