Scrimping behind the scenes - with debt of £31,000!

in_need_of_direction

Do you know m and s have a loyalty stamp card for greeting card purchases?

Seasidegal58

Hi inod -yes they gave me one when I bought some cards in there the other week. I only really discovered their cards recently - the cheaper ones are very good value.

Only spent out on my paper again today so pleased about that.

Seasidegal58

Evening all

I went to the staff benefits presentation in work earlier this week, but it turned out that my present dental plan is slightly better than the work scheme so I am keeping with this.

Well it’s the end of Week 3 of 4 for Scrimp Month 1 – very, very pleased this week as I’ve come in 74p under budget on food/household and, as I’ve only spent a total of £6.75 on other bits (newspapers and cards), I’ve come in £51.75 under budget on my ad hoc cash !I’ve got some theatre and exhibition trips booked next week so this will come in handy to add to the £48.25 saved in Week 1 and £10.85 in Week 2! :j Of course I ‘m hoping I won’t be spending anything like all this and that I can add as much as I can to the debt.

Start of Week 4 tomorrow so onwards and upwards!:)

Chrysalis1976

Great savings in your budget, you'll really enjoy your trips out next week.

I've got an m and s loyalty card for cards too only two more and I can get a free one, the value of the cheaper ones is very good. I won't go in their for anything else though.

C x

in_need_of_direction

If you strike lucky, their whoopsied food can be really good.

Seasidegal58

Hi Chrysalis and inod – yes I’m very fond of M&S – have spent quite a bit of money in there over the years – on clothes, homeware and food. Since starting Scrimp month though I’ve only bought brolly and cards! I do prefer their clothing for work as I find the quality is so good compared to other brands and, as I’ve mentioned before, I always get my underwear there as I find it comfortable and it lasts – I’ve tried other high street underwear but it never matches up to good ol’ M&S! Their food too, but I won’t be buying much of this in the near future, though I think I will look out for the yellow sticker stuff – unfortunately most of it in the M&Ss near to work normally comprises of ready meals, which I’m knocking on the head!:D

Well today was first day of Week 4 of Scrimp Month 1 – today I bought paper, £4.20 in Boots on hairspray and make-up wipes (though the wipes were half-price). I spent £7.56 on food which has left me 75p for the week.

Tonight I knocked up Jack’s “Roman Pasta with Mandarins and Creamy Basil Sauce” which was made with tinned mandarins! I was a little dubious but it was really nice – and very cheap!:)

Seasidegal58

Well it has been one month since my first post of my Scrimp diary and I’m very pleased to see that from an initial £31,113.99, my Elephant In The Room (debt) now stands at £30,305.35 – he doesn’t look any smaller yet, but it’s early days and he is very large. Perhaps one day it’ll get to the stage when I can carry him under my arm! I’ve updated my signature for the first time which I have found rather exciting (I do need to get more of a life – or maybe not as that got me into this pickle in the first place ).

So the positives for the end of the first debt month are:

• Paying an actual £ 808.64 off the entire debt which is 2.6%;:j
• Raising the total monthly amount of debt payment by £8 because I’ve cancelled Lovefilm;:j
• Reducing the Santander 1 card from £918.15 to £512.90 in one month. :j

The negative is:

• The 0% on my NatWest card runs out on the 21st and goes up to 17.9% (not 16.9%) like I first thought :mad: .

As the Santander card has gone down, I’m going to have a bash at seeing if they will offer me a balance transfer deal so I can move some of the higher debt over.

The MSE way of life must be sinking in slowly as my daughter asked if I wanted to go to the theatre to see something coming out later this year, but I said to miss me out this time round. She is going with some of her friends anyway, and I’m not too bothered about not seeing this one. Before I would have gone anyway and bought a ticket. She’ll be staying with me that night so I’ll get to see her.

And..... a NSD so chuffed about that!:j

in_need_of_direction

You've made brilliant inroads and should break the £30k barrier shortly. Hopefully it hasn't been too much of a hardship.

Seasidegal58

Hi inod - funnily enough it hasn't been as bad as I had thought. Re the food side, it shows how mindless I've been by not planning properly and cooking from scratch - it's been laziness on my part because it's so much easier to pick up expensive ready meals after work. I used to plan and cook properly once upon a time - in fact I had to when I was married and my daughter small because we weren't that well-off!


The cutting down of the Pret morning lattes and lunches has been hard sometimes, but a no-brainer due to the sheer monthly cost.


I've found however that I can get my shopping fix by sometimes accompanying my friend at lunchtime in the week. She is a high-maintenance gal and is always buying clothes and new make-up so I've found the next best thing to spending yourself is hanging round with someone else who is spending on the things you like!


I've still managed to socialise and enjoy myself so all in all, not too bad at the moment!

apple_muncher

:Tseasidegal this has been one mightily impressive month :T. Well done! To be able to knock so much off in one go must be satisfying.

Can you get a 0% transfer card at all? 17.9% is nasty!