Chasing Freedom!!

chasingfreedom

Yes but I appreciate the advice all the same, there are always different and better ways of doing things

chasingfreedom

Hi everyone, I've had a few busy days at work so not had a chance to come on but I have 2 important pieces of news and wanted to quickly jump on!!


Important news 1 - it's payday!!!!! Woo hoo, won't have time to pay anything and update my spreadsheet as I'm training today but looking forward to tomorrow


Important new 2 - I've just paid my last ever loan payment. For the last 7 years I have been paying £318 per month after a whopping consolidation loan!! It felt like today would never come and it won't seem real until I have a month with no payment but its been a long slog. What a massive relief and actually I feel a bit emotional, strange eh?!

Anyway I will update over the weekend with my new balances etc. Have a good bank holiday weekend everyone xx

mumstheword***

Yay!!!!!!!! Fab news!!!

PinkPoppies

Brilliant! Hurrah for payday and the loan going!

chasingfreedom

Well what a lovely sunny bank holiday weekend we're having!! (that's sarcasm its chucking down here as per!!)


I've not been very good this weekend I'm afraid. Got paid Friday and I think the excitement of finishing my loan got to me and I went shopping yesterday!! To be fair I did need a few things i.e foundation had run out, so would have had to get some anyway but also bought some stuff I didn't need to buy. My sister works for BHS and I have her second discount card so this weekend they have minimum 20% off everything and I get another 20% off staff discount plus Sainsburys have 25% off clothing too this weekend. My daughter needed a few more summer things before summer and holiday so I took the opportunity to get them in the sale, plus a raincoat for school (she's still wearing her winter coat) so technically I would have had to get them anyway but I probably didn't need the dress and top and I bought for myself, oops!! Oh and paid for a hotel we're staying at in July on a night out with some friends (a once in a blue moon opportunity and belated birthday) which cost me £70 including breakfast. Definitely not a no spend weekend!!

Anyhoo, its done now!! We did our balance transfers this month which means there are minimum payments we don't need to pay which freed up some cash but I know I could have spent the 100 quid on my debt instead of shopping!! I have also been paying my bills and finally reduced my signature a bit although not as much as I've actually cleared but that's because obviously we had some fees for transferring the cards over plus I added on a bill I'd previously forgotten to include which I included in the balance transfers. So actually although my signature shows less than a grand paid we paid much more. It'll definitely reduce more for next month and I'm not done yet this month either. I just like to wait for everything to update and the house bills to clear before I leave myself short and overpay all the bills


Hope you are all enjoying your weekends xx

chasingfreedom

Wowzer its been so long since I posted I couldn't find my diary, lol!! Sorry for the abandonment, I had a few days off work and decided to not switch on the laptop or I'd end up working.


So, to say my last week was not very money saving would be an under statement. We have spent way more than we should!!


Wednesday night we went to see Paul McCartney in concert (tickets bought way before I started consciously clearing my debt and something on hubby's bucket list so very special occasion for us) but we wanted to make a day of it as we've all been waiting for it and it was the kids first concert etc so ended up in Birmingham having drinks and dinner beforehand. Thursday we were shattered and had a day at home/bbq but Friday I went shopping (food mainly) and my daughter and I went to the hairdressers as well so that was another expense. Although its the first time since January so overdue!!
Saturday was my niece's 2nd birthday (which obviously means buying a present) so there was another expense and Sunday we had a lazy day at home so didn't spend.


I definitely lost my saving focus though for a few days there and just enjoyed my days off. I'm glad I did but also wish I hadn't spent so much. It's done now though and back to focus. I put a few things on the credit card (the one I use monthly and then pay off) and paid a few with my debit card so I will try and make amends by clearing it all next payday!!

To make up for my spending I have checked all balances this morning and updated my signature. Paid another £100 off the Argos card and paid 70 quid off Barclaycard too so feel a bit better now


Being back at work and doing my diary everyday definitely helps with the focus. Today was the first time I checked my spreadsheets and accounts since last weekend!! Back on it now and looking forward to getting out of the 38k bracket and into the 37's as soon as possible!!


Hope you are all well xx

mumstheword***

Its easily done!!! I don't think we spent as much as we anticipated over half term but there was a lot of unnecessary expenditure! Good to see you back!!!

chasingfreedom

Thanks Mums, actually nice to be back


Hope you had a fantastic holiday, I'm going to go and check your diary out and see xx

chasingfreedom

Well I've been missing in action again for a few days. Not because I'm spending money though this time, lol. I always access from work and for some reason I've not been able to get onto the website all week until now, they have random security blocks which don't usually affect this site but it definitely didn't want me on here this week!! Hopefully now I'm on today it'll be back to normal


So a quiet week really, just working mainly. Not really spent anything other than a few pounds for daughters swimming lessons and a mini shop for bread, milk etc so could be worse.


Hubby has text to say he's putting the bbq on tonight for dinner, its such a beautiful day!! I'm stuck in the overly air conned office with a thick cardigan to stop me from getting frostbite, grrr!!


Moneywise I've paid some of the regular bills following payday and just waiting for some accounts to generate new statements/balances so I can update properly. I like to wait until a bit further into the month to pay extra to make sure we aren't left short. I'll definitely be making a few top up payments though, although we have my stepdaughters birthday coming up so will need to keep some aside for that. She wants money this year (nearly a teen!!)


Planning to do a car boot over the next few weeks with my mum/sister as my nan passed a few months ago and my mums is having a sort out of stuff in general aswell (she lived with them) so hoping to raise 100 quid or so if possible. That'll be a nice extra to pay off the credit card


Have a lovely sunny day x

mumstheword***

The site has been playing up I think, a few people have mentioned it!
Where did the sun go????