misstara's debt diary 2014

in_need_of_direction

Oh poor you. Can't live with them but can't kill them either. Isn't it so infuriating. Hopefully this will be a lesson taught once and for all.

misstara

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Oh poor you. Can't live with them but can't kill them either. Isn't it so infuriating. Hopefully this will be a lesson taught once and for all.

I certainly hope so. I was just so annoyed because it's over £100 more than his usual monthly bill and that money could have paid for a huge chunk of the electricity bill. Ah well it's done now.

Right payday today so I have made my payment to the loan, my usual monthly payment on the 12th will take it to under £4000 . I somehow managed to transfer the £18 weekly savings money to the emergency fund but after thinking about it, decided to leave it there to boost up the emergency fund a bit. The rent and christmas savings direct debits have gone out today and I have paid the council tax.

I went to the supermarket this morning and spent £27.26, lots of lovely food in and there's definitely enough for some meals for next week as well.

The electricity bill has come through so it's £168.61. I've currently got £135 put by, I'll add the £5 reward and then pay it once I get paid next Friday. Then I shall start putting aside £10 a week towards the next one.

I've been invited out for tea on Sunday and have decided to use some money from the weekly savings to pay for it. Between one thing and another, I haven't managed to meet up with this friend since just before christmas so it's definitely long overdue.

Better go and get organised for work, just hoping the rain stays off so I can walk up and save a few pounds.

misstara

Nothing much to report today. It's been a NSD

giblet1979

Hey misst,
Hope you're having a nice bank holiday.
Sorry to hear about your OH and the phone bill - how frustrating!
Sounds like you're doing great otherwise tho on the MSE front xx

misstara

giblet1979 wrote: »

Hey misst,
Hope you're having a nice bank holiday.
Sorry to hear about your OH and the phone bill - how frustrating!
Sounds like you're doing great otherwise tho on the MSE front xx

Thanks Gib, yeah it's very annoying but hopefully he's learned a lesson. Generally doing well on the MSE, however, have had a bit of an epic fail Sunday/Monday.

My tea and few drinks on Sunday turned into lots of drinks plus a takeaway yesterday because I was too lazy to cook have completely spent all of the weekly saving (well what was left after paying for flights/hen weekend activities) plus more so have completely wrecked my budget :mad: clearly I just shouldn't drink, all sense goes out the window ah well it's done now, I'll have a look over the budget tomorrow and see what I can do to get back on track.

Today has been a NSD

misstara

Spends so far today are £1 on milk and £1 on mouthwash. I'm out for tea later with a couple of friends, I was thinking about cancelling to save the money but I've not seen the two of them together for probably at least 6 months, maybe more. I have got my £20 budget and I will be sticking to it.

I got the car club bill in today and it's almost £60 :eek: A third was for a day when the buses didn't start until later with it being a PH so I used a car for work but the rest is for going shopping trips or taking/picking OH up from work. So from now on I'll only be taking/picking up OH if he has an appointment before/after work and one shopping trip a month. If I stock up on all the bulky things once a month, then I will manage fine just walking to and from the supermarket the rest of the time.

I phoned 2nd job to see if I could pick up any extra shifts this week as we could really do with some extra cash at the moment but they didn't have any. I even asked about shifts over the weekend and I was planning to take the whole weekend off as it's my birthday on Sunday. I also asked about shifts for next week, none either. Shifts come in all the time so trying not to stress but finding it hard not to. I have picked up a little bit of overtime at my work this month but then I won't get paid for it until the end of June so it doesn't help with the immediate problem. I really need to get the emergency fund properly up and running.

So my new plan is to stop making overpayments on the loan for the time being and put any spare cash into the emergency fund. I'm going to aim for a £500 emergency fund as this is roughly what I get paid from 2nd job every month. I will then go back to overpaying the loan and then slowly build the emergency fund up to £1000. It means that I probably won't achieve my aim of being debt free by my birthday next year but there seems little point throwing everything at the loan when I'm stressing out over how to pay for my monthly bills.

misstara

So last night I spent exactly £20 on my meal out, pleased that I stuck to my budget. Currently working on a budget for next week.

in_need_of_direction

Your discipline is so good both for spends and exercise

misstara

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Your discipline is so good both for spends and exercise

Thanks INOD. I must admit I have been slightly lazy since the 5k and haven't been doing as much exercise as usual. However, I went to the gym this morning and should have plenty of time over the next couple of days to go. Today will be a NSD as I'm not planning on leaving the flat other than to vote. Just need to avoid the shops on the way home.

I've decided not to pay the electricity bill this week and use the money to buy travel tickets for the hen weekend instead. I will pay it next week instead. It's only a month away and if I don't buy them soon, it will only get more expensive. I really need to get more money in the wedding fund as it's only just over 6 weeks away now.

Budget - £126.52
- £19 weekly savings
- £12 contact lens
- £16 broadband
- £30 travel tickets
- £30 food
- £9.52 emergency fund

misstara

Payday today and so I have paid £9.52 to the emergency fund. I only put £4 into the weekly savings as I got a letter today saying that my annual registration for the SSSC is due which is £15. I will pay that later plus get the tickets booked for the hen weekend. Spends today so far have been £3.90 on eggs and veg from the local market. I'll go to the supermarket tomorrow for the rest of the things we need, still to finish my meal plan but shouldn't need too much.

I have been feeling really stressed and anxious all day triggered by a phone call to 2nd job to see if any shifts had come in for next week, none had. I started worrying about what we would do if I don't manage to pick up any shifts, I'm sure we'd manage somehow but I'm so sick and tired of just managing and having no spare money and budgeting every penny. I just feel like everything is such a struggle all the time at the moment. On the plus side though, in an effort to take my mind off worrying I did a major clean of the flat this morning so it now looks lovely.

I'm off this weekend so looking forward to relaxing and spending some quality time with OH. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better and be back to the usual positive misstara.