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

Chocforever

Have I missed your birthday? Belated good wishes from me!

I think the two weeks of being really careful with money is a good idea. It's only short term and when I have tried that sort of thing, I become very aware of where my cash disappears to and shown that I can manage without a lot of these small impulse buys and chocolate etc.

Talking of disappearing cash, I have lots of 40th birthday celebrations to attend at the moment, many of which are some distance from me. It is lovely to see everyone and these things create good memories. It is just my bank account which is suffering. And it's only the 4th of the month.

Good luck with clearing the debt this autumn.

DedicatedDFW

Hi Chocs Lovely to see you

Good to hear you are having a nice time - that's where i struggle with money - the socialising and related costs

I'm already finding the focusing on the money each day is helping - although the fact i am short of money this month is also urging me on :eek:

Nope you've not missed my birthday - sorry for the confusion i was just thinking ahead over several weeks as to where my moneys coming from.

Take Care xx

DedicatedDFW

So i have been really focusing on money and i needs me a bit of a plan - had a bit of a worrying letter from the bank (where 1 of my overdrafts is) saying about some changes which made me quite anxious :eek: Anywho's all the more reason to be spurred on and get it paid off so i don't get all worked up with these sorts of letters again

Today i class as an nsd - the only spend was travel costs - essential and daily for work so i don't count this as a spend otherwise most days there would be the risk of thinking - oh well i've already spent something today sooo... - So that has been a good start

I also wrote my shopping list - lets see if i can stick to it - I'm hoping i've not missed anything off it and i really need to get it as low as possible this month.

I am £280 ish short this month :eek: Its due partly to the splurge the other month. But the £280 is the spending money i needed for my holiday. Not sure just now how i am going to re-coup this in the next 3 weeks :eek: This is just to put me back on an even keel - none of it is for the debt.

I have a big spend day coming up this week too as i need to buy the rest of my course stuff - several books, ink etc. All of which will be bought as cheaply as possible but will need to be paid for on my credit card - this will then need to be paid in full next month :eek:

I've also realised i bought too many things for entertaining so that was at least £5 overspend last week but it is stuff i can freeze or is in jars so not money wasted but money that didn't need to be spent hopefully remembering this will help keep me focused on just the essentials on my list x

Rightio - shattered and am off to bed - hope all are well x

DedicatedDFW

Wow super long day - NSD so far as no money has left my account but it will be Car broken down - this takes the money to find on the shortfall to approx £550 Probably a good thing a dress i loved and wanted to keep sold on the bay of e - only for a few £ but it will all help now.

So home late due to this and pretty shattered. managed to dust everywhere and get pots done though. MUST get some studying in now though otherwise it won't get done.

Tomorrow i need to sit down with pencil and pad and plan! plan! plan! To make sure i fit everything in maximising the time i have and of course, so i don't miss anything out either!

I need to do 1 hour gardening each week and also 1 cleaning job this week - can't decide which job to start on though So must plan that as well.

Tomorrow i'll order all the course stuff i need as well.

Hope everyone is well x

DedicatedDFW

Hi All,

Today has not been an NSD but each spend has been carefully considered - i didn't even grab a quick lunch when i was running late today as i thought 'i won't enjoy it and i'll have wasted money on it' :T I was also going to pop into the £1 shop for something and instead worked out something i already have which i can use just as well :T So in a way a saving made there

I've decided on the cleaning job for this week - i have been putting it off as i don't want to start these big, extra to normal, deep cleaning type jobs but needs must!

I have ordered all uni stuff *i hope* all on credit card so lets hope that it is everything that i need

I got the extra hour of study in yesterday and am going to crack on with more now.

I've not done the planning yet and have a lot of stuff in my head which i'll try and put down here so that i can try and sort through it all - best get on with studying now though

DedicatedDFW

Ok - some of the 'head stuff' i have going on - and its all just going to tumble out so may not flow too well but here goes:

Priority: Making this house the best it can be whilst we are living in it

i subscribe to this notion because i simply do not have the earnings i used to to just throw money at it to get it fixed / sorted / replaced / repaired

There are alot of things i can do which will make living here nicer for us.

