Hummingbird's Progress....Well it's time she made some!

Levi-

Bummer on the emotions Hummingbird, I'm always a fan of those lol, can you see them when other people post them?

Sounds like you're already beginning on the right foot with the EON switch Behind ya all the way you sweet little birdy x

hummingbird

Thanks Levi :-) x Yes I can see the emoticons that other people put in fortunately!

hummingbird

Now that's really strange ..... I got that smiley up there from the choices underneath the post. It's just the ones to the side that aren't working then! Let's try another one.

hummingbird

Feeling very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (does that make me a squirrel LOL!)

That's probably because it's SUNNY!! Hooray!!!!! I'm very weather affected ....far too much so actually and I probably talk about it far too much. As soon as it's sunny I feel so much more energetic and although it's still cold and windy here I feel like getting about 1001 things done today!

Bit about me : currently working from home. This was due to taking a voluntary redundancy which provided a good opportunity for me to spend time helping my Mum & Dad. Mum was very ill in 2012 (thought we were going to lose her) and she went into a nursing home, leaving my Dad somewhat distraught and overwhelmed, and needing considerable support. I was travelling a lot to Kent and still am, although things have settled down and stabilized a lot now from what they were. I still go every few weeks and stay down there for a few days.

Work involves doing some admin for a friend who has their own business. I also like to aim to find lots of ways to increase my income. I've only just got into the diaries section of the forum, as I was always on the DFW challenges! I've let those slip really badly recently so need to get back into them. I love the "Make £10 extra a day" thread, and have had some great results in the past with that.

There were some months last year that I was almost up to making an extra £30/day!!!!!!!! (Quite a bit through ebay)

I also like doing the Sealed Pot challenge, to save up all the loose change which adds up over time to a lovely amount!

I also love Topcashback, Qmee, occasionally do surveys (although I get screened out of a lot of them) and just in general am on the lookout for ways to find a few extra pennies.

Yesterday I did something a bit naughty, but which I do every now and again (not too often.) I'd wombled a receipt from Mr T's that had 62 unclaimed Clubcard points on. It was just waiting for me to find in a trolley LOL! I took it to the Customer Service desk and the points were added no probs.

This is quite a turnaround, come to think of it, from the girl who couldn't stay in the house a few years ago. I would never have thought then that I could work from home.......I couldn't even cope with a weekend!

That said, I do miss my work colleagues and all the fun and banter although I know there can be pros and cons with that!

snowscreamer

Hey Hummingbird, going to join your diary too - hope you get on well with YNAB! You will gawp in amazement too at how much less you spend per month just by setting a budget and being aware of where money is going.

For me the picture is even clearer as we actually started using YNAB end of 2013 to get a better picture of our finances whilst buying a house. However we didn't use the budgeting feature - we just pulled in our internet banking statements and categorised spends and looked at the reports as we didn't realise there was any problem with our spending - didn't think we needed to budget! Since the house purchase our spending went crazy - and I'm not sure it was that good before; soon our bank balances were depleted and we had to cancel credit card direct debits. Still we continued although I think we were aware something had to change. Our LBM was when in one month me and OH both breached O/D limits and C/C limits (last November) - at this point we finally started budgeting (and I started my diary).

I think one day in my diary I am actually going to post some of the YNAB reports showing our spending pre and post LBM... it's a shocker. I swear we also have barely anything to show for it. Just wasted money.

hummingbird

Thanks snow, really excited about this! I've never been at all good with budgeting, hence the situation I'm in of course!

It's great to hear what an impact this has had on your finances. I've just signed up to the free 10 day course on the site. I've just received the first day's email of that, and I'm going to have a looky round the site now.

(For anyone wondering what YNAB is .... https://www.youneedabudget.com
recommended by snowscreamer!)

hummingbird

Just posting another "night owl" update!

Yes, I am a bit of a night owl. In fact, more than a bit.... but it's a habit I'm breaking gradually. My sleep patterns have been really bad over the last couple of years....it's often been a couple of nights hardly sleeping, then getting myself to the point where I'm so shattered that I get a good night.

I've definitely noticed an improvement recently - very few nights in the last 2-3 weeks where I haven't slept although still too late to bed a lot of the time. If I can get to the point of lights out by midnight on a consistent basis that would be a huge improvement for me.

That hasn't happened tonight though, has it? LOL! However it's the weekend so not so bad - perhaps I could aim to gradually get to bed earlier on weeknights at least.

During the last few years I've been too tired to function properly the next day on quite a few occasions. I've definitely been feeling better overall recently! Progress there - more to come!!

I attended a freeYNAB webinar earlier, which was an introduction to using the budgeting software. Don't think I'll be using the software itself to start with as it's another expense but there's loads of free info, webinars and support on the site. Just thinking about budgeting the way they do it is very helpful, and it allows you to make changes and adjustments as you go along (very cool!).

And today I had a NO SPEND day whoop whoop!

TimeToChange

Hey there Hummingbird - congrats on the no spend day! i'm having a go at my first none workday no spend day today!!!

Girls night went well - fridge full of left overs to think up recipes for

You sound really positive and that is amazing, it helps me stay positive too, i love all the challenges you are involved in! i think i fancy having a go at some!

Positive thought coming your way for the day

CC xx

hummingbird

Hey CC - thanks for that, I'm looking forward to reading your update on your girlie night LOL!!! The great thing about having friends round is having all those lovely left-overs to enjoy later! It's like mmmmm cheesecake! Or wow - profiteroles!! LOL. (perhaps not so good for the waistline though hehehe)

I really enjoy the challenges on the forum and the folks on those threads are so lovely. I'm aiming to restart some of the ones I've let slip and also perhaps find a couple of new ones to have a go at. I've always done the DFW ones but I might have a look at a grocery one as well.

I think that the "Make £10 extra a day" thread is one of the best - it's great to read all the ways that everyone is making (or saving) extra money - and it's really supportive, you don't feel under pressure!

hummingbird

Here I am again for a "night owl" update - just seem to come to life at this time of night somehow!

A little summary of progress so far:
EON switch
Spreadsheet to track spending
Started a diary
Started budgeting (YNAB) And have attended 2 online webinars


Not bad!

Now need to work on getting to bed earlier, so going....NOW!!! LOL!