Balancing not just the budget

RosaBernicia

You would not believe how happy I am to have finally got to Aldi again or actually maybe you lot would understand :rotfl:(it closes by the time I was getting back from the city and anyway I didn't have time to cook during the great commuting madness).

So, todays spends = one prescription charge and a whole £16.50 in Aldi, both already in budget. Small moneysaving things = got my expenses CC caught up on YNAB which showed that I'd overbudgeted for it by almost £50, so that's back in this month's pot; checked my electricity fix and decided not to change; remembered I'm meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow so didn't need to fix lunch for work tonight; spoke to a friend about a holiday we're planning and am thinking of cunning ways to cut the costs already; and suggested another potential holiday option go for much later in the year. And drove past Pets at Home without even stopping to look at the bunnies... the cats have at least 9 kg of dry food and 40 kg of litter plus a bunch of unopened Christmas toys so they really don't need anything more! Oh, and bought chocolate in Aldi which hopefully will keep me out of Hotel Choc for a while. I haven't dared look at how much I've spent with them while having to go past at the station

I've been thinking about the Last Card and getting a bit antsy as until I know how much overtime pay I have, I won't know how much is left to pay off. I'd really like it gone before its 0% runs out in the summer. However, this might not be really doable as I have college fees to pay and I don't know how much those are either - plus I do want a holiday, so will focus on just doing as much as I can and getting it gone by the end of the year. I'm already way ahead of where I originally expected to be so think it's time to just be grateful and make sure I get there. I think I'm doing better with this approach than trying to work with tough deadlines and getting frustrated if they can't quite be met for some reason. I know it doesn't work like that for everyone, but it's me I have to work with!


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Some of my expenses came through today, so have taken them off the card, checked how much else is due and paid over the difference. It now shows zero as I've got all the future transactions sorted in YNAB...

... so my Pre-YNAB Debt list shows the Last Card, the car loan from Mum&Dad (which I'm not counting anyway), and a list of zeros :j


Rosa xx

kerri_gt

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Some of my expenses came through today, so have taken them off the card, checked how much else is due and paid over the difference. It now shows zero as I've got all the future transactions sorted in YNAB...

... so my Pre-YNAB Debt list shows the Last Card, the car loan from Mum&Dad (which I'm not counting anyway), and a list of zeros :j


Rosa xx

Yay, must be a nice feeling to see that - I love getting my lists / spreadsheets up to date. It won't be long before your card is paid off.

I totally understand about Aldi, annoyingly I don't really have one that is convenient to get to but we have a local Lidl that opened last summer and although its not massive, it has made a diff to my food budget - possibly because it keeps me more out of Asda and I don't pick up all those 'extras' when shopping.

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt wrote: »

Yay, must be a nice feeling to see that - I love getting my lists / spreadsheets up to date. It won't be long before your card is paid off.

I totally understand about Aldi, annoyingly I don't really have one that is convenient to get to but we have a local Lidl that opened last summer and although its not massive, it has made a diff to my food budget - possibly because it keeps me more out of Asda and I don't pick up all those 'extras' when shopping.

It does really help to get the bulk of stuff cheap doesn't it? I stopped in Waitrose today for the things I can't get in Aldi and came out with one carrier for twice the price. It was all things like goats cheese and risotto rice and none of it was excessively expensive for what it is, just doesn't compare with Aldi :rotfl:

RosaBernicia

Right, I have taken my head out of the sand about college. Looked up and listed my attendance days, and will book them in my work calendar tomorrow.

I also tried to find out my fees and unfortunately can't get a definite answer so will ring them up tomorrow.

I'm getting worryingly obsessed about when I can get this last card killed now :eek::D so have been messing with spreadsheets and so far, I think even if my overtime is my low estimate and fees high estimate, I should still be able to get rid of the card by the end of the year. It doesn't give me a lot of wriggle room and I would have to move it to another 0% deal, but I think it could be done. I've also allowed myself money for a holiday in April.

Fingers crossed...


RB xx

RosaBernicia

Today's spending - lunch with a friend £30 (way over budget as I paid, my friend is skint and moving out of town and the place we had intended to go to was closed, so said my treat), plus stocking up on Waitrose-only stuff £27.

Have cooked dinner and have some left for lunch at work tomorrow. The fridge and freezer are full again and I am a happy bunny


RB xx

kerri_gt

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Today's spending - lunch with a friend £30 (way over budget as I paid, my friend is skint and moving out of town and the place we had intended to go to was closed, so said my treat), plus stocking up on Waitrose-only stuff £27.

Have cooked dinner and have some left for lunch at work tomorrow. The fridge and freezer are full again and I am a happy bunny


RB xx

It sounds like the lunch was worth it Rosa - it's nice to be in a position where sometimes we can put the deb busting on the back burner temporarily for a one off like that. In a way its like a reward for all the hard work debt busting.

Funny you should mention goats cheese, I got some in Lidl when I was last in there.

vasseur

kerri_gt wrote: »

Funny you should mention goats cheese, I got some in Lidl when I was last in there.

And A1di do some lovely goats cheese too

kerri_gt

vasseur wrote: »

And A1di do some lovely goats cheese too

Unfortunately I don't have an aldi that's close enough for a trip just there to be sensible.

RosaBernicia

Hmm, I don't remember spotting goat's cheese in our Aldi but I will look more closely next time

Having a bit of a rough day mostly due to work nonsense which by now is just too farcical to even try and explain. Haven't managed to get any sense out of college yet re fees but it appears they are at least twice what they were before and I realised I was gutted at the idea of having to wait til next year to get DF. So think I will just do one module this year and finish next year. That's doable, gives me more free time and means I think I can get everything paid off by the end of 2015. I'd still be paying for the last module in 2016 but at least by then I won't be doing it on credit.


Rosa xx