It's not a lot, but it's enough

SpekySquarehead

joeyjimbles wrote: »

I'm so glad I mentioned Topcashback and Quidco - you won't get rich, but anytime you are making a big purchase you can make a few pounds. Not everything tracks of course, but we made £55 on car insurance and I got £25 for DS2s sim only contract (which was only £6/month anyway!). The other thing I do is that if I want to buy anything from somewhere like Debenhams or other stores that do click and collect, I may see it in the store but then I'll try and buy it online via TCB and I get a little percentage back. I let it add up and then use it towards a girls trip that I take once a year - its sort of guilt-free spending money for just adding a couple of clicks onto budgeted spending.

Glad you had a good weekend, and delighted that your GFs friends are supportive - so important to have a good network of positive people around you at any time but particularly when things are a bit difficult.

Yes, thank you again for introducing me to it. I'll be sure to use it when making the larger purchases. Great thinking. :beer:

SpekySquarehead

Long day at work yesterday which meant an NSD plus today, after work, I’ll be using a free pass to go to my friends gym so today will be another NSD which will give me a total of 13 for the month, my new record. July will be my 3rd month in a row of trying to collect as many NSD’s as possible and I finally feel that I’m determined to achieve the best I can. Meaning; I’ll think twice about nipping out at lunch for a little something to eat or hold off as long as possible to go to a SM and get a big shop in.

We’re now halfway through the year and now that I’m not going to Korea, I’m going to make a huge effort to get rid of my debt asap and that really excites me. I can’t wait to update you all on my progress.

SpekySquarehead

It’s payday tomorrow and as I won’t spend anything today, so I can comfortably review June. I went into June with about £300 in my account and I’ve now got about £550. Again, this is completely thanks to YNAB.

Petrol - £169.10
Under my £180 budget and lower than last month. Although the first thing I’ll do tomorrow once I’m paid is fill the car up.

Debt - £0.00
Worrying, but not at the same time. This is because I finally sorted my balance transfer and I was charged for that. So my next minimum payment is 3rd July. Not so worrying though as the £500 odd I have will go towards the debt.

Cash - £120.00
As usual, this is put down to nights out and the like. Higher than I’d like but I had fun – shoot me.

Avoidable - £552.01
Avoidable may be the wrong word. £162.28 on car repairs, £90 for a new suit for my grans funeral, £90 for the hotel at the wedding etc.

My predictions for last month were pretty spot on, “my diary is empty apart from the wedding I'll be attending. That concerns me though as I've a feeling some impulse events may happen”. I don’t seem to have much on in July which worries me. I’ve a haircut booked for Saturday and that’s about it.

I’m going to challenge myself to stay away from supermarkets as much as possible and rack up the NSD’s!

joeyjimbles

That's brilliant - well done. I think perhaps it would be worth having a budget for some nights out, give yourself permission to have that time out/in/whatever but keep yourself accountable at the same time. That way you won't feel that you've 'failed' if you do decide to do something - and conversely if you don't spent it then you can pay that money off your debts or into your emergency funds.

SpekySquarehead

joeyjimbles wrote: »

That's brilliant - well done. I think perhaps it would be worth having a budget for some nights out, give yourself permission to have that time out/in/whatever but keep yourself accountable at the same time. That way you won't feel that you've 'failed' if you do decide to do something - and conversely if you don't spent it then you can pay that money off your debts or into your emergency funds.

Good idea. I'll implement that for July.

Thanks for stopping by. :beer:

louby40

Hi


Been reading your diary and really enjoyed reading it! Well done on getting your debt down.


Wish I'd been a bit more responsible in my 20's. I feel like I've been overdrawn my whole adult life. At 47 I'm sorting it out now.


Lou

SpekySquarehead

louby40 wrote: »

Hi


Been reading your diary and really enjoyed reading it! Well done on getting your debt down.


Wish I'd been a bit more responsible in my 20's. I feel like I've been overdrawn my whole adult life. At 47 I'm sorting it out now.


Lou

Morning :j

I feel like its a big black cloud hanging over me - constantly. I feel like i can't truly enjoy myself until it's gone so I'm determined to do so.

The good thing is your starting as there are many who will bury their head in the sand forever. Good on you and we'll all be supporting you throughout the way.

SpekySquarehead

Morning everyone,

It was the first weekend after payday and proved to be costly. Spends were as follows;

Petrol - £43.23
Minimum cc payment - £65.42
Haircut - £25.00
Drinks with friends (1 round) - £4.80
Groceries - £9.81
Lunch - £8.00
Dinner - £36.80
Candles from Ikea - £1.70
Car parking - £4.00

I've got a Groupon deal for dinner for £8 (paid for last month) which I'll redeem on Friday with the GF, so I shouldn't be going out for any more lunches/dinners this month. Similarly I won't need another haircut for 4-5 weeks. So although a costly weekend, it should tide me over for a while.

With that in mind, a quiet weekend ahead and a NSD today. I had cereal before I left for work and brought 2 bits of bread and a tin of beans. I say that, though when I was out a saw a lot of places had a sale on and I may look online for birthday/xmas gifts.

So lets start collecting these NSD's!

SpekySquarehead

Just got an email from my library to say that the Kon Marie book I reserved is now in!!!!

Can't wait to get stuck in and it'll hopefully motivate me to live the minimalist life.

I also heard of a few other books from various famous successful people who said it changed their prespective on life and I like that potential life changing read. Update you all soon.

joeyjimbles

There is a great thread on here about Kon Marie as well https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5385103

I haven't read the book but followed the thread for a while, and looked at a lot of youtube videos and found it very helpful. I probably need to revisit it as I need to get through a load of stuff left over from redecorating the boys' bedrooms and discarding stuff they are too big for these days.