NST April - SPRING INTO ACTION

cybertortoise

Yesterday I did my allocated exercise, I had to go to town so walked instead of drove. Today I plan on doing my exercise after tea on the rowing machine I bought in October and used once. No unplanned spends yesterday. And no spends at all today so 1/20 accomplished.

I think I can bring my DFD forward by at least a month if I rejig my budget so will do that this evening.

apple_muncher

A lovely day has been had in appleworld.

Dsd is staying for a couple of nights,which dd loves.

I did a workout this morning: ZWOW 40. Rather shoulder/arm heavy with burpees and kneeling clapping press ups.

Then I walked to and from the shops - we were low on milk so I also got other things we needed (that were on the list, of course!)

After lunch (yep, 9 veggies - go me!!) we headed to the scout centre for a Kids Klub afternoon. We did the climbing wall (boy is it scary!), the assault course and the traversing wall. All finished off with a bonfire and toasted marshmallows. My shoulders will no doubt ache hugely tomorrow...and I'll not do much of this::T

Welcome bebby - I echo what eager elephant has said. For me, the biggest eye-opener was keeping a spending diary and seeing at the end of the month just what had been spent on what. I don't have multiple bank accounts, but we do have 4 accounts with first direct -mortgage, current+ 2x savings.

Fmess

cybertortoise - yay to bringing your debt free date forward


apple - how did you manage 9 veggies!


Today was SFD number 1 I have nearly done 10,000 steps, will make sure I get there by bed, but annoyed that I have missed out on my target of 11,000. I have also only had 3 fruit or veg, must try harder!

mothernerd

A SFD for me.

Went for a walk on the canal bank. I was out for about an hour and a half but very slow and sat down a few times. Not as 'boggy' as I was expecting but lots of puddles and tripped and nearly fell as soon as I got onto the bank (had to pull myself up the steps) and lost confidence a bit. Did one set of steep steps and the bad bridge coming back (but went under the bridge so did the slightly easier side of it). Also had to hold the bottom of the first steps and swing round to land on soft earth rather than the huge puddle. So slow progress but difficult terrain (some serious heart pumping).

I stopped at the bus station to sit down and 'not quite random kindness' nearly got me in trouble. Second bus drew into the stop. Three groups of people got on it. I noticed a bag by one of the sides of the shelter but there was still one group behind the shelter (smokers lean against the wall) that it could have belonged to. They moved off so I picked the bag up and went onto the bus to ask if it belonged to anyone.

No-one claimed it so driver radioed the office and asked if I was okay to wait until someone came across to collect it. I sat down again. He got off the bus and said no-one was answering and we opened the bag together. A girl (one half of a young couple who were by the bus when i asked about the bag) came over and said it was her friend's. Driver asked what was in it. Her partner and the supposed friend got off but would not show ID when the driver asked.

The other two were abusing the driver and the girl tried to grab the bag (all three of them were obviously very drunk or on something) and swore at me when I kept hold of it. Then the driver told me to let her have the bag, he would turn in the cctv footage from the bus to the police.

The young couple were still muttering insults when I left. I did take the precaution of checking when I was half way home to see if they had followed me (DS3 and his gf were out). If they had been I would have gone into one of the shops were they know me or carried on to my mum's cousin's house.

I have had a tiny bit of sugar. I was thirsty on the way home and wished I hadn't vetoed buying diet decaff coke (SM own brand 53p for 2 litres). I try to only have it once a week but that's been building up lately. May include it in next shopping day but wasn't going to lose a SFD for it. So I had a tiny bit of vimto cordial (bought for DS3's gf on last visit) to my cup of water (about the size of a 50 p piece but not as thick) but in the interests of full disclosure.

Have done a load of washing, a little bit of mum's filing, watched a video my local history buddy wants me to watch, had a bath and washed my hair made a couple of salad bowls up (+ generous amount of cauli and broccoli with cooked meal). All meals from stores. Hoping I can do a week before buying anything but will pick a good ys day if the salads run out.

Today I am grateful for
watching the antics of a mother duck, three babies and four grown males on the canal
for the way my hair feels when its clean
that nasty people wouldn't stop me doing the things I did today again
that I can't do any cleaning as I've used all the cleaning rags and it was too wet to dry them today (should probably rip up another couple of old sheets).

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone & happy April!

Calling thanks for running the challenge this month, it's looking great!

Apologies for not posting yesterday. I've had this horrible flu-type virus and have been absolutely exhausted after getting home from work. Ive got a few days off before I'm due back in, so hoping to start recovering.

The start of the month is quite tight for us. I've had 2 interviews that I've had to travel to the other side of the country and find accommodation for. I'm due £100 back in expenses but I've got no idea when I will get it. I had an interview with the same organisation last year and they were really slow sorting the payment.

