Got here by luck, intending to stay by judgement.

mark55man

The challenge with the diary is much like the challenge of being frugal

You end up doing/saying the same things over and over - and everything getting a bit boring compared with the excitement of our non frugal lives

but you dont have to be exciting to write here - thats what we are here for - to listen to you as you take your journey day by day

getmore4less

once you tackle the root causes it can get very boring, as long as you are on budget, there is very little to report.

The trivia around the edges, declutter/ebay/micro saves/... runs out of steam as you run out of things to do.

If the transition to a more frugal lifestyle is creating voids how you fill those can be very interesting and beneficial to others that are struggling to fill theirs.

MrBloater

It's been a while. Nothing dramatic to report. On the downside - no overpayments as of yet have been made. On the upside - rolled up all the straggly bits of credit that were left after the remortgage into one very low rate unsecured loan meaning we now don't pay more than 3.5% interest on anything we owe. Only one credit card in use and that gets the balance in full paid off at the end of the month. Savings are being added to.

Two gadgets have completely changed my life in non-financial ways however. Got a Fitbit at the end of August and the thrill still hasn't worn off - managing to surpass 10000 steps every day and am engaged in unhealthy completely hostile competition with various relatives and colleagues. And, despite the cheesy wall-to-wall infomercials, the Nutribullet also got at the same time has changed things bigtime here. For the last six or seven weeks I've been averaging 11 bits of fruit and veg a day - chowing down vast amounts of spinach etc without feeling the pain. Am 19lbs down on what I was at the end of the summer.

Which just leaves the job - I have applied for a way more suitable position that would also have the happy side effect of £520quid more a month after tax. Closing date is Thursday, I hope to get shortlisted as irrespective of the money, I need to get out from where I am - and would rather leave with my head held high than be carted out in a straitjacket.

And as for the shed - I'm just hoping a few misdirected fireworks in the next week might sort out the problem of the ever-increasing hoard. Burn baby burn.

beanielou

Good to hear from you.

mark55man

rejoicing for you and your lack of crisis

nutribullet sounds fun

gallygirl

Glad to hear all going well Mr BB, from another completely non-competitive Fitbit owner .

MrBloater

I can feel the wobble. And need to address it before it turns into a tremor or a full-blown earthquake. After 6 weeks of religiously weighing-in and doing at least 10k steps daily, the last four days I haven't bothered. I've also been staying up late and putting a few bottles away - neither of which helps my already fractured sleep patterns (I average 1.5hours a night according to my trusty fitbit). And the reason for taking my eye off the ball is the impending interview on Thursday for the 'dream job'. And I've built it up to a stark choice depending on the outcome. It'll be either redemption (all the skills I've picked up on my meandering career journey these last three years will be utilised and hence I will feel validated), or else oblivion (whereby I return back again to my existing place of work - where I've used up pretty much all of my nine lives and everyone will know that once again, I've failed to bust out of the place and am only there by default.) And of course that oblivion is going to feel even worse if I'm piling back on the weight and spending unnecessarily on Malbec and Scotch Eggs. And as if there wasn't already enough portentous signs around - the remaining credit card company have now decided that as we have a zero balance, they'll up our limit to 14k. That would have been a godsend a few months back, now it feels like that old rascal Nick O'Teen offering me fags at the school gates. I'm trying to be good, but need to try harder. And I'm also going to be some money down at the end of this month as I've had to come home halfway through the day to look after DD who's been sent home from school. Any spare fingers that can be crossed for a positive result on Thursday will be much much appreciated.

greenbee

Call the cc company and make them reduce the limit NOW!

And prep for the interview by exercising and doing your research. Not drinking and eating. More chance of success that way.

solentsusie

I'm definitely with greenbee on this one.

Phone the credit card company and get that limit decreased back to where it was. Also ask to opt out of any future limit increases unless you apply.

Go throw all the vino down the sink now and make a nice cup of tea or something. It seems that you are hitting that self destruct button nice and hard so you have an excuse if the job interview doesn't go the way you would wish. Well it won't if you act in this manner.

Perhaps you need to delve more deeply into why you have these issues? It is seems to either be famine or feast with everything. Remember with the healthy eating, just because you screw up one day it doesn't mean you can't start afresh again the next. Remember that you don't need to polish off the whole bottle just because you have drunk a glass. And just because your pay packet is down a few quid it doesn't mean you need to max out the credit card.

Good luck with the job interview.

beanielou

Positive vibes for you for Thursday.