Working to a ten year plan

Ninno820

Just a quick update - the books submitted to Amazon came through today and my account was credited with £38.85. Now I find myself looking around the house trying every book with an ISBN number - makes you go mad!!

Still - posh shampoo ordered!

Itsadogslife_2

£38.85, that's fantastic :money:

Ninno820

Yes - I had a number of text books from a degree that I did five or 6 years agao. Th cook books that went through only raised about 25p per book. However it all helps and it makes much needed space on the shelf.

Ninno820

Well - I am two months in and have made progress - but not as fast this month as last. As you can see from my signature I have reduced the debt by £844 but have also stopped using the cc's and am enjoying a change of perspective. The grocery budget went a bit haywire, though, so am planning to batten down the hatches for the shorter month (23rd feb - 22nd Mar).

Ebay, amazon and music magpie are doing well - £253 made since the 1st January - its just a shame that the flat tyre took care of £80 at one swoop.

Challenges ahead are a car service tomorrow and remaining focussed. However this is one of two months when council tax and water rates do not come out so will feel like there's a little bit more flexibility in the budget.

HappyNow

Wow, well done. I am going to HAVE to start Ebay, Amazon etc. So far I've done really well with reducing my outgoings, but I've done nothing at all to increase my incomings. I keep telling myself I don't have time, but then I sit on this site for an hour when I could be getting on with it!

Ninno820

I agree about the time that reading such inspirational answers take and have, at times, become despondent about how little music magpie, for example give you. However I am putting an hour or two aside each weekend and loading up the items - if nothing else it should create a lot of space which makes the house feel better. I created a spreadsheet to keep a record and its quite exciting to see the total rise - however slowly!

The car had its annuals ervice today - £134 - which I didn't think was too bad. Should cover that cost with not paying council tax and water rates in feb.

Ninno820

Promised myself that I would update this diary once a week and it has settled down to being at the weekend. However the "end' of my month was just two days ago and not much has changed since then.

I have stuck to no "big shop" this week and have spent £6 on bits from local shops. They are more expensive but not as tempting so the final bill is not as big. I am trying a restraining £60 this month and have broken it down to £20, £15, £15, £10 a week respectively. Somewhere I also need to find £11 for a big bag of dog food next weekend so will have to save some of this weeks to help next week's budget IYKWIM. I am hoping that having so little and only having to last a week will help. Foodwise the cupboards and freezers are still full so I won't starve!!

Dietwise hasn't been brilliant but the weight has stopped going up. This week I am aiming to:-

• Stick to the meal plan without adding any "sugar".
• Walk the dogs every day - even when work is more demanding than usual.
• Make a decision on a new car insurance and go for it.
• Tidy the office - the ebay piles (unsold / listed) are taking over.
• Finish and post the college essay that's due.
• Send off two piles of books to amazon.
• Finish the accounts for a local club.
• Only spend a maximum of £15 of this week's budget.

I am hoping that by writing the list of jobs down I will become more focussed - I have a very low bordedom threshold!!

Ninno820

I have just done my debt snowball and it reckons that I will be debt free in 50 months - April 2016. I have a loan which finishes next november which will release £272 into the repyament schedule which should bring that date even further forward. Therefore I am aiming to be debt free by December 31st 2015 - just 3 3/4 years away - which would be amazing!

Ninno820

well - its end of the week report. The grocery budget is going extremely well - I have only spent £25 since 23rd feb so am feeling pleased with myself. Fund raising wise there have been some good results on ebay which has brought my total proceeds to around £360 since the new year and is helping to grow my holiday fund.

Debtwise - its too soon to say at this time of the month but I am hoping that there is some reductions - present performance would indicate that we will break the 2% barrier so fingers crossed.

Mentally I am getting excited about saving money, cashing in books etc etc - its beginning to take over from my shopping excitement - ooh er!

HappyNow

Ninno820 wrote: »

Mentally I am getting excited about saving money, cashing in books etc etc - its beginning to take over from my shopping excitement - ooh er!

Me too. Back in December when I took stock of my finances I sat down and had a good cry, and thought I was in for a few years of misery. Not so! Obviously I would prefer to be wealthy, but living on a budget and reducing debt is challenging and thought-provoking and, in a bizarre way, almost fun!