6 grand in 6 months - my personal challenge!

andrar

Unless they're mouldy or smell bad i'd eat them - love food hate waste!

cottage_retreatist

andrar wrote: »

Unless they're mouldy or smell bad i'd eat them - love food hate waste!

that's what my brain was saying!!! I'll just have to try and convince OH that these aren't the same ones that have been sitting in the fridge!!!!! He can be a bit of a baby!! I'll heat them up slightly in the oven as well so if there are any bacteria I can singe them off!!!

Right - it's sorted!!! Fajitas for supper!!!!! Yee-haw!!!! :j:j

And it's a nice fun Friday meal too!!! Thanks andrar - I'll feel evil if I don't eat the tortillas now!!! I hate chucking stuff out too! (which is why i always try and do the cooking not the OH!!!! :rotfl:)

HOK3Y

Raises hand to make a confession.....we bought our car new but we did it because we had tax free status at the time and could buy in USD at US prices. We got a hell of a deal that we couldn't have touched here for second hand. Will I buy another new car now that we don't have that status? Unlikely! My dream car for the last 20 years has been an mx5 and hubby has been told that I am buying one.....once we're debt free and I've saved the cash. Only live once and that's what I have always wanted and they are not terribly expensive!:)

Sitting here smiling that you've started a baking thread!!! I will check it out properly once I get home. By then I will expect pics of my Ryan G. Cakes that you're making for me.....:D. X

cottage_retreatist

well - tax free status HOK3Y!!! I'll let that pass!!! :rotfl:

So - to update the OH has still been getting his regular phone calls and threatening emails from good old Motormouth [sp!] Finance Ltd. And the annoying thing still is - this is one of the debts I planned to try and PAY before Xmas!!! :mad:

But they're being such barrow boy intimidator thug B*stards I don't want to be kind to them or give them any money!!!!! :rotfl: Even though I want to pay off this debt!!!!!!!!

So I have had enough and drafted them the letter - a combination of 'prove it', section 10 of the Data Protection Act and a revoke of trespass via common law (I did some research while I was at work yesterday!!!!!!! shhhhh ) - so now if they send any more of their ridiculous doorstop collector emails they will be contravening
1) my request to correspond only by letter via Royal Mail
2) tresspass laws

and if they dare keep sending these threatening emails the next step is a WOIRA!!! (I think that's the right name?) Yeah - I know my rights you evil moneygrabbers!!!!!

Hahahaha! :rotfl::rotfl:
So that's going second class signed recorded delivery(of course!) and along with the other stuff - PPI claims form and F&F to the DCA - I will, of course, keep you updated!!

Other than that today is a paperwork day - it's all been sitting on the desk next to me for a week and it's growing so now it's a bit dangerous - like it might collapse and fall on top of me any moment!!!

and the OH? well - they brought out the cheats for GTA V so it's easy to know where he'll spend his day!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

stewby

erm... my car was kinda new but in my defense, my brother helped me pay for it as he got rid of an old car using the scrappage scheme. without that, i would have been getting a second hand car.

as i said to my dad as we were walking round.
me: "i want a black car."
dad: "anything else??"
me: "well, i quite like vauxhalls."
dad: "no other specifications??"
me: "i want it to be black".
dad: "sigh."

however, i now have a lovely black astra which i really like and enjoy driving. my favourite "toy" even after three years.


really enjoyed reading your diary. we are the same just now, watching other people with their fancy holidays and i actually find i get quite jealous too. i love travelling but it will need to go on hold for now. can't risk getting distracted before i even start. (very short attention span).

good luck on your journey and i look forward to reading more.

cottage_retreatist

hey stewby! :beer:

welcome to my crazy diary!!! I see you are interested in doing Ninja Saving Kat's challenge come October - I really recommend it!! It has really make me think about every penny I spend and when I have a spending day it makes me feel bad about it! and it makes me look at what I've already got and say well - i can't make this but I can do this instead!!! Hence our baking club!!!!!

Oh - I have a horrific jealous streak in me which I manage to keep under wraps most of the time but every now and again a nerve gets touched - with me - I want to get me and the OH our own cottage int he countryside somewhere - so I can get quite depressed and think 'how did we get ourselves into this mess'!!!! :mad:

But I use the jealousy as my driver to cut my shopping down to zero, to stop smoking, to walk to work rather than get the bus, so we can keep chopping down that debt free day!!

The most important thing i find is remember why you are pushing yourself to such depths of hardship - for me I want that house in the middle of nowhere and now is my moment!!! :rotfl::rotfl: And that's my driver!!!

ps - i don't mind people getting new cars!! Those people on dealers were just rubbing me the wrong way!!! I seem to be getting quite evangelical about my debt-busting non-spending!!!!!!!!

stewby

my dream (from a young age) was to get a fixer-upper and do the whole house from scratch. modernise it and make it all beautiful again. (like the tv show property ladder but not selling it on).


not really possible at this point... but eventually. (everyone needs a dream).


the september step-up (have just read the rules) sounds really interesting. the drink thing should be easy enough (i never used to drink much alcohol until i started getting stressed). not that alcohol is a crutch or anything.


quick question (seeing as you have done it before). this doesn't include my partner does it?? cause i don't think i could stop him having a beer or a whisky for a month.

cottage_retreatist

stewby wrote: »

my dream (from a young age) was to get a fixer-upper and do the whole house from scratch. modernise it and make it all beautiful again. (like the tv show property ladder but not selling it on).


not really possible at this point... but eventually. (everyone needs a dream).


the september step-up (have just read the rules) sounds really interesting. the drink thing should be easy enough (i never used to drink much alcohol until i started getting stressed). not that alcohol is a crutch or anything.


quick question (seeing as you have done it before). this doesn't include my partner does it?? cause i don't think i could stop him having a beer or a whisky for a month.

thats what we want to do!! :j get a really run down place - walls and a roof basically and do it for ourselves - make it as self-sufficient as possible and everything!!!

Thats my dream - you can use that sort of thing as your motivation if you want? The OH uses a brand-new BMW 5 series as his motivation!!!! :rotfl:

For the challenge - i try and make him do it with me as much as possible but ultimately it's about me!!! so if he has a drink - i just don't join in and I keep my perfect score but he's not marked down!!! However as I control the budgets when I have a SFD he will 9/10 times also be subjected to a SFD - he has a small allowance each month so if he chooses to spend that on getting us joint gifts ie. a steak from the butchers!!! that's not from the food budget so for me its still a SFD!!!!

hope that helps?
C-R xx

stewby

thanks. that is really helpful.


i just don't think i would be able to convince my partner to give up beer for a month. where as i wouldn't really find it a problem.


i have thought about it overnight (the joys of nightshift) and i think i am going to give it a go. it sounds like a good way to introduce myself to the world of money management. like my dad says: i always go into the deep end even when i can't swim.


hope today finds you well. i am off to sleep now.

HOK3Y

I think you are both really brave to dream of totally fixing up your own place. I did a lot of work to the house I had with the ex but it couldn't have been considered run down - and it was exhausting! So I admire anyone who wants to take on a major house project! Aim for it, go for it - you can do it! If you want to bad enough, you will figure out a way. X