woah... are those MY finances??

Fmess

Well done with paying off the £200

I'm a biology teacher so not very useful with languages I'm afraid!

Sorry for not replying much, it's manic at work atm. Just been there for 13 hours today

stewby

I am going to sound a bit dense here but how did you end up at work for 13 hours??
:eek:

Do you get paid extra for that?? Or are you salaried and don't get any extra wages for it??
:undecided

Don't worry about not replying. I believe that you are reading it so I just keep posting stuff and hoping you are getting on okay.


OH and I are currently in a complete xmas mood so watching lots of "xmassy" movies. Currently watching home alone 2 (which features new york, sigh). I think next up is lethal weapon or die hard (OH's favourite xmassy movies).


Hope work calms down a bit for you.
Hugs.

Fmess

It was the school's open evening so I worked my normal 7.30ish until 4ish then stayed until 8.30 to talk to prospective sixth formers. Very tired now and unfortunately it's a flat rate salary so never any overtime. I reckon I'd be rich if there was overtime on top of 'normal' hours, I never do less than 50 hours a week.

I love Christmas movies especially Home Alone. Might have to download one to watch tomo night as TV is usually rubbish on Friday night.

Hope you have a lovely day off tomo (I think you said you are off until Sunday?)

Hugs

stewby

Oh wow. Glad I didn't pick teaching as a career now. I was going to go into primary school teaching after loving the subjects in primary 5, 6, 7. (oil rigs and the wind in the willows. it was brilliant).
But work experience put me off. Probably a good thing as I wouldn't have managed to do the course, not bright enough.
:undecided

At least I get overtime for my undervalued job (not financially I mean in people's opinions). You don't get anything for yours.


You should. Nothing like a good old fashioned xmas film to make you all happy inside. Maybe with a glass of wine or something as well to give you that warm glow.


Yeah, off until Sunday so considering the "charity declutterment" tomorrow. (yep, I invent new words every now and again because I can't think or remember the proper ones). But yeah, might do that tomorrow and that would be another goal achieved.


How are you getting on with the challenge this month?? I think my downfall is going to be the budget I have set as opposed to the spend days and stuff. I only have about £30 lft for the rest of the month!!
:eek:

To be honest, the freezer is full and the cupboards are full but it is the act of shopping that I enjoy and will cause the problem. I am a wee bit of a shopaholic. Wow, I can't believe I just admitted that not spending will cause me a problem. I must sound so daft.

stewby

OH is still in bed and I am down in the living room for the second day running.

Have to stop procastinating (or however you spell it) so today is charity day!! The house needs a good clean up (it is clean but a bit cluttered) and today is the day for it.


I had a rough day yesterday (for a daft reason) and also I am feeling really jealous as my cousin is away to london and I am not. So yesterday was a bit rotten. However, because I was feeling lazy and stayed in my pyjamas all day, it remained a spend free day.


I have been texting my dad regarding my financial situation and we have come to the conclusion that it is my patience to blame. I am a very impatient person and always want to sort things straight away (which I can't do with this debt). This is why I am getting frustrated as I can't pay as much off my credit card as other people. That is really embarassing to write... how sad am I.
:embarasse

My current "over-achiever" achieving thing is to make a recipe book. I have a lovely folder with plastic wallets. Several identical pens so that the ink size doesn't change if any of them run out and lots of identical books of paper (A5 as always) so that the paper doesn't change. It all has to be set out the same way (all my paperwork is set out the same way: the dvd index; the shopping lists; the menu planner; the financial plan; the holiday list; everything. All in little capitals and neat). In case you haven't guessed, I am a planner. I love planning stuff. It actually makes me really happy.


Anyways... today is going to be another pyjama day. I know that sounds really bad but if I stay in my pyjamas then there is no chance of going out spending. Great excuse or what!!


Hope everyone is doing well.
Hugs.

Fmess

I love planning too and like you have a certain type of pen and paper that I like to use and no others will do. I love organising everything and having things sorted.

I'm also struggling with a lack of patience, and now I've realised the extent of my debt I wish I could just pay it all off and start again with the lessons I've learnt (especially from the challenges).

I'm finding this month tough on the NOvember challenge to be honest. The food budget should be about right, but my misc budget is going down too quickly and I'm going out for lunch and to a party on 23rd so need to save money for them. At this rate I think I'll be driving to the party and not drinking as won't be able to afford the alcohol or the taxi home!

Your OH sounds like mine, he's just surfaced from bed! I've been out and done the charity shop drop off, the food bank drop off and been to Ald! And Asd4 and I didn't really get up until 10.30.

