Back on the straight and narrow

deep_in

Hope your OK you've not been on for a few days

lilian1977

Not been much going on really - have signed up to the Fiscal Fast thread, the Decluttering thread and the July Grocery spend challenge so hopefully the combination of those three will see me through July without too much spending!

Posted a couple of Ebay items today, not much profit though. Also sold a box of 7" singles to a friend for £10 so posted that off as well.

PAY DAY TOMORROW!

Thanks for asking after me xx

deep_in

Glad your Ok your doing loads towards debt busting I wish I had things to sell but my old clothes I use for decorating or gardening and no unwanted gifts because my family ask each other what they want so don't really get anything I don't need/want lol Keep going your doing really well xx

lilian1977

You're doing brilliantly as well, just had a look at your signature - less than a year until your intended debt free date, keep going!

I have a friend coming over for coffee this morning, she asked if I wanted to meet at a cafe but I suggested she came here instead so that'll be another no spend day hopefully as I've already made all the meals for today.

Transferred my monthly £50 to my savings (plus £10 each to a few other savings pots) and the Ebay money so my ISA is starting to look a bit healthier now

lilian1977

Good morning everyone

Well it will be a spendy day today as I'm taking DS to a playcentre to meet Bob the Builder then to Pizza Hut, although using a 2 for 1 voucher with a friend so shouldn't be too expensive. I don't think we'll need any groceries though so that should be a 2nd day of my grocery budget saved, hooray! We do need bread but there are two hot cross buns in the freezer so I'm planning to use those in the morning.

My ISA is now almost £100 higher than it was a couple of days ago as I emptied my savings pot yesterday, really pleased with the amount that's in there at the moment.

Also really pleased as I got the nursery invoice yesterday and it was £25 less than I was expecting so that's allowed me a bit of leeway on my month's budget - just makes things a bit easier especially as I have a dentists appointment this month that I hadn't budgeted for.

Have lovely days everyone. Hope everyone is well. xx

lilian1977

Hi everyone

Well I haven't posted for a while and I can tell with my budget - I don't know why but I've been trying really hard but my credit card seems to be huge this month. I have done pretty well with the grocery budget but I think my Fridays with my DS have been costing a fair bit.

So I need to start again from scratch this month. I get paid on Friday and will have approximately £15 a week for myself and £20 a week for food shopping (although my OH will also contribute to this a bit). It will be a struggle but I need to do it and I need to stop putting things on my credit card or I will be in this cycle forever!

I also want to learn to drive at some point soon so I need to start saving some money for this as well.

So, I hope people can give me some support and also maybe some tips on how I can avoid the spending trap! I already have a spending diary but after about 2 weeks of being paid I tend to forget to use it

Thanks all

lilian1977

Hello again to everyone

It's time I resurrected this thread as I am falling back into my old ways yet again, it seems that without the ritual of posting and updating my signature I lose track of what's going on.

Have developed a taste for a latte and pastry at my desk when I get to work, this used to be my midweek treat but it seems to be becoming a daily occurence so I really need to work on that. I tried getting the Nescafe sachets but I can't seem to make them correctly as they're always really powdery I have however invested in a 6 pack of pain aux chocolates for £1 which will save on the 60p I was spending daily on a pain aux raisin from Tesco!

I've got a few bits on Ebay at the moment but nothing's selling yet, hopefully it will pick up over the weekend.

Had a massive sort out of all my toiletries over the weekend and I definitely don't need to buy anything for ages, barring conditioner once I finish the bottle I'm using. Will only get the 80p Alberto Balsam stuff though (although I feel spoilt at the moment as just finished a bottle of Kiehls that I got as a gift!)

Day off with DS tomorrow, will be going to the playcentre but then straight home so shouldn't be much of a spendy day. Hoping to have someone come round to look at our kitchen to give us an idea of how much we might need to spend on having it all ripped out and redone...so that might be a brand new savings pot, right there!

Pay day on Tuesday - it can't come soon enough.

OK I'll leave it there. Hope everyone has a good evening xx

lilian1977

Quick update - just sold 4 cinema vouchers that I bought on LivingSocial but probably won't use, and also got £2 for doing a survey on the street. I also took a birthday present back to M&S and got a gift receipt - £39.50! I don't really have anything I need and I'm not really planning on doing Xmas presents this year so not sure what to do with it - saying that there's an M&S food hall opening in my town soon so I guess it could be used for top up shops or treats.

lilian1977

Hello all

I hope everyone is having a nice day so far?

Well I've been paid and have paid off everything I need to plus put money into my savings pots - it's not left me with much money for myself this month but I will power through and hopefully get to the end of the month without adding to my debt.

I have managed not to have my morning latte and pastry at work so have saved a little already, but still need to cut back elsewhere. A few meals of pasta and sauce every week should stretch the grocery budget a little.

Signed up for the free tampons offer in Martin's newsletter which will save a bit, just have to remember to cancel them. And got yet another tin of free Heinz Five Beans this morning, the coupon expires today so will hopefully have time to get a couple more to add to the stash.

OK I think that's everything for now. Enjoy the day xx

lilian1977

Hello

I am resurrecting this thread as I put my annual train pass on a 0% CC back in December and want to have paid it off by the time I'll need a new one this year.

So, here are my things for today:

1. Check online banking - all OK.
2. Check Quidco - still only at 60p so can't withdraw yet.
3. Use Boots points for meal deal - didn't need one but really fancied some juice and I need a new small bottle for bringing juice on the train with me, so added a salad and fruit for £1.05 extra and paid with points, salad can be for DH's lunch tomorrow.
4. Found 7p on the way to the train - into pennies jar.
5. Breakfast (50p WW cereal), lunch (houmous, oatcakes, avocado, cheese) and dinner (frittata, salad and wedges) from stores,
6. Collect free Higgidy pie, add to meal plan for tomorrow.
7. Collect free Benefit sample.
8. Post HM Easter card to M&D with RM survey stamp and envelope from work.
9. Upload pic of breakfast to Facebook for free mOma voucher. - received voucher already!
10. Freepostcodelottery and BirthdayBingo.

How's everyone doing?