Our long dark road towards the light of freedom

Lizloz

Evening all, just a quick update before I go up for an early(ish) night.

Had a lovely evening last night, albeit a bit on the expensive side! We popped to a burger joint before the gig - I was browsing the mouth-watering menu thinking 'these prices don't seem too bad'....until I was told that if you wanted a (small) portion of chips, they would cost an extra £4!! (gulp!!). I desperately searched all my voucher apps on my phone for a special offer but couldn't find one...typical isn't it, there always seems to be loads on there when you least need them!

The 2nd place I went to yesterday to try & get some £ for a black bag of clothes no longer does it, so to save wasting any more fuel I dropped the bag off at a charity shop. I still paid £5.56 off my CC to round it down to an even figure.

We've had a lovely low-spend day today - took a lovely walk around a park, where the beautiful colours of the trees reminded me why I just love this time of year. The hubby wanted to feed the park squirrels so that was £4 for a big bag of nuts but it came out of our weekly budget.

You know...it feels so good to finally be spending within our means! This next week might be a bit of a toughie as hubby had 2 nights off sick - he usually does some extra over-time on a Sunday night but he had a text on Friday telling him he needn't come in tonight as they only wanted 2 members of staff on - needless to say he's happy about it!.....me....it means not having the bed to myself, listening to his snoring and not having any extra money to put away this week!

Ah well.....

TTFN

Orange_Ena

Hi lizloz, just popping in to say hi and to wish you well on your debt busting journey.

Sounds like a nice day with that autumn walk. Have a great week

Lizloz

Dear Diary - just a little vent before I start cleaning all the wood panels in the hallway....hubby's orders as he's started decorating (again!) today...let's hope he finishes the job this time! I think he's taking some inspiration from the new fencing he put up yesterday, he said how proud he felt that he had actually managed to finish a job and how lovely it looked (he's fence proud bless him!).

I'm slightly miffed at him though - about 4 months ago, we both opened an Experian account for various reasons, but we no longer need them, in-fact my Barclaycard will be giving me mine for free soon. I didn't close mine in time so paid one month at £14.99. He, on the other hand, even though I've been asking him now for weeks and weeks, STILL hasn't closed his!! I asked him again this morning...he went in a strop and said he'd do it...come the end of the day he still hadn't and said he'd do it tomorrow which set me off and I had a right go at him saying that he's probably too late to cancel it in time to not forfeit another payment...I'm so flippin' mad at him right now and am quite glad for him working nights sometimes as he's now gone and is out of my way!

I've been bagging up some copper coins out of our change jar and have amassed the small sum of £3 so far! I shall probably pay this in tomorrow and pay it off one of the CC's.

I had a little teary wobble today - I took DD2 to our local shopping centre, saw all the Christmassy stuff and felt...well, I don't exactly know how I feel...miserable for one, angry, stupid.....I so want this DF journey to be over but it's only the beginning.

TTFN

Lizloz

Dear Diary - I'm all fired up today!!

I've managed to (so far) save £8.95/month by cancelling a subscription to a Forces War records website that my husband joined when he was looking for some info' on his mom's dad - they didn't get very far and I wasn't aware that he had even subscribed until I scanned through our statements with a fine tooth comb! I asked him about it and he honestly thought it was a one off payment so that's now gone....bye bye!!

I've also signed up to a new insurance policy for my mobile phone so instead of it costing me £14.99/month, I am now paying £5.99/month for pretty much the same coverage - the only thing I don't get is technical support but isn't that what brother-in-law's are for?! Can't BELIEVE I didn't do this months ago!! :mad:

I've re-jigged my outgoings list and can now throw another £17.95/month towards one of my CC's, plus (once he cancels his Experian membership and the final payment has gone out), I will throw another £14.99/month on top of that!

Following his sickness last week, we don't have a massive amount to last us the week, however, I've accepted a little bit of bar work on Saturday night for a friend. I don't think it will become a regular thing and I don't know if I could handle it being a regular thing but at least it's a few extra quid to help us out.

Hubby did come home from work this morning and said that as he was off work for two nights last week, his suspicions were right in that he was told not to bother going in on Sunday as some kind of punishment :mad:, and he had this told him from the monkey (which came from the organ-grinder!). The management at his place are complete ar$$es (now I've said it!) - they're the type that expect you to go in, even if you're on your death bed!!

Any-hoo.....got some masking of wood in the hallway to do before DD2 wakes up....it cleaned up pretty nice last night, but a boring as hell job to do!

TTFN!

Lizloz

Hello diary...this is not a happy hello or one that follows on happily from today's previous jolliness....the poop has hit the fan.

Tonight, I've had a phone call from my husband who has been told by his work that instead of working 48 hours a week (he does 4 x 12 hour night shifts), they're being reduced to 39 hours as of today. His work are ruddy crafty - they haven't given any of the workers a pay rise in lord knows how long. There has been talk about one for a month or two now and now that it might actually be happening (albeit a paltry pay-rise but one non-the-less), work has all of a sudden gone quiet and they've put them on reduced hours.

This now means that his salary, mine and CHB will just about cover our bills and stuff all else....no spare.

This has just put a nail in the coffin, and I have no option now but to return to work as soon as possible....needs must and all that....:(

Lizloz

Dear diary.....hhhiiiiii (think Ross Gellar when he says this when he's in not such a good mood).

