September's Step-Up!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Morning Chickadees!!!


Well now what a morning it is! London is positively glowing - albeit I'd rather be back in bed...... Look at you all with your SFD's... I am such a proud Mamma Kat....

For those of you not in the know MountainMum and I used to go to school together...Whoop!.. and she has baby boy number 4 coming along in January ( yes 4 boys!! ).. and I am so happy for you MM and the new 7-seater thats coming your way... a little scared for other road users but excited nonetheless... :rotfl:

Azlan (correct colour choice or not?)- what do you mean you forgot?? How can you forget...:rotfl:...Perhaps tell us a little about yourself, share a secret, embed yourself in the NSK Challenge by getting a foot hold with your story.. AND YOUR IN IRELAND!! Whooooop!!!.. whats the plan for your 3Euro then..?

I am always always always intrigued as to why people are on MSE or even on my challenges... if anyone wants to spill the beans about their daily challenges or why you are here please do... I am more inclined however to push ALL OF YOU into telling the world your debt amount..

We need to fight back as a group, debt is not something to be ashamed of, it's something to get rid of... and we can only do that through mutual support, butt-kicking, a**-whipping and virutal hugging.... :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:...although who knows what these little emicons are doing to each other but they look like they are having fun and I want some of it....:rotfl:

Ahem.. moving on....

I have Part 1 of "the leaving do" for a colleague this morning. This means a "big boy breakfast" at the local cafe. I am sad. I will have chips and beans... the cheapest option and I am hankering for some chips (yes this early in the morning)... so it will be a minimal spend but a spend I could do without...

Food at home is looking a bit dire. I ate the last of my decent veg last night...corn,celery,toms,pepper,onion,lettuce,apple chopped up tiny and dressed with lemon, apple cider vinegar and cayenne pepper added - wrapped in cos lettuce leaves... Now I am left with beans, beans, beans and lentils. No rice left, no bread, no pitta - but I do have two stale wholemeals tortilla left.... YUMMY! ....suppose since I have ruined an SFD with a BBB I might as well LSD...:rotfl:

Mr Cobes I like your plan...

Lotti your dinner sounds LUSH. Mumsy gives me beetroot to make me super healthy and it's really lovely when it's still warm with lemon juice and onion..hmmmmmmmmm. Well done on the run as well...

Couldasavemore - love the fact you scraped the cupboards and didn't need to buy anything... thats so cool. Might so the same tonight.. What did you make... are you on facebook cause I would love some pictures...

Fyggy - my petrol used to be £200 a month just to get to work...:(.. now it's £199 on the train...:(:(:(..hows the cash generating coming along.. i have a few things being watched on eBay but that's never a guarantee of anthing...:(..Sorry about sad faces...:rotfl:

Brizzled - EVERY SFD IS A CELEBRATION.. you have my permission to bounce a bit like this if you like..:j:j:j..

Hotmama.. a few more days with us and it will be hard to spend money.. seriously when you are out of the mindset that you must "run to the shops" or any such like - they will end up being repellant to you and you will be sourcing income on the floor instead like "Lucky Siouxsie and her Sniffer Money-Nose" - that should be a film... ... what the most difficult to steer clear of?..

JellyJacks - what you distracted by..? Do you find budget a little off-putting...? Some people really don't like it and it's hard to guesstimate what would be needed.... it's your first month in this type of challenge... I don't exect you to be bang on with everything from the off... the effort won't be an effort for long. It will become second nature...do you have a spreadsheet set up...?

Nanell you are in... the last to be accepted for this month... Lucky you!!! :rotfl:

Mrso2b.... do you really need to get it fixed right now? I had my a year with a cracked screen..? How bad it is and it is working.. I think its a good price as I was quoted £25 from a work colleague... but I can't stop you.....#pleasewaitfornextmonthsbudgetpleeease...:o


Right enough of my ramblings... I have a BBB to get to....:rotfl:

lotti379

I am in a quandry...

I am going to visit Mr L this weekend and drop him off at his new training place on Sunday, going by train which is unusual but necessary due to car number restrictions.

I no longer have a valid railcard, but am (just) eligible for a 16-25 jobby... for the princely sum of £30.

Now, without the railcard my journeying this weekend would cost £54 (:eek: - I normally drive there and back on 1/2 tank of petrol, about £35 worth I would guess. How am I supposed to make better environmental decisions if it is less convenient and so much more expensive to use public transport? Given that I own the car for commuting anyway.). If I buy the railcard I save 1/3, £18 in this instance. The decision is whether I will actually use the train more often over the next year? In the next three months I have one fixed trip into London, which if I'm going from here covers the cost of the card, and one potential trip, which if I did I would begin to see some actual savings from buying it.

