Lemons to Lemonade!!

Hopefuljoy

Good morning chums!! How goes?? I'm on my third day of wwatchurrs and finding it t okay. Counting points accurately and sticking to the plan.

I now have seventy portions of meals in the freezer!!! Still a few to make if I have time but I'm now focused on marking books before we go back on Monday. I'm not very good at multi tasking as you can tell!!:(

On MSE front it's been very good!! £4.54 on milk, eggs, bread, teabags and a couple of bars of chocolate for me and DR. My one was counted properly and taken out of the weekly treats allowance!!:A all that's needed untill Thursday is petrol and food for packed lunches. Then the CSA money will be tightly budgeted to pay off half the overdraft and use the other half to see us through to pay day on 25th.

As I write this our yorkie is sitting on my lap making sure I do it properly. I am amazed I even have cats let alone a dog. I was always scared of animals and swore I'd never get any. When we left Him though the children begged me for a kitten and I caved! We ended up with two and after a solitary hour of protest from me they were in the children's bedrooms. They have been really healing and we now have a stripey silver tabby (in my avatar ), a fuzzy black and white girl and a really small pure black short hair.

Two years ago DD won her long campaign about a dog. What a journey that was!!! We have a small house. The footprint is 25 ft by 15.5 ft and three bedrooms are squeezed in upstairs. The garden is just right at 45 ft long but I had to be careful for the dogs sake especially as it would be on its own while DD was at school each day. So I Google! !!:rotfl:

I literally searched for dogs that don't shed, can be left all day and need no more than forty minutes exercise a day. It came up with ten breeds and it was between yorkie and maltese for size and other attributes. The maltese would have cost £1400 from a reputable breeder!!!:eek: so we met a lovely proper breeder of yorkies, (£.500) met the mother and father and all the puppies and our one pootled over to DD sat in her lap and went to sleep!:)

Puppies for p dummies was a real help as we knew the personality we liked and we did all the tests. He is perfect and I've gone from dog tolerater to lover:T:T he uses the cat flap to have a change of scene during the day and the cats think he is a strange smelling cat hybrid so they play with him. The youngest allows him to play fight and groom her.

We collected him at sixteen weeks old as the breeder kept him until the christmas hols and I fell in love!!! With our dog not the breeder :rotfl:

Anyhow. Enough of my warbling on! In short our animals are lovely and have been a wonderful addition to our family.

Right I must heave my carcass into the shower and get marking! !!! )have a good day everyone!

Today I am grateful for

Wwatchurrs and the new start it's giving me
The cat lying on my tummy and purring.
My friends at work

milasavesmoney

Subscribed and am here to support and cheer you on to debt freedom.

My husband is a retired teacher/coach (34 yrs) and having the mortgage paid off certainly makes a real difference in financial comfort level, once retired. It really is a goal worth achieving!
Your numbers look good. Could you cut down any more on petrol?

I was wondering if you have an emergency fund? It is important to have a cushion for the inevitable things that break down. You might set up a direct deposit into a savings account that is not convenient to use. (No unwarranted dipping into) That way, you never see the money but know it's adding up nicely. Even a small amount monthly, adding up over time, will help lesson the financial blow when you you need money to replace or repair something.

You have no entertainment fund. That is where you could designate a small sum for you and DD to have your L'Oreal moments. As a teacher you need to have a few of those to keep your sanity.

Since paying off your car, then your CC is you first goal, how much do you plan to over pay? Knowing the amount of money you will pay helps you not think 'oh I still have money I can spend'. Treat it like any other bill.

You are smart, you are determined, you can do this!! Keep posting. That will help you stay on track and afford us lovely subscribers the opportunity to encourage you and share your journey. Think of it as a diary for all your ups and downs, what you are doing, successes, confession time :eek: etc.

Looking forward to your posts.