I popped in to work today to discuss me going to back...looks like I'll be back in 4 weeks (it could be 3 if I wanted but that's too close for comfort....4 weeks sounds more acceptable). I got quite emotional (again!) when I was chatting with my colleagues but I don't feel as though I have a choice now. One bright side to it all I guess is that I have enough holiday to work 3 days a week for 15 weeks...after that, who knows what I'll do but it will work itself out...it has to doesn't it?!

Hubby is relatively safe on 48 hours...for now...which underlines the necessity for me to return to work as nothing is guaranteed at the moment.

I found 6p on my way in to DD1's harvest festival today so that's gone in my change jar. I don't really care anymore who sees me picking change up off the floor...it's 6p more in my back pocket than when I left the house this morning!

I also managed to grab some club-card receipts (a wombler and proud!) and have got a few to get added to my card (about 20 points in total), so I'm going to get that sorted tomorrow.

I'm just sitting here watching Tipping Point (it's my guilty pleasure at the moment and keeps the grey matter ticking!) and I'm thinking how on earth do some of these people even get on the show..?! Some of the questions are stupidly easy but these people do get them so very wrong, it's so frustrating!! Think I might have a go myself, could do with a nice £10k prize right now!!

That's all I've got for today.....TTFN.

2rea22

Just read your diary and wanted to wish you good luck on your journey!

curlywurly82

Good luck in your dfw journey, I've subscribed

Lizloz

Dear diary - morning! First of all, just wanted to say thank you to those who have taken the time to read this diary and have subscribed. I was beginning to think that no-one was taking any notice but this diary is mainly here for me, for me to keep reading back on and seeing what a difference I am making in my DFW journey, but feedback and comments are most welcome, it makes me know that I'm not alone!

Just did a quick update on my outstanding balances since my LBM:

Payments made so far as of 15/10/2015:
Santander loan = £208 - 15 more to go - current balance = £3120
Father-in-Law loan = £390 - 23 x £396 and 1 x £388 to go - current balance = £9496
Barclaycard CC = Current balance = £6852
MBNA (hubby) CC = Current balance = £3973
MBNA (me) CC = Current balance = £1075
Tesco loan = £258 - 42 more to go - current balance = £10,836
O/S balance of debt = £35,347 = £1,004 paid since LBM

I'm not a very patient person and can't be doing with updating on a monthly basis, even though it will look more impressive on the amount paid since LBM total, but I just feel like I'm wishing the time away so that I can update that amount with the loan payments that have gone out...won't that look nice in November?!

I disappointed myself last night. I don't have a gambling problem at all, I'm not wasting hundreds or even thousands of pounds, I play £10/wk at the most. I really wanted to not bet anything at all really, but last night I was so fed up and thought 'stuff it, I've allocated £40/wk in fuel (which is more than enough...£20 per car but we're only using one car at the moment, this will go back to 2 when I'm back at work), so the money I haven't used to put fuel in car 2, I'm going to 'treat' myself to a little flutter on the slots'....and guess what...I lost. I felt that I could talk myself out of it, but didn't. I felt that I had enough willpower not to do it, but I did and I know I could have utilised that £10 better by paying it off a CC....but I didn't. To be fair, I haven't played any on-line games in weeks so I know it's not a dangerous or out of control habit, but I could have done without doing it...but what's done is done so now I'm going to give myself a slap on the wrist, and leave all slot games for other people to spend their money on....people who are probably in the same situation as me...people who are probably less in control of their urges than I am, and that makes me sad - I know I could quite easily go down that route, but I haven't, I feel stronger each time I take the decision to not waste my tenner here and there.....and that makes me a little happier and helps me sleep a little better at night.

Well...I did say this was going to be an open, frank and honest diary and there you have it.

TTFN.

Lizloz

Evening diary - just a quick update on today's shenanigans.

I've 'forgiven' myself for what I did last night - nuff said.

I visited one of my oldest friends today (and I mean that in terms of how many years I've known her). Our conversations always seem to revolve around money and lack of it, but we always seem to have a damn good talk about it and is one topic of conversation that is not off limits. I know what she's been through and vice versa. Anyway, I was telling her about me going back to work and she has very kindly offered to have DD2 for me on one of the days. As I'm only going to be doing 3 days a week to start with, this was a huge relief to me and I'm pretty sure my mom will help out loads with the other two days. As for what happens when that comes to an end, I simply have noooo idea, but we'll cross that bridge...! I have offered to pay her a token amount, she knows it won't be much to start with but I can't allow her to do it for nowt. The cost will and can be covered and will be accounted for in our weekly budget.

I had to pop in to Aldi today for a few basics and found 50p on the floor at the till, so that's gone in to my change jar and out of that jar, I managed to bag up another £2 worth of copper coins so I now have £5 to pay in to my account (no....still haven't managed to get to the bank!).

I also found a Tesco receipt on the floor worth about 3 points so that's going to go on my card along with the others (nope....still haven't been to Mr T's either!!).

Hubby has just called to say that his work need him in on Sunday night....wish they'd make their ruddy minds up!! It was his choice but we are going away next weekend with the girls for a couple of nights and he has made the sensible choice to go in bless him (What I'm really thinking is...YES, I get the bed to myself and I can watch Downton without him moaning all the way through!!...naughty aren't I?! )

So that's it for today. Got to go now and try and make my tornado hit living, dining room and kitchen look all nice and pretty again!!

TTFN