NST: February: Back to Basics.

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone!

A quick, late post for me today.

Thanks for all your concern. Not feeling 100% so will try to get into Drs on Monday.

£37.16 spent on groceries today. Also £8 business spend, but not counting this as I will be getting paid back from the customer next week.

Been to visit a friend and her new baby and had lots of cuddles, which was lovely.

Off to bed now. Good night all!

misstara

NSDs 2 and 3 yesterday and today my brain is far too tired to even start thinking about apple's questions, definitely a task for tomorrow.

CandyCupcake

Currently on NSD number 3. Should have been 5, but I caved into buying a cheeseburger yesterday and something from Holland & Barrett today! I go away on Wednesday for 5 nights, but these spends are all budgeted and accounted for, so would I still be able to count these as NSDs?


Everything else on the list so far I have stuck with. I just need to donate some food, but I will be offering this to an animal charity and I also need to 'Recharge my batteries'. I have become incredibly lazy because I work late shifts in work and it is annoying me. I should be using my time to take the dogs out, clean the house, do something productive but I don't! So when I return from my holidays, I am going to get by bum into gear and stop being lazy!!


Keep up the good work everyone I promise to start checking in more often!


CC
x

apple_muncher

CandyCupcake wrote: »

Currently on NSD number 3. Should have been 5, but I caved into buying a cheeseburger yesterday and something from Holland & Barrett today! I go away on Wednesday for 5 nights, but these spends are all budgeted and accounted for, so would I still be able to count these as NSDs?


CC
x

Personally, I count every day where I spend as a spendy day, even on holiday, but not everyone does that.

FunBrum

mothernerd I've been reading your posts and thinking about you a lot lately. No worries.....I'm not a stalker! :eek: :rotfl:
I was like you once, racing about, fitting everyone in and doing my best to juggle everything, then I realised that everything I wanted to do came second. You must take time for you! At least once a week do something that you have always wanted to do, and that ignites a fire in your belly. It doesn't have to cost anything, most galleries are free. Look in your area for free talks or concerts. In my city, on a Friday there are free one in the town hall. Even if you take yourself for a long walk to connect with nature and gives you breathing space. I've been holidaying on my own foe about 15 years and love it! Don't be afraid. You only live once. I just wanted to help you...Hope you don't mind.:):A

I'm off to London soon and have woken with a cracking headache!
Hope it doesn't turn into a migraine or I won't be able to travel. We're going in my sister's brand new Mercedes....I'm the poor relation....but I don't care! :rotfl:
Anyway, it will be a frugal few days for me as I won't be tempted to the bright lights no matter how much they wink at me!:D

Eager_Elephant

Yesterday was a spend day - DH popped to the greengrocers for a sack of spuds and a few other bits. We have over spent the grocery budget by about £3 - will add it up later. Next grocery budget starts 14/2 so only a week to wait.


Also went out last night and brought drinks (£6) and got kebab and chips on the way home (£10.80) - both will come out of the spends pot.


Today should be a NSD.


Answers to apples questions:




Where do you want to be this time next year? I will either be working full time still and saving as much as possible or I will be working part time and running the smallholding/allotment (Option 2 is preferable but Option 1 would get more money into savings and is more realistic for our long term plan of buying our own smallholding)


How much do you want to have paid off your debt or your mortgage? Or how much do you want to have saved? This time next year I hope to have saved at least £2000 in my Help2Buy ISA and hope to have at least £1000 in various pots for yearly expenses. I will have paid off DH and DS (I borrowed money to buy a car – DS should be paid off in May and DH by July)


Do you have plans and schemes to keep yourself on track? And a back-up plan for when life gets in the way? My plan is to continue with the turtle challenges every month and to keep my diary on here going. I will also keep YNAB going as I like giving every penny a job!! My back up plan is that I will have money in savings for most eventualities!!


What do you also want to have achieved/completed/done by the time we are in February 2017? I want to learn to be more organised or maybe I need to cut back on what I do?!?!

I also hope that DH and I have ticked some items off our wish list for the home and smallholding – just simple things like painting the lounge, getting new sofas (or having ours recovered) and fencing the field ready for sheep!!

WelshKitty85

Where do you want to be this time next year?

I want to be in a secure job. I want to be living comfortably, knowing that I have enough money coming in to cover all the essentials and have some left over.

How much do you want to have paid off your debt or your mortgage?

I will have paid off all my credit card debt. I will still have my mortgage and car finance.

Or how much do you want to have saved?

I want to have savings of around £2000.

Do you have plans and schemes to keep yourself on track? And a back-up plan for when life gets in the way?

I have put together my budgeting spreadsheet for 2016. This will be my guide for the year and if I can stick to it then I will achieve my goals.

What do you also want to have achieved/completed/done by the time we are in February 2017?

My main achievement will be to find secure employment. Whether this means being kept on in my current role, or finding something else, everything else depends on this.

mothernerd

FunBrum wrote: »

mothernerd I've been reading your posts and thinking about you a lot lately. No worries.....I'm not a stalker! :eek: :rotfl:
I was like you once, racing about, fitting everyone in and doing my best to juggle everything, then I realised that everything I wanted to do came second. You must take time for you! At least once a week do something that you have always wanted to do, and that ignites a fire in your belly. It doesn't have to cost anything, most galleries are free. Look in your area for free talks or concerts. In my city, on a Friday there are free one in the town hall. Even if you take yourself for a long walk to connect with nature and gives you breathing space. I've been holidaying on my own foe about 15 years and love it! Don't be afraid. You only live once. I just wanted to help you...Hope you don't mind.:):A

Not offended at all. Last year I had a list of 15 things in 15 and the first thing I wrote was to be more selfish. Not trampling over other people but that my own needs and desires should be equally important. Was doing okay but lost my way a bit towards the end of the year. Have chosen a simple plan for this year.

I told the counsellor I needed to see her a couple more times at least, to develop techniques for dealing with the way my mother treats me ( probably learning to 'shrug it off' because she isn't going to change) and to build firmer boundaries. I'm hoping that once she is 'settled' in the bungalow (think she is settled now but various bits need to be in place - secure storage as she is frightened her partner might start eating the liqui-tabs etc) I can go back to visiting once a week (avoiding the more annoying of her partner's relations) with longer gaps when she says something absolutely hateful.

I am starting to feel 'lighter', I can feel little sparks of joy inside me. It takes a lot to get me down and I am very resilient. The freedom of having 'enough' money is beginning to dawn on me. I actually noticed yesterday that 7 of the kitchen light bulbs have gone (2 bars and 1 square with 4 bulbs each) and I've added it to the shopping list. I knew some were out but had been ignoring it so far because it would have been a large expense to put on my budget - now it's doable.

I have not had money for doing things for so long that I am now out of practice at being with and talking to people but I am determined to start building the life I want.

Must stop now because I am avoiding painting the strips for the shelving - the task doesn't spark joy but the shelving will and it will be easier to get to the bottom end of 'under stairs' as I currently have some old kitchen units from the old house under there.

Flee_2

Count me in please.

mothernerd

Painting is done (although rather worryingly my lovely sunshine has disappeared). May have to go out and make a tent with another sheet of plastic and a broken trestle.

Just had painkillers and am back on the bed with chocolate biscuits (I know they're not in the diet). Going to find a film to watch before I bring the uprights inside for the final bit of drying.