Hopefuljoy

What an encouraging post Milasaves!!! I've just arrived downstairs after eight hours marking ready for Monday and have lesson planning after church tomorrow. Will the fun ever begin!!!:mad:

I really envy you being retired now. 34 years is a mighty long time for teaching. I'm convinced teaching years are like dog years!:D:cool:

In answer to your questions ..... we have £10 per week for entertainment and we do use Amazon Prime free films and series a lot!:T So either we spend on ents in little bits or save it up for the end of the month and have a meal out or cinema trip. That seems to do us fine at the moment as we're so busy with work and her GCSEs. :eek:

My pertrol is fine tuned unfortunately although on reflection if I walked more I could probably save £5 a week. On May 1st I shall start a challenge to see how far I can get it down!!!:) Thanks for prodding me about that one.:rotfl:

Ref emergency fund I have taken Martin's :money:advice from the pay of debt or save advice and have my 0% credit card for just such a thing. Following his rules I am prioritising debt over savings until it is all gone. I am not disciplined enough to do it any other way unfortunately!! :eek:Once all the debt is gone I shall divert all my spare money into paying off my mortgage and keep a 0% card handy. I will also give said card to my sister so I can't spend on it anyway!!:(:)

For replacements and home repairs I allocate £50 pcm using YNAB and keep in the Yrokshire Bank. I've had to draw on it recently and it's back down to zero but will start to build back up next month. I also do this for car maintenance and save a small amount each month for all other 'unexpected' but predicatable expenses like insurance. YNAB taught me to do this!! It's fab!:T

As I send money to my other bank for living expenses each month and leave the Yrokshire one at home as it's for direct debits the plan is that it will become a savings account by default. It has 2% interest as well which will be tax free since the law has just changed. Hurrah!

My overpayment on the car is going to be £85 pcm minimum (1% per fortnight) and I mark GCSE exams in the summer so will pay off another £800 or so at the end of July. I want the car loan gone by Christmas!!

Thanks for posting Milasaves. I am a real blurter so this will definitely be warts and all!

Hopefuljoy

Florence J, I didn't mean to miss you out!! I've been over to your diary and you are one phenomenal woman! Your self discipline is extraordinary and I intend to build up my resistence to shiny objects as much as you have. In my case the shiny objects are invariably food related!!

I hope you're having a really great weekend!

Littlebirdie

Hopefuljoy wrote: »

What an encouraging post Milasaves!!! I've just arrived downstairs after eight hours marking ready for Monday and have lesson planning after church tomorrow. Will the fun ever begin!!!:mad:

I really envy you being retired now. 34 years is a mighty long time for teaching. I'm convinced teaching years are like dog years!:D:cool:

In answer to your questions ..... we have £10 per week for entertainment and we do use Amazon Prime free films and series a lot!:T So either we spend on ents in little bits or save it up for the end of the month and have a meal out or cinema trip. That seems to do us fine at the moment as we're so busy with work and her GCSEs. :eek:

My pertrol is fine tuned unfortunately although on reflection if I walked more I could probably save £5 a week. On May 1st I shall start a challenge to see how far I can get it down!!!:) Thanks for prodding me about that one.:rotfl:

Ref emergency fund I have taken Martin's :money:advice from the pay of debt or save advice and have my 0% credit card for just such a thing. Following his rules I am prioritising debt over savings until it is all gone. I am not disciplined enough to do it any other way unfortunately!! :eek:Once all the debt is gone I shall divert all my spare money into paying off my mortgage and keep a 0% card handy. I will also give said card to my sister so I can't spend on it anyway!!:(:)

For replacements and home repairs I allocate £50 pcm using YNAB and keep in the Yrokshire Bank. I've had to draw on it recently and it's back down to zero but will start to build back up next month. I also do this for car maintenance and save a small amount each month for all other 'unexpected' but predicatable expenses like insurance. YNAB taught me to do this!! It's fab!:T

As I send money to my other bank for living expenses each month and leave the Yrokshire one at home as it's for direct debits the plan is that it will become a savings account by default. It has 2% interest as well which will be tax free since the law has just changed. Hurrah!

My overpayment on the car is going to be £85 pcm minimum (1% per fortnight) and I mark GCSE exams in the summer so will pay off another £800 or so at the end of July. I want the car loan gone by Christmas!!

