lilmissmup - 2012 - return of the debt free diary

lilmissmup

So another Monday been and gone.

I appear to have lost my bank card, used it this morning for petrol and now can't find it, think it might be at work so will look in morning and then cancel it if its not.....

Swagbucks 4th birthday today so I am using all the extra swagcodes, nearly @ 400 again, like some people on the £10 a day thread were saying some people can get a few thousand a day on there!!! Dunno how, I manage about £5 a month!

Asked my boss if I can take my sick day as a holiday he said he will see what the main boss says. Really could do without losing the cash....:cool:

lilmissmup

Savings are now up to £3338 (£78 more) thanks to some bingo winnings made yesterday, did make a bit more but then went out to dinner yesterday so rest are to cover that.

Seems to be some good bingo deals out there at moment but I have joined the £10 a day challenge again to give me other ideas too.

Car passed MOT and it only cost me £2 too so that was a result, have just got about enough money to scrape me through to payday I think, think I might have a look at putting some stuff on eBay later.

I just seem to be taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back at the moment with money, make some extra then spend it again and feel guilty.....I really want us to move house so I need to get my butt back in gear!

lilmissmup

Well I made it through the rest of the month up to payday!

March has been a pretty pants month though, was really ill a couple of weeks ago and was in bed for 4 days with a migraine and water infection which was horrible, took me another few days after that to start feeling ok but it cost me £200 in wages so money is now tight this month. .

Also my mother has arrived again for one of her stupidly long visits, 1 week down 1 week to go but its making me really depressed.

I have a piece of college work to do which I must finish early tomorrow morning to email over to my teacher as it should have been in when I was ill but I have no motivation whatsoever and don't think I will until she leaves, I am having to spend any spare time with her and it makes me feel phsyically ill.......

If she didn't threaten suicide or stay for even longer then I would just tell her to go away, I detest the woman, shes making me pay for stuff too the money grabbing cow!

I am supposed to be going out shortly to see my friends but all I want to do is watch tv and do nothing else.

I wont be drinking tonight so will have to get up at about 7am and finish the essay I need to do, luckily its only one more night at college then 2 weeks off for easter and with her gone by then I might get some motivation back.

wendz86

Sorry to hear you have had such a rubbish month.

Sounds like a nightmare with your mum, hope your motivation picks up when she is gone. Must be very draining.

lilmissmup

Mmmmm still mega stressed out at moment due to the fact my mother is still here...........:mad::mad::mad:

I am also super duper stressed as I have to drive to Colchester tomorrow for a 3 hour course.

I hate driving to places I have never been and its a 2hr drive there and back for a stupidly short course that my work have had to put me on as they have left things to the last minute and they lose funding unless I do the course tomorrow.:cool:.

Money has been up and down this weekend, went to pets at home and stocked up on cat and guinea pig supplies, got about 6 months worth for £60 using offers and a 10% off voucher.

Then went and brought 2 dresses and shoes in one of my favourite shops, everything in store was 3 for 2 so one of the dresses was free, still cost me £70 though.

Then today we finally booked our holiday, off to Ibiza in June half term for a week costing £2173 for the 4 of us. Hotel was £810, the rest is on flights which is ridiculous really but we are flying from Luton which is only 30 mins from us, flight time coming back is early hours of the morning though.....

I did it via expedia though after hunting around for a few hours for best price on the hotel as it was £400 more expensive with First Choice to fly on same day and Simon wasn't too keen on kids missing any school.

Should get 5% cashback if it tracks plus 2000 nectar points as well.

So debt has jumped up a lot this weekend.....the holiday went on my HSBC card but will be transferring the balance to one of Simon's 0% balance transfer cards and then paying my half off his card.

We definately won't be going on holiday next year though as its looking more and more likely I won't have a job after December and I am desperate for us to move house next year if we can!

I did join Jackpotjoy today though and won £31 so to try and counteract some of the spending I have put £150 in my savings though its gonna make it a tighter month....

I should be getting £500 bonus pre tax next month though from work so I can chuck that into my savings too .

Off now to route plan tomorrow and be more depressed about my mother still being here, wish I could afford to spend nearly 3 weeks in a hotel.....god knows how much benefit money she gets! :cool:

lilmissmup

*creeps back in*

Oh dear its been nearly a month since I last updated, have logged in loads to update but then only had time to read and not do an update!!!

