A Budgeteers Continued Quest to be Debt Free & Mortgage Free By 40

DedicatedDFW

How is everyone?

Its back to work and a return to working towards the goals for the year for me! To be honest its not been too much of a break anyway as other than my usual weekend its just been the bank hols off. Christmas was hard this year as i was ill so couldn't really look forward to it the same I've got my health as a goal this year - really just so i get a kick in the rear to push for referals (which i think are overdue now!) and to make sure i keep on top of my ongoing problems

I missed my update yesterday but yesterday was a NSD :T:T Today was an epic fail on this though :eek: I bought a jacket in the style and material that i have wanted for several years It was vastly reduced in the sales and i had an extra £4 off too :T having spent that i also bought a new dress (sale) a new pair of boots (sale) and a new pair of shoes (sale) :eek: So quite a big spendy day! The boots were the cheapest in this style that i could get - reduced from £60 to £10 and the other shoes were in a style i really struggle to find and they were a snip at £5 :T The dress may be returned it is stunning but a little revealing which i'm not sure my Mr can cope with - not that he'll be wearing it of course!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

i've looked for job vacancies today - nothing to apply for yet. I didn't buy lunch even though i forgot half of mine So that is good still I have a book i will list and declutter in a mo.

i did very nearly burst into tears today when my bag broke and dropped all over the floor i need to see if i can get it repaired really - i *love* this bag but it will need to be replaced if it can't be repaired so thats another spend

Chocforever

Happy New Year DDFW! You have obviously taken some careful thought over your goals for 2013 and I really hope you achieve them. You are, as your name says, dedicated so I am sure you will give it your best shot.

I have been fortunate to have had a nice, relaxing break over Christmas and New Year. I haven't given my 2013 goals a great deal of thought. Like most, my primary concern is staying in employment and things are looking quite uncertain where I work. This is making it hard to plan in terms of any big stuff like buying a house. However, it doesn't stop me trying to save as much as I can towards the house I will eventually buy one day! I think it is also an opportunity to put some time into personal goals like building on the fitness I started to attain last year. I'll mull things over for a few days.

Best wishes all x

jwil

Well done on the bargains! Hope you manage to fix your bag.

DedicatedDFW

Chocforever wrote: »

Happy New Year DDFW! You have obviously taken some careful thought over your goals for 2013 and I really hope you achieve them. You are, as your name says, dedicated so I am sure you will give it your best shot.

I have been fortunate to have had a nice, relaxing break over Christmas and New Year. I haven't given my 2013 goals a great deal of thought. Like most, my primary concern is staying in employment and things are looking quite uncertain where I work. This is making it hard to plan in terms of any big stuff like buying a house. However, it doesn't stop me trying to save as much as I can towards the house I will eventually buy one day! I think it is also an opportunity to put some time into personal goals like building on the fitness I started to attain last year. I'll mull things over for a few days.

Best wishes all x

Hey Chocs - i was just thinking about you yesterday and was going to post on jwils thread if anyone had 'seen' you around x I am glad that you enjoyed a nice break over Christmas - i think that can make all the difference and really help in enjoying the festivities!

I really hope things are ok for you at work - having been through redundancy i know how horrid and a difficult time this can be ((hugs)). Good for you though putting all you can into savings :T

It'd be great to hear what goals you come up with Chocs

Aw thanks for saying i'm dedicated - but shhh! i'm not really i am a lazy mare ! :eek: Well i suffer with my exhaustion a lot and that makes things really hard for me Plus i treat myself to bargainous clothes far too often!!! So the goals are a bit of an attempt at making me really think about what i want and stop wasting money I'll confess all later

DedicatedDFW

jwil wrote: »

Well done on the bargains! Hope you manage to fix your bag.

Bah! Third time of trying as the comp keeps crashing on me :mad:

Thank you jwil Although i don't know if i should be cheered on :j or told off for my purchases

Confessions of a Spendy Person being Spendy

Today i bought 4 new tops - all were reduced to £3 each and are gorgeous - 2 of them i am extra pleased with because i very generously got a skirt for my birthday but i didn't have a suitable top to wear with it - and 2 of these tops will go with it beautifully :T i got a jumper for £3!! And i got a cardigan - not as bargainous as the tops sadly but reduced nonetheless to £10 - and it is lovely In fact i wanted it before it was reduced and am so pleased they had one in my size still And i got a new pair of leggings - clothing of choice at the mo, with the way my weight keeps fluctuating (thyroid, i'm eating fine people ) and these were also reduced to £3 !!! :T I tried to resist a gorgeous necklace reduced from £10 to £2 but in the end i caved So no £2 going into my jewellery savings but it is a fab piece of jewellery

So now I really MUST put a stop to all this spending and start focusing on all my goals - maybe a goal should have been to buy less things :whistle:

i wanted to run today but was very stressed about work last night - i hardly got any sleep and kept having palpitations - this is not good Today i have looked for a new job - still not found anything as yet I was really tired when i got up due to my disturbed nights sleep but went for my tests to be done and i have an appointment for a few weeks time for the results, I am confident that i am fine but probably suffer from some food allergys ? is that the right way to describe it ? Once these are identified it will be a big help - huge help in fact :T I just have to push to get referred to find out what makes me so ill all the time x

I am now just relaxing and looking around on here for a bit as i am too shattered to do anything else! xx

DedicatedDFW

Morning all - i had a good lie-in this morning - it was the early hours before i finally managed to 'settle' in bed as i was quite poorly and in a fair bit of pain with my tummy last night / early hours of the morning _pale_ Still, i have done what i can so far by keeping up with the doctors appointments and it won't be until nearly the end of the month until i am back there.

