NST - January. Bobs post bauble debt busting challenge

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone!

Spend day for me today. Had to travel to the uni who are responsible for the course I did at my local college. My complaint is progressing and they seem to be taking it very seriously.

Went shopping when I had finished and got around £70 worth of stuff, including bits to put away for next Xmas. However, £17 was paid for by vouchers I had from my reward cc and from taking out insurance. The rest was paid for with cash I was given as gifts, so my budgets have not been touched. I am still counting it as a spend day though.

As for paying off my cc, I have worked out I can transfer £200 from the account my tenant pays rent into. I also have around £30 left from shopping that can go towards it. I have also had a small party booking this weekend worth £20. I need some supplies for it, but will hopefully make between £10-15 profit. I have around £100 left to find, so not doing too badly.

Catwoman_2015

Evening all!

Day 4/5 NSD.

As per yesterday's post, I am by nature a bit of a procrastinator, and so didn't get round to doing my paperwork/financial Spring clean today :-/
I DID however Spring clean the downstairs of the house after having a bit of a falling out with DH and cleaning and scrubbing got out my frustration instead of taking it out on him, lol! I've signed up to a thing called The January Cure where I get emails telling me to do a particular cleaning/sorting challenge in my house........so ended up cleaning and mopping all downstairs floors. I need all the help I can get to make cleaning less of a chore and more enjoyable, so far it's working.
Also managed to do an inventory of the cupboards/freezer/veg box delivery today so have done a meal planner for the next 7 days, and started writing my main once-a-month shopping list of supplies in eager anticipation of pay day this Friday!!!

Tomorrow hubby is back at work before me (we both work at the same place but are on opposite shifts - this is the price to pay for guaranteeing the same days off though), so hopefully the financial Spring clean will get done when I only have the cats to disturb me.

I did some extra overtime last month which should be in this month's pay packet - would this count as extra income as part of the challenge? I hope so.

Bob - if you don't want to take your son to the park in wet weather, could you get him to build a "den" out of an old bedsheet/couple of dining chairs or whatever and sit in there with him reading stories and/or making up your own adventures?? (I am recalling some of my own fond childhood memories here) I was always told imagination is free which has stuck with me. ;-)

Am quite exhausted from my vigorous cleaning session earlier so time for bed already.

Sleep tight turtles.

Catwoman x

jeanangeo

NSD 5/5 for me and signature finally updated.

Took lunch to work again and stayed away from the cafe, KFC and resisted strong urge to stop off at local shop for Dairy Milk. That's between £10 and £20 saved over two days. I cannot believe I used to think it was fine to buy a £3.40 breakfast roll and a £5 (poorly) cooked lunch every day or so. I may as well have burnt my money. Feeling super good that it's not happening this month (thanks to this challenge).

Weekly supplies looking OK to last until designated weekly shop day (Saturday). A bit low on bread because I was too lazy to defrost and microwave a batch-cooked meal and had toast for dinner. A bit lower on sugar than expected because I have started having it in tea when I didn't previously. Milk, eggs and fresh veg stocks are fine. I am determined not to shop earlier than the designated weekly shop day even if I run out of both bread and sugar but we'll see how that goes. I love toast so I may end up caving.

I am enjoying not being overdrawn already. That is a first for a January (for the last 10 years).

Cowabunga turtles, stay strong and soldier on. Catch y'all tomorrow.

rylee12

Bobarella wrote: »

It is hard getting things done with children around isn't it. Do you think there is a routine you could put in place to make sure they don't scupper your online time for food ordering?

When everyone is back in their usual routine of work/college/school it's not usually that bad but the Christmas/New Year break followed by my little boy's birthday on Sunday has sent me into a downward spiral.

Just trying to wing it a little for the rest of the week and plan properly from next week onwards.

dolly84

chocolate - chips cooked in ketchup is a new one on me:rotfl:. Bless him.

CEW - we bath our dog ourselves and he looks just like a dogs trust advert, we tie him up outside and then wet him with warm water - this takes forever due to his double waterproof coat, then we lather him up. The rinsing is the bit he hates, we do it with the hose straight from the outside tap, he looks pitiful but it can't be that bad as he loves to swim in rivers even when they have ice on them. When we let him go (we are both soaked by this point) he has what is known in our house as a ballistic fit - he charges around the garden like a maniac with his bum hunched underneath him.

x_raphael_xx

Going to be a spend day today, I have to pop into town to pay in my xmas/birthday money into my account. So while I'm there I'm going to pick up a few bits I need - new boots, couple of birthday cards and some craft stuff to begin making xmas presents for next year. Hopefully I can keep the spends low though.
Apart from a few food shops I can't think of any spends that are coming up this month, so hopefully I can catch up on my NSDs.

x_raphael_xx

dolly84 wrote: »

CEW - we bath our dog ourselves and he looks just like a dogs trust advert, we tie him up outside and then wet him with warm water - this takes forever due to his double waterproof coat, then we lather him up. The rinsing is the bit he hates, we do it with the hose straight from the outside tap, he looks pitiful but it can't be that bad as he loves to swim in rivers even when they have ice on them. When we let him go (we are both soaked by this point) he has what is known in our house as a ballistic fit - he charges around the garden like a maniac with his bum hunched underneath him.

I put my dobie in the shower, which she doesn't enjoy but tolerates, she loves the towelling off at the end though I have to trap her in the towel to stop her dancing around the bathroom.

dolly84

jeanangeo - fantastic savings on your usual spends, I do hope you carry on with it. Just think what you could do with that money over a year.

It is DS's 10th birthday today, we aren't doing much today except presents and a cake as he is going to cubs tonight but he is having friends over to sleep on friday and we have already bought the party food for that.

Me and DH are going to Lidl tonight for groceries, we mainly need fresh things, wine and some chicken so it shouldn't be too expensive.

themarsbargirl

Today has the possibility of being a spend day as Dad is taking me to an asda as a part of an errand run in the next town later.
I'm not too bothered if it is, just as long as I don't waste any food...

GSRcat

Morning all, 4 NSD so far
Forgot to mention my amazing bargain! Needed to get DD some new wellies and boots but wasn't sure if I could get both this month but I found some in the factory shop for £4 reduced from £12 so snapped them up and she loves them!
Both kids are now kitted out for school and nursery.
Plan to go shopping today using a gift card from ages ago, need to check its still got cash on it though! I've audited the fridge and freezer and thanks to DH buying lots of cut price meat that will do more than one meal we don't really need that much at all.
Focussing on a positive outlook and looking after myself so I can look after others.