NST - January. Bobs post bauble debt busting challenge

Bobarella

It was really cold rain today as well. Don't blame you for not bothering.

misstara

NSD 3 today so no gold star for me :rotfl: I've been to the gym today - did a lot of squats and lunges with a kettlebell so think I'll be sore tomorrow. Other than that, a fairly relaxing evening, made some gf bread to stick in the freezer and some flapjacks for taking to work. Off for an early night as I start at 7am tomorrow it's a shift with 2nd job though so that will be a bit of extra cash next Friday.

clippy_girl

Evening all, forgot to post yesterday but have caught up. Yesterday was a very spends day. £30 in morrisons and only bought 3 food items! Brittany cartridges were on offer so stocked up on a box as well as TP, washing liquid and fabric softener. Then spend £15 on boots on some toiletries needed. Then to home base where I spend £115 getting bathroom stuff. The tiles I wanted were on offer so even with two shower curtains, rings and basket I was about £40 under budget. Bonus is that when I got home I realised the waffle shower curtain I got for half price included a clear plastic liner so I can return the clear one I bought for a refund! Then bought a rug from next for the living room. All spends were needed and budgeted for but eeek!!! Need to return the rug I got from m&s as I don't like it. Unfortunately I bought a gift voucher through work as I get discount so now stuck with a voucher I dont need. Will try and sell it!

Today was a NSD but not doing well on healthy eating or gym

crazy_cat_lady

Quick check in from me tonight to declare nsd3 - the good thing about being manically busy is that you don't get time to think about spending money. I went straight back into a full teaching day with a meeting after school. It was fine, but busy, and then I've had training tonight...
Hope everyone is well, and TOG - hope the new job went well.

luckystarr

Hello everyone

Well done on the peeps that have made 4/4 SFD !!!

Hugs to all that need them and keep up the good work everyone you are all doing awesome !!

Thank you for the link Fmess

claiming my second SFD today and I have been to the gym !!

First day back after the holidays so tired tonight.

Please can I have some advice from my fellow teachers TA's or anyone really !

Me and OH are now living with MIL to save for a deposit to buy a house. OH has a good job and I am doing supply TA work but money is tight. We are streamlining as much as we can. I am currently doing my Level 2 TA qualification (I also have an NVQ level 3 in health and social care specialising in adults with LD).
Anyway I am digressing being supply I only get paid term time only so I don't get paid for the school holidays which is approx 13 weeks a year , so I am undecided as to whether to apply for TA jobs but most are on a temp contract at present, wait until next month as been told this is when more jobs are advertised or just give up and look for a better paid job in a different field ??. I am currently resitting my Maths to improve my grade to a C to help with my career.

Please help any advice gratefully received.

Apologies for going off on a tangent just really don't know what to do .

Thank you all in advance

Night all
Lucky xx

themarsbargirl

Lucky- until I became too unwell I was a TA in a special needs school. My contract was temporary because it was based on a certain students funding, I was told at interview (with a nod and a wink) that although the contract was officially temporary it would be a permanent role because they'd never had to say to anyone when the year was up that they didn't want them back (although staff turnover at that place was appalling).

What I'm trying to say is I suspect you'll find the majority of TA jobs are temporary contracts because you are being paid by the student's special funding rather than the school, so when the student leaves or if they are reassessed and no longer given funding the school doesn't have money to pay you.

I'd say go for the temporary contracts, at the very least it's good interview practice, and even if it's only for a year, it's regular income for that time, including the holidays.

The_Only_Girl

Hello turtles.

First day at work went well! I had a nice welcome from the team and I am pleased to be working with them. We went straight to hands on training and it was a bit of a shock because we did a lot of walking visiting different departments in the hospital. According to my trainer's pedometer we have done more than 7000 steps all day. I am not complaining because it is good for me and my goal to lose weight. I am just glad I went for the comfort factor this morning and not the glamour 1st day at work, knock them dead, impressive style. I wore sensible shoes instead of heels, otherwise I probably would have cried by lunch time or crawled. Hahaha. Need to keep up with my fitness if I were to survive this job. After work whilst waiting for my hubby to pick me up, I saw my former boss and he said "you'd want your old job back after a week - you'd be bored." To which I just smiled. Not if I can help it I thought. I am sure I will love this job because it is an up and coming department in the NHS with a lot of scope for expansion.