Thanks for posting Milasaves. I am a real blurter so this will definitely be warts and all!

Hey following your thread and it's great. I really like how honest you are about the medication you are on - I wish more people spoke about it! I was just wondering if you could tell me more about YNAB.....I'm considering getting it!

Hopefuljoy

Hello Littlebirdie and thank you for your comments! ! Against the advice of family I'm also honest about it in RL but not to get sympathy or favours. It's for the same reason you mentioned, mental health problems are another one of those things that people are scared of and I'm a quite open to make less scary. Mind you its not how I introduce myself, just when the timing or situation is right!!:A

YNAB is fabulous! ! If you go on the website you get a free trial and full access to al the free tutorials. It's based on some very simple ideas like if you don't have the money physically yet you cannot use it to budget. So my 248 CSA money arrives Thursday and until then I have 5.45 put aside for a coffee with a friend. I'm not drawing against the money coming in as it might never!!

Also as soon as money comes in every pound is given a job on my budget. I can see how much I have to spend when I go shopping as it links to my mobile and as soon as I spend I bung it on the mobile as well. Then I know how much I have left.:T

I haven't made it sound very sexy but it really is! !! I can't recommend it highly enough as it utterly changed the way I look at my finances!!! It's now subscription based but I would still get it again. I've gone from really struggling to actually believeING I can pay off my mortgage!!!:A

Now so my friends. I had a real wwatchurrs shock yesterday. My DD brought home three lemon and lime slices from her work for me courtesy of her gorgeous but sadly married to his husband manager . That's another one off my list of future husbands!!!:rotfl: Anyhow before the diet I was LOrealling these down at a fair rate...... so I calculated the points carefully and the grand total was.....20!!!:eek::eek:

My daily allowance for all food is 30 so my flabber was gasted! ! Once I cut them up into quarters they were only a centI metre square as well. Stuff those, they're not worth it!:T so I had one cm square for old times sake and recorded it under the weekly treats allowance. That's a huge lesson learned. If I want cake I will make them myself save money and select lightweight recipes. .

My alarms just gone so must get up much as I hate to!! Dog has just arrived and jumped on my bed, curled up into a little doughnut shape and generally looks gorgeous. Still must get up though!!

Hope everyone has a peaceful Sunday and I'm grateful for...

The sun streaming in through my window
The bird singing outside.
The summer months coming soon! :T

brizzledfw

Have a great day HJ!

Florence_J

Hi HJ, thanks for your kind reply about me. I honestly would say getting into debt is the best thing that ever happened to me (please let me explain first). Without reaching this point i would never have learnt the value of money. I had some terrible habits. I was insecure and was looking for the shiny object that would make my life better. I had to change my life for the better myself. I am now excited about every penny i save, and i am obsessed with this forum. I wish you the best for today.

Hopefuljoy

Thanks Florence and Brizzle!! I did have a very busy day but a good one. Planned lessons for Y8 (each of us in the dept is in charge of a Year) and sent them round to my colleagues then did some marking and that is about it. Oh yes... I also visited the Aged Ps and saw my middle sister there as well. It was quite relaxing.

As part of Wwatchurrs i've decided to avoid wine as much as poss. It's a depressent anyway so I shouldn't really drink it at all. Today is my 5th AFD and I feel a lot better and healthier already!! I hope everyone's return to school goes well, parents, teachers and pupils alike! Catch you all after the fray tomorrow!

milasavesmoney

Great posts! You are doing really well at all things. You have your budget well in hand. Impressive stuff as to how well you have educated yourself.:T

I have been on depression meds for years and years. I've tried a few times to get off and that was a disaster. Some people have situational issues and some have chemical imbalances. I fall into the latter spectrum. Because I must take my meds I fight with weight too (they make me hungry). I had lost over 60 lbs. and then our son died (alcoholism) and I ate it all right back on to my body. Food is my downfall. So, now that it has been a few years since his death, I'm ready to get back to a healthy weight. I know I can because I did it before.

Wishing you a great week in all regards!!