two frugal years to freedom: a fritterer's tale

Ammeretto

lobbyludd wrote: »

hello amaretto! do you sew? I love sewing (although finishing a project is a challenge - I'm more of a starter than a finisher, nothing is ever hemmed )

Hello

Yes i enjoy sewing. I'm not much of a finisher either. There is a dress sat on my mannequin half finished since August and two advent calenders for the boys i started last year and.... you get the picture. :rotfl:

Sorry to hear about a poorly DS. Its not nice especially when you have to clear up after them

..XX

liltdiddylilt

Hey LL

Hope you are doing better now. The splurge on the clothes was definitely worthwhile. I did the same. £22.30 got me three pairs of trousers in Mr S. Sale items plus 25% off also got a couple of new tops and no longer look homeless walking in to work.

I hope DS is much better now. The bugs have started doing their rounds and Jelly has succumbed to a cold that was going around 2 1/2 weeks ago in our house. Shes been struggling for a few days now. Last night was sleeping on a towel as she coughed so hard she is usually sick repeatedly but she kept it down thankfully.

Any ideas on how far you've got debt busting?! I am sure you're doing great and three 0%?!?! Your credit file must be amazing! Well done!

Missed your updates.. Hope you're ok! xx

lobbyludd

I am still here, although we've had illness after illness (nothing serious) and been mired in life. no idea where I am with debts and have asked my boss if i can go down to 4 days a week, she's agreed to discuss it, but not until after christmas. trudging along but nothing stellar

mum2one

hope your feeling better, keep fingers crossed re dropping to 4 days, you take care xx

liltdiddylilt

Feel better soon.Crossing my fingers for drop in days at work after xmas.

Lots of hugs!

lobbyludd

slinks back in quietly
<tail firmly between legs>

been very wobbly for a while and unfortunately when depressed I spend money, lots of it, I'm not a lying on the sofa depressive, I'm an agitated one, whirlpools of anxiety: I spend money to try and alleviate the pain or function (if too ill to cook etc).

sooo..... total debt now stands at

(drum roll:()

17330.2

all bar 470 is on 0%.

sigh - ah well worse things happen at sea. I am now stable again, I didn't stick forks in anyone who was an ars* at work whilst wobbling (a plus I think?) and the children are by turns both exasperating and lovely, which is as it should be, so in reality things are OK.

I've been lurking reading everyone's exploits for the past 2 months whilst getting hold of my finances again. At the point I caught the reigns again the debt was at 18956. So some serious paying down has already occurred, and am now at least below the point I started at last year....

I had booked 2 holidays for this year (:o) but have cancelled the foreign one. The british one is still going ahead (and is probably the most expensive) but it's all paid for, I'd lose all the money, and we will cherish the memories.

beyond that I am in full-on frugal mode again, so I'm going to try and keep accountable on here.

I wish I could pace myself, I have so much admiration for those who do, but that simply isn't my personality: I will always scramble up rock faces instead of taking the slow steady incline. I have tried to pretend this isn't so, but it's not worked so I think I need to work on strategies that work with that mentality whilst keeping things ticking along when I inevitably slip back a little. if any one has any ideas I am all ears.

LL

liltdiddylilt

Hello you!!

I am one who finds it very difficult to pace myself as well. I would rather take the harder route if it will be over quickly. My back has forced me to be patient, and it has not been enjoyable.

Well done on cancelling that foreign holiday. And on getting such a tight grip on the finances over the last 2 months. Well done you. that is an achievement, how much you've knocked off the debt again already.

Please keep coming back. You've been missed! No tails between legs here. Stand straight, back tall, you're doing something about it, and that is all that is required! xx

IWillBeFree

Welcome back!

