NSK: MAY the Odds Be Ever In Your Favour!!!

nellis10

Hello Kat and Tributes!!

May I join your NSK? I need to get back to a disciplined lifestyle after a few months of spending like I was earning more than I am.

I'm not massively in debt, just a CC of £382.50 of which I paid off £82.50 today to get it to a nice round figure.

I'm trying to get an emergency fund together as quickly as possible as my wee house is in dire need of new heating system and a freezer (I only have a tiny cool box in an old fridge at the moment!!)

I just need the motivation of a group to keep me on track.

I am trying a 2 purse method of saving from my weekly shops and have set a rather hefty target of £40/week for groceries...I can normally do that at least twice a week and three times on Sundays alone!!! :rotfl:

I've got my spreadsheet ready to write down EVERY spend, including putting 30p into a charity tin this morning because I couldn't bare to walk on by when she stopped me

I'm counting each week ending a Friday and will withdraw new money on a Saturday morning walking into town (about 5-10 mins walk of badly needed exercise!!)

I spend a fair bit on pertrol now having moved to the next town over, but my son still goes to his primary school in belfast...so I am trying to budget for about £30 in petrol a week at least ( work from home so I do double runs to drop him off and collect him 3 times a week - ex has the other days)

I feel I'm rambling a bit now...I'll shut up!

Moneymash

Hi Kat,

I'm back and in...

Just a quick recap. I had been doing Kat's challenges but in the December thread I wrote about a horrible housemate I had... Well anyway what turned out to be another horrible housemate moved in, in January and I finally thought that's it I'm out! So that's why I dropped out of the January challenge, I wanted to find somewhere else to live, so needed the money for various associated spends for moving and the debt-busting had to go on hold.

I haven't actually moved! Horrible housemate number 1, after setting the smoke alarms off in the house on 31st December left to go to Thailand and didn't come back until end of March, yipee a break from him. Horrible housemate number 2 is no longer having loud s*x with his girlfriend she hasn't been around for weeks and the last time she was around they were arguing so go figure. We've all had numerous warnings about smoking ( I don't smoke, so it wasn't me) in the house so there is hardly ever a cloud of w**d smoke when I come in from work. The thing is I only wanted to find a room with an en-suite so I could continue debt-busting and once done save for a flat deposit, but it was bleak out there. I didn't want to pay loads more for a slightly larger room and still have to share a kitchen and bathroom. I saw one flat that was horrible, expensive and in a bad part of town, who needs that. So I gave up and am staying put for now.

The good news is during this process I brought my rent up to date, I had been paying a month in arrears, but paid two lots in January so now I pay in advance. I wanted to get my rent up to date just in case I needed a landlord's reference. I also got a new bed, microwave, and tv, as I thought there is no point taking broken furniture and appliances to a new place. My bed had slats missing and broken, a piece of card that protects an element in my microwave had split which I then removed, but I was still using it and my 14 inch CRT tv picture was going. The tv and the microwave are what I got from Argos on BNPL. I got an airbed for £46.99 from the R*nge, it didn't come with a pump not at that price so I had to pay £20 for a pump and batteries. However, I recently saw the pump much cheaper in T*sco, and cheap batteries in S*vers, how annoying! However, I got a sofa bed double with pump for less than £70, so not all bad.

The best news is my debt as of yesterday pay day has gone down, I now owe less than £3000. I am not sure if I will be debt free by June in fact I doubt it as I no longer want to do extras at work ( but I've said that before). Fingers crossed I will owe less than £2000 next month, just got to keep on the straight and narrow with this challenge. I will be back tomorrow with my budget and plans for the month.

Good luck everybody.

lotti379

MagicCat wrote: »

Thanks Moomin - it is great to know it can be done!

You are right - it's all in the detail (and..erm..the diet coke which I REALLY MUST NOT BUY ANYMORE) - will make a plan and a list to shop on saturday, then have a look through the receipt afterwards and work out what needs to change for the following week.

I found a few episodes of what dear ol' Dr Christian on Supersize vs Superskinny had to say about diet cola put me right off the stuff! :rotfl:

stewby wrote: »

Morning tributes.

This might not mean anything to anyone but everytime I say tributes in my head I get a band called tenacious d singing "this is just a tribute". It makes me giggle anyways so thought I would tell you.

Yup, me too! :rotfl:

nellis10 wrote: »

I am trying a 2 purse method of saving from my weekly shops and have set a rather hefty target of £40/week for groceries...I can normally do that at least twice a week and three times on Sundays alone!!! :rotfl:

The two purse method really works for me! (It's just the online shopping, eating out and frittery main purse spending that trips me up...). How many are you shopping for?

