January's Big Financial Freeze!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Hello Kittens.... THANK GOODNESS THIS MONTH IS NEARLY OVER!

I went to my own "journey thread" and had a good old rant about my wages this month. Slightly more dire than I thought... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4205263 incase you are desperate for a read...

I shall prevail though. I have determination, a sick sense of optimism and ruthlessness as my weapons.. BRING IT ON!

Well my round up for the month - NSD's = scraped through / Food Budget = Blown to smithereens... however I am now "down with this no suger" thing and shall bulk buy some pasta. Haven't had it in ages comes to think of it. I shall make my own sauce...(oooooooooooh I like a bit of sauce:rotfl:).. and live on my freezer contents again...

I had my first cup of tea in a month today with one sugar as a treat. Back to herbals already though...

I am so proud of everyone's achievements though.. truly superb!

MancMan expecially for pizza abstaining..:rotfl:
L2B and Thrifty on that superb money-making!!
BeckyBoo for paying off £1000 in the face of adversity..
Mayfair for paying off £1000 also..:eek:
Candy for being honest about her NEW car..:rotfl:
NannyGladys for using an old account so wisely!!!
Siousxie for ending the month with money in her account..:T
Abundant for getting out of bed when he really didn't want to because he KNOWS there are overtime rewards to be had..
RosieCheeksBlossom for having NO BANK CHARGES!! :T
LionHeartedGirl for edging through her tea mountain and not cracking....

There are so many more I want to hear from... please update before this thread closes as it will tonight... OOOOOH bring on UFC. I am excited now!!!

Onwards Contenders and Upwards!!!

Mancman86

Abstaining from Pizza, Bread, fizzy drinks i.e coca cola which i used to have an addiction too. Anything that is bad for me doesnt get eaten!
A new one stop has opened accross the road from work today replacing the old shop. One Stop are owned by Mr T - colleagues were saying if you bought something they were giving out freebies, so we all now have free pots of porridge, weetabix, shampoo, and lucozade
After D/D's I think I will have £149 for the month, food is already covered by the joint account household budget fund. Petrol is to be included in that £149, its gonna be a tight month this month.
No C/C payments starting until end of february payday for me :mad: if my bosses had paid me my overtime then i would have made a payment this month.

NinjaSavingKat

MancMan are you joining The Ultimate February Challenge ; 28 Days Later..???

stoplurking

Hi just checking in to give final update for JBFF. Sorry I mostly read and run, no computer at home at the moment, typed out a long message on iphone this morning only to lose it all.
a summary

NSD 19/25 - several of the spend days were for small amounts of food
No Sales purchases at all
Petrol budget spent £83/90
Food £232/£250
Catch ups amounted to cups of tea at home so no cost there
No food or drink purchased in canteens cafes or restaurants
Notebook updated almost every day
Can't do Ebay and didn't make the £5 a day.
Beauty spends £4/£5
Penny gathering - £22.63/£25 using rando, £10 from bro, nectar adpoints, Sainsbobs voucher for money off petrol, Sainsbobs 5% discount on wine purchased by partner
No Freebies!!

More than happy with the overall result even tho a few challenges not met. Well done to everyone who has taken part in the challenge and triumphed even through times of great adversity. You are all winners, and NSK is right to be proud of you all. Thanks to the cheerleaders as well.

Yesterday I looked through old CC statements and the last purchase on any of my cards was on 10 October 2012, which must have been just before I found this site and had my LBM. funny thing is, at first I thought, 'better get an ipad so i can keep up with this site', Ha soon dropped that idea after reading through NSK's own 'Ultimate Challenge'. It was so inspiring it made me completely change my mindset, I now love NSD's (or SFD's as they will now be for us NSKers) , batch cooking, and spreadsheets to see how much I can clear off the cards. Yesterday I bit the bullet and paid off the balance on CC1. I was going to do it over this month and next, at the same time gathering money for car service/MOT/Tax over the same 2 months. Then thought why not just clear the card in one go and gather the car money next month, then the following month start on CC2. I will update my signature when the 'NIL' statement comes through and that will be a red letter day for me. i think it might be the first time i have ever had a nil balance on my card since year dot. I can't believe it and it is all down to our dear leader NSK (i wish i was clever and could put fairy lights round this girl's name) and all the support given out by the members of this forum.
So, a big thank you to everyone and i will now run off to UFC thread and catch up with that one ready to start it tomorrow. Can't believe i got allocated #2 on that one - just happend to be logged in at the moment our dear leader put up the challenge. Good luck to all for that one. This site has changed my life, and i can actually see a time when i will be DF. :T

abundant1972

Wow - it's the end of January... finally!!!

