New here and really need to sort myself out(please move if in wrong place)

gemmajenkins0208

Hard to think I've been trying to moneysave for 14 days now. Two whole weeks ago I wrote that first post!

Lots of using up things in the house going on, which I'm happy about

It's funny isn't it? Once you get into the mindset you want to/expect to use things up so quickly, as in the empties will be flying out the door at a rate of 2 a week or something silly hahaha

I cannot actually see a difference right now just by walking around the house, but it's stuff within cupboards, drawers, cabinets etc which is sort of what I want, then we can start to move things around a bit and declutter the stuff we do use, without having to move a great big pile of things we're only gonna eat/drink to use up or throw away anyway.

If the weather keeps up like this then my bf and I will be able to do a bonfire which will eliminate the 2 huge bags of kindling wood blocking the shed entrance, eliminate a bag full of product boxes from my room that's been in the garden for who knows how long, oh and the 3 shoeboxes I pulled down from off the top of my wardrobe the other day. This in turn means that dad will be able to get into the shed again, and use up some of the products in there to wash his car, and also put the sideboard drawer full of tools in their respective places in the shed.

We probably do have some things that we could sell too - bikes, garden equipment(we have someone coming to sort our garden out soon and then he'll come back as and when to maintain it and keep on top of it), camping equipment etc etc.

In all fairness I might get out there tomorrow while I have a day off work(weather depending) and start going through stuff and see what people say about my idea to sell etc.

maman

Don't worry that you aren't throwing loads of empties away gemma. Provided you have plenty of make up and toiletries and you aren't spending money buying any more then you're doing fine.


Have you thought of writing out a budget for the month, a bit like the SoAs on the debt free boards? I'm a bit worried that you've spent most of your money within days of pay day. The SoA is a bit like an advance spending diary so you can see where you might save.


Good luck with clearing the shed:).

gemmajenkins0208

Yes maman, I have enough to keep me going until at least Christmas at this rate! :rotfl:

Well, I have tried that before, but I don't earn much and while I have few outgoings, they are big ones. Plus there is always something I need to get each month. Well, there used to be. I think I am pretty much set for a while now. Once I get this christening and my time off work out the way, if my manager accepts my request for more hours, I'll be well away.

Haha thank you Where I was saying about selling my tablet before, I might try and wait to do it until a few weeks before Christmas, that way I can use the money from it just to try a cheap Christmas this year and get people little presents just using the money from that and trying not to touch my wages. Then I'll only have 6 more months of paying for my contract before I can cancel the tablet and look for a good deal for my phone, while still having a half decent phone

Tiddlywinks

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

Got the outfit for the christening!


Got a bomber jacket too as I have wanted one since they first came into work about a month or 2 ago and I will start wearing it once it starts to warm up outside.

Making good headway on my cosmetics I'm trying to use up, although I completely forgot to do anything hygiene related last night as my bf and I went to the pub and by the time we got back it was very late, we were very drunk and I just flopped on the bed and I was out! :rotfl:

How can you just 'forget' to shower, brush your teeth etc. I don't know why you think it's funny - all the way through this thread you seem to see showering etc as a chore that you're proud of if/when you actually manage to do it.

Then, you say you have very little money and that your BF is unemployed YET you're going out getting drunk and then have lost so much control you get more money out for a snack on the way home.

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

... but I don't earn much and while I have few outgoings, they are big ones. Plus there is always something I need to get each month. Well, there used to be. I think I am pretty much set for a while now. Once I get this christening and my time off work out the way, if my manager accepts my request for more hours, I'll be well away.

Haha thank you Where I was saying about selling my tablet before, I might try and wait to do it until a few weeks before Christmas, that way I can use the money from it just to try a cheap Christmas this year and get people little presents just using the money from that and trying not to touch my wages. Then I'll only have 6 more months of paying for my contract before I can cancel the tablet and look for a good deal for my phone, while still having a half decent phone

REALITY CHECK:

You've got a tablet on a contract that won't run out until next July yet you said in another post that this just sits in your bag most of the time.

Someone suggested a cheaper phone contract but you responded by saying you like your 'tech'.