I love the idea of making your own recipe book, maybe if you get bored of making the same things, you could branch out into gluten free recipes end give me a few tips Gluten free flour is quite difficult to use and my food never turns as nice as it used to when I could use normal flour. That reminds me I never got round to making jam tarts!!

I'm very jealous of your pyjama days, I had to get dressed to go to the shops and walk the dogs and tomorrow it'll be Remembrance Parade and more dog walking.

Hope you are feeling better after your rough day. Don't be too jealous of your cousin going to London, it's really expensive and you'd have to get out of your pyjamas

EDIT:- I apologise for my poor grammar, punctuation and random words. I've just had to correct an awful lot of this post! I usually post from my iPad and I find typing on it a real pain.

stewby

Hey fmess.

I am so sorry that I have missed your post until now. I kinda flaked out last night whilst reading the NOvember thread (due to work) and I have no idea how I missed it on the 9th. So I am very sorry.


I am glad you like "planning" the same way that I do. I always thought I was a bit weird wanting everything to look identical. If I make a single mistake, I have to start from scratch again or else all I see on the page is the error.
:eek:

It's the spend-free days I am finding tricky. If I go anywhere, I just want to go to a shop. My mum has suggested going to visit her sister on Wednesday... which means going out for lunch... which means going into the local town... you can see where this is heading right??
:doh:

Maybe you can class your party as your monthly treat?? Mine is pop tarts (but american ones that cost £3.50 a box).


In regards to baking... let's not run before we can walk. If someone who is experienced in gluten free foods can't make decent food, someone who is barely used to normal foods won't stand a chance.


Yeah, I am very impatient as well. I am the same in that I wish I could just wipe the slate clean and start afresh. The problem is that I can't see a way to speed up paying back my debt. I have asked my dad and he is going to have a look at my main account and see what I can do. I just want to get rid of it and move on to my "new" life with my new understanding of living. If that makes sense.

Hope your work is calming down a bit now.
Hugs.

stewby

What a difference a few hours makes...

this morning I was feeling so determined and excited about my 9th spend-free day and about two hours ago I was heading out the door to tescimos.
All because of some free double cream.
:doh:

My tescimo vouchers came through today and they are giving me free double cream (300ml). This reminded me of a recipe I saw but wouldn't make as it only needed 60ml of cream and I wouldn't buy lots of cream just for one recipe. Free cream however...
:j

So, I made out a shopping list and checked all my vouchers determined to use them right now. I was trying to convince OH or my mum to go to the shops with me but both of them refused so I had a chance to think about going. Then I realised that I would have to go from 9 down to 8 spend-free days if I did that which made me feel sad.
So I decided to use the chocolate sauce I bought a couple of weeks ago and made brownies (which are now cooling). I am also going away to make syrup cookies, although I did have to "steal" some chocolate chips from my mum (it's all good, I just have to give her some cookies in exchange). So I am now not as desperate to go to the shops. Phew.


Do you ever have days like that where you just need to go shopping?? Or am I just weird??

Fmess

I feel the same. I now walk past a shop and think I have no idea how many weeks it is since I went in there, whereas I'd go in several times a week before. I also keep losing my purse as I only use it one or twice a week, then have to spend ages hunting for it.

I'm getting the urge to splurge at the moment. I haven't told NSK but I haven't cut up my ccards yet, as I'm still scared of emergency vet's bills for the dogs or cat. This is making me worried that I might splurge and spend on them and ruin my debt free journey.

Well done on saving your SFD. Very ingenious to use up old ingredients and trade with your mum too! :A. :T

stewby

Phew. I am glad someone else still has their cards.

I have kept mine as I use it for internet purchases for the whole family. (dad is scared of the internet although he now has a facebook account he uses once a week). I have put some stuff on it since I started my debt-free diary but it is stuff that my mum wanted that she has taken off my debt with her (if that makes sense).


I did a really bad thing earlier today and I am almost ashamed to admit it. I asked my dad to pay off my credit card for me and then I would pay them off instead of the card. (I would owe them £4000 instead of them £500 and the cc £3500). However he said no and that I need to learn.
Dad said he is very proud of how well I am doing so he doesn't want to give me the easy way out as he doesn't think I will learn anything.
I can see his point and I know he is right. The interest thing was freaking me out a bit and I was getting frustrated but he is right. I do need to learn and when I think about it, I would just go back to my old ways and start using the card again.
:embarasse

So... it looks like I will be in debt for the next year or so...


Hope you are looking forward to having the company cause after debt it is savings and mortgage. I am here for the long haul.


Read about the awful/good day you had at work. Glad to hear you have a tutoring job but sad to hear that your day at work was not great. Hopefully it will be better after Wednesday.
Hugs.