Onwards and upwards

southernbelle

Good afternoon Diary-land! :wave:

I hope no-one minds this new diary.

I work best with short term goals and lists, I like crossing things off. Sometimes I’ll even add something to a list after I’ve done it so I can then cross it off!:o

I am forever single, disastrously so sometimes. But I have met someone who I like, and who I think likes me. Problem is (there’s always a problem) he’s now away and I won’t see him after Sunday until the New Year.

I am also in a lot of debt (see my signature). I am working hard to get it down, and am doing OK. I have had relapses and wobbles, but who doesn’t?

The purpose of this brand spanking new diary is to give me a short-term boost, until 2013. There are a number of things I want to do to reinvent myself. Not just for the potential bloke, but for me – I want to be a better person.:cool:

Here’s what I want to do:

1. Lose weight. I need to lose about half a stone, not much, but enough to make my clothes too tight and my confidence too low. I go to Crossfit and go running, I need to be stricter with myself, especially when it comes to food.

2. Gain confidence. I need to keep to my self-esteem programme I was given when I had medical advice last year. This will link in to everything else too.

3. Work harder/smarter. I am a terrible procrastinator. I’m even typing this whilst at work. And it’s not like I haven’t got enough to do – I usually end up working Sundays to catch up.

4. Go to church. It makes me feel better, I should go more.

5. Finances….

I will tackle the financial side of things in the next post!

southernbelle

And so onto the finances... You can see my debts in my signature. I am on a DMP, and pay £740 a month into it.

So here’s my list of tasks:

1. I want to be “money neutral” – aside from certain items (petrol, groceries, bills) which are budgeted for, I want to only spend money that I have made on top of my normal wages I want to be able to make £10 a day, every day. I should be able to do this with some effort and commitment.

2. I want to up my DMP payments to £1000 from January. There should be no problem doing this, with the first point in place. I earn more than enough and have limited outgoings. Just need to stick to my budget!

3. I want to pay for all of my Christmas presents with vouchers I have earned online/been given. I am currently at £40, I think I need at least £120 to be able to spend a decent amount on my close family. No-one else will be getting anything. I have plenty of cards left over from last year.

I need to build up some savings as well; I currently have no safety net which is what mucks up my budget.

That’s about it for money – the main aim is £1000 a month to the DMP.

How nice would it be to not have a £0 balance at the end of each month!:(

southernbelle

Love to Shop (various shops) £10
Boots (Valued Opinions) £10 (not yet received)
Amazon (SB and Ipsos) £20 (£10 not yet received)

So a total of £40 so far...£80 to go!:eek:

southernbelle

And as for the money neutral:

So far for November I have planned...

Mystery Shop £23.50
Owed from work £22.58
Ebay aim £50.00
Folksy aim £20.00
Total £116.08

I will update with how it is going though!

Walaboobah

You sound like you have it all planned out - I have no doubt you will get there and quickly too! :beer:

Good luck with the new relationship too :T

Loopylou1

Hello!

good idea for the money neutral thing!

*subscribes*

Rainbow_Bridge

Hi southernbelle,

Welcome to diaryland, I am going to enjoy following your progress.

Congratulations on a lovely new BF. Between him going and coming back in the new year, is a perfect time for you to blossom into all that you might be without too many distractions xx.

southernbelle

Well, the potential bloke has left for 6 weeks And he said he is not sure he is ready for a new relationship, but hopefully by the time he gets back he will be. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I think he's worth waiting for.

I received a cheque today for £25 from confused.com Motor Mate - this will go towards me being "money neutral" in November.

I have a full day of money saving / spending booked in on Wednesday, payday! :rotfl:I have two mystery shops booked in and am desperately looking for more to make me money neutral on that day. I have to pay £40 for a laser tattoo removal appointment, and have £13.50 worth of MS to do. Not good at the moment.

My voucher total currently is:

Love to Shop (various shops) £10
Boots (Valued Opinions) £10 (not yet received)
Amazon (SB and Ipsos) £15, close to another £10 from SB - will aim to get that by the end of today.

That makes a total of £35 for Christmas - another £85 to go!!!!:eek: Really need to get cracking with this! Especially as I think I will be spending some of those vouchers this week to buy my nephews' birthday presents - both in November (thanks sis).:rotfl:

southernbelle

An update on my voucher activity:

Love to shop (various shops) £10
Boots (valued opinions) £10 (not yet received)
Amazon £25 (swagbucks and ipsos)

That's a total of £45 - £75 to go, which somehow seems a lot more manageable!!:cool:

In terms of mystery shopping, I have £13.75 due to be paid to me on or around the 10th.

I have an audit for £10 this evening, and a mystery shop for £10 tomorrow. I also have one for £3.75 booked in for next week. As I am expecting all of those to be paid OK, that will give me a running total of £37.50 from mystery shops for the first two weeks of the month.

I have banked £25 from confused.com Motor Mate.

That makes £62.50 (despite me counting my chickens before they've hatched).

I need to make more somehow to meet my "money neutral" challenge!! But am feeling quite happy - it's only the 2nd November!!:cool:

southernbelle

In terms of points, I am on:

985 / 1000 on GTM (come on, just one more survey!!)
£1.75/£10.00 on Valued Opinions
258/849 on SB
£3.40/£40.00 on One Poll - this may take some time!!:rotfl:

I am going to aim for £10 from GTM and £5 from SB this weekend. That will take me to £60 in vouchers, which is half-way to my aim. My aim seems a little too high for one month to go, but it's better to try and fail than not try at all. I think...

Choc-addict

Hi Southernbelle,

I'm loving your new diary and if i'm completely honest your goals could practically be mine!! Very scary!!

I too need to lose about half a stone but just can't seem to do it. I was on a dmp but now manage it myself and deal with credtors and my debt is just under 20k now. I also have to work on my self esteem but somehow (stupidly or not) I think it's linked to my weight and I also want to go to church more regularly, starting this Sunday actually!

Only difference is i'm not single. Happily married in April this year to my lovely hubby.

Oh and I am the QUEEN of procrastination!!!!

Have subscribed to your diary hopefully we can spur each other on to clear this last bit of debt and get some of our goals achieved

Choc x