Debt free before 35

in_need_of_direction

Both my children swapped their dummies for presents from Santa. They were left with the carrot and cookies. It worked a treat esp since Santa gave them a soft toy to take to bed.

MrsSave

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Both my children swapped their dummies for presents from Santa. They were left with the carrot and cookies. It worked a treat esp since Santa gave them a soft toy to take to bed.

That's exactly my plan! He'll be almost 2 1/2 by then so should hopefully understand. May do it slightly earlier in December instead of on Christmas Eve, though. Especially as we'll have an Elf visiting.

MrsSave

Just catching up on Eastenders. Today has been a funny old day.

The only meal I've eaten at home was breakfast, but my total spend for the day was £1. I bought bird food from poundland. Ds and I are going to make our own bird feeder with an empty juice carton over the next few days so I got some food to pop in it. Lunch out was paid for by my mum, dinner was at the inlaws.

Food wise I haven't been particularly healthy, but I'm pleased to announce a no alcohol day. I definitely need a few more of these! I've decided to start a separate savings fund as well today. I was to take my son (hopefully children pay that time) to Disney in Florida. I went once as a child, and it was amazing! I remember so much about it. I was my ds to have those memories and experiences. Ive decided on a budget of £8,000 to save for, and 7 years to do it (as well as paying off the loan, and paying back the inlaws!). It's definitely doable. Eeeeeeek, I'm all excited about it already

crazy_cat_lady

Good to have a clear goal to work towards as well. I would love to take my kids to Florida (if I wasn't terrified of flying)

MrsSave

Another lovely day off with my ds today. We were up and out of the house pretty early, in Aldi shopping before 8:30. I had my usual £20 budget, but carelessly threw a few extra bits into the trolley there and in Tesco. Total spend was £20.44 so happy with the amount spent. Lots of fruit, veg and salad as well as 2 bottles of shampoo, ham, chicken slices, eggs, jelly pots (will explain in a bit) etc, etc. I did have a voucher back from Tesco for 48p off my next shop, so I'm counting that to make up for the 44p overspend! :rotfl:

Took ds to the library (and parked further away from usual as where I used to sneakily park are now stopping people from parking there and fining them!). Parking didn't cost anything, and we had a lovely walk in the rain!! Got to the library to realise that both mine and ds's library cards were at home Their systems were also down, which meant they couldn't access our details on the computer! Typical! So, we just returned our book and ds spent a while looking through/reading some books.

Then filled the car up with petrol :eek: and I'm hoping that will last until the end of the month.

Dh came home from work early today due to the rain (and the joys of being self employed) so after ds woke from him nap we went on a 'welly walk'. It was about a mile and half long, through fields, climbing, looking at cows, and ds did really well. He walked probably about 2/3rds of it. For little legs, I'm impressed.

On part of the walk, dh and I discussed premium bonds. I have £100 of premium bonds at the moment(have had since forever). We talked about putting £1000 of our emergency fund into more bonds. Interest rates are so rubbish, even one £25 payout over a couple of years would mean we are better off. You never know, we could be the next million pound winners :rotfl: After getting home from our walk, I dug out my premium bonds form, and filled in the online registration bits. Need to post it off now, and once I can use the online, I'll buy more bonds.

Now for the jelly. Individual jelly pots aren't something I'd usually buy. But.........my dad and step mother have been following the 5:2 diet for a couple of years, and despite then eating/drinking out regularly and going on plenty of holidays they don't gain weight. I'm struggling to shift this last stone (or possibly 2) and find that 'life' gets in the way. So, I've decided to fast on 2 days each week, and then the other 5 will be following slimming world, but if there's something on or I fancy a glass of wine I won't feel guilty about it and struggle with weight loss. I watched a horizon documentary on it last night and it was very interesting, especially talking about the health benefits. My first fast day will be Friday as I've got nothing on and ds is in nursery.eeeeeek!

Other than that, today I have painted a couple of crafts, had lots of giggles with ds and just enjoyed life (despite having my second sinus infection of the month, so my face hurts ).

crazy_cat_lady

Sounds like yesterday was a lovely day...

MrsSave

Another day...........

Had another nice day today. Me and ds met up with a friend and her daughter at a local farm. Took a picnic with us so no costs. After getting home, we've been painting so great fun

I'm having my first 5:2 fast day tomorrow. It's all planned, and I hope it's doable. It should be because on Saturday I can then eat 'normally'. If I post half a million times tomorrow, it's to take my mind of not eating!!

Back to financial news, though, I have had my money today for posting books away. £15.44 into my emergency fund. Every little helps, and all that!

Orange_Ena

De-lurking to wish you luck with your diet Enjoyed reading your diary so far too

MrsSave

Another horrible, rainy day here. Apparently it's Summer........you'd never guess! Though, personally, I actually prefer Autumn/Winter to Summer, but despite the miserable weather, it's not cold enough for me!!

Anyway, fast day 1 is under way. So far I haven't actually eaten anything. Figured, as soon as I'd have breakfast, my body would then be wanting more food. Having a late breakfast will mean I can have lunch later than usual and should be ok by dinner time. I'm worrying mostly about after 7ish tonight. I think it'll be a super early night, say 7:15??? :rotfl:

I'm not doing much else today. I'm currently lazing in bed watching Friends on the TV! Ds is at nursery. I did suggest to dh that he take me clothes shopping, but apparently work was more important :rotfl:

I'm aiming for a nsd day today and then a quietish weekend. I really should do a little work before heading back to work soon, though. I did quite a bit at the end of last term, but need to print a load of things out and get my folder all organised! I do have an inset on the first day back, so should be a day for planning and prep!

Right, back to Friends, and scrambled eggs with tomato in a bit. Yum!!

MrsSave

Food wise, things are going to plan. Knowing that I can eat what I want (well, within reason I guess.....I mean if I ate a pizza for each meal it may not be good!!) tomorrow definitely helps. Watching a programme about Greggs definitely doesn't! :rotfl:

Money wise - I have had a £4 M&S voucher through the post. Asked dh what he thinks we should spend it on and without hesitation he said to put it towards the 2 dine for £10. I like that it's not running at the moment, so will keep it for next month. That's one Saturday night sorted!

We've also had £15 today from buying a gift for ds on behalf of someone else. I used vouchers we'd been given to buy it, so now they've paid us back the £15 is like money we never had! As it's coming towards the end of the month I've decided to keep it out instead of adding it to the emergency fund. A few pots are starting to look a little empty, so it all helps!

I've had a look today on the Asda website at their clothes. A lot of women would say they don't have many clothes, but in my case it's true. After having my ds I decided I didn't want to lose weight and was happy being a size 16. Fast forward to now, I have thrown all smaller clothes away and am currently a 12-14 (but aiming to be a 12). I love next clothes, but I just can't afford them at the moment, so had a look at Asda to see what they had and I've started a wish list of things I like so that when I have a few pennies I can choose a couple of things to add to my wardrobe. £8 tops, where the equivalent in Next is £20+.

Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about money and to be able to buy clothes when you wanted? I guess that's what has got me into this situation in the first place! :mad: