misstara's debt diary 2014

misstara

giblet1979 wrote: »

Hi misstara,
Just found your diary and think you're doing so well! I'll look forward to reading more
Gib x

Hi Gib :hello: thanks for your lovely post.

Payday today - got £116.72. Have made a £16.72 payment to cc1, put by £40 for my filling and £30 for the electricity bill. This leaves me £30 for over the weekend until I get paid on Tuesday.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Hey Tara

I've just caught up with you. You're doing well

As a previous poster said, don't make yourself feel too bad about spending going out with friends. You NEED to be able to have some fun, and you have your "anything" budget, so relax a bit for anything coming out of there I've split my "anything" budget down a bit though - so I have a separate pot for "eating out" and "entertainment", so I don't end up spending too much money on one thing. I think without the split I'd end up frittering it away on random pointless purchases and wouldn't leave myself enough for the odd meal/coffee out with friends or OH. It helps me, so maybe it's worth you considering too.

Hope you have a lovely weekend xx

misstara

Kei wrote: »

Hi misstara, been having a catch up on your diary and saw that you were annoyed with yourself about the spends with your friends (haha that rhymes!). Just wanted to say don't stress about that too much, you can be too strict on yourself in your mission to be debt free. I was the same earlier this year, I really wanted to just go out, eat out for once, just do something fun, but I kept putting it off to save money for the debt. However I realised that all that was doing was making me miserable, the weather was rubbish also. So we went out and I paid and had a fantastic day out, but it was so worth it because the money wasn't wasted. So what I'm saying is that if you go out and spend and have a fab time with friends once in a while, don't beat yourself up :-)

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

Hey Tara

I've just caught up with you. You're doing well

As a previous poster said, don't make yourself feel too bad about spending going out with friends. You NEED to be able to have some fun, and you have your "anything" budget, so relax a bit for anything coming out of there I've split my "anything" budget down a bit though - so I have a separate pot for "eating out" and "entertainment", so I don't end up spending too much money on one thing. I think without the split I'd end up frittering it away on random pointless purchases and wouldn't leave myself enough for the odd meal/coffee out with friends or OH. It helps me, so maybe it's worth you considering too.

Hope you have a lovely weekend xx

Thank you both for your replies. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about it and I also know that if I cut everything out and go super frugal, I will have a big blow out and spend a lot more than £25.

Me and OH have our 'date night' budget but I don't actually have an overall 'socialising' budget, I just budget for nights out as they come up. Will have a wee think about what to do - might end up copying you Kim, I think that's a fab idea

misstara

Spends for today were £2.20 on bus fare to work (was being lazy again, although I did go to the gym this morning so at least I got some exercise). I also spent £6.70 on a few things that I forgot to get at M*rrisons the other day.

I got my payslip through for my monthly job today and my pay rise equates to an extra £28 a month

misstara

Spent £7.75 on a nice tea from M*rks and Spencers before we go and see the orchestra - was very yummy

misstara

Very quick post tonight as been working all day and am shattered. Spends for today were £1.70 on bus fare home and £1 on some chocolate buttons. Handed in timesheets for 2nd job on the way home so don't have to worry about it tomorrow.

misstara

A beautiful day so walked to and from work (no laziness today!). OH came and met me in the park after work so £3 spent on ice creams. Other than that, no spends.

Monthly payday tomorrow and I will get £1031.96.
- £910 for rent, council tax and loan
- £51.96 to cc1
- £25 to cc2
- £25 for christmas savings direct debit
- £20 towards filling
And that is as far as it goes - definitely not stretching as far as I would like

Unfortunately I'm not expecting a lot from 2nd job this Friday as I only did 2 short shifts last week and I only have 1 short shift booked for this week. I phoned them today to try and get another shift but there was nothing that fitted in with my main job.

I think I might have to borrow some money from the hen/wedding fund and repay it later on in the month but will see how I go. This month I have quite a lot on but my plan is to pick up as many shifts for my 2nd job as I can in between the wedding, weekend away with OH and hen weekend. I really don't want to have to dip into the PPI money if I can avoid it. OH has an interview for a job tomorrow which is more hours than he currently does so fingers crossed - would definitely be a great help if he was bringing in a bit more money

Have realised that once I pay the credit cards tomorrow, I will be £10 away from being under £9000 :j

giblet1979

Hey misstara,

That sounds great - you're doing so well and are consistently OP'ing despite things having to stretch. Brilliant news about it nearly going below 9000, another milestone checked off!

Good luck to your OH for his job, and hope you get more shifts (although also hope you get to rest...)

Gib x

misstara

giblet1979 wrote: »

Hey misstara,

That sounds great - you're doing so well and are consistently OP'ing despite things having to stretch. Brilliant news about it nearly going below 9000, another milestone checked off!

Good luck to your OH for his job, and hope you get more shifts (although also hope you get to rest...)

Gib x

Thanks Gib. I managed to pick up another short shift for this week netting me another £30 so that's something. I was considering just paying an extra £10 to cc1 to get below £9000, however, I'm glad I didn't as I got a scale and polish at the dentist as well as my filling so it cost £10.44 more than I had budgeted for

Spends for today so far are £1 on interdental brushes (dentist was having a proper moan at me about flossing) and 87p on some reduced price croissants.

I checked my mobile broadband bill and its £20 more than usual :mad: this is because we went over our data allowance. I thought that once the data allowance was reached, that would be it until the following months allowance but apparently there is a £20 credit limit on the account. I have now changed it to £0 so once the allowance has ran out that's it.

Am really !!!!!! off as it took a 20 minute phonecall to get it sorted out so my phone bill will probably be higher than usual as well.

misstara

Just finished a shift for 2nd job and now heading for main job - going to be good and avoid going to the shop en route. While at my 2nd job I picked up 4 shifts for next week, think I got a bit carried away. However I should make around £145 so it will be worth it