Debt free diary - time to sort things out

Bex296

Hi Fae! I agree completely, need to have nice things as motivation. I'm not very good at deprivation alone!

Bex296

Nearing the end of December, and I have signed up for a January challenge too, as I've enjoyed DDD!
I've also budgeted everything from both my own and the joint account, and made the first 'extra' payment from OH onto my credit card. Is nice to get that little extra chunk paid off, and as it's not my money I'm extra motivated to make more payments towards it myself.

Money wise, I have some goals for 2014... Firstly, pay off at least two credit cards and my loan. Then save £800 for general stuff (including fun stuff like a trip for my friend's 30th, and dull stuff like car emergencies/maintenance), and save for the wedding and DON'T put any wedding stuff on credit cards. We do not need to add to debts to start married life, oh no. Parents and in-laws have both offered to help with things ranging from flowers to photography to extra guests, so if we come in a bit short for anything we will swallow our pride and graciously accept someone else paying for something.

I've amended my £900-by-April slightly, as I decided that if I go away, I can spend money from my monthly 'spends' while I'm away- going on holiday is an excellent excuse to do nothing for the rest of the month in any case! So I will only need flights, which are now about £350. Plus, the wedding fund needs some help, which is arguably more urgent than a jolly. SO, slightly revised challenge:

• Pay £350 extra off credit cards
• Pay £350 extra into wedding fund
• Save £350 for flights for jolly

So, a grand total of £1050 extra must appear over and above my budget by April. :eek:

I've made some non- money related New Year's resolutions too, which I will doubtless break fairly soon BUT, I will try... So here they are to remind me later on. They're all more time-consuming than money-consuming, so should leave me with less time to spend too!

1. Get fit enough to run a half marathon again (I last did one in January 2012, and can currently survive 5k, so I need to merely, um, more quadruple that distance to 22k!!) :rotfl:
2. Be more sociable at work - they're a very nice and social bunch and I've been a bit reclusive over the last year, so once a month I'll be sociable. But cheaply. Usually events include pub quizzes and use of the student bar (SUPER cheap, especially if you're driving, which I will be), so this should be fine.
3. Do 2 hours Arabic practice per week - I've done a beginners course, but need to go over it and practice some more. I have an Iranian colleague, so I must get round to asking him if he'll chat to me in Arabic over coffee occasionally!
4. Post on Blipfoto EVERY DAY. I got a lovely camera for Christmas/my birthday, and I used to 'blip' quite a lot- it's an online photo journal and the idea is to do it once a day. I really enjoy taking pics, I just need to make sure I make a few mins a day to do it. Plus, it's free (until I start lusting after new lenses...)

So there we go. Also need to update on here more often, but I won't make that a resolution per se, as I think I have enough to be going on with!

Now to pop into town while it's not raining... That cloud is moving quite quickly and I want to beat it!

Bex296

Back from town, didn't get rained on.
I am now £15 in to my £1050 challenge! I changed some Euros that I had lying about, not much but it helps. And I'm not going anywhere with Euros any time soon so into the pots they go.
I also bought some material to make a camera insert for my handbag, as my camera bag is a little rucksack it's great for walking etc, but not that practical day to day. I've found some guides on the interwebs, and ordered some foam for padding from ebay, so soon I shall spend my evenings sewing! All for a grand total of £12.98, a bargain compared handbags designed for dSLRs which are well over £100!! And this way I can transfer it from bag to bag, should I ever abandon my trusty current handbag. I spent a bit extra on fabric to get nice soft non-scratchy stuff, as I thought it was well worth an extra £5 to not to risk scratching an expensive toy and it's lenses!

Bex296

First post in this diary of 2014. My budget is altered and set, and I'm pleased that January is an easy month to be 'tight' in!!

I have a free haircut planned for next week, and I can't for the life of me understand why I didn't do it sooner- while I was working 'properly' I couldn't skive off for half a day to be the victim of a trainee hairdresser, but since I've been PhD-ing for 18 months and can work flexibly it would have been very easy to do it and just work later in the evening! Still, live and learn.

Now I'm off to cook dinner, and find something to take a photo of so I don't break my Blipping resolution on day 1. Will have to be indoors on account of the rain... Though it doesn't necessarily have to be 'interesting', I suppose, as the idea is just to use the camera every day.

Hope my foam arrives tomorrow so I can start sewing my camera case!

Fae

Hi Bex,

Great ideas about the camera case and the haircut. Maybe you would be able to make extra camera cases and sell them ? just a thought.

Well done on started 2014 on such a postive note :T

Fae

Bex296

Fae wrote: »

Hi Bex,

Maybe you would be able to make extra camera cases and sell them ? just a thought.



Fae

I'll see how the first one goes, that's a good idea! Though I am not known for my crafting skills...! :rotfl:

Bex296

A mixed few days. I was on top of all my finances, then I had to take Pancakes (one of my rabbits) to the vets yesterday as she sounded snuffly. I was a bit worried as I know pneumonia can take ages to shift. So Pan stayed in overnight for x-rays and nebulisation, and will be back home today and my purse will be £170 lighter! Plus I need to buy a nebuliser to treat her further at home and when it inevitably recurs and some ultra-dust-free bedding, which will add up to another £80 or so.... I don't begrudge her the money but it's not the best time!! Despite OH kindly helping me with some of it, I'll still end up putting some on the CC and reversing the progress...

Still, that's life! And January is an easy month to be antisocial in as almost everyone is poor after Christmas!! :rotl:

Bex296

So, I've managed two (soon to be three) SFDs so far this month, and exercise wise I have ridden once and danced wildly for a couple of hours on Saturday night. Saturday was a great night out with friends, and free as my lovely OH bought my dinner and noone would let me buy a drink all night. As a result, I undoubtedly consumed far more calories than I danced off but it was worth it! This evening OH and I are going for a run for the first time since we did a Parkrun just before Christmas, so we will probably be staggering and gasping more than actual running.
The poorly bunny is doing very well, and actually seems delighted about her temporary move indoors as it means she can hassle us for treats every time we walk past.

Have whined about financial stuff a lot of late to OH and he has suggested that I pay £50 less into joint account than him and put the rest towards debt... Which I may well do. We earn about the same, but I have more debt and also run the car, which is my car but I'm commuting because of OH's job.... A source of much debate as to whether I should let him pay more towards car upkeep! But it does cost £200/month in diesel, plus maintenance etc., so perhaps I should let him pay a little more on joint things... Hm.

Fae

Hello Bex,

How are things going with you now ? Hope your rabbit has recovered now.

Fae