6 months to freedom / Race against the bank

HeadAboveWater

I suppose that does make sense. But then so does 'eating little and often' My rule was the 'no more than 3 hours without food'. I like that rule :rotfl:

Yup! I'd say steak would keep you going for a while!!

Oh! Had to laugh at myself at the weekend. Was in Tesco's and spied stollen... and thought of you :rotfl::)

littleweasel

TBH my modus operandi is 'eat little and often'! It's also my downfall though, I snack a lot even when I'm not hungry. I shouldn't complain as I'm not overweight at all, it's just that everybody has those flabby bits they don't like, and I know mine is entirely composed of office treats/chocolate/probably now quite a bit of stollen cake :eek:

The stollen was a sizeable beast - 1kg in total! I'm now about 2/3rds of the way through it. Was it reduced or still full price in Mr T?

HeadAboveWater

Hmmm I know what you're saying! Trick is to snack on the GOOD stuff, not the bad. Namely fruit! Although it's full of sugar right enough. Nuts and seeds even. Veg. Plenty of stuff rather than chocolate!

Oh never thought to look at the price Although I do think it was a yellow label rather than white, so not full price anyway.

FallenArcher

Have just read your diary! Are you excited about the new job next week? Hope all goes to plan and you reach the magic ZERO balance at the end of the month

In terms of DVDs, I've found that I get more money for them from Cash Converter type shops - one of my local ones does 50p an item, whereas another does some for 25p and some for 75p. So the last coupld of times i've been to the second one first to get my 75ps and then taken the rest to the other for 50ps I do always run them through musicmagpie first, as have had the odd one where they would offer me £4 or so - i then say that to the cash converter place and they'll usually match it. Might be worth a try - is *much* quicker than music magpie as you get rid of your clutter there and then, and get the cash straight away. As for CDs - from my experience best price for this at carboots - if you've got other bits and bobs to sell.

Good luck.

littleweasel

Hi FallenArcher! Yes, I'm excited (if not a little scared!). I have just about finished handing over my projects, so it's a quiet week this week!

Good tip on the cash converter instead of magpie - I will research this. Ideally I would do a car boot but I live right in the middle of London and don't have a car, so getting stuff to a carboot is a nightmare. I could try with some massive suitcases perhaps, if they would reduce the pitch fee - I think there are some a little further out which I could get a tube to.

Low spend (if not no spend) today, just a cup of coffee and a packet of crisps. Bit annoyed about the crisps as I could have just brought more food from home - but I wasn't expecting to be quite as hungry as I am. I almost did another fast day but noticed that I was definitely hungry for breakfast, so it would have been a bad idea. Some days I am just hungrier than others and I try to listen to my body. I will try and have something protein-rich for dinner and then maybe fast day tomorrow.

Lunch is (er, was):
Tuna mayo on wholemeal bread
Apple
2 finger kit kat.

Piano practice tonight, then home to receive a Tesco delivery.

littleweasel

Oh - forgot my direct debit to my balance transfer card just went out, so total on that card is only £214 now. I do have a bit on my Barclaycard (booked a holiday) but should still be in a position to clear both in full come the 31st.

...Roll on the 31st.

littleweasel

Morning!

Another low spend day today. Bought a coffee (though having logged every spend so far since payday, I'm beginning to think that I waste more money on alcohol than coffee - it is extremely illuminating), but no other spends anticipated.

Lunch is:
Tuna mayo and cucumber on wholemeal
Orange
Bit of stollen (almost eaten up now...just as well, I am getting sick of it).

A colleague also brought Krispy Kremes so I had one of those. I don't like doughnuts normally but I do like Krispy Kreme! Will have my lunch late as am stuffed.

After work, going to go to the library and study for a few hours :-)

HeadAboveWater

littleweasel wrote: »

I'm beginning to think that I waste more money on alcohol than coffee - it is extremely illuminating)

:eek:

Interesting what you find out when you start to pay attention!!

Bit of stollen (almost eaten up now...just as well, I am getting sick of it).

:rotfl:

littleweasel

Morning!