I suppose it is a current cost vs future benefit situation... I will actually spend more money in the short term in order to spend less in the medium term... is it worth it?

lilian1977

lotti379 wrote: »

I suppose it is a current cost vs future benefit situation... I will actually spend more money in the short term in order to spend less in the medium term... is it worth it?

I think that's the crux of it - if you know you will save money in the long run then it's probably better to invest now - assuming you can afford to shell out that money of course.

I found a code on HUKD to get £3 off, it's LEAFLET3 - it seemed to accept it online but I can't get to the checkout page without adding my passport details (and I'm too old to pass the eligibilty check!) so I don't know 100% that it works.

Hope that helps you make your decision

lilian1977

Anyway. Still ill here so another SFD for me, that's 3 out of 3 so far! It does mean no exercise but on a positive note it also means no alcohol!

My update:

SFD - 3/18 (including today, not leaving the house)
Food budget - £0/£100
Beauty spends - £0/£10
Food bank - £3/£3 (to Trussell Trust via text)
Packed lunches - 2/13 (on hols for a week, also off sick today but eating my planned packed lunch anyway!)
Holiday spends - £0/£100 (go week of 16th September)
Fun spends - £0/£100
Alcohol - 0/23

The girls are trying to arrange a night out but we also need to get our pregnant friend round to one of the houses for her surprise baby shower, so I'm trying to convince them that instead of the "night out" we should suggest a "night in" - which could then double up as the baby shower. Easier to get her round to the house without making up a convuluted story, but also should mean we save money! Hoping they agree as I don't have room for a night out in my fun budget...

AnnieBox

Checking in:

*SFD #2 today
*brought packed lunch to work
*Will soon partake in a brisk 30 minute walk on my lunch break.


Budget so far:

Food: £6/£20
Petrol: £0/£40
Other: £0/£100

lilian1977

Just been accepted for my first mystery dining assigment at the local playcentre - £20 maximum spend which will be reimbursed. Yay!

thriftylass

Today should be another SFD, number 3. Tonights dinner will be the one I planned for yesterday before FIL and BIL turned up. It was nice to have them and DS ended up getting two new toy cars too (one he wouldn't let go, it went to bed and into nursery with him today). So I'll have a rummage through the cupboards tonight to see what's left as I want to avoid shopping as long as possible. Although we'll have family round for dinner again on Saturday I think but OH just wants to make a big stew in the slow cooker so shouldn't be too dear.

Have a nice day

EDIT: Just got charged for the first time for using my ARRANGED overdraft. Must have missed the new pamphlet they send out with the last statement informing me about those changes. I've got no wallet with me today but will go tomorrow and query it and also remove my overdraft as it will cost me £6 for every month I go more than £10 into my £500 overdraft, which I usually only use to clear my CC just before I get paid etc. So I don't really need it.

debtfreeeju

Eeek! Just realised I'm supposed to be checking in every day!

So far it's not going badly - no alcohol (hopefully that'll help with shifting the weight I need to lose!), no NSDs as yet but today is my first one this month - I'm working from home today so it shouldn't be too difficult.

thriftylass

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

I am always always always intrigued as to why people are on MSE or even on my challenges... if anyone wants to spill the beans about their daily challenges or why you are here please do... I am more inclined however to push ALL OF YOU into telling the world your debt amount..

I have to be honest it's not so much debt why I'm here but my old self. My parents made me from the start keep a book of pocket money, what I got and spend. Found it completely over the top back then and never got a raise because I was so good with my money and obviously didn't need more :rotfl: Anyway, fast forward a few years to my student years and I was still quite good with money and saved up my fees to be paid back in one go (different system in germany, saved 25% that way) and all the money we needed a couple years back for the fees to sell and buy a house with my now fiance and to furnish it. However, there were a few party years and helping OH out without educating him (endless cycle) and just wanting to live and giving in to OH (no massive spends but here and there, the pub, food etc). Now we have kids and hardly any savings and a wedding coming up I want to find my old self again (so much easier on your own though) and eventually the courage to rope OH in completely (working on it more or less successfully, just need to be more direct about it).
Sorry for the long post but there we are.:D

Shelbi

Quick check in....another non spend day today for me...Hope everyone is well & enjoying your day!!