My DMP Journey...

Monkeyballs

Cheers PestoPasta! Words of encouragement are always welcome here :beer:

Thursday 16.01.14:

Finally a decent nights sleep! I was up until about 2am but I managed to sleep reasonably peacefully until almost 8am Ok, not a full nights sleep but at least I'm not starting the day feeling like death... Which is nice

Today, I received a letter from Cheque Centre confirming that they will accept £230 as full & final settlement of my debt to them so now I have a hard copy on headed paper - now I just need to wait until the end of the month then it's almost a grand off my overall debt! It's gonna be a beautiful thing LOL

in_need_of_direction

Small steps MB. Just watch how they all add up to great progress. I know how tough it is to hang in there, especially when you're sleep deprived but flick thru some of these diaries and you'll see what can be achieved. I was really fed up this morning and wondering what the point was. I spent some time flicking thru the site. Bottom line is that we owe ourselves the freedom we'll get from hanging in there

Monkeyballs

Hi INOD, I started this diary after reading those of others very inspirational and it's obvious looking at the changes seen in some, very beneficial!

Friday 17/01/14:

I had a decent nights sleep again probably about 6 hours again and I don't recall waking up once so that's a solid 6 hours too and as a result I feel more human! I even showered (first of the week LOL) and tried to style my hair which wasn't easy as it meant reaching up with my left arm and that stretched my back out so not the most comfortable but it has since passed...

Today I wasn't expecting any money saving activities, I'd have settled for a bit of roadkill for my sealed pot challenge jar but while on my morning walk stumbled across some ladies doing market research - free food and £5 for my time! So, them feeding me saves me money and the fiver is going to go to Barclaycard as an overpayment but then they asked me if I'd like to answer some questions about the packaging for another fiver!!! Hell yeah!!!

Every little helps they say, and for me a free tenner is more than a little and it helps a lot!

Right now my back is killing me (always does after exercising) but it's not as bad as it has been, the sun is shining outside and I'm in the money hopefully I'll be able to sit comfortably soon and then I can look at getting back to work!!!

MB

Monkeyballs

Saturday 18/01/14:

Boooo... Not a great nights sleep, I kept sneezing for some reason and it was murder!!! Luckily they stopped and I managed to get some sleep but now today I'm feeling a bit rough and my back is really stiff

So, I've been out for my morning walk and dropped into Barclays to check my balance (no big surprises sadly) and carried on with my walk because walking helps to stretch my back out but today wasn't so good... Still, I'm glad I did it before the rain starts silver linings and all that

Anyway...

I'm still buzzing and looking forward to payday when I can get my hands on my brothers money and pay off one of my creditors and reduce my debt by almost a grand!!! I'm looking forward to that more than Christmas!!! LOL

On top of that, I've paid a couple of quid off my Barclaycard and if my sums are correct I may be able to pay of the remainder of my overdraft without overstretching myself not the biggest debt but it's one less creditor which at least psychologically feels good...

in_need_of_direction

Just stick it at. It will all come good.

Monkeyballs

Sunday 19/01/14:

Is it really Sunday? Maaaannn... That's another week gone already!

So, today I'm not feeling too bad I had a decent enough nights sleep and although really it was only about 5 hours it was a good solid 5 hours but I really need to try and get back into a routine because my back is on the mend and while I can't sit down still without pain it is becoming more of an "intense discomfort" as opposed to just "pain"... Hopefully one more week? Who knows but I'm not going to rush it, I've learned the hard way and don't fancy going back to square one again! Not looking forward to physio tomorrow morning though - ho hum, what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!

So, today I found out that the 'Payment a day' thread is for folk doing the same as my making small regular payments to Barclaycard! That's one more thread to join in with While I'm loving the threads I'm already subscribed to it's always nice to try new things LOL.

