Skippy's less kilos & more cash 2013 diary :o)

Skippycat

Hi everyone.

I managed to pay off my student loan in 2012 so OH and I are now debt free (apart from mortgage) :j We don't have any kids or a car so don't have any expenses in that respect. We do have one cat but she doesn't incur many expenses and is worth every penny anyway, bless her

I've decided to start keeping a diary as I want to control my spending in 2013 to try and boost my savings and avoid any unnecessary debts. At the same time I'm trying to lose approx 3 stone over the next year :eek: I'm hoping that by keeping a diary it may help me stay focused over the next 12 months OH and I got engaged in 2011 so we should really be setting a wedding date at some point and will obviously be needing extra cash for that. I've been a member of MSE since 2007 but usually spend the majority of my time over on the Competitions and Grabbit boards.

So the main aims for the next 12 months (in no particular order)...

- Boost personal savings/rainy day fund. Current amount = £1780 + mystery amount in sealed savings tin.

- Increase income. Eg working overtime if/when available at work, opening an ebay account etc. I do currently sell the odd item on amazon and play.com.

- Declutter spare room (aka the junk room). There is plenty of stuff there to either be sold on ebay or to go to the charity shop.

- Save money on travel. I've applied for a bus pass via work that should save me £100+ over the year.

- Lose weight and stop eating cr*p. OH and I currently have a joint gym membership. The gym is only 10 minutes from where we live and very reasonably priced. We also live close to the countryside so can go on a few walks if the weather ever improves.

- Cut my spending. I currently spend a small fortune buying lunch in M&S or Boots. In the next year I am going to be more organised and prepare my lunch at home as often as possible and take it into work. Also due to various freebies, competition wins, xmas pressies and bargains off the Grabbit board I now have an abundance of toiletries, make up etc. I am now determined not to buy any more of these items until I use up the stuff that I already have. I've got so much stuff stored away in the spare room that I sometimes forget what is there... :eek:

Well done if you have managed to follow my ramblings this far :A Even if no-one else ends up reading/following this diary it will nevertheless still be very useful for me to keep track of everything. Will update tomorrow after first day back at work and first gym trip of 2013.

Skippy

Skippycat

First day back at work today. It felt like a VERY long day. OH and I went to gym after work. Feel knackered but glad I got some exercise. Weighed myself at the gym and my current weight is approx 82.5kg / 13 stone I was actually 14 stone this time last year so I'm trying to stay positive although I have got a long way to go...

It wasn't a bad day at all spending wise. My work bus pass won't be ready for a few more days so I'm paying bus fares in the meantime. Spent £3.70 on a day ticket today. Needed some tablets from Boots this morning but paid with them using Boots points so technically they didn't cost me anything :j Took homemade snacks and lunch into work so saved myself a little cash there as well.

I had a nice surprise today, my first comping win of 2013. I've won a nice t shirt which will be fab for wearing to the gym. I'm actually going to try and get caught up on a few comps before I fall asleep. I really am knackered today!

Skippy

Skippycat

Another low spend day thankfully. £3.70 again on a travel ticket. I picked up my bus pass today though so the money for travel will now be deducted directly from my wages (approx £50 per month for the next year) :j

I remembered to take in lunch and some snacks again for work. Also made it to gym again tonight. I've tried out this link that was posted elsewhere on the forum - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18770328 The results are very surprising (if not slightly depressing). My current BMI is approx 30 so I really do need to work to bring this down Apparently if everyone in the world had the same BMI as me it would add 70,925,518 tonnes to the total weight of the world's population! :eek::eek::eek::eek: Now if that isn't motivation for me to lose some weight I don't know what is... :rotfl:

Skippy