I can relate to your struggle with the pace and anxiety and depression. Don't be too hard on yourself. You are here and trying your best. Give yourself a pat on the back and keep going :T:T:T

lobbyludd

thank you lovely people. grateful for the kindness of (internet) strangers.

beautiful day here, walked half way to work and back as car needs petrol and am trying to eek it out until tomorrow evening, took lunch in. :A

£35 to PAD - I'd estimated after the last gas and electric meter read that they'd need to put the dd up and budgetted for that amount. But I've had an incomprehensible bill through stating they don't need to change my dd, so I've op'd the difference between budget and what was taken. Not quite sure why as a numerate woman who analyses data for part of my job duel fuel bills are beyond me but hey ho.

this PAD-ing malarkey is quite addictive, although I do have to confess to missing lots of days and <shhh> sometimes wondering if I should "save" part of a payment for another day so I can declare it then and hit off 2 days in a row fool! (interest is accrued daily on that 470!)

pic-nicky/snacky tea for kids and l/o mackerel salad for me. need to harvest the rest of the roast chicken from Sunday for a pesto-y concoction tomorrow, and other than that not much going on today, other than a pogo competition in the back garden . I'm not competing as dd thinks I'll break the pogo - how rude!:rotfl: can't argue with her analysis though.

lobbyludd

everything on 0% now.

Have switched to a t$b account (still have to close one of my current accounts otherwise I'll have 4 bank accounts which is unwieldy)which should give a £100 switch, and 5% interest on my earnings whilst they are pending living expenses. so a win. Plus it has a £1K o/d which is free for 3 months post switch, so I've paid enough to clear the interest bearing portion of my cc debt.

Now working on going through the direct debits on my other accounts and simplifying where they go out from - one account is with my mortgage provider and i just want the mortgage money in there, one has to have 2 direct debits go out to keep getting a £5 reward so I want fixed amount ones from there (council tax and water?) and I want the remainder coming from t$b. so that any money awaiting pay out is sitting in that account accruing interest.

I'll pay the minimums on the cc's to build up to £2K in the t$b ac and pay off a lump sum to clear a credit card whose 0% ends in October. (I've another large one where the 0% ends in November but just hoping for a decent switch deal for that one at that point).

that's the theory anyway. quite nervous tbh, as will only be able to see the figures that i've saved for certain, the day before pay day and before that will just have to rely on my (albeit incredibly detailed) spreadsheets to be correct.....

any way that's all very dull:

chrimbo savings: £52 in amazon vouchers, half way to another on £5 on sb, very close to payout on valued opinions, (I hate surveys).

now that I have a few months grace from interest on debts, I may look into dipping my toes into matched betting - not to make big money - but to make more money with my time than surveys - which are essentially slave labour, and screen outs make me want to scream out.

I'd really like to buy some flowers for the garden today, there'slots of green out there but very few flowers due to a gap in the next lot. But every £31 spent is a day longer I am in debt and will have to spend my precious time on soul-sucking paid employment.

been asked to apply for a particular job, which would be a promotion. I am bored to tears at work currently, but it would be extremely difficult role (I already do some of it as a stop gap until this post is in place, but not the most difficult bits of it), very stressful and I'm not sure the primary purpose of the job could actually be accomplished. In addition, it would mean line managing a large group of (currently) very disaffected individuals, and that is not my strong point (I only manage 2 at the moment and to say my approach is light touch is a massive understatement, they are both brilliant, so beyond a bit of pathway creating/problem solving for them, I barely have to do anything).

None of that is good, and I'd just about made my peace with sacking off any idea of a "career" and working towards strimming down my life to a bare minimum to cut down hours at work sequentially to pursue something I enjoyed in the released time.

It's still a pull though. <more money> something new, more autonomy, my current boss micromanages the bejaysus out of me, whilst failing to deliver on her own workload (which as it's getting near to crunch time inevitably dumps on me to deliver, in a mess, because she's the "strategic" lead and i'm programme delivery, whilst refusing to let me get involved at set-up so i can structure it properly) and her meddling constantly up-ends my work, she changes her mind all the time, plus we completely disagree on what our priorities should be.

and breathe.

anyway the deadline is in 2 weeks, I'll start filling the application in and see how my feelings develop.

weekend HURRAH, been a very long week.