I refuse to be skint forever!!

menina

Oh dear, full of good intentions for today and I've done none of them! I haven't been sleeping at all well this week, so when I have an 11 o'clock start I've just been staying in bed instead of doing what I should be doing...

When I get home tonight, I will pack up those DVDs and take them to work with me tomorrow to drop them at a click and collect store. On Saturday I can go to the Halifax to account switch and also go the Natwest to deposit some money. Those are the only outstanding money saving tasks for now I think. I'll hang onto my bike for now, it's downstairs in a lock up so not causing any clutter. If I ever get to move to a more bicycle friendly post code then it would come in useful too!

Hope everyone elses money saving is coming along well...

menina

DVDs packed up Few bids on the sun tan lotion on ebay so I think I'll leave them on there, tropical holidays are looking unlikely anytime soon lol.

List of ingredients ready for purchase after work tomorrow, need to make a start on eating what's in the cupboards already.. Should hopefully prevent the usual Friday night pizza delivery getting made (and £20 going down the drain!)

Used my red spotted hanky vouchers to book my train ticket for the weekend

I am sooooo glad it is Friday tomorrow, going to take my tired self off to bed and hope to be in a more lively mood tomorrow night x

menina

Hello everyone! I seem to have taken my foot off the moneysaving pedal, need to get back on track.

Made 4 quid on the sun tan lotion, barely worth it, but I'll look at as better than them going to waste!

I decided against the Halifax account in the end. I'm skint again already and I'm sure account switching would just have me in a tricky situation. I need to be able to pay in hubbies money if and when it comes right away, can't risk an account not being set up properly and it not happening. Instead, I'm going to try and not go into my overdrafts for the whole month (haven't managed to achieve that for about 13 years!)

Have been generally useless where food is concerned so far this week. 2.50 spent every morning on the way to work on a drink and a breakfast bar, all because i'm disorganised! Another bad nights sleep last night but i'm attempting to power through work and then will go to the supermarket and get it all organised (I hope !)

menina

Hello everyone!

Managed to sleep a bit better last night so I'm feeling better today Still can't wait for it to be the weekend though. I'm finding work very boring lately. Probably because I start a new job in 3 weeks, I just can't really be bothered with this one anymore!

Must get to the post office on my break to post those sun tan lotions.

Hubby got paid yesterday. So I've got my £160 rent money this week. I don't have any more direct debits coming out until next Thursday, so I'll hang onto the cash and see how much I can realistically afford to put in the bank by the time he gets paid again next Wednesday.

Managed to clean the house yesterday after work (it really needed it!) but didn't cook anything. However, all the ingredients are sitting in my fridge so I'll get straight onto that when I get home. The food thing is really bugging me now actually, I keep saying I'm going to sort it out, eat what's in the cupboards, be healthy, save money but then I never do.

Oops, got to do some work, better go...

menina

Blimey! What a horrible week! Don't know if it's down to the weather but I have been feeling so bleurgh No energy, feeling defeated, not sleeping well, terrible diet and no exercise. This needs to stop!

I was doing alright at the gym, but then I hurt my foot and knew from experience that the only way for it to heal was to rest for a bit. So I've had about a month off. Don't want to go to my local gym because I don't want to see my trainer! I will go to a different gym instead for a bit. I need at least a week of training on my own and getting back into it before he gets his hands on me! Quiet night in tonight and then I WILL go back tomorrow. I have to, the thought of next week being just like this one is far too depressing.

It's all linked in with the food though, have been eating so much crap this week it's terrible! I have now made a healthy bean dish which is in the fridge so I'm hoping that will stop me from reaching for quick, unhealthy stuff over the weekend.

I am an emotional eater. Hubby has been fed up this week and has handed his notice in for his current job as he wasn't happy. I do find this a bit unsettling. Although I am able to pay all our bills myself, it is nice when he contributes as it gives me a bit more breathing space.

Hey ho, life is uncertain and to fight uncertainty means that you are fighting life itself (I read that the other day and quite like it).

So, I will embrace the uncertainties and try to be positive from now on. Goals are- gym, healthy eating, focus on me a bit more. Can't really do much financially this month, especially as it's looking like I'll be paying for everything. I am just going to do my best not to go into overdraft on either of my accounts. If I can get to pay day and have achieved that then it would be something.

x

menina

Right, enough of the moping. If I'm to make it to pay day- 3 and a half weeks away!! Then I need to hatch a plan. (Would normally be OK but now hubby's income is in question it might not be). So:

I'm currently OK for direct debits until the 20th when hubby's phone bill needs to be paid. This will require an extra £50 to be in the account. A couple of days after that, I will need £91 (sofa payment and 0% credit card payment). Since I have £50 in my purse from his rent money for this week, I will deposit that tomorrow. I also have a £6 cheque for recycling DVDs so I'll put that in too. I just need to check his bill a couple of days before the 20th to make sure it's not going to be anymore (and no doubt be mightily peed off it is!!)