It's raining heavily today (Booo) which means I'm not going to be going far and my daily exercise is going to be even more of a chore than normal but needs must... It also means that I won't be going to Mum's for Sunday dinner so I need to spend my own money on food!!! Whatever next

Monkeyballs

Monday 20/01/14:

OWWWW!!! So yesterday afternoon I scared myself, I was feeling "ok" in the morning and decided to have a bit of a tidy around in my room as it's slowly becoming a bit of a dump without thinking I picked up the duvet and stretched out with a clean cover and shook! Folks, friendly advice... If you're recovering from a slipped disc, don't do this!!! I thought I was going to snap in half!!! Lying down and lots of pain killers have helped but I was still aching this morning and wasn't able to do my exercises

Now, I've just been to the hospital for physio... normally would be 10 mins walk... Recently it's been 15-20 mins... Today, I slipped on ice, I never fell but I was late to physio because it took almost 40 mins! Luckily my therapist was ok to see me as she'd had a couple off cancellations and is arranging acupuncture for me this week yeah, I frikken love needles... NOT

Finance wise? I honestly don't care... I'm only posting this because I don't want to lapse on my diary and am feeling sorry for myself

At least I have a clean duvet cover to lay on! Silver linings always silver linings

MB

Monkeyballs

Tuesday 21/01/14:

Still in some pain but mostly just discomfort now thank god... Not pleasant but I had worried that I was back to square one! I know my limitations now...

Today I received a letter from Barclaycard in relation to one I sent to them asking them to freeze the interest on my card while I'm on my DMP - a polite "No" - due to the %age of the balance I am currently repaying to be fair, I never expected them to freeze it entirely it was wishful thinking but it was worth a shot!

Never mind... Pay it off and close goodbye Barclaycard - you helped to fund my gambling problem - lovely.

MB

Monkeyballs

Wednesday 22/01/14:

It's 19:00... Where on earth has the day gone? I've done nothing particularly "financially savvy" today but I it's not been a total waste today, I have:

Done some work from home, that's several hours actually contributing towards my employer! LOL

Received a £10 Morrisons voucher from a Sun+ subscription offer which will buy a Christmas pressie.

Sneakily taken out 3 new subscriptions for other people hoping to get 3x £20 vouchers - £60 for £3 if it works... I'm not holding my breath but it's worth a punt

Now I'm shattered though, thanks to a combination of my back and the horrendous weather I wasn't able to get out of the house at all yesterday and I'm assuming that it contributed to my exercise today feeling like 10 rounds with Mike Tyson

Silver linings... Silver linings... I have reserved a couple of things at Argos which I can pick up on my exercise route tomorrow as I go right past the store - 2 Christmas gifts for under £6 reduced from £18 silver linings...

MB

Monkeyballs

Thursday 23/01/14:

Oh god... I was coughing all night I think I finally got to sleep at about 4am and now my back feels like I've been kicked by a horse! This morning is going to be a tough one

Silver linings? I'm up at a normal hour and as I am not at work then I can go back to sleep again if I can later.. Also, it's not raining heavily so I can go for my walk and I can get the stuff I reserved at Argos

It's still early as I type though...

Ok! It's 11:57 as I type and I have been for my "walk" and picked up some bits and pieces

I say I went for a walk, but I must have looked like a zombie shambling through town after going to Argos and then stopping off at Tesco to get something to eat tonight LOL

I have bought 3 Nivea Gift sets (2 womens and 1 Mens) which would normally have cost £26ish for the princely sum of 47p thanks to some Nectar points which I got absolutely free!!! Some might argue that I should probably save them but as I'd be saving them for Christmas and this is the sort of thing I would buy anyway it seems like a good idea to me

On top of this I also stopped off an Morrisons in town as I shambled past and picked up 2 bottles of wine which covers my brother and sister in law and my sister and brother in law... How much did it cost me? Nothing! Ok, technically it cost me £1 as it was a voucher I got from my sun+ subscription Again, it's what I would have bought and spent so it's all good in the hood...

Other than pain I'm feeling pretty good as I lay here on the floor typing as I'm looking at my haul (see below) and thinking I need to get this to mum's to remove temptation...

Mum - Pending
Best friend - Pending
Brother 1 - Nivea gift set & David Beckham gift set (Complete, cost = £2.14)
Brother 2 -David Beckham gift set & Pending (cost so far = £1.99)
Niece 1 - Nivea gift set & Pending (cost so far = 15p)
Niece 2 - Nivea gift set & pending (cost so far = 15p)
Niece 3 - Pending
Brother & Sister in law - Wine (Complete, cost = 50p)
Sister & Brother in law - Wine (Complete, cost = 50p)
Secret Santa - Pending

I'm half way there, it's not even February, I've only spent £5.43 so far and I still have £15 of Nectar points, £24.50 in Quidco (from no brainer freebies), £18 in Boots points and potentially (I'm still awaiting confirmation) £60 of Morrisons vouchers LOL looks like this year will be the cheapest Christmas ever!!!

Ouch...

MB