misstara's debt diary 2014

misstara

A quick post for yesterday as was too tired last night. Spends were £1 on some chocolate and £1.60 on bus fare. Handed in timesheets for my 2nd job so I didn't have to faff around doing that this morning.

Today the rent has been paid plus a £25 direct debit for christmas savings.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Well done on the Xmas savings!

Sounds like you've had a good weekend. I certainly agree with you re the frugal lifestyle. To me, it's the same as going on a diet - you can crash diet to lose a lot of weight really quickly, but its not sustainable, and then as soon as you finish, you'll end up gaining it all straight away. It's about finding a good balance between cutting back yet still being able to enjoy yourself - so you can learn good habits to keep using throughout your life, not just until the debt's cleared!

xx

Steerpike88

Here are some of her recipes for free on her blog that I have made myself. I find them delicious and she costs a ton of them out per portion.

Her blog is called A Girl called Jack, I'm not allowed to post links so I'll tell you the best recipes to search for. You just go into a post and scroll down past the comments and the search bar is there.

Carrot, Cumin & Kidney Bean Burgers

Sunshine Bread (Carrot, Pineapple and Sultanas)

Love Soup (Roasted Carrot, Ginger and Onion)

Carrot & Coriander Falafels

Ultimate Feisty Soup
(This is so good, she makes it in place of Lemsip, it's a Tomatoy, lemony, gingery soup. I love it. )

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup
(I added half a tin of baked beans with the sauce rinsed off I had lying in the back of the fridge, it was amazingly good with homemade croutons I made from the ends of my bread)

Best Ever Chilli
(This is so tasty but I add like twice the amount of chocolate recommended)

Banana Chickpea and Tea Curry
(This Banana Curry is surprisingly awesome, sweet and creamy.)

Again these are just a few I've tried and it's good to have some store cupboard recipes that taste amazing and they're mostly veggie recipes but that means you're not buying meat so much, if you eat meat.
We probably have meat once a fortnight now because her food is so good and I probably spend £25 for two weeks for the both of us. (although I need to go in for milk and bread, etc. in between)

This was a big step in saving again for me. Just costing out my meals and meal planning and OH deciding his favourites from these budget meals. I'm just glad he likes vegetarian food and that he co-operates so well.

I guess it's his money I'm spending, so he's co-operating fully with my budget buster menu.

Keep up with the amazing work.

misstara

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

Well done on the Xmas savings!

I certainly agree with you re the frugal lifestyle. To me, it's the same as going on a diet - you can crash diet to lose a lot of weight really quickly, but its not sustainable, and then as soon as you finish, you'll end up gaining it all straight away. It's about finding a good balance between cutting back yet still being able to enjoy yourself - so you can learn good habits to keep using throughout your life, not just until the debt's cleared!

Thanks I find every year I end up putting some christmas presents on the credit card but not this year! 25.00 a month does not seem much out of my pocket at a time but it means at christmas time I will have 300.00

This is so true. After all I don't want to put in all this hard work just to go straight back into debt. Although I guess this is why I'm in this position anyway - I have consolidated 3 times and then ran the credit cards back up again :mad:. However, my plan for once all the debt is gone is to continue with all my good habits and stick with my (perhaps a more bit more relaxed) budget and put the money I spend on debt repayments into savings towards a deposit.

Steerpike88 wrote: »

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup
(I added half a tin of baked beans with the sauce rinsed off I had lying in the back of the fridge, it was amazingly good with homemade croutons I made from the ends of my bread)

Best Ever Chilli
(This is so tasty but I add like twice the amount of chocolate recommended)

Banana Chickpea and Tea Curry
(This Banana Curry is surprisingly awesome, sweet and creamy.)

Again these are just a few I've tried and it's good to have some store cupboard recipes that taste amazing and they're mostly veggie recipes but that means you're not buying meat so much, if you eat meat.
We probably have meat once a fortnight now because her food is so good and I probably spend £25 for two weeks for the both of us. (although I need to go in for milk and bread, etc. in between)

I had a look at this blog and it was really interesting. These recipes in particular look really yummy. Lentil soup is my favourite so think I will try that one first. Love that you're adapting the recipes with odds and sods from your fridge!

