Cash for The Cupcake - £600 Savings Challenge

MrCrimeFiction

Hello JJ.

I did say I would pop over, I'm just a few weeks late :rotfl:

Diary is fantastic, will pop on and read the rest tonight. From where I have read to, your doing fantastic. You should be proud!!

In the words of the terminator, 'I'll be back in'

MrCF

dalleDF

You are so close to your goal now Jackie, £600 saved in no time!

juicyjackieb

Well its gone a bit Pete Tong... well a tiny bit as not only did I not add anything into the savings pot this week I had to use £30 of my fund as I ran out of wages :-(

My stepson is with us this week, we only have him 3 times a year so yes, hand on heart, I want to spoil him when he is here. Trips to the fair, bowling, a new lamp, computer games and eating out most days. The spends should lighten up a bit this week as I am back to work tomorrow and I have him Friday and plan to do a baking and video game day to be honest, so I should be able to redeem myself. I was able to drop a few pounds into my chrimbo fund though, which now sits at £32.32.

The other issue I have is my activity monitor I wear is dead. Its out of warranty and I feel utterly lost without it. I have seen the one I would prefer to replace it and its expensive and it would mean dipping into my fund if I wanted it now. But I know its not an emergency in the slightest, except to my weightloss journey / safety blanket. I feel agitated and quite distracted without it. I need to give that one some thought I think.

My generally bad savings these last 3 weeks has shook me up some what and reminded me how I have managed to save so well previously. I need to review the budgets I had been using and stick to them and live frugally again. Stop being a wasteful teeewat.

I will get this week out of the way, once my Stepson is gone I can look forwards and see where the hell I am and where I want to be and work out how to get there without feeling so damned guilty.

No, not a good money saving head on right now. Nope.

MrCrimeFiction

How are you getting on this week JJ? I hope you enjoyed having your stepson over.

So close to the £600 target. Just keep pushing :-)

MrCF

juicyjackieb

I would like to apologise for being utterly awol for the last few weeks

Things have not been great on all fronts really.

I have been spending too much money, not saving anything and then additionally dipping into my emergency fund. It now sits at an even £300. But I know that needs to stop soooooo I am going back to how I was at the beginning of my journey; making a plan and sticking to it.

So I have ordered the cheapest 2015 diary I could see off ebay - £1.20 delivered. When it arrives I am going to map out my savings plan on a weekly basis. Seeing things written down helps me focus. I am aiming to return to my £50 per week plan, starting this Friday which as of now I am on track with. At that rate, pending any surprises I should reach goal by the 1st of June, 5 months into the year. Phew it would be nice to get there!

I also am £1 away from being able to cash in my ipoll balance of £15 so I need to spend an hour on that this week too. I brought home my money box and my OH has started to throw some spare change in it too, only coppers here and there but it all helps. I would like to get that to the £50 mark by the end of July so we would be on track to have £100 over Christmas for pressies for my stepson. I have also been stacking up and hoarding my nectar points to be used for Christmas food and booze and I am currently around the £20 mark on that so far this year. Not to be sniffed at, as if again I can get that to around the £50-£60 mark and cash that in at Christmas it will be one less thing to pay for when we stock up on booze and mince pies.

On an average week after my rent, bills and personal stuff like travel and gym memberships I am left with around £140 for food and going out. When I look at it like that I should easily be able to save £50 a week! Good Lord its all a matter of perspective. I need to start using up the food in the cupboards and freezer again - all of which are rammed from my food hoarding mode that I go into. I want to spend the next 4-6 weeks working our way through it.... I love some wacky dinners!

I am also off work for the next couple of days so I am going to finally do that ebaying I have been avoiding. I have no excuses and no distractions other than netflix - but hey I get to multi task - right? House of Cards marathon here I come!

One positive this week was that I messaged Natwest to challenge their decision regarding the unfair sale of their Advantage Gold Account. It took them around 3 weeks to reply last time. If they say the same thing again I will go to the ombudsman, I have asked them for evidence of how they calculated their initial response which they essentially admitted in their letter they dont have so that should be interesting.

My eating has also been shocking. I have gained 10lbs, I have zero stamina for fitness, I have lost a lot of my strength from my previous weight lifting as its been 6 months plus since I did it seriously, essentially since I moved in with my BF. I do want to change this as I love feeling strong.

So once I get my diary I am going to start planning my eats, my cooking, my shopping budget and and my savings plan. Its the only way to keep myself on track.

Other interesting things on the horizon are we are currently looking at moving over the mortgage from my BF's ex over to me; she has agreed and seems to want to play ball. She is an absolute nightmare, aside from her being off the mortgage she hasn't paid for for the last 3 years she will also lose one of the several sticks she likes to beat my OH with. So yep, we will be calling Natwest Friday to get the ball rolling. The major concern is my credit rating is going to be very poor but I have been very well behaved with them so hopefully that will go in my favour.

Other jazzy things ... I am *mildly* job hunting, just some concerns about the business in general, not being pushed or needing to jump, but updating my CV none the less and getting my linkedin sorted.

Also - I am my local Green Party Candidate at the election!! ... I have zero chance of winning but one a fantastic experience and what a fab thing to have on my CV too!

So yes, there are positives in there... just to need to keep my eyes on the prizes!

I promise not to go awol again...

juicyjackieb

Positives for the day - I managed to do all the ipolls I am eligible for so once its approved - in about a month - I can cash that in.

I also entered around 200 competitions today for books.... love me some free books. Hoping my new diary will appear tomorrow and I can crack on sorting my plans for the next month!

juicyjackieb

End of week thingy!

I am feeling a lot better this week after refocusing myself. I was able to add £56.16 to my ESF this week and next week is looking good for the same, so hopefully back in the "£400 club". I also added a few pounds to my chrimbo fund, it all helps! I currently have 22 items listed on ebay, and the last of my very big clothes... it feels strange to let them go. Once that batch is out the way I will start doing non-clothes; books, games, shoes and all sorts of stuff. I will just attack it all room by room till the house is cleared. I am hoping for close to £100 with the clothes which will go straight in the pot.

After a week off I feel refreshed and I have been giving some thought to my career. I enjoy my job but sadly due the size of the company there is little chance of progress, some staff haven't had pay rises for 5 years. I have therefore been giving thought to what next and how to progress myself.

I have found some courses that would put me in a far better place in my industry and looking around should I want to move on afterwards, I wont necessarily want to, but its wise to have a plan.

My employer will not fund anything (I have asked) so I will need to fund it myself. One course is around £450 and the other is £1200. Thats a lot of money but I do think I could add 3-5k a year onto my salary once complete which would take around a year, if I decided to move on, although that's not the plan in particular. Its time and money but I do think it will help my career. I will take a look later in the year when I have at least reached my ESF goal.

My eating has been onpoint this week so hoping for a good weigh in tomorrow. I have set myself a challenge to lose 25lbs in 14 weeks.... it is on!

in_need_of_direction

Loving the determination.