Debt free before I'm 40 snowball calculator says yes

buddiebabe

Thank goodness today's over it's been a long one. Work got a bit better when my boss went home sick meant I could get on with my work without getting extra things to do. Managed to get all today's work done and make a plan for tomorrow so hoping it all pans out so I can get the chance to work on stuff that's been waiting since February to get done.... Just keeps getting out to the bottom of the pile but if I don't think about doing it no doubt someone will need the information like yesterday....it's always the way!

Did my hour on the jewellery stand so emailed pics off so that's it done for the week. Checked shifts for the shop before my shift tonight and my hours have been cut. I'm supposed to work 7.5 but this week I was down for 16+ spoke to my boss last week and said I was thinking about leaving and she said she would try and keep my hours to my contract. So she has given me Saturday off which means I'm off Friday night, Saturday and Sunday from 2nd job. Still have 10 hours which is over contract but gives me a bit of extra cash.

Also may have opportunity to do a craft fayre Saturday and Sunday again depends on the weather but with stall only costing £5 a day it's worth a shot. Have plenty of stuff made up ready so don't need to do anything for it which is always good. May make up some more hair bobbles though as they keep my hands busy so stops the urge to gamble.

Still hoping for a few no spend days this week not doing so well on that front with shopping and had to buy toilet rolls tonight. To be honest I've not had any frivolous spending today so that's got to be good and an achievement for me

Made the mince into lasagne for hubby's dinners at work which meant we had garlic bread, pizza and curly fries for tea... Garlic bread slices were ok think they needed cooked longer. Pizza was from aldi and not nice at all didn't help that it was burnt but even hubby who likes burnt pizza wasn't keen. Definitely going to keep making out own when the notion takes us and when I have bought the stuff!

Ended up eating a big bag of crisps cause I was hungry. I really need to get my diet kick started. My sister has started hers again today and is wanting to go walking and go to the gym so I think I will join her on that. I have to wait until I have my 2 nights off a week as I need to spend some time at home!

Off to get some sleep now hoping for an early start tomorrow so fingers crossed for a nice refreshing sleep

Buddiebabe x

buddiebabe

Just had my dinner and getting ready to go out to 2nd job it's stocktake tonight and it's not looking likely that it will be an early finish. I need to be il at 7.30am to get to work in the morning so can't really be working too late tonight. Am so tired nearly nodding off on the couch there if I hadn't got a text I'd probably have been sleeping :eek:

Need to get money sorted out this week went a bit mad buying food at the weekend way over budget on the credit card.... Only wanted to use it to get my club card points with intention of paying off in full which was working well until I spent all the money. Think I need to stop using it again statement balance was just under £500 paid it £97 last night but no chance of having it paid in full. Interest is going to be more than the points I would get.

Need to get a move on will hope I will get home tonight

Buddiebabe x

buddiebabe

Sorry been off the radar for a few days.

Quick update on last week:

Wednesday / Thursday - Stocktake I managed to get away at 11 but didn't get to sleep till well after 1am resulting in a very tired and grumpy day at work on Thursday actually felt really ill

Friday - no work at night and hubby supposed to be home. He ended up doing an all day shift. I had craft fayre on sat so spent a bit of money buying things for that then the night making up things and getting ready.

Saturday - craft fayre from 11-4 so up early getting things in car then away most of the day. Made a grand total of £26 after the table cost which is all money in my pocket (but was what I'd spent on the Friday buying things for it) I will never learn on he plus side I didn't buy anything at it like I would usually do so feeling quite proud of myself for that!

Think that's everything.

Today I want to blitz this house and also get some cooking and freezing done, having taken advantage of the morrisons meat voucher last week and then the fruit and veg one this week I need to get some of the veg frozen or it will spoil I did go a bit mad buying things I wouldn't normally in the thought I will freeze them slight problem is I have no idea how to do this will be spending quite a bit of the day researching this.

Still have to go shopping for things for lunches this week so mum has said she will pick me up think I will have a few hours yet as it's still quite early.

So far I have cleared everything out the bathroom that shouldn't be in there, sorted out yesterday's dry washing and out away what I can without ironing it, put the washing from last night onto the dryer, put on another load, cleared one work surface in the kitchen and started a box of things that shouldn't be in the kitchen but not too sure where they belong :eek:

Have left out a chicken to defrost last night so need to get that into the slow cooker today and have potatoes and carrots to go with that tonight.

Plan for today:

- put chicken on to cook
- freeze carrots that not required for tonight's dinner
- dishes washed and put away
- clear all kitchen work surfaces
- clear out fridge
- write shopping list
- clear out freezer and do inventory
- inventory chest freezer (yes I do have 2 freezers in my one bedroom flat) :eek:
- check dates of food in cupboards
- write meal plan for week
- empty bins, food, recycling and general waste (always leave this for hubby)

That will do for now just finished my coffee so going to get up and get on will check back later. If anyone knows how to freeze sweet potato, red peppers, onions or garlic give me a shout

Buddiebabe

DawnW

Hi,
Red peppers and onions you can just chop up and freeze. I always do this if I have any that look as though they might go off. You can use it in cooked dishes from frozen, too

I must confess I have never tried to freeze sweet potatoes or garlic though! If I did I would probably just chop and freeze I think. Garlic you might be able to crush and freeze in ice cube trays?

