Batten down the hatches.....

crazy_cat_lady

Ena - this is fantastic. Look how far you've come and how well you've done. You should be celebrating :j
What an inspiration, and your posts really resonate with me.

GoingToDoIt

Great to see you back Ena, and what a lot of achievements!!!! You've been on a real journey these last few years, you should be proud, here's some celebration Martins
:money::money::money::money::money:

Orange_Ena

doingitanyway wrote: »

The whole of this post is both uplifting and inspirational, but this paragraph especially so. I have followed your progress over the last few years and I am so pleased this is where you have arrived and so confident I am not so far behind you. Thank you.

Ah thank you DIA, that's so nice of you to say. I think you'll be debt free before me though! Lead the way, I'm following

Orange_Ena

doingitanyway wrote: »

:T:T:T I'm applauding this because I know what a huge achievement this truly is and how it feels to be living in a home that is depressing and you can't invite people in when you really want to (sigh) Bravo Orange Ena.

You'll get there too, its just hard to do everything on one income. Pay debt or do the house up? Or just survive month to month in some cases. It's all a juggle but its so nice to have a comfortable home. I feel very lucky x

Orange_Ena

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Ena - this is fantastic. Look how far you've come and how well you've done. You should be celebrating :j
What an inspiration, and your posts really resonate with me.

Ah thank you CCL, very kind of you. Its only when I worked it all out I realised just how much I'd done, day to day I pootle along and get on with it so its nice to take stock and celebrate

Orange_Ena

GoingToDoIt wrote: »

Great to see you back Ena, and what a lot of achievements!!!! You've been on a real journey these last few years, you should be proud, here's some celebration Martins
:money::money::money::money::money:

Haha thanks for all the Martins :money::D I'm still amazed about it really :)

Orange_Ena

Evening, thanks again guys for the support and for cheering me on x

Today
* £29.12 in L1dl
* £37.98 in M0rrisons
* £20 from a friend for a little job I did for her
* PA survey
* Youg0v survey
* 141SB earned
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys

DMIC 1/1 :T

I did a big shop today so I'm hoping a lot of it lasts for a while. I need to meal plan tomorrow but I know I've got enough for at least 2 weeks main meals so I'll just need the odd top of of milk and stuff for lunches etc. I probably could have done with going shopping last Wednesday but I can just never be bothered so I eeked out what I had. It was only a few months ago I was shopping 2 or 3 times a week but now, partly due to laziness and partly efficiency, I try to avoid even going weekly :rotfl: I do call in some convenience stores but the lack of choice does help me focus on what I really need. It's usually cheese

Not a lot else to report really. A friend wants to go away for a night and I do want to go too but she doesn't understand that it's not that easy at the moment. It's not the money cause I've got £130 in my "Spa Day / Night Away" savings account (£10 a month since our last night away ) it's more the lack of time. She can't go away at weekends as her business is mainly a weekend thing so she'd prefer mid week which is fine. However, I need to give 3 months notice at work for annual leave (another reason I hate my job!!), although officially it is only a months notice but when our appointments are booked 3 months in advance, it's pretty much a nightmare to move things around. It's bad enough when sickness needs to be covered, without trying to cover someones last minute leave request But also, with things up in the air with new job and moving, I don't want to use too much leave as I could end up owing them, plus I'll need time off for moving and hopefully job interviews. I know I need and want a break, but I feel like its me doing all the compromising, using up precious leave when most normal people go away at weekends! :rotfl: She's even said to go off sick but I need to keep my nose clean with imminent job applications......plus I'd never pull a sickie ;) I don't think she's very happy with me :cool:

Orange_Ena

Evening moneysavers I've only got 4 more working days until 6 whole days off over Easter. I'm not planning on doing a lot really, some relaxing, catching up with things and then trying to tidy up ready to go on the market

Sunday 2nd April
* NSD
* PA survey

Monday 3rd April
* NSD
* 5 :eek: PA surveys
* Youg0v survey

Tuesday 4th April
* £5.70 in T3sco
* Opini0n Outp0st survey and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account
* 0nepoll surveys

Today
* £30.01 on fuel
* £2.29 in T3sco
* 0nepoll survey
* i-S@y survey
* 96SB earned and 42SB March bonus

DMIC 2/5


I've planned all my main meals up to the 22nd with stuff I already have so I'll probably, hopefully, just need the odd thing then I can just shop for the last few days before payday. This seems to be working really well for me. Every night before bed, I check if I need to get anything out of the freezer ready for the next night. It's all pinned up on the fridge so no excuses!!

Wherever I go, I always look for discarded money on the ground, and leaving work on Monday was no different. I was walking across the road, about 3 steps behind a man when he suddenly stopped and bent down to pick something up. I don't think he dropped anything so I can only presume it was a coin! Gutted!! :rotfl::p

I've only been paying just over the minimum on my credit card for about a year, while I've been saving for the house improvements. I know I need to save for house moving costs etc but I think I'm going to increase CC payments from £40 to £100 and then still save the other £100, plus any extra earnings. I really want to be debt free and I know I've reduced my debt quite a lot, and I've done all the house things, but it'll be good to focus a bit more on actually clearing the debt.

My current 0% rate ends in April 2018 and I've done the eligibility thingy on here and there's a good chance I can get another credit card with 41 months at 0%. I think I'll apply in the next week or so just to get it up and running while I still have a good income, plus if I need to borrow money to get a car, I don't want too many credit searches close together.

I'm still reluctant to work out a DFD with so many upcoming changes. If I wasn't planning the big move etc, now that the house is nearly finished, I could have just been focusing on the debt and therefore able to work it out. Hypothetically, if I were to pay £250 off my CC, I'd be debt free in 10 months Can't wait to just get moved, settle in then pay off that darn card!

doingitanyway

You are doing great on the meal planning

You may make a little money when you move and that might clear the debt?

Yay to 'nearly Easter hols'

DIA x

Orange_Ena

doingitanyway wrote: »

You are doing great on the meal planning

You may make a little money when you move and that might clear the debt?

Yay to 'nearly Easter hols'

DIA x

Thanks DIA

Unfortunately my home town is a bit more expensive for housing than my current town so I'm not sure they'll be any money left over. If there is, I'll no doubt need it for home improvements cause all I've been able to afford is place that "requires modernisation" :rotfl:

And this is totally personal choice and I'm not judging anyone for doing that, but I got my self into that debt, and I want to get myself out and not "cheat" by using equity. I suppose I feel like I've sweated it this far, I can get to the bitter end and debt freedom and really feel like I've earned it, learnt my lesson and maybe there's an element of being punished. But I'd be the same if someone swooped in and offered to clear my debt......they'd take all my glory :rotfl::rotfl: If I won millions on the lottery though, that would be different. I'd have no qualms about clearing the debt then :rotfl::p x