I had to throw away a pair of pjs today - they really were beyond salvaging and due to the material could not be recycled into anything else. These have been tallied up on my declutter list! As i am out with my Mr this weekend for a meal i am thinking about what to wear and if there's something i think no i'll decide again not to wear it that may generate something for selling which will be getting rid of an item as well as hopefully making some money

I am aware i haven't started on some of my targets this year - even the fun ones!! So i am hoping to put aside some time for this today!

Hope everyone is well xx

DedicatedDFW

Hello again

I am pleased to report more progress being made on the challenges - on some of the fun and not so fun things too!! :j

I have been for my first 5k run of the year :T Super pleased with myself as its been such a long time since i've run (although illness has played its part) and i didn't think i was going to make it but i did :j:j:j

I'm also 'decluttering' some toiletries - basically when i had money i'd use all sorts of lovely products, since redundancy i couldn't afford to any more so when something was used up that was it. i now have quite a stash of stuff - hair treatments, body creams, leg creams, foot creams, foot soaks - some have been bought for me and others i've picked up at a maximum price of 50p, The trouble was though that i was so out of the habit of using these things they've just been stuck in the bathroom or stashed away (which is hard when storage is so limited So in an attempt to tidy, look after myself a bit better and use products that are looking untidy being piled up i have started to use them. So i've had a foot soak and applied some cream, used some leg stuff and tomorrow will appluya hair treatment Once the tub / bottle is empty i'll then list that as a decluttered item :cool:

I have also started to read 'a game of thrones' for my january book - i am hooked already

Today is also shaping up very nicely into my 2nd NSD of the year :T - considering it is day 4 though and 2 of those have been spendy methinks i'll have work to do on this goal

I've looked again for a new job and been screened out of 3 surveys.

DedicatedDFW

*Yawn and stretch*

Plan for Sunday:-

Write 1000 words for TMA2

Polish CV and submit to agencys :eek: i am nervous about this

Read 2 chapters of book

5k run

1 hour on NVQ stuff

Lift out work clothes ready for Monday or maybe for the week ?

When cooking tea do enough for packed lunch as well

Get work bag ready and bag of items and receipts for goods to return during lunch hour

Ensure kindle is fully charged ready for the journey

1 hour Espanola!

Use body lotion after shower

DedicatedDFW

So i've done a plan for Sunday - when i'm hoping to feel better and more awake Tiredness and stomach pain are affecting productivity today!

I've checked for any vacancies and as there hasn't been any new postings i've decided to polish off my CV and get this submitted with agencys tomorrow *eep* a bit anxious over this.

As my fritter jar isn't going very well (although my jewellery jar is being a good deterrant) i have changed this to the 52wks savings plan - hopefully the logic behind this is if i've not got the money i can't spend it

I've thrown some nice things on the to do list for tomorrow too such as using the lotion - we'll see how i go on - hopefully i'll report in with a goodly amount achieved - i'd better set my alarm clock

I've checked for surveys today and none to do, i'm pondering doing a cashback deal but haven't made my mind up yet... and i don't know if i have any money on my bank account

Chocs are you still running ? I'm sure you mentioned it on my last thread as i think you told me about park runs (nearest to me = 30minute drive away - my 5k takes about that time anyway so i'd be adding another 1hour on my workout as well as using fuel so i'm just going it alone for now - hopefully i want to build up to 10k before too long (ideally i'd like to do the GNR and the London Marathon :eek: - though i've no idea how to apply for such a thing!!)

Chocforever

Hi

You sound like you are making good progress.

Yes, I have started running again this week and I was parkrunning this morning. I got a lot of injuries last year so made limited progress which was frustrating. This year I'm planning on running less frequently which will hopefully reduce the number of injuries and enable me to train for longer before anything else goes wrong! Like you, I would also like to be running 10km. My time this morning wasn't great (32mins) so there is plenty of scope for improvement!

Applications for the London Marathon are online, shortly after the run (April). There is a ballot and the entries are limited. It only takes a few hours for them to receive their target number of entries so you have to be quick. You don't find out whether you are successful until October. I think the odds of getting in through the ballot are about 1 in 6. Otherwise, charities buy places so you could approach a charity. It is likely that they would ask for some commitment to raise at least £2k. I think they wait until after October before they award places. The other way of getting in is to be an elite runner or very good club runner. Needless to say, I'll be trying the ballot for 2014 . I'll let you know the entry date when I find out.

I'm not sure about how to get into the GNR but I think it is much easier to get a place than the London marathon.

I have a MS to do this afternoon. It is a good fee and I get to repeat the scenario at another store next week.

I'm out quite a bit this weekend so I don't think I will be ebay listing.

Have fun with the lotions and potions. I know what you mean, I have loads of stuff which I bought with good intentions and then never use.