I used to blanch everything but tend not to bother with most things now. Freezing changes the texture of veg, and blanching most things seems to make this even more the case. I do blanch home grown French and broad beans though, as I tend to have quite a few of these and they therefore don't get used up so quickly.

HTH xx

in_need_of_direction

Not too good with freezing veg but you could make a very quick and easy carrot and coriander soup that freezes really well. I use 2-3 onions to 2lbs carrot. Sweat until soft in olive oil then tsp or two of coriander with 2 pints of stock. Blend after boiling for a bit and freeze in individual portions when cooled. I just add fresh coriander, cream or creme fraiche pre serving if I have some. I'm sure if you google soup plus your other veg you'll get lots of freezable recipes that make for good lunches, etc

buddiebabe

Hey can't believe that I haven't been on here since August. Things have been going ok I have paid off some debt managed to switch things over so have one debt on 0% and the other on 6.9%

I have been paying my debts and saving some money but not really focussed on anything too much. I need to get back into moneysaving in a big way.

I hope that everyone has had a lovely Christmas. I intend to be back on here over the next few days

Buddiebabe x

buddiebabe

Hey well had a relaxing day here didn't leave the house so haven't spent any money in the sales

I have worked out my budget for January and allowing for everything I can think of I have enough money to live off during January with £100 to spare :j

This includes all bills, debt repayments of £500 and savings for all house, car, holidays and XMAS next year and allows for £310 for food for the month and £200 for petrol.

I know the food expenses are high but I'm allowing for £10 per day which I dont think I will spend but it's the maximum am allowed. I've signed up for the grocery challenge to monitor my spending to give me an accurate picture of what I do spend in a month.

I have 2 freezers full of meat and food also my cupboards are jam packed with stuff so am hoping that the food budget will just be used for fresh fruit, vegetables and bread.

I saved way too much for xmas this year and while I've not reduced it at the moment I am looking to try and decide what it is that's important to me.

I have my car insurance money out aside in full for January and am hoping that it will be less than I have allowed so I can reduce my savings for this next year. I have paid my tv licence in full for November next year with extra money I didn't use for Xmas and I didn't touch the savings I had at work so I have £150 in that account in case of emergencies.

My outstanding debt as at today is £17212.56

Once I can get to the bank on Monday I will be able to pay off £762.56 of this which should mean am starting the new year with a debt of £16450.00 and according to the snowball calculator my debt free date is November 2017 which is 2 months before am 40 this is based on paying £500 per month to my debts with one being 0% interest and the other 6.9% so it actually feels like am going to be getting somewhere

Am going to try and make a payment every day no matter how small it is and do what I can to bring in some extra money to get this debt gone as much as possible in 2015

Buddiebabe x

buddiebabe

Well I went to slimming world this morning and managed to put on 1/2 a pound which is very acceptable considering the amount I've eaten over Christmas! If I hadn't been unwell last night think it would have been much worse. Dreading next week though!

Ive made my extra payment to my credit card this morning so have made an additional payment of £5.00

I am still waiting on money being paid into my bank account that goes in every Thursday so am hoping that will go in on Monday. It also means the same thing will happen next week.

I normally only work 7.5 hours in my second job but this week am doing 11.5 and next week am doing 21 so will have extra wages both weeks which will come in handy and means I can pay a bit extra towards my debts

Am working from 11.30 till 6 today so here's hoping I'm not going to spend too much money at work

Buddiebabe x

Igamogam

buddiebabe wrote: »

Am going to try and make a payment every day no matter how small it is and do what I can to bring in some extra money to get this debt gone as much as possible in 2015

Buddiebabe x

See you on the Payment a Day thread then!

buddiebabe

Well didn't manage a no spend day yesterday got some bargains in the shop some shower gels, bath foam and a hand wash set oh and some reduced sweets all for under £5. Now I know that I didn't really need the bath or shower stuff but it was 10p and 49p so too good an offer to pass up on....anyway all the unnecessary spending stops on 1st January.

Also went to supermarket as I really wanted some biscuits. I bought so many big packs for Christmas but gave them all away :eek: probably cause I thought u don't really eat biscuits on slimming world but it's Xmas. Ended up buying one pack and a few party nibbles so spent just over £5 there.

I am staying in today so will be a no spend day well if I can stay off of the internet and stop looking at the sales. Am finding it very hard not to check HDUK every day think it's because before Xmas I found lots of bargains but I know there is really nothing that I need.

Spent 10 minutes looking for something in the mess in the bedroom before I went to sleep last night managed to fill a bin of rubbish and find £5.00 so have made that £5.00 as my payment to RBS m/c today. Need to spend some more time tidying up / clearing out to see what else I can find.

Checked clicksnap and the biscuits I bought yesterday have earned me 20p cashback :j I know it's not a lot but it's always money that I wasn't expecting.

Enjoying my last day off before new year watching movies and relaxing x