Taking control

Fortune_Smiles

Hey there you - 'tis me returning the compliment.


Look how far you've come! Well done. I think you should be a little kinder to yourself though. Life can be hard but look at you, tackling your debts and planning a brighter future for you and your family.


Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and one day you'll look back and see you've climbed a mountain.


You can do it


Fortune x

takingcontrolatlast

Hi Fortune,

Thank you so much for the compliment - it was a nice surprise to see a post on my diary :rotfl:

Thanks for your encouraging words - yes i'm in a better position than 6 months ago but i'm finding it really difficult getting out of debt! I knew it wouldnt be easy and sometimes i'm my own worst enemy and get overwhelmed by it all but plodding on 'climbing that mountain' you metioned

Best wishes

takingcontrolatlast

takingcontrolatlast wrote: »

20p: £2.80 10p: £4.80 5p: £4.60 2p: 1.24p 1p: 70p

I could bag the 2ps as only need £1 to bank but going to wait until they all reach the minimum to bank

takingcontrolatlast

I had a good day today(actually yesterday) ! The weekly shopping was a little high but I saved over £7 when compared Te.co compared it to other stores :j

The sun was shining and washing line full although lots of ironing now.

I had a mooch around the garden centre - just for something to do and it was free

Tomorrow (today) ive got plans!

* finish washing
* start ironing
* hoover top to bottom
* mop
* dust
* chicken casserole & a dessert - not sure what yet.
* i have 4 projects of knitting uncompleted - going to pick 1 up and finish

All positive things

I am aware that I've yet to find £31 for od fees - i'm going to have to use the Emergency Fund.

I will pay DD2 on Thursday before her holiday

I hope to get the house "sorted" tomorrow (today) as Monday my DD2 wants me to accompany her with her last minute shopping for her hols. Ive took the monday off work to spend quality time with her. I will be window shopping but just being in her company is rich enough for me :)

takingcontrolatlast

Targets set for yesterday were mostly achieved apart from picking up the knitting - i was too tired !

The dessert for Sunday lunch was a disaster - i made blueberry muffins but had no caster sugar or baking powder so I compromised with granulated sugar. The end result was a flat, tasteless inedible thingy! :rotfl: Good job I had a bought ginger cake in as back up. I wont give up though.

The cat brought in a mouse for me :eek: My skin is still crawling today!

Ive had a lovely afternoon today with DD2 (apart from the rain). She had a lovely time buying all new make-up and lotions for her holiday (she deserves them she works hard for her money).

It struck me today that I would still like to give my girls "treats" (even though they are young adults working) - treats such as maybe a lunch out or a shopping trip/spa treat - something girly that mum and daughters can do.

I need to address this as I feel I'm missing out doing these things due to poor financial management. Don't get me wrong, the girls are wonderful and treat me sometimes but I want to give back.

I need maybe to look at "cheap" offers/free ideas for days out.

I cant wait until im free from the "chain of debt" - it's so restricting but with a little imagination i'm sure there are still cheap/free fun times to be had - that's if they can squeeze me in their busy lives :rotfl:

Off to do dishes now as DD1 cooked tea for the first time in years and very nice it was too !

Back to work tomorrow - it pays the bills !

takingcontrolatlast

Sadly my DFIL is very near the end of his life. I don't want to go into details as its personal to family but I can say he is a lovely, caring family man and will be greatly missed.

i'm thinking about life at the moment and the choices I've made and some that have been made for me and the only sure certainty in life is death and in that respect I do want to enjoy the life I am living and make the most of it.

No matter how difficult things are I want to make every effort to try and improve my life and those of others and it doesn't have to be all about money - it can be small gestures like offering to help with something, run an errand, doing something without being asked, just listening etc

I do feel like my life has been out of control for a long time and I've been a little self-absorbed. Whilst I'm trying to improve my circumstances I don't truly believe I have been trying hard enough financially, with my health and also relationship wise.

So with restored efforts, I'll carry on.

Finances

* I'm afraid to say that I had to use the CC yesterday. I'm not condoning my actions but this however meant I was able to stop the daily charges that were accruing on my OD. The EF was earmarked for it but I spent it on food.

* I was disappointed with my mobile phone provider as I had changed my DD date and they still went in for it on the 8th July and the DD was returned. They said it was a communication error between us both and credited my phone account by £10 which ultimately means when bill comes out on the 28th I will be 2p in credit - that's a first for me !

* I gave DD2 some spends for her holidays. I don't give them treats financially unless it's birthdays and xmas as they are financially independent. But it was her first holiday on her own and it's a one-off.