This is where the extra list of deep cleaning jobs comes in - i'm doing all the other cleaning and working full time and studying and doing a 3 hour commute so really am not keen to get on with this in one way - but the rewards of seeing how much nicer and better living here will be if i do tackle the bigger things are there. So before uni starts back i will be taking on at least 1 extra deep cleaning task a week - i intend to use this as a 'break' from the studying and am sure we will see and feel the benefits from this.

The gardening goes hand in hand with that - i could pay someone else (well i couldn't as i've no money but you know what i mean :cool:) The tasks i can do in the garden myself i will continue to do at 1 hour a week - it is hard and heavy going but each hour sees a massive difference i think so that when we do go out it is nicer to be in.

I have too much stuff - or at least too much for this house and it is not doing me / us any good. I have a wardrobe full of clothes that i don't wear (some due to previously mentioned weight issues) and really everything (again!) just needs to be addressed!!!!!

I'm going to start whittling down the toiletries again as there are way too many - am hoping i have some creams and whatnot that i can give myself a mini-pamper with - of course after the gardening and cleaning :cool: And this could become a quickish win on the decluttering front too i hope

I am just feeling so weighted down with 'stuff'. Had to pay a bill today - was really put off rather than excited by the sales - that has got to be a good thing right?

So the 3 steps i seem to have covered are:-

improve the look of the home by carrying out deep clean
improve the garden by doing the work that i can do
improve everywhere by getting rid of 'stuff' and not getting more 'stuff' to replace it

That'll do for getting some of it on paper for now x

DedicatedDFW

Plan for this week is:-

at least 20 hours of study
10 hours course 1 .5 +
10 hours course 2 Excel - 1.5 hours done + 1.5 + 2.5

1 hour gardening

2 runs

tidying

[STRIKE]dusting[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]hoovering[/STRIKE]

bag drawer sort out

Properly write out plan for clearing the debt so i can keep track

[STRIKE]Contact credit card and check if i am getting any
sorts of rewards[/STRIKE]

That'll do for now methinks

DedicatedDFW

Hi all - went shopping with a list and got 2 extra items - crumpets and butter because they were on offer - the butter will always come in handy and i wasn't 100% certain it would last the week until the next shop. Oops also got some sandwich stuff - again it was on offer and it will be used and also got a bigger piece of meat than intended - as it worked out much better value and will definitely be used across at least 3 meals - meant in the end i spent £6 more than i'd intended - it is still a step in the right direction though

Got a response to a complaint i made and £20 will be winging its way to me :T

Bought a gift on behalf of someone else - been reimbursed so thats another £20 - so if the other £20 comes in then that is £40 i will have towards the massive shortfall.

NSD yesterday as food spends was out of food budget i don't count it as i can easily shop 3 or 4 times a week if i know popping into 1 shop i am literally passing will save me a few pounds due to the offer they have on. If i were to just buy lunch or something treat like though i would count that as a spend.

I am just popping on here for a little break before i get in with more study - want to be over half way through excel course by the start of the week and i've a ways to go to achieve that :eek:

DedicatedDFW

Hi All

What a long hard days studying it has been so far :eek: I am just going to get on with the next section which will see me over a third of the way there - ideally i'd like to get at least 2 more sections crossed off tonight :eek:

Just had the most delicious lunch/tea - i eat at the oddest times which is something i am trying to bring into order to try and help with energy levels - this was a lunch/tea as prior to this i'd had some toast and that was all.

Today appears to be nicely shaping up into an nsd and i hope it stays that way

The butterfly instinct in me dragged me away from the comp and study allowing me to achieve pots cleanes and moved - though more to do now :cool: declutter / re-organise of toiletries bag - sees 3 items leaving the house that won't be used :T Feel instantly much better for that and definitely need to factor in more decluttering breaks the rest of today

Postie brought me a voucher which is great except its only £5 and i need a new hoover so its gonna be a long time of saving

Right reward for completing the next section will be 1st bedside cabinet drawer declutter I know how to party

PositiveBalance

Hi Dedicated!

Again, your dedication is awe-inspiring. I have been very poor in comparison - you put me to shame once again!

Take care and speak soon. xxx