Coming Clean

catriona79

Good to see you back.

Motivation, you will get there

rainbowskies

Thanks, Catriona79. Good to be back!

Some good news that I forget to mention in my last month. March is bonus and pay rise time! We'll be getting both on our March pay day. I can't wait. I've been told what amounts I'm getting and I'm happy with both. I will put the extra money into my emergency and car funds. Hopefully, I can get them to their goal amounts before August!

I have just sold a few games on Ebay. They sold within 3 hours of listing them. Very pleased about that. On Monday, I will need to get myself to the post office before work and get them posted! Since I finish at 6:30 PM, there really is no chance of being able to do that after work. So I will need to get up extra early, grrr. But I can't complain too much. Money in the pocket and all. Again, this money will go towards one of my funds.

In terms of my normal expenses, I am pleased to say I have whittled them down a little more. The £55 I was paying for my phone contract is now just a £10 SIM only contract. And my contact lenses have gone from £26 to £15.

I have no other plans for this weekend other than listing a few more items on Ebay, popping some popcorn and watching Netflix. Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

I will also set up a signature with my new goals. I want to do that as soon as I have some cash in my accounts though! May do that soon ...

rainbowskies

So I have just logged into online banking and transferred £500 into my Emergency fund and £200 into my car fund. I love that I can set up and name online savings accounts. It's just so much easier to transfer the funds out. At least that way I know exactly how much I have left to spend after my direct debits go out.

I have also created a signature. I hope I have worked out the percentages correctly. Maths was never my strong point.

I haven't put my debt amount on there yet as the loan was only drawn up this month which means my first payment will be next month. As soon as the direct debit is taken and I have at least SOMETHING paid off, I will add it to my signature.

Been very MSE by planning all my work lunches. Last week I bought a sandwich filler from Sainsbury's but didn't really like the taste and it wasn't worth the price. I am going to make my own later this evening in preparation for next week's lunches. I'm going to make a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich filler / mix. I'm thinking this will be versatile and I can take it in sandwiches, salads and even a dollop of it with some pasta. Variety is the key as I got bored really quickly by taking in plain old cheese sandwiches every day. The idea is to keep myself interested and not become bored and fork over £5 for lunch from the stupid work canteen.

Also rifled through my purse to find any vouchers. Found some Tesco ones which I will use for my food shop and also found a Boots receipt from before Christmas. My points total is 4027. And I haven't been to Boots since meaning I have £40.27 worth of points to spend! I will definitely been using these for my skin care when my creams run out. Skin care and make up and the occasional perfume are really the only things I buy at Boots these days. I don't buy standard toiletries at Boots any more. Wilkos is so much cheaper.

I have noticed that lots of people on this site rave about spreadsheets. Spent an hour trying to do one last night and only managed to give myself a headache. Watched a YouTube tutorial and still managed to get it horribly wrong. Maths and Excel really aren't my friends.

rainbowskies

Grrr, why isn't my signature showing at the end of my post?

Edit: oh nevermind. There it is!

rainbowskies

I've always hated Mondays. However, after Monday, it doesn't seem so bad and it feels as though the week is going by quicker. I'm so tired. I need to quickly make dinner for myself. If I leave it any longer, I'm going to feel too lazy and reach for the take-away menus and I don't want to do that!

I really need to bin those menus!

Quick update. I managed to get all three of my Ebay parcels sent off today. Each parcel consisted of an old video game. The P&P of each parcel came to only £1.26. I was pleasantly surprised. Especially as each buyer paid £2.00. I feel a little bad to be honest. I don't want to lose out by charging little for P&P and have it cost me a few pounds to actually send. And yet, I don't want to take advantage of buyers. Guess it's all trial and error.

Also good news! My old bike has sold on Gumtree. I have someone coming to pick it up Wednesday evening. They're paying £35 so I shall put that towards one of my saving funds.

Hopefully I can make tomorrow and Wednesday both NSDs! Though I guess today technically counts as well?

rainbowskies

Good evening.

Today's been a NSD. I was THIS CLOSE to buying a Aero mint chocolate but I resisted. Treat day is Friday as always, so I just need to wait.

Over-budgeted this month. (Is there really such a thing?) And found that I have an extra £72 available in my account. I'm not going to leave it there because if I do, I will spend it! Instead, I have transferred the entire lot into my car fund. So the new balance is £272.

I got a notification from Ebay and PayPal. Another item has sold. It's an old game and it sold for £14.50 which isn't too bad. I'm really pleased that I'm getting more than 3 times the amount on Ebay than I would have done in places like Music Magpie and Co.

I don't have any more active listings on Ebay. I'm going to have to pull up my sleeves and get another batch listed during the weekend. My PayPal balance is looking very healthy. I currently have £137.79. I may get that transferred to my bank account soon and then transfer that on to my emergency and car funds.