* Today is a NSD

Health

* I have resumed the membership at the gym - will go to Pilates to help with lower back to begin with.

* Need to improve on the diet so one step at a time - I resolve this week to drink more water.

Relationships

* Supporting DH and family over this difficult period

My cat has brought a bird in ... oh no! gotta go .... last week it was a mouse :eek:

takingcontrolatlast

DD2 and boyf arrived safely at her holiday destination of choice - Tenerife. They like the apartment - phew ! She text me that she had to pay £2.25 a day for a safe and was horrified :rotfl: - not sure if she meant 2 euros or not - either way they need to have it and can split the cost!

While she is away I have full use of her laptop for 2 weeks and can surf away - yay!

I Kondo'd my wardrobe and drawers a few weeks back and have maintained the tidiness behind the closed doors/drawers ... however, . I fell behind with the ironing and there is now a medium sized pile of clothes to be ironed sitting on top of my drawers - I will attack that this weekend.

DD1 & DD2 have done the same and I have bags of clothes/shoes etc which are currently stored in the spare room which I will either take to Cash for Clothes or give to the charity collections that come to the home that I usually give too.


Finances

* The weekly food shop - not yet wrote my shopping list - job to do but should be cheaper as DD2 away. Any money saved I will put towards reducing OD.... I will update my signature I think and I've decided to make it a personal challenge to try and cut back on the shopping and see if I can pay my OD off with the savings! I wonder how long it will take .... OD: £1700

Health

* Still drinking more water - boring! I think I need an alcoholic drink this weekend - I will include a bottle of red on the shopping list - I'm sure I've read a glass of red wine is good for the heart?

Enjoy the sunshine!

takingcontrolatlast

I've returned from shopping a happy bunny

I budget around £100 a week at the supermarket to feed family of 4 - sometimes the shopping is topped up mid-week and may go over budget and sometimes we have family over for dinner which obviously increases the shopping bill - so it is variable.

Today I shopped at T*sco and compared to other supermarkets I saved £3.05

My bill came in at £72.64 but I do have DD2 away on holiday which saved me some money and I didn't buy many household/cleaning products this week apart from cloths and kitchen roll.

I will keep £20 of the budget to top up on mid-week essentials so total shop £92.64.

Therefore money to be paid off OD this week is £7.36

I'm sure I can still reduce this shopping budget if I try harder but there are just some brands I can't change ie H*inz beans!.. And I have tried other substitutes.

I bought 2 pkts of gooseberries today that were reduced to 1/2 price which I will make a crumble with and a pizza which I can freeze (shelf life ends today) - I do believe that at a certain time of the day fruit & veg, meat and flowers are reduced to prices from 1p upwards! I don't think I'm brave enough to elbow my way in to grab the bargains as I believe customers queue up and can be quite brutal :eek:

I'm too far away anyway to a local supermarket and would have to make a special journey - would cost me more in petrol than I would save so not :money: in my case unless I was there by chance of course!

I feel quite motivated with this personal challenge :rotfl:

takingcontrolatlast

I'm chuffed with last night's dinner as the ingredients were bought as reduced items as mentioned earlier I think...

The gooseberry crumble was tasty although I did "char" the crumble as I was browning it under the grill and didn't realise it was a quick process - but if you closed your eyes and ate it - it was tasty:rotfl:

I also made cauliflower soup with left over cauliflower - overdid the pepper but still edible!

Thank you to Fortune Smiles for pointing me in the right direction of the Go*d Fo*d Guide :A

I'm actually looking forward to seeing what I can save on next week's shopping!

I've only had 1 NSD day this week as there was a collection in work Monday and I had to put petrol in car today. But I should have 2 NSDs hopefully with the rest of the working week.

I need to pick up my knitting projects!

I love to read but not had much time recently - will do so at the weekend.

My car insurance is due for renewal - i hate doing this but I know in order to save money I need to shop around. I normally just renew and pay monthly and I hate the dd coming out of bank each month - I wonder if I can get the whole amount together and pay the yearly fee? - I suppose I need to put the effort in to see what the quotes are first !

I'm actually in credit with my mobile phone bill by 16p at the moment - providing i dont have any charges added on the rest of the month - don't think I will but I have been texting DD2 as she is on holiday abroad. I just can't believe I'm in credit! So the £14.53 I normally pay which I will round up to £15 as the pennies vary - I will put towards my EF.

Fortune_Smiles

Liking your foodie experiments Tcal - hmmmm gooseberry cumble.


Fotune x