You bought a bomber jacket on impulse.

You get your brows and nails done on payday.

Yet, you've just started a different thread about how your whole family is struggling with numerous doorstep loans.

Sorry, but using up a few can of peaches and throwing away a few boxes is just not really addressing the main problem.

You are spending money you can't afford. You need to sell everything you can, pay as much of the loans off as possible and STOP SPENDING.

Pluck your own eyebrows and leave your nails unpolished... and drink water and stay sober.

Sorry, but someone needs to say it.

gemmajenkins0208

Yes, thank you Tiddlywinks.

That night my bf and I went out was the first time we did so since Christmas, and the drinks we had on Christmas we didn't even pay for.

This is the first time I am trying to be serious about this, so I think small steps is the way forward for me otherwise I won't get anything done and we'll be even worse off.

We don't live beyond our means, but we do literally break even every month. We're basically living paycheck to paycheck.

I want to do fajitas for tea tonight, we have the wraps, the fajita sauce, I just need the chicken. I don't get out work until 6pm tonight so I'm hoping I can get it yellow sticker. If I can't get it yellow sticker, I won't buy it at all and I'll make do from whatever we have in the freezer for tea.

Tiddlywinks

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

Yes, thank you Tiddlywinks.

That night my bf and I went out was the first time we did so since Christmas, and the drinks we had on Christmas we didn't even pay for.

This is the first time I am trying to be serious about this, so I think small steps is the way forward for me otherwise I won't get anything done and we'll be even worse off.

We don't live beyond our means, but we do literally break even every month. We're basically living paycheck to paycheck.

I want to do fajitas for tea tonight, we have the wraps, the fajita sauce, I just need the chicken. I don't get out work until 6pm tonight so I'm hoping I can get it yellow sticker. If I can't get it yellow sticker, I won't buy it at all and I'll make do from whatever we have in the freezer for tea.

You ARE living beyond your means because of all the outstanding debt.

Your tablet is on a contract - so you're paying by instalments.

Stay away from the unnecessary spending and pay off those loans - that's the most important thing for your financial well being.

gemmajenkins0208

Well, in that sense yes I guess, but since realising they have done more harm than good we aren't like some who have hundreds more going out each month than they have going in.

We don't gamble, we don't have days out, we don't buy high end brands of tech(TV's, games consoles, computers etc), clothes, makeup, appliances etc.

We don't spend more than we need to at the shops, mum goes in, gets what she needs to make a few meals for a few days and leaves, even if this means just getting a huge bag of spuds or chips and a couple bags of sausages.

As I also said in a previous post, which you most probably missed, after my recent expenditures(again first spends since Christmas) I don't feel I need to spend anymore on anything. My clothes are good for a couple of years at least, I have tonnes of toiletries/cosmetics to get through etc.

Yes we probably do have stuff to sell, but a lot of it is either in bits(actual product in a different place to the box) or it's very well packed away, and I'm the only one with online seller accounts but I'm doing a lot of overtime at work right now so I will sort through it all when I'm free to do so(hopefully Monday if I don't get asked over the weekend to do any extra hours)

pleasedelete

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

We don't gamble, we don't have days out, we don't buy high end brands of tech(TV's, games consoles, computers etc), clothes, makeup, appliances etc.

Most people (regardless for how well off they are don't do those things) do you think that they do and you have been trying to live up to an image that isn't real?

gemmajenkins0208

pleasedelete wrote: »

Most people (regardless for how well off they are don't do those things) do you think that they do and you have been trying to live up to an image that isn't real?

No not at all.

Just i do know of people who do indeed do/buy these things to an extent.

By that i mean, they will buy a new TV or fridge or freezer or something every few years.

We have had our same fridge for about 20 years and it has even moved house with us.

The TV in our kitchen was the very TV i had in my room when i was 6 years old.

I'm really starting to get into the mindset that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

gemmajenkins0208

Forgot to add - used up the jar of fajita sauce this evening as after work i managed to get a pack of 2 chicken breast fillets yellow stickered to 20p! And the tortillas were on the reduced bread table for either 20 or 30p so i didn't do too badly at all!