6 months to freedom / Race against the bank

Scuff

littleweasel wrote: »

I still haven't finished slicethepie or music magpie. Need to crack on with this. Tonight I am going to the library and then need to practice piano, so I might not manage to squeeze it in.

I don't think I am being a very good MSEer this month :-( I am doing well on not buying lunch, but I can already see I've spent a lot on shopping, socialising (esp alcohol!), and I booked a holiday. There is really nowhere to hide with this budgeting app that I got, I've been logging every single spend. Oh well. I guess it will give me an idea of how to budget and what to look out for once I've paid off the remaining balance on my balance transfer card. I cannot wait for 1st February to see the balances at zero on all my cards (although my current account will look quite depleted as I put flights on my Barclaycard).

Anyway, enough rambles. Lunch today:

Tuna mayo and cucumber on burgen bread
Apple
Cookies and creme kit kat (weird!)

I haven't actually eaten the apple yet as I am wearing a very tight peplum top which appears to limit my stomach capacity (!)

I like that you chose the kitkat over the apple

littleweasel

I haven't actually done music magpie yet (well, I have scanned some stuff but not sent it yet as I have more to add).

CDs don't yield very much at all. If any of them had been remotely rare I would have sold on eBay or Amazon marketplace. DVDs were better and the chances of watching any of them again were small, so I figured I'd sell a load of box sets.

However, I am not really losing anything (except clutter) with the CDs, as I have most of them ripped to my PC (:o), and I use Spotify for most of my music now anyway, though I pay £120 a year for the privilege.

I'll let you know what the final figure is when I add the additional box sets - doubt it will be anything much though.

Scuff: of course!!

HeadAboveWater

Scuff wrote: »

I like that you chose the kitkat over the apple

:rotfl:

Thanks littleweasel. Was just curious as I've some stuff to get rid of myself and ebay didn't work too well. Play.com's fees are shocking too.

littleweasel

Selling them individually might yield more in income, but it is also time-consuming. I'm doing a degree in economics currently and it made me think of 'opportunity cost' - i could probably earn more on Slice the Pie or Swagbucks than I could listing CDs that everyone owns on ebay.

I think it works well to sell items which are cluttering and have limited resale value because a lot of people own them.

Alternatively, if you have a boot sale near you, that might work out better if you have other stuff to sell which would cover the pitch fee. I don't (central London) and magpie just seems the easiest and most hassle free way of decluttering while clawing back some of the value.

HeadAboveWater

Which is the worst of 2 evils then?!

OH has been talking about a car boot sale for the last year. Nothing happening there. Maybe try relisting on a 'free' weekend for a second go and do something else then if it doesn't work out.

littleweasel

If the CDs have no scarcity value then I say magpie works out well (unless there's the possibility of a boot sale where you sell a lot of other stuff at the same time). Anything unusual I'd sell on eBay.

Similar lunch today:
tuna mayo and cucumber on burgen bread
orange
piece of stollen cake (only 400g or so to go now...)

I should get back into doing the 5:2 diet; I've not had the sort of food around to enable me to do it (lots of veg and soup, basically). Motivation has been low as I don't really need to lose weight, but I would like the health benefits and I think it would be a good way of maintaining a low weight as I get older (gosh, I'm vain).

Speaking of diet I am really happy with the dietary change I made last January and have stuck with - I massively increased my fibre intake, mostly though high-fibre breads, ryvita, breakfast cereals etc, but also through fruit and veg and generally going for the high fibre option where one is available. It hasn't had much effect on my weight, but I do eat a lot of rubbish too, and I don't tend to gain or lose weight easily (e.g. at Christmas I was surprised I didn't gain anything). The best thing about it is that I don't get bloated or gassy or constipated anymore (sorry for the TMI) - everything seems to work like clockwork now.

That was a rather off topic ramble - time to go on Tesco's website and start planning an online shop for delivery sometime next week.

HeadAboveWater

I know what you mean about not having to lose weight but concentrate rather on the health benefits.

Have never dieted nor counted a calorie in my life actually (no point depriving yourself of anything as you'll crave it even more!)

I did a weight management course in 2010 and with just changing my eating habits I lost both inches and lbs. Kept a food diary. Upped water intake. Upped fruit and veg. Swapped unhealthy snacks for healthier snacks. And never went more than 3 hours without food.

After that I managed to lose between 1/2-3/4 stone in 2012, plus drop a dress size too. I walk to work so I think that was how I managed it as there are times I eat like a horse! :eek: (seriously!) OH always reminds me of the first time we went out for a meal. My serving was bigger than his and I was finished first!! What can I say?! I love my food

littleweasel

I love my food too...I just wish I made slightly healthier choices!

On that note, I am doing a 'fast day' today (basically the idea is you eat what you want for 5 days out of 7, on the remaining two you eat as little as you can and in any event below 500 calories). I'm not hungry at all at the moment...not sure when it will kick in, probably about 2pm. I've got a nice winter broth and kale soup for this evening, which is 200 calories for the whole carton. Will allow about 150 calories for drinks throughout the day and about 100 for a small glass of red wine to accompany the soup so it feels like a proper meal (plus I have a bottle open and it would be a shame to let it go vinegary).

Got a lot of domestic stuff to do today. I did well with piano practice and studying yesterday, but the focus of today is decluttering and eBay/magpie.

Might be back later to complain when the hunger kicks in ;-)

HeadAboveWater

Fair play! I couldn't do a fast day. And to be honest I can't see how that's good/healthy for you But that's just me!!

littleweasel

It was on Horizon a few months ago...I think there's a big thread knocking around somewhere on MSE. Basically the science says short periods of fasting prompt your body to go into repair mode which is good for you in the long run. I guess this isn't true if it makes you faint/dizzy or otherwise makes you feel bad, but I don't seem to notice any ill-effects (other than hunger!).

Anyway, yesterday's went well, probably didn't hurt that I had steak for dinner the night before and thus was still full from that up to about midday!!

Back to normal today.Lunch is egg mayo on wholemeal (ran out of burgen bread temporarily), apple, piece of stollen cake for lunch. I am still going on the stollen cake, I think it's going to take the rest of the month to finish it!

I made a start on sorting eBay/additional magpie items, although I really need to get listing.