Yeah, logging every spend is quite the eye opener. Admittedly I had some expenses that would normally be factored into my regular budget (namely, a holiday - I stopped paying into my holiday fund in November because it made more sense to throw the money at the debts which were costing me interest at the time), but it's not been a particularly financially disciplined month so far.

The good:
I don't spend that much on groceries (less than £100 for the month). I could cut this further (there's only one of me!) but to be honest I don't need to push it that hard - I don't waste food, have absolutely tonnes of non-perishable stuff in the cupboards, and the £100 now includes lunch every day at work, which was costing me more than £100 every month anyway!
-I don't spend as much as I thought on transport (I feared those sneaky bus rides when it rains were adding up, but apparently not)

The bad:
-I spent more on random shopping than I should have this month, mainly because of the sales. I don't usually shop a lot so I'm not quite sure what's happened here. Maybe with my DFD in sight and a pay rise imminent, I went a little crazy? Anyway, I don't think this is an ongoing concern, but I will need to keep an eye on it if I'm to be able to save the amount I want post DFD.

The ugly:
Alcohol and eating out. The combined total of how much I spent on those things this month is truly scary, and it's not even over yet because I have a leaving lunch tomorrow, leaving drinks tomorrow, a meal out (albeit cheap) on Saturday, a gig on the 24th and a friend's birthday on the 26th *horrified face* I'm not sure what to do about this one, as I really value time spent socialising. On the one hand I think, well, if I have the money (and post DFD it will be all my money) I can spend it how I want. On the other, I have some fairly ambitious savings targets for the rest of the year and this is the sort of thing that could easily derail them. Most of my socialising is not that expensive (we don't tend to eat in super expensive restaurants or anything), but sometimes on particularly, erm, social nights we seem to order bottle after bottle of wine with dinner, expensive cocktails etc, and it adds up quickly. That only needs to happen a couple of times a month and you get the sort of scary total I'm now seeing in my budget tracker app. Not sure quite how to deal with it...I don't mind it every now and again, but not on a regular basis. Hmm. We do a lot of 'cheap' socialising too (meals in, movie nights etc). Maybe if I take the lead in organising I can manage this to a point?

Anyway, sorry for long ramble. I'm not really scared of getting in debt again unless my living expenses or income change for the worse, the new salary provides a comfortable buffer, but I do need to be responsible with money if I want to be able to save properly, buy a house etc. I know London is expensive and my lifestyle still includes a lot of avoidable expenses - but it should be possible to manage all this if I'm careful. I definitely need to avoid the temptation to upgrade my lifestyle along with my salary...I already get a lot of treats, and splashing any more cash is just going to be a waste of money.

ANYWAY.

Lunch (and snack, as am not getting home til late) will be:

Hummus and cucumber on Burgen chia bread. I love love cucumber. Although this sandwich loses points as Tesco substituted the nice soya and linseed bread which I like for the stupid new chia bread which is completely different and not nearly so nice :-(
Orange.
2 finger kit kat (still sick of stollen)

...and a Creme Egg for later. I know, I know, it's not Easter yet but 6 packs were on BOGOF in Tesco!

That sounds unhealthier than it should! I had healthy porridge for breakfast :-)

HeadAboveWater

The good
Def good news on your groceries and bus :j

The bad
Hmmmm have had that problem myself this month and I'm not usually a shopper either Good thing is I've practically a whole new wardrobe, so no reason to clothes shop for a long time!

The ugly
Ouch!
At least you're aware of what you're spending. And as you say, if you take the lead in organising it should help! Only go for a night 'out' out once every 6 or 8 weeks instead?

On the one hand I think, well, if I have the money I can spend it how I want. On the other, I have some fairly ambitious savings targets for the rest of the year and this is the sort of thing that could easily derail them.

Ditto!
I want to save as much as I can too, but I've told OH (more than once!) that I need to have a life too! I want to enjoy myself and not feel guilty over buying us cappuccinos in our fav cafe at the weekends! We're not extravagant by any stretch of the imagination so just stick to budget!!