I'm back here, pondering what to eat for dinner. I really should make a meal plan. I have my lunches all sorted. I should do the same for dinner as well. Breakfast is never an issue because I hardly get time to eat it in the mornings!

rainbowskies

Hello!

So I posted off my Ebay parcel today. Postage was £1.26 - not too bad at all. Got home from work to find Bike Guy waiting for me. In the rain. Bless him. He checked over the bike and paid the agreed £35. So that's one job done.

I transferred the £137.79 from my PayPal account to my bank account, And then transferred it again to my emergency fund. So now the balance is £637.79. The bike money can go to the car fund as soon as I am able to get to the branch to deposit the cash.

Got a (pleasant?) surprised. Received my direct debit confirmation for my newly set up loan. Turns out I'll be paying £300 per month and not £200. I'm quite relieved as this will make the balance go down that much quicker. First payment will be on 25th March. Can't wait until I have reached both my fund targets so that I can start making bigger payments towards that loan.

Had to stop by Sainsburys today to pick up burger buns for dinner as I fancied a burger and chips. They were 90p. Unfortunately there were four in a pack so guess I'll be having another bun tomorrow with some fish fingers for dinner. Maybe I can take the third to work with my sandwich filler and the fourth ...? I guess I could stuff it full of bacon and actually have some breakfast for a change. There, sorted!

Really craving something sweet like a pastry or a cream cake. I need to be strong and resist. Both my wallet and waist will thank me.

Hoping for a NSD tomorrow as Friday is going to be a spend day as I am meeting my sister after work. I also finish work at 3 PM rather than 6:30 PM, so happy for that!

rainbowskies

Not much happened today. Went to the bank and deposited the £35 from Bike Guy. I then transferred that amount to my car fund. New total is £307 which is 25% saved. Actually that’s not too bad considering it’s only the first month. I only hope the next several months are this good!

Today was a NSD as I had no Ebay stuff to post and once again I resisted temptation by taking in a packed lunch and giving the sweetie aisle a miss in Tesco. I did wander in to pick up something for dinner than I remembered that I was going to have fish fingers in one of those burger buns from yesterday. So yup, another NSD. Just as well, because that’s all going to change tomorrow as I’m meeting my sister.

Got home to see that my bank had sent me a letter advertising balance transfers for their credit card. Ha, no thank you. That went straight in the bin.

Found lots of change in an old shoe box and I’m talking LOTS. Guess I’ll need to stop by at the bank tomorrow to deposit that. I’m hoping for a tenner at least!

rainbowskies

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today was a spendy day but it was all well budgeted for! Friday is treat day and I was determined to have my chocolate. I bought a pack of Aero Mint Bubbles for £1 from the pound shop. They kept me going all morning and I've saved a few for tonight as well to have with my cup of tea.

I finished work at 3 PM. I treated my sister to coffee and a slice of cake at a lovely coffee shop (£9.42) We then wandered around the older part of town with it's small winding streets and quirky boutiques. We window shopped and chatted all afternoon. I bought a hardback copy of a book by my favourite author from a charity shop for £2.50 and then I picked up a new hand bag from BHS for £14. I had been meaning to get one as my current one was falling apart and so I'd set aside money for this. Then we went to Nandos for dinner which was her treat. It was so nice spending a week day away from work. I felt so much happier and relaxed rather than rushed and stressed. I always feel as though I'm rushing whenever I go into town on a Saturday to run errands. This was a nice change.

The shoe box full of change I found amounted to £17.82. I had to wait ages for the change machine at the bank to process all that. Once it was done and all in my account, I transferred it over to my car fund which is now sitting at £324.82 - 27% saved.

I have a perfume gift set listed on Ebay. It's been opened and used but only a few times. There is less than a day to go and the bidders have started bidding! Starting price was £10. The bidding is currently at £19. So I'm really happy with that.

Tomorrow I have a long drive ahead of me. I'm visiting a friend who's moved out to live on a farm. I haven't seen her in ages so I'm looking forward to having a catch up and meeting her little boy!

Have a good weekend everyone!

CheepCheep

It's a bit funny getting such a snapshot into your life and kuddos on your commitment to your journey.

In a way I envy the simplicity you have, I have two children, a third on the way, two cats, two cars to maintain and a whole lot more things that cost money... I can't remember the last "no spend day" as everyday there seems to be something that requires money... Although I felt pleased with myself a couple of weeks ago by getting a waitrose card, which entitles me to one free coffee a day, so I've saved a little bit there, but maybe the lesson for me to learn from your experience is to breakdown and simplify my debt free goals and even getting one NSD would be a great start.

Thank you for sharing your journey and for the extra inspiration.