We have a holiday booked at the end of this month (a holiday park booked with sun tokens, and 1 night in a city hotel) so I'm trying to empty the contents of our freezer so I can defrost it and turn it off before we go. I have done a meal plan for the month and shouldn't need to buy much, so 20 SFDs should be achievable.

My grocery budget for the month is £200. This includes food shopping for our holiday, as we are staying in a self catering chalet.

Fuel budget is £70, as we will need extra for our holiday.

Have set a holiday budget of £200. We are planning to eat in a restaurant once whilst at the holiday park, and will need to buy food when staying in the city (little ones have asked to get a take away to eat in the hotel, which will be cheaper than a restaurant meal). I have converted £5 worth of supermarket vouchers into £20 days out coupons, so the attraction we want to visit will cost us just under £10 instead of £30. The budget will also have to cover any drinks, souvenirs etc, but am planning to take lots of supplies with us to minimise spending whilst away.

I'm not 100% sure about my DFD yet, mainly because I'm unsure about work. My contract had been extended until the end of June but I don't know what will happen after that. If I am kept on then I should be able to clear my debt in June/July, but I'm trying to put a little away at the moment in case I'm not kept on.

Children are off for another week but I can't afford to spend on days out so will aim to get out for walks and to the park, which will also help me to up the exercise.

I also need to book a smear (I'm actually long overdue) so promise to get that booked.

Sorry for the long post.

[Deleted User]

Wow - what a lot happened for you today mothernerd; I'm glad nothing stopped you either
NSD here; I did go out for a walk but later in the day when less likely to succumb to temptation. I know tomorrow will need to be a spend day (or Monday) as I need fuel. I made headway in some very difficult jobs but not the ones that will benefit me most. They loom over me for tomorrow, but I have a day out with a friend walking first . I find that starting overwhelming tasks is the worst bit, so have begun one - the sorting out of the loft area - even though I have only spent 30 minutes on it it feels less daunting to be picking it up and continuing it tomorrow . Budgets set for the month, and signature updated. Excited also to have arranged to swap to a lower rate mortgage. Final paperwork linked to that coming out next week. Good night all!

Calling14

Xspender You have now been numbered. Great news about your Dh promotion.
Debtfreedolly I have given you a number. Hedgehog hospital awww
Fmess glad you haven't got subsidence
Snowwhite love peppermint foot cream so fleshing.
Crazy_lady very sad news re young lady in the clipper race.
Applemuncher 9veggies gold star for you.
Cybertortoise hope you manage to move DFD forward
Mothernerd how scary for you. Bravery award on its way
Welshkitty good luck flu, took over 4 weeks for my chest to clear up.

misstara

Well today I had planned a NSD, however, went along to a charity event this afternoon through work and ended up spending £9 on raffle tickets and tablet. Won a few toiletries in the raffle so they have gone into the stash. I'm very popular with OH as he loves tablet so he's been happily munching away. I had a square so that's my sugar quota for the month :rotfl:

Went to the gym this morning plus walked to and from work. Slightly better on the fruit/veg front today. Made a £9.33 payment to the debt

Calling14

I had a lovely day, treated to nice lunch out, long walk after. Have to confess only ate 3 vegetables today no fruit. Sfd gained

So full missed out on tea, but ate bowl of ice cream just now.

Tomorrow I will do better, no hangover will help.

Long walk planned.

Today read gas/electric meters and on track well owe them £6.40. Might be trying to keep my heating off from now as so mild tonight.

erin_transport

evening all,

Got my experian credit report in the post today. Quite disappointed with the lack of info and detail in it. Nothing worrying in it. Nothing interesting either. Lesson learned. Won't be doing that again. £2 wasted.

Life insurance renewed this morning. Only a £5 haggled off the annual quote but some other bolt-on benefits added to the policy.

Updated my pension online by £5 per month. Not a big increase but it's not a huge priority to me at the minute.

Going to a sport event later this afternoon with 4 little ones. £3 each. Already budgeted for. Will bring our own water and snacks for after with us. Might go to park after but it's weather dependant.

Dinner prepped for this evening. Just need to pop it into the oven when we get home. Am planning to batch cook a giant carbonara that will do 4 maybe 5 evening dinners. Ingredients all in the cupboard and trays purchased a few weeks ago. Hope I get the ratios right.

Direct debit from new elec supplier came out of bank account today. £207. Pleased to report it's a lot less than previous supplier. £100 saved!

French nails update. Left hand looks great. Right hand - disaster. Should have got one of the little ones to do it - might have been neater! Will have another go soon. Practice might make perfect.