Enjoying the journey to becoming debt free - paying back the credit cards

fedupandskint

A good morning ticking off errands

A big shopping stock up as the freezer was almost empty - restocked on meat and fish and should be enough to keep me going for the next 2-3 weeks. Also filled up with liquid gold.

Also paid the monthly total for gas and electric which came in at £23 less than last month - phew! Really glad I'm sticking to my monthly payment plan rather than DD and also 3mth bills.

Just having a little break before sweeping and mopping, then writing then off out with Mr Dog then writing then cleaning

fedupandskint

Cleaning half done including my 2 least favourite jobs of mopping floors and cleaning the bathroom. Tomorrow will be cooking, cleaning, reading, writing and a walk up to town for a few bits and some exercise after a day off today - my abs felt like a day off after 4 days in a row!

Did a little more writing this afternoon and its starting to come together at last. Found out my old A-Level text bok from 20+ years ago that mum gave back to me last year, afterbeing stored there since then. I never imagined my research project would lead me back to it afterall these years. Strange paths in the mind that intertwine together subconsciously.

Received a follow up email about the work experience placement with some really good ideas that resonated strongly with me. Here's hoping that it goes well and my plan falls into place over the next 6mths to move into this area of work.

Tomorrow's plan
Get up, dog walk, exercise, walk up to town and back, clean, cook soup and spag bol, read and write, get ready for the weekend

fedupandskint

I fabbed myself up today for a change after being stuck in all week with that freezing cold winter weather.

A lovely day here today and could feel some warmth from the sun at last!

Fab exercise today has been 6 week 6 pack and lots of walking and off out around the waterpark this afternoon with mr dog to stretch our legs and get some fresh air.

Off to visit mum tomorrow and have bought her some nice bright spring flowers instead of a chocolate egg which she prefered.

Hoping to get out for a decent run this weekend now the weather's picked up a little

fedupandskint

Had a lovely walk around the waterpark this afternoon with my dog as it clouded over a little from that gorgeous blue sky and sun

Have finished fabbing the house up, washing all dried on the line - yeah!

Also have done 2 lots of batch cooking - stretched a pack of mince into 8 portions of spag bol and also 4 chicken thighs into 5 portions of curry all bulked out with plenty of veg. Easy meals now freezing and ready to go for easy teas over the busy next few months.

Cost per portion work out roughly as
Spag bol = 63p
Curry = 70p

Kicking the cost of ready meals into the sky and far far away!

As life will get increasingly frenetic over the next few months juggling work, dissertation, exercise and voluntary work along with some kind of social life for me I am determined not to fall into the ready meal convenience trap I have done so before when life's got like this. So as I've learnt with my diet and lifestyle changes over the 2yrs it's now needed more than ever to continue to put it all into practice.

Just some packing left to do and I'm ready to go to see my family and spend a lovely family weekend together

fedupandskint

I'm back after a great weekend with my family. Lots of lovely food, chats and laughter.

Me and mum went around the shops and she bought herself a nice pair of summer sandals and me the most bright summery bag in tomato orange red which I can't wait to use once spring finally arrives.

Lots of walking this weekend out with the dogs, also went for a run in the gloriuos sun this morningfighting off stitch and a wheezy chest. So it was a very steady plod and walk rather than a run.

Home now all unpacked with a list of things to do tomorrow!

Final NSD gained today making a total of 23 for March - I think that is a record! Taking the same step by step approach for April with lots more careful planning.

Tomorrow I'll total up the budgets and spends for the month along with some mini goals

fedupandskint

Ok then, having a pretty chilled out day so far with a little car clean, washing and soup making before making a start on uni work.

Have totalled everything up and on track with grocery challenge and clothes challenge budgets. I've decided to go for a No Spend April on clothes and take it week by week to break it down into more manageable chunks and have emptied my shopping basket of sale items to remove some of the temptations.

Hope I can do it, should be able to as I'll be really busy with uni work this month to get that lit review finished and well on with the methods. Also have a family day out planned at the end of the month to look forward to in order to keep me on track with all that academic workload.

April budget plans
GC £120
Petrol £120
Clothing £0
NSDs 17 (aiming for 23)
Utilities- get monthly payment £60 or under

I'll review at the end of the month to see how I got on

fedupandskint

A very productive afternoon typing up the work I've done. A nice surprise that the first draft is 1949 words out of 2500. Still need to write more and do a proper thorogh referencing however I'm feeling really pleased with where I've got to and am well on track to have finished a pretty good version by the end of this week.

On another couple of happy notes I have discovered a very economical tea of liver, potato and onions to overcome my childhood dread of liver.Was very nice and as I split one pack into 3 meals it works put around 88p per meal plus lots of veglets say £1 all in. Very filling too and quick and easy.

Lastly, it was NSD 1 today - off the mark today.

fedupandskint

Not much to report today apart from back to boring work, happily collected NSD 2 and read a couple of chpts this evening for the aforementioned ongoing piece of work

fedupandskint

Been to Drs today and have been referred for some tests to see what all that wheezing is about otherwise everything else is absolutely spot on normal apart from streaming with a cold that started yesterday so not much exercise this week.

Did take the dog for a walk around the waterpark after work to take advantage of the bright chilly sun for a change!

Today is NSD 3

fedupandskint

Still full of this rubbish cold - feel better today compared to the last 2 days.

What else?

Have start date for the work experience placement next Fri pm - looking forward to it but as it was a even later work late night last night I'd make sure I leave on time as its left me feeling very tired this morning. Also enquired about a phd this morning and thinking its worth a go to apply and just see what happens.

Food and petrol spends have come in under budget this week - very good and needed! Added another £2 coin to my collection - going well, and another £2 to my treat pot which stands at £57 now.

Appointment arranged for a lung function test in a couple of weeks to see if we can find out what the problem is and I can get out running again and feel ok like I used to.

NSD's 5/30 to date and no clothing spends either which is good and also on 5/30

Cleaning to do this afternoon, errands to run then a nice long walk in the fresh air to liven me up a bit!