Well done to everyone who met their targets and to everyone who tried... even if they fell short. I'm going to win the prize for biggest overspend this month ha ha... but from here on in I'm determined...

Total NSDs for January = = 21/25... Good attempt!
Total Food Budget = = £85/£80... Not bad!
Total Spend Budget = :mad: = £445/£80... Epic FAIL!!!

What have I learned?

1) There are no 'get rich quick' schemes... and if something seems too good to be true... it usually is!
2) Gambling sites are NOT a way to earn income... If they were they'd be out of business... They are designed to take your hard earned cash!!! STAY AWAY!!!
3) It is better to try and fall short than to have never tried at all.
4) It's ok to mess up so long as I learn from it.
5) The support on here is AMAZING. Thank you all.

P.S. What's the term for a group of MSErs? A hoard? A trove? Whatever... I'm glad to be part of this one!!!

:beer:

gien

I'm really, really pleased with how this month has gone - we have spent so little compared to normal:

Food/household came in on budget at 400€ (plus/minus the shrapnel) which quite honestly astonishes me! I would never have thought it possible. That said, we did carry a lot of food forward from christmas.

DS2 took packed lunches to school instead of school dinners, saving us 90€. He really enjoys the school food though so I'll let him have some money over the next couple of weeks. DH has been frugal with his lunches (packed lunches really are not an option) by taking simple stuff in the canteen.
My planned socialising has been budgeted for and kept in budget.
I completely avoided the sales and have spent very little other than on food.
It has been a real eye opener and I am determined to carry on next month the same.

Ninno820

Hi everyone

I have ended this month feeling really pleased with myself. My totals are at the bottom but I have managed to pay off around £700 from my total debt and, as mentioned before, feel really in control of my finances. I have also learnt so much. I have not been near mr t since Christmas but am desperate to go on Saturday just to see if there's any spare receipts lying around!

My journey is going to be a long one and I really like the idea of challenges along the way to keep me going. Thank you kat for your inventiveness and I am looking forward to february!

Thank you to everyone for their support. Xx

Iwillsucceed_2

Finally!!
Uff hello everyone! Finally, finally January is almost over! Ufff OMG this month I felt like a turtle in a dessert ufff I just couldn't wait for this month to end it was soooo long!
Finally, finally I transferred all the monies and I am feeling even more optimistic!
This month I had 28 NSDs! Feeling proud of myself ..I can do it, I will do it, I WILL SUCCEED YOU TOO!
Sending you all positive regards...

YORKSHIRELASS

Well just signing in for the last post of January. I didnt join at the beginning so didnt record NSDs.

So this month on top of the essential payments I spent:
£293 on food - under budget but still a bit higher than I would like
£110 on petrol - a bit lower than usual because I havent been far
£120 on new tyres for the car - had to be done
£10 on clothes and £15 on books - both for my son and necessary
£15 on birthdays - unavoidable
£30 on activities/things for the kids - again unavoidable really

I have also acquired my mums old kenwood chef and bought a couple of new attachments for it. Oh and the dog chewed the mat in the utility room and I bought a new one. These came to the combined total of £25.

I managed to pay off an extra £300 off the cards and not use the overdraft. All in all a fairly successful month.

Thanks Kat and everyone who has kept me motivated. Onwards and upwards!

karmachilovething

Final account for JBFF:

Food £71.60/£70
Travel £70/£70
Social £49.55/£60
NSD 26/25
Beauty £0/£0
Earn £85/£155
Find £10.28/£25

Not bad but room for improvement too! Still I know it's so much better than I would have managed without you all! Bring on February!!!

KC