After work we headed straight to a retail centre because DS2 needs new jeans and I had a 20% off coupon in H & M. Found a nice pair of jeans for £7 and with 20% coupon came down to £5.60, also a pair of chinos for £4 which came down to £3.20. Hubby also bought 3 shirts (last time he bought some shirts was before Christmas 2014 so he deserves them. All in all we paid £26.40 for 8 pcs of garments (original price was £92.92 giving a total discount of £66.52). Hubby also bought a pair of chinos in ALdee reduced to £6.49. All in all not a bad day shopping.

We were tempted to eat out because of my tiredness but I was determined not to spend more than necessary. I made another big batch of homemade vege spring rolls which the hungry hippos demolished. I still have another batch to wrap and freeze but will do that tomorrow.

I had my first LTW today although I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to go to the subway sandwich shop at the floor below the A & E department which we passed by several times while touring the hospital. The smell wafting all over the corridor was too hard to ignore indeed. But I am glad I resisted. DS2 also surprised me when he said he made his own sandwich today and he enjoyed it. He said he wants to save up for an iPhone so he's taking his packed lunches everyday. Music to my ears.

I'm still at NSD 2/21. Hopefully tomorrow is my third. Good night everyone. Sorry I haven't read the previous posts. Will try harder tomorrow,

x_raphael_xx

1. We are aiming for maximum no spend days this month. Aiming for 21. So far 1/21

2. [STRIKE]Pay to your [STRIKE]debt[/STRIKE] savings as soon as priority spends are complete[/STRIKE]. Done, and I shall continue to pay in what extra I can during the month.

3. [STRIKE]State your intentions[/STRIKE]. This month...make a significant start to my 3 month EF.

4. Check in every day. So far...so good

5. You will donate £5 to a good cause of your choice. I will probably donate to Childs Play. They get toys, books and games to children in hospitals. You can pick a certain hospital's wish list on Amazon and buy them something direct.

6. [STRIKE]Plan your diary[/STRIKE]. Done

7. [STRIKE]Plan your grocery spends carefully[/STRIKE]. Made a meal plan for the week, it shall be adhered to!

8. [STRIKE]Get something for free![/STRIKE] - Got a free main meal at F&B as it was my birthday.

9. [STRIKE]Earn extra[/STRIKE] - Done

10. [STRIKE]Check your credit report[/STRIKE]- Done

Spend day today, although it only ended up being a food shop and a meal out for my birthday. We used xmas gift money for our cinema tickets, and my main meal was free as its my birthday.
I signed up to F&B's app and couldn't find the birthday deal, but a polite inquiry to my server and she fetched the manager to write it off so result. They also have a £10 off voucher (unfortunately can't use both at once) for signing up to the app if anyone is interested.

Catwoman_2015

Evening turtles!

Today was a spend day today - a budgeted date night with hubby as we were both working on New Years' Eve when everyone else was partying.
We went to P1zza 3xpress and the bonus of going after NYE is that we had a voucher code for 40% off so then had enough pennies left to go for a posh cocktail in this hidden little bar we love that plays 1940's music. Felt very pampered and special.
And then as a bonus, found 11p of roadkill on the bus seat on the way home! Result!

Also had my DD go out today for organic local veg box delivery that I get every fortnight (£16.05).
In the last couple of years I've taken up a vegan diet and have found I can justify (well, in my head anyway) that I can afford a box of organic veg every two weeks when I'm saving money by not purchasing meat and dairy foodstuffs. Also feels good buying from local independent businesses.

Did my credit report for free with Clear Score last night - I'm in the green

Last day off tomorrow and it will be of a bit of a financial spring clean day - our fixed price for dual fuel is coming to an end this month and we need to switch supplier to get the cheapest deal which I always find a pain but it will save us £204 a year according to searches I've done. Also need to threaten my mobile phone provider that I'll be going elsewhere if they don't offer me a cheaper rate now my fixed contract has ended.........and finally, noticed on the MSE website that I could claim for mis sold fraud insurance with Experian if I had membership with them before July 2014 (which I did). So have downloaded the template letter and hopefully that's nearly £65 coming my way!

Keep up the good work fellow turtles, I really enjoy reading everyone's progress and being a member of this group is giving me the push to do things I would otherwise procrastinate over!

Catwoman

jeanangeo

Yet another late post from phone. I'm blaming this one on Game of Thrones. I am addicted to that series.
1st day back at work today. Designated petrol spend of £20.

NSD 4/4 which is great as I would usually have bought some junk at the petrol station (£2), breakfast at work (£3.40) and lunch at work (£5). This challenge has saved me £10.40 .

Still not updated my signature. I've run out of Game of Thrones now so I will log on properly tomorrow and get it sorted.

Hope everyone has a good Tuesday .