Reeling from the Reality Check

Steerpike88

Let us know what you end up cooking!

You should go around with a calculator in the supermarket like I had to, stopped me from making a lot of mistakes. Plus a challenge is fun and something to focus on.

I made the mushroom and red wine risotto yesterday, so delicious! I definatey recoomended it, all I had to do was buy mushrooms and not knowing how much 100g (about five btw) would be I ended up buying 318g, whoops. Well that's for more recipes.

Well done with contacting the credit card companies, just keep doing what you're doing.

Historybuff

So starting the week off with the extreme food challenge. £10 to feed two people for the entire week...17th March to 24th March. No money has been spent today yet - breakfast was from what we had in, lunch was leftovers from the day before and tonight's meal will be a pasta extravaganza made from whatever we have in. Day one sorted! Tonight I will plan the week's menus from the 'Jack' book and do the shop in Aldi and on the market. It will be interesting cutting down and trying to eat healthily...doctor's orders - high cholesterol, overweight, drink more water, do more exercise.
On the finance front, I did a carboot again at the weekend and made another £60. All bills are paid this month and I have just counted the cash in my purse £107.05. I'm delighted. This is the first month I have had everything paid, no credit card spending and money left over, for a very long time! I first got a credit card when Access started in 1975/76 and I have probably been in debt to some degree or other since that day. I'm not going to even attempt to work out how much interest and bank charges I've paid over the years, it would be too depressing. How different it would have been if I had understood properly how to run a budget and been made to do it. Would I have listened, though? I don't think so. My parents always said, 'Neither a borrower or lender be!' I didn't listen to them, otherwise I would never have got that first Access card where all the problems started.
I've turned a corner now, though, three months of no overspending and this month's first budget surplus! Feeling good. Can't wait till Friday - payday, hurrah!

Fortune_Smiles

Oh well done Historybuff - that's fabulous! :T

Fortune x

in_need_of_direction

Brilliant news. You've come so far from the LBM. Long may it continue.

Historybuff

Thanks guys...the forum helps so much and the support means a lot.

Historybuff

Shopping done. Bit more than £10 at £23.46, but I bought staples like flour, rice, pasta etc which will last a long time. If I only spend £40 over the next four weeks on food I will be very pleased. Tonight's meal is vegetable risotto with ham left over from the other day.
Working up the courage to phone up the bank re the overdrafts...will wait until next Mon to do it, just to make sure the pay goes into the correct bank on Fri. Looking forward to seeing whether I will be able to save some money from next month's pay to go with what's left over from the bootsale cash. Getting a bit obsessed now!

turfy6

You're doing brilliantly well done :T

AlexLK

Just read your first post and skim read some of your others. Sounds like you are doing well.

I negotiated interest free, token payments for the first six months and am in the process of sending letters to the two remaining companies to extend this. Not sure if you've already done this or not and apologies if you have but it has saved me quite a bit of money in interest.

mfmaybe

Wow brilliant news. I'm in awe of the food budget. Is the surplus going against a debt?

Historybuff

Hi mfmaybe and Alexlk, I'm hoping the extreme shopping will help me really reduce my usual food budget and make me think more carefully whilst shopping. I normally just go in sticking whatever I fancy in the basket and get a shock at the till. The budget surplus from last month I will put in the buffer fund if I can, but I have car repairs and car tax to pay this month, so I think it will get swallowed up in that instead. Added to which son needs some money to travel to a freelance job...so it goes on. I am determined to stick to the budget, though. I'm going into the fourth month of no overspending and intend to keep it that way. If the weather is OK I will do another carboot on Sun to see if I can get rid of a few more boxes of clutter and make a few bob in the process.
Visited someone in a beautifully decorated and furnished house yesterday. It just highighted to me how shabby and cluttered my home is looking. It's really bad. I must make a start on getting on top of it. I'm gutted that for the level of debts I've got I have nothing to show for it And every time you think you have are getting a bit of money together another bill comes along or the car breaks down to suck it up...