In lotti world, today is an SFD. 1/15 :T
I have spent rather longer than I ought to have done meal planning, including snacks this time, so am fully planned until the 16th! (I am hotel-ing for part of this though). Shop at aldini tomorrow, and then anything I can't get at tescimos (red lentils spring to mind).
On a mission not to drink alcohol for the month :A - Mr L's idea, not sure he'll be sticking to it but I'm going for it anyway! Will certainly keep pub costs down when I visit the family, if I can't avoid being shepherded to the pub completely. One day, I will have money for this stuff - I love going to the local and catching up with everyone, with a nice draft beer. But I don't have that money now and really have to accept it!
And this is check in 1/31

Budgets all still intact :j And off to the gym now :j

nellis10

lotti379 wrote: »

The two purse method really works for me! (It's just the online shopping, eating out and frittery main purse spending that trips me up...). How many are you shopping for?

I'm ashamed to say just One and a Half - The Half being my son who lives with me 50% of the time, and the rest with his dad - How very grown up of us lol

So yes, and as he eats like a bird, I have to say the spending is all on me!

This budgeting is also going to help me lose weight too...hence I am being strict with what I spend...I'm hoping for savings AND weightloss lol :cool:

SiannieLaz

Evening All,


SFD for me today, spent the morning with SIL and niece as they flew back to Oz at lunchtime, my bro had already left for his stag do in Las Vegas (how the other half live!) but he's back next week so will see him then. Stuck in the flat with a stir crazy dd for the afternoon as the weather was awful, so didn't spend a thing! I was going to pop to aldini to get bits for the week, but will go tomorrow before work.


Got a call from my Avon area manager today, she's going to come a see me next week to discuss my dismal area, so hopefully will get some more territory, although I've already started more roads so with a bit of luck I'll get the ones I've already dropped in.


Totals at the starting gate:
SFD - 1/15
Groceries - £0/£80
Misc - £0/£40
Petrol - £0/£15
Exercise - 0/20
Daily check in - 1/31


Am determined to get back on the exercise wagon, have got the Windsor half marathon on September so time I got on with it. Having a lazy eve today tho, went to the library so am going to stick to serious reading for the evening, I need a break from those awful accounts!!


Have a good one all xxx

mothernerd

Ist SFD and bank loan dd went out today so a little more paid off (threw everything I had at the cc 2 days ago, leaving only a couple of £ in the bank after the loan payment went out).

Exercise is ongoing - they take hours and still not up to what the physio asked for - will persevere as they are working (getting better/ faster/ stronger). Just done an on-line date of death survey and even with my current state of decrepitude I will live past my 90th birthday (only 4 days past, mind). So I either need to stop improving as I can't afford to live that long or I super-improve to be a lean mean fighting machine.

Love Jack Black and Kyle.

Spent a couple of hours in the kitchen - cooked the chicken pieces that marinaded overnight, veggies prepared for roasting/ salad/ snacks. Broccoli was a bit yellow so 1/2 made up the base for a large veg curry, the other 1/2 done with leeks (pasta and cheese sauce will be added later, maybe veg crumble if there is too much). Toilet rolls arranged in reclaimed washing up bowl ready for dwarf beans and peas (some compost in shed - will hunt down at weekend). At mum's tomorrow - need to do several things with potatoes (weekend).

Freezer could do with some re-organisation but kitchen/ hallway clearer and a few bits away/ where they should be. Could do a lot more but need to proceed carefully - no use doing 3 more bulk meals until there is space for them.

Maisie_M

May

1. 1/31 log in daily.
2. 1/15 SFD
3. £0/£240 food budget
4. £0/£50 petrol allowance
5. 1/21 LTW (one day bank holiday)
6. 0/0 takeaways, coffee shops etc
7. £0/£3 local food bank
8. £0/£10 beauty spends (may get hair cut and coloured this month but already paid for on Gpon)
9. Continue decluttering house – DS2 bedroom for May
10. Inventory freezers/cupboards (done) and do menu plan using up as much as possible and stick to it 0/31
11. Plant seeds for vegetable patch and also pot on flower plug plants into greenhouse when they arrive
12. Do gardening, vigorous housework and swimming for exercise – at least one each day 0/31
13. Stick to calories on MFP to save overeating – save pennies 1/31
14. No unnecessary spends, only things budgeted and planned for 1/31 days

Well that's all my goals for the month. Going to be tough on us this month as April was a bit of a mare.

lotti379

nellis10 wrote: »

This budgeting is also going to help me lose weight too...hence I am being strict with what I spend...I'm hoping for savings AND weightloss lol :cool:

Meal planning, dull though it sounds (not to me though, my favourite form of procrastination) helps a lot as it cuts down on grazing while deciding what to eat! :rotfl:

lotti379

Although I did my super duper meal plan only to get home and find there is no cooked chicken in the freezer! Disaster! Foiled!

shyspender

Waves to All

I'm here, checking in for day one. Will post about my budgets tomorrow.

SD today, only a few bits and not an absolute necessity but it's done now.

Really tired so will update more tomorrow.