I love veggie food but OH is not quite so keen. He doesn't mind the odd veggie meal but probably would object to having very little meat in his diet. However, looking at your food bill and the costings on the blog, I think I will have to work on him

misstara

Was stupidly tired again last night and went to bed really early. I thought perhaps I was away to come down with something but have woken up today feeling fine so that's good.

So spends for yesterday were 1.79 on some jam and 2.50 on bus fare home from work as it was utterly miserable by the time I finished.

A day off work today so my plan is to have a very lazy morning and then go to the gym later. I then have my contact lens appointment at 3pm.

It definitely won't be a NSD as I will have to pay for the appointment plus contact lens. I have just eaten the last of the bread for breakfast so will need more. Am also about to run out of shampoo so will need to get some today. The shampoo I got last time was from P*undland and I'm not that keen on it so I think I will go back to my usual one from Bo*ts. Obviously its quite a bit more expensive but I noticed that they have a 3 for 2 on haircare at the moment so for around 11.00 I will have nice shampoo that will last me a while.

I also need to take a look at their No7 range while I'm there as I usually buy my face creams, serum etc from that range but it is expensive and I can't really justify 20 odd quid on 1 pot of face cream. However, I do have a 5.00 off voucher and a 10.00 gift card left over from christmas so that would greatly bring the cost down. I need a couple of things though, hmm will have a look and a good think about it.

misstara

Well my lazy morning turned into a lazy day, I didn't go to the gym and spent most of the day curled up on the sofa reading a book.

Went to my contact lens appointment and have got a trial of new lens so didn't pay anything today. Next appointment is in 2 weeks time.

I also went to B*ots and got my shampoo - 11.18 spent. I had a look at the No7 range and its on a 3 for 2 offer as well but it would still cost 29.00 even with the gift card and money off voucher so will have to think about it a bit more.

I bought some bread - 1.00 spent. Also went into M*rks and Spencer and bought some things for tea - 5.68 spent. Bit annoyed as I did not need to spend this, there is plenty of food in the house but I just fancied something different. Still as long as I make sure its a one-off I don't suppose it eats into my budget too much.

misstara

Forgot to add in earlier post, my £5 reward was credited to my bank account today so immediately paid it to cc1 and updated signature.

Also I finally reached the £40 payout threshold for onepoll so that will reach my paypal account in next 28 days.

misstara

Got up fairly early and went to the gym to make up for my totally lazy day yesterday. Now heading round to see my gran for a bit before going to work.

A £9.99 direct debit for lovefilm has gone out today but I have restrained myself from making a 1p payment to cc1 - think that would be taking debt busting a little too far:rotfl:

I got some mail through from B*ots this morning containing extra points vouchers. I have decided to go ahead and buy my face creams and serum as I will get over £9 worth of points. I will put off getting my hair cut for a bit longer and buy these instead.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Excellent news getting to £40 on Onepoll - I've never used that one, how long has it taken you to get the £40?

I'm with you exactly - as soon as the debts are gone, I may relax my spending habits a BIT but I'm still planning to put most of what I'm currently paying off debts into savings, so I can have nice things like holidays, new furniture, etc. etc. without having to use credit.

Don't beat yourself up about spending £5 on M&S food. We all need a treat once in a while - perhaps you could consider putting a bit of money in your budget just for this sole purpose? £5 or £10 a month for a "fancy" tea?

Hope you have a good day. Totally jealous of your ability to get up early to go to the gym. Never in a million years would I manage to do that - as much as I'd like to be a morning person, it's never going to happen! :P

xx

Steerpike88

Have you thought about going to a beauty school to get your hair cut? They're usually doing their final exams and are supervised.
I agree with FU don't beat yourself up over a £5 occasionally going on something nice to eat. I also like her idea of setting money aside to splurge on a tasty meal. I think I should do that.

So, it's good to eat something special.
Good thing you're using your Boots points. Well done you! That serum lasts for ages as well.