Well its nearly May and mmmm things are ticking along albeit slowly on the savings front.

I got paid £1537 this month due a £500 bonus (before tax) so I have chucked £500 into savings .

Bills to Simon are £580 so that left me with £537 to play with.

Spencer had his yearly check up yesterday, he has lost 1kg so for once I didn't get my he is too fat lecture, I got a well done wooohooo :T.
They would like him to lose another 1/2 kilo before next year though but if he stays at 6kg I will be happy! 7.7kg was his highest!

He is a big kitty though. I need to get Izzy to lose another 1/2kg before October when she has to go, thing is she hates leaving the house so thats easier said than done.

I did also spend £40 on treats in pets at home for the cats, guinea pigs and me on payday.

I brought the cats a new scratching post as they have had the same one for nearly 7 years, the guinea pigs some chewing tubes one made of hay that was £7!!! And myself a Curver storage container for cat food with pictures of kittens on, trying to look for a picture online but I can't find that exact one, have just found a 4kg container though which I might have to buy now too.:rotfl:.

Spencers appointment yesterday was £70 and I took £50 cash out Friday and my Cineworld DD has already gone out so at the moment I have £349 in the bank to play with although I do need to pay off my Tesco card and some towards my virgin card!

Not bad though considering I have put £500 in savings!

£10 left in my purse after takeaway Friday at home and last night round a friends!

Christmas fund is looking nice. I am nearly at another £5 on Swagbucks and have £16 in Nectar points now thanks to our holiday but not claimed them yet, due to get another £10 from TCB this month which I will claim in vouchers too to add to the fund as if Gemma comes back off maternity leave I will be unemployed at Christmas!!!

April has been a pretty good month socially but I am swamped with college work too, only 7 more lessons though until I complete my first year! I can only go to 6 though due a 4 day work course next month.

Am sort of looking forward to 3 months off but will miss the animals too.

I need to make my mind up by September if I am doing the degree next year too.....:cool:

wendz86

Hi

Nice to see you here again.

That is good you got the bonus and were able to put it in savings, always feels nice!

Sounds like Spencer is doing well, good news he has lost weight.

Glad I am not the only one saving up for christmas already, am collecting vouchers up too.

lilmissmup

Thanks Wendz I need to post more often if I do ever want to move house and maybe quit full time work!

Just looked at my budget as of today I have £6 a day to play with until payday, just made a payment for £77.17 to clear my Tesco Card and need to pay £25 off my Virgin Card when the minimum balance comes through.

Have claimed £9.54 from TCB in form of an Amazon voucher, am only 55 swagbucks away from another voucher too.

TCB now ask you to tip though when you get a payment which is a bit weird.

I have renewed Spencers incurance for another year at £5.22 per month with £18.18 cashback to come too.

Just need to ring and cancel the old one now.

Need to try find travel insurance and a taxi for our holiday though and waiting on Simon to make a mortgage renewal appointment.

lilmissmup

All looking good on the money front, another £10 amazon heading its way to me via Swagbucks and Nielsen so with the £16+ in my Nectar account the Christmas fund is soon to be over £100 :j.

I have also opened up a 6% regular saver with HSBC to save £250 a month, any other savings can go into my normal account.

Me and Simon have a meeting with a mortgage broker on Thursday to renew the mortgage on this house, I am going to be put on it! :eek:
I really need to start nagging him to sort out his financial consent order with his ex wife though before we can think about moving next year.

This house has a mortgage of £110k but is worth £150k, houses we would be looking at would be about £200-220k so we have £40k to play with and earn £60k between us so could borrow £180k hopefully but she can still claim money on this house if we sold now so can't move until thats sorted!

I am looking to get £10k saved before we move too although if I am unemployed as of December that might be hard.

I also need to decide by December if I want to do the degree course at college.....big scary life changing decision that I am not sure I want to do.....

lilmissmup

Oh dear.....

When I said I was scared about making life changing decisions I might have stumbled across something that could possibly be a life changing (and expensive!) decision!

I don't want to say too much about it right now incase it goes nowhere but if it does I might be in a lot more debt for a while at least!!!!

I have been trying to concentrate on my college work today but with the children being here its really hard. I am nearly finished on one essay though so that will get finished tonight! Then I will need to do one more tomorrow, we have the kids tomorrow too as its a bank holiday....:cool: Simon will have to take them out for a while though! I had to wait until 2pm for him to take them out today so I could get on!