Positive Steps Challenge 2013

MinnieMousesMummy

Good afternoon, After a very emotional start to the day due to DH returning to work after his paternity leave (I know it sounds silly) I have managed to get my act together and get some jobs done.

Rollies list
Tidy the living room
Sort through box used for work and declutter
Free bingo
Do work on book that I'm writing
Read frugal living thread and get ideas
Work out total debt that I owe

List for Today
Quick shower:)
Take youngest 2 for a walk
Phone tax credit to update:)
Take tablets
Do MSing work that is in for today:)
Pay some money off loan:)
Check Mr A price guarantee:)
Get up to date with laundry (4 loads) - Its nice and sunny so will get as much as possible outside
HHI:)
Bath dd and ds2
Have a go at driving the car once the roads are a bit quieter
Update diary
Make bottles for ds2

fairyclicks

Evening all

Just popping in quickly to say hello as i've been away visiting mummio for a few days and just got home! Will be back stepping tomorrow

xxxxx

fairyclicks

Morning

How are you feeling this morning MinnieMousesMummy? I'm sure it takes a bit of adjusting to your hubs being back to work! - Def not silly to feel emotional about that - big hugs from me xxxx

I think i am going to spend the next week or so focusing on getting my house sorted out again. Cos of selling my caravan where i had a lot of stuff stored my house now has boxes everywhere and its really bugging me - its going to take some amount of organising and lugging boxes around.

Step one for that is to move stuff around in the spare room to make room for the rest - i want everything for selling to be in there.

Other things to do today:

pack up new ebay sales
get all sales posted - post office was closed due to strike
go to psych app - done
plan dinner - done
weigh myself - forgot to do this before my shower, will do tomorrow
free bingo - done
check bank account - done
plan some payments for this week - done
blog updates - 2 done

think thats it for now

ScarlettMcCain

MinnieMousesMummy - sending you big hugs - it's completely understandable that you would be emotional!! I hope it has all gone well at home with just you and the little ones!

Dear oh dear his missus, your weekend sounds similar to mine, I did lots of cooking and then had to wrestle with my Tupperware collection to find suitable containers..... it's in a cupboard which is above head height so I usually get hit on the head by something or another

And Fairy, we share a lot of goals!! Thank you for your post, it did remind me to look at the bigger picture as I've been so bogged down with the everyday details and plodding through with the occasional panic until my DMP is set up. I've had a bit of a think and my aims are:

1. To become debt free - same as everyone really - it won't be for a looooong time but at least I'm on the right road I guess?!
2. To be more in charge of my daily finances.
3. To build up a savings pot in case of emergencies, for example, the car is due an MOT on Saturday and I really have to think about what to do if it fails. I'm fairly sure all 4 tyres will need to be replaced but didn't want to do them now in case it fails majorly on something else too. The car's 9 years old now and to be fair hasn't needed any major work, but it's also due car tax at the end of September which is another £200.
4. To start exercising properly again. I was doing well with running until I was so poorly and dehydrated, but WILL return to my running club at some point (honest!), car permitting. I'm going to work to a 5K plan so I can get there even if I run & walk rather than just run.
5. To lose about a stone in weight - has to be done - might join my local Rosemary Conley group if I can justify the £23 per month. Maybe I could save that if I'm buying less chocolate?!
6. To clear my mind more and appreciate the day to day nice things that happen to me, such as having great friends and of course the support of all you lovely people on here

Phew! That's enough for now I reckon. Off to job no 2 - enjoy your evening everyone! xxx

Scarlet1982

Evening Everyone

I've not done much stepping lately sure I've still got plenty to do from my list the other day.

Ruby your right in us all having similar goals

• losing weight
• being debt free
• emergency fund
• exercising more

I'm feeling really pleased with myself i usually spend my weekends stuck indoors in my PJ's sleeping. I went out sat, sun and Mon.:)

Today I have
Put a wash on:)
Changed water in fish tank:)
Bingo / Surveys:)
Food:)

Need to do
Dishes
Have a bath

fairyclicks

Scarlet1982 wrote: »

Evening Everyone

I've not done much stepping lately sure I've still got plenty to do from my list the other day.

Ruby your right in us all having similar goals

• losing weight
  
• being debt free
• emergency fund
• exercising more

I'm feeling really pleased with myself i usually spend my weekends stuck indoors in my PJ's sleeping. I went out sat, sun and Mon.:)

Today I have
Put a wash on:)
Changed water in fish tank:)
Bingo / Surveys:)
Food:)

Need to do
Dishes
Have a bath

Me too re goals

I did find it helped me when i posted about my eating/exercise on a daily basis - might do that again Money stuff i'm gettting back on track with after a bit of a blip but having cleared almost £20,000 i think i deserve the odd blip lol!

Really Well done on the going out over the weekend Scarlett do you feel better for it? i been trying to get out a bit more too and do feel a bit better

Ruby - yes i had forgotten to review my long term goals for a few months and got a bit off track so its def good to look at them on a monthly basis re the rosemary connelly - maybe wait and see how you get on with running - surely that would help you lose weight without needing to pay for another weight loss support?

and my sympathies are with you re the car situation - i went without my car for 3 months cos i couldn't afford to fix it for MOT - i did manage though, despite living 6 miles from the nearest shop.......i did a LOT more walking then lol!

fairyclicks

hmmmmm can't sleep not been to sleep yet at all, but going to bed again in about 10 mins, just want to get this out of my head:

Plan for finances:

clear cc then use it to by fill of oil while cheap
pay dad £100 off what i owe him
pay £100 into emergency fund savings
transfer £200 into cash card account for using in sept
ebay sales add to mum account
pay rent on 3rd sept
pay mortgage on 11th sept

I have done a spreadsheet which adds my incomings in when i get them, takes out bill money when due and shows me a predicted balance of my account until Dec tis rather funky i have to admit - i just add a bill payment in on different days to show the impact on my balance for weeks/months ahead

Oh the things i do when i can't sleep.......lol!

Scarlet1982

Hope you managed to get some sleep. I had one of the those nights Monday.

A spreadsheet is handy I use to have one but now use an app it's only available on iPhone though. It helps knowing that as long as I stick to the budget I should be debt free in 2 years. I do use a spreadsheet for working out my eBay sales and profit though which I'll have to change with the new fees kicking in next week

fairyclicks

Aw ebay fees are a real sore point aren't they? I'm working on a new selling website because i've had enough of the fees!!!

Don't know why i haven't done the prediction balance before on spreadsheet - been using them on and off for years but only to keep track of payments going out really.

Got a few hours sleep at least

Now stepping for today:

Have spare room more organised now so just have to start going through boxes i moved out of there to put all the stuff for selling into one place. I can't wait to have it all at least tidied into one room!

Start listing a lot more of my selling stuff on f/b and gumtree etc now my ebay account is maxed out. Today i want to focus on listing Jewellery.

Post ebay sales - done
tidy living room - started
prepare food i brought from mum's garden
pay cc - done
free bingo - done
transfer money into account for using in sept - done
pay £100 into emergency fund savings account - done

fairyclicks

Another sleepless night have an appointment with business advisor today and am a lot more anxious than i was expecting to be!

Going to try and distract myself for a few hours and see if i can get my sleepy head back now what other spreadsheets can i do? lol!