The Secret Dreamworld of a (Scottish) Shopaholic

catriona79

Hello

Just read your diary and I think you're absolutely fab and really brave and disciplined!

Have subscribed and will be back to cheer you on

Big hug xx

beanielou

All sounding good.
Hope ebay comes up trumps.

Silly_Spender

Congrats on the sling sale! Love reading through your diary it really is inspiring, you're a very brave person

scottishspendaholic

I'm not fab or brave, but thank you. Most of the time, I feel like a grubby liar (which is what I am).

Stupid stupid spending today. I got bitten by the payday bug. I took DD out to a cafe for lunch, however this I do not regret & was so worth the money - we don't spend a lot of time together 1-2-1, so this was precious. Then I spent without a care in the world in a couple of charity shops & Asda. I'm pleased with some of what I got in the charity shops (3 tunics/winter tops for me, 2 early reader books for DD as she's starting to read independently, 2 birthday cards, a coat for DS) but not happy with the unnecessary junk I bought in Asda - walking aimlessly around & chucking things I don't need but can't be counted as joint spends into the trolley and the total amount I spent today, totally unplanned. What an idiot.

£13.75 cafe lunch
£8.25 charity shop 1
£5.00 charity shop 2
£34.00 Asda

= £61.00

I will come up with a clever plan on how to incorporate this lapse of judgement into my October plan. It just takes all the happiness out of selling the sling & my euphoria of having successfully managed to snowball & target my debts as per my DFD for two complete months, that I had been feeling. Buyer's remorse. It makes a total mockery of all the times I'm sitting here working hard trying to make £5, then I go & have a blow out and spend 12 x that in a couple of hours. I'm really cross with myself.

And, to top it all off - away to the rearranged hennie tomorrow. It's a smaller & more local affair and the spending for this has been allocated, however, needless to say, I'd rather be diverting the money elsewhere, as its still costly as it involves a crafty activity thing, a meal out & probably some drinks.

One last thing, if things weren't carp enough at work, the payroll woman said to me today that I 'took part time to a new level' & joked she would have to start putting my salary into her bank account as I wasn't there very much (I work out of the office mostly). Am furious. Apart from that being an inappropriate & humiliating comment made by a member of management in an open plan office, I think there's some real resentment there as myself & my other TUPE'd colleague are paid pro rata significantly more than other members of staff doing similar jobs & have better benefits (I get a car allowance & 2 extra weeks holiday at Christmas & more), and I suspect possibly pro rata, more than most of the management team.

OrangeFairy

Hi SS

I have been a little MIA but I am so glad to come back and seeing that you are meeting your targets and being able to snowball.

I get paid on Monday and I am hoping to avoid that 'wow I've been paid what to buy' moment, There is an £8 top I want and I need work shoes but I really want those to be my only luxury purchases in October. I need a kick up the rear end.

How rude and very unprofessional of the payroll woman! :mad:

scottishspendaholic

Hello hello!

I am slinking in quietly as things have gone a bit haywire over the last few days. I've taken my eye off the ball & it's been spend spend spend. I need to stay away from the shops! I went into Sainsburys today to look for a swimsuit for DD for our holiday, came out £51 lighter with no swimsuit, it's just stupid. Luckily, I'm reaping the benefits of a TCB payout, mystery shopping payment, sling selling etc; otherwise things would be bleak, however I do know that, if I hadn't been stupid spending, I'd be pretty much breaking even for the month & could afford to have a couple of relaxed weeks - instead I'm still on the eBay, madly making money treadmill still.

On the upside, birthday gifts & cards until the end of the year are pretty much sorted.

I really would like a new winter coat (new to me) & some ankle boots. I gave last year's winter coat to a charity shop in the Spring, promising myself I'd be a few sizes smaller by this winter - hmmmm. I cannot tell you how many times I've done that with seasonal clothes. Also, I have some nice winter tunics/leggings to wear, but no suitable footwear. I find winter footwear tricky as I've got massive calves, so can't wear wellies, boots etc. I have found some lovely comfy suede ankle boots in Sainsburys for £20. So I'm going to buy these two items at the end of the month if I meet my targets.

So, back on track now SS.

scottishspendaholic

P.S. Things more than hit home this week, when I realised that we are eligible and being targeted by the new government 'Help To Buy' scheme. We would love to move, but are trapped by a high mortgage (we took a 125% mortgage out in 2005 over 37 years), falling house prices and we are taking up an ideal first time buyer property.

However, on researching it, it became clear that I can't do ANYTHING until my secret debt is paid off as otherwise I'd have to lie when declaring our joint monthly expenditure or confess, neither of which are palatable. Despite this, we probably still wouldn't stand a chance as we'd have to ask our mortgage company for more ££, which now that DH is in the debt scheme, they probably wouldn't give us (despite religiously paying our mortgage) and our level of debt is still so high, it'd undoubtedly count against us or make us ineligible.

It's just so frustrating as brand new houses are being built in my small village just now, and probably won't be again for a very long time. So by the time we could potentially apply to this scheme (when we'd paid off more cash), we won't be able to apply as there will no longer be new houses to move to...

Such a missed opportunity. I've just got to hope there will be some suitable help out there in a couple of years time, when we'll have to move as my daughter & son will be getting to the ages where they can no longer share a bedroom.

beanielou

My advice would be buy the boots now if you can before they sell out.

scottishspendaholic

Gosh, why can't I just STOP SPENDING! This month would be a breeze, if I could just stop haemorrhaging cash.

Since I wrote the post above on Friday night, unnecessary spending=

-£5.00 baseball boots in a charity shop
-£1.++ on donation to bag packers at supermarket
-£10.30 cafe for coffee/breakfast for me & kids
-£14 Christmas presents for my kids from local garden centre

I've also been food shopping & included a cheap Asda George winter coat for myself (joint account), paid for my kids' next term of swimming lessons (child benefit) & completed a £5 mystery shop (not counted this spend as I have reclaimed it).

I just feel like I'm card happy and need to put a stop to it. Something about going out with no cards/money on me, I find really scary though. As usual, my downfalls are - things for kids' birthdays/Christmas, food, charity shops. Grrrrr.

A lot of my money making endeavours are coming to fruition, otherwise I'd be sinking, I've just got to stay focused & stop seeing it as extra ££ to spend. I feel so angry with myself as I could be in a position now where I'd be making bigger overpayments potentially bringing my DFD closer OR have a nice easy month & get ahead of myself money making wise for next month. As it stands, it's the same struggle with approx. £175 to make over the next 25 days.

The kids are on holiday week after next, as are DH and I. 3 days are taken up with a visit up North to a wedding (rest of the 3 days at DH's folks' so spend free) - the related wedding expenses are coming from the joint account. That leaves 7 days including the weekends to fill with £0! One day is taken care of as I've booked & paid for a craft workshop, but I'm going to have to be inventive on the other days.
Library/Playdoh/crafts/penny mix shop it is!

I do have more to say undoubtedly, but head is mince today & need to get eBaying! Am sure I'll be back!

Xxx

MrsSmith2013

Hi Scottishspendaholic, just been catching up with your diary, you're doing great - we all fall off the wagon a little bit here and there, so don't be too hard on yourself about it.

With regards to the housing thing and the mortgage scheme, just think of the old wifes tale "whats for you won't go past you".... maybe it seems like a good scheme, but the right one is waiting for you and your money situation to be better!

Hope the ebaying and selling is going well for you this month... hopefully talk to you soon!

Mrs S x