As for the £91, he is working next week so I assume that he will get paid and contribute so hopefully I'll pay that in when he does.

I subscribed to the chocolate tasting club to get some cheap chocs for Mum for christmas and it's occurred to me that if i don't cancel ASAP the I'll get charged the monthly fee. So I'll have to sacrifice a few pounds of my phone bill tomorrow and get rid of that.

This leaves me with £91 in my purse which as things stand I need to make last till pay day. This means that I need to be amazingly frugal! I'm clearly going to have to put some stuff on my credit card (to pay off as soon as I get paid in order to not get hit with any fees) but I hope to keep this to an absolute minimum.

Now that I can see in black and white how tight things are, I will definitely be needing to finally eat what is in the kitchen cupboards!

I usually have a Portuguese lesson each week (£23) but I will change this to one every two weeks until pay day.

That is all I can do

menina

Stayed in bed till 11! It's amazing what a nice long sleep can do to recharge the batteries The double espresso that I'm currently working my way through is also helping too!

Plan for the day is- Portuguese lesson (phone choc tasting club en route to cancel). Gym on the way back from Portuguese lesson (gym is next to one of the stations I have to pass through to get home so no excuses. Also scary personal trainer won't be there!) Go via bank to pay in cash and buy (hopefully cheap) smoked salmon and an avacado. Get home, make sushi (using up sushi rice and nori already in cupboards) and soup for next week (using up coconut milk and stuff already in fridge). Give the flat a bit of a clean. If it is daylight still, sort out the garden (looks like a jungle and getting worse by the day!)

Hmmm, wonder if I'll manage all that?!

Don't feel at all in the mood to go out and do anything social- just as well seeing as I'm skint! So I hope to spend the evening back on here again with you good people

menina

Chocolate tasting club cancelled without getting charged any extra £20 for a second box of chocs is something I would've hated to pay!

Went to the gym, I have got really unfit over the last 5 weeks of doing no exercise. Feels good to be back in the gym without injury though. I hope it lasts!

Sushi made and soup for next week bubbling away on the hob.

Money paid into the bank.

I now hav £40 left in my purse (although I did pay an extra £10 to the bank). This clearly will not be enough to last me almost a month! My new goal will have to be to have the smallest amount possible on my credit card come pay day. It all depends on what happens regarding hubby's employment. No point in getting stressed about it.

Yes it really annoys me that I am always the one to keep the show on the road financially for both of us, but I do love him dearly and don't want to be without him so, no point in stressing. Money is not the most important thing in life, health and happiness have to come first. I suppose the only real problem is that I am in debt and that does lead to stress and unhappiness. It's just frustrating that bank roling him means I can't use that money towards my debts. BUT as most of my debt is in the form of a loan, there is an end date to it and it is manageable. I just wish there could be a way to pay it down more quickly. Hmmmm.... You never know what the future holds I suppose....

Right, now to tidy up, then hopefully tomorrow can be a more sociable day pre big bad Monday!

menina

I knew it! Aching legs today post gym. Foot is pain free though which is what I was worried about. I didn't even do that much really so proves I was right to avoid the PT, I would've been in agony and unable to exercise all week!

Remembered about some Pizza Express vouchers courtesy of Tesco points so I've printed them off. No good for the healthy eating I know, but it is free food! Don't want to spend much at all today so I'm planning a big session in the gym with hubby, followed by pizza for dinner.

I think I have enough 'work food' in the fridge to last 3 days, so Wednesday after work I need to go shopping again. I'll go and have a look in a minute of what we'll eat in the evenings. I'd like to last until Thursday morning (at which point I think I'll get hubby's rent money again, as apparently he IS going to work next week ) without putting anything on my credit card. That would last me the week and mean that I could put the £91 needed for direct debits into the bank. Then there'd just be 2 frugal weeks to get through before pay day....

menina

Had an absoulute feast in Pizza Express yesterday! Deeelish!! The bill still came to £16 though because of drinks and tip. Also spent £7 in the pub. So I now have £17 in my purse until hubby gets paid on Wednesday. Should be perfectly doable as my only outlay should be for food.

I am pleased to report that hubby has chilled out, had a meeting with his boss and seemingly had a change of heart re: chucking the job in. He is so blumming unreliable where this is concerned that I won't expect this state of affairs to last forever, but it has given me some much needed breathing space. If he continues to pay his way then I will make it to pay day without touching my overdraft, maybe I'll even (gasp!) be able to save a little too!

Really hope I sleep tonight, think I'll take some piriton to help me on my way. The PT text yesterday and I'm training with him 9am on Saturday morning. This means I MUST go to the gym tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm rubbish after work, legs feel like lead! So I need to get my lazy self up early to go before work. I've given up focusing on how I look, used to weigh myself and do fat percentages etc in the gym but I just want to feel energised and fit so I'm not going to do that anymore.

I don't think there's any moneysaving activities to be getting along with for this week, just not to waste money on things and keep the food bill down.