A path out of the Jumble

Jumblerina

Good Evening Diary,

Even though I strayed a little from the debt free path, I'm determined to get back on track and a key part of that is a monthly budget review. With that in mind - here's my review of October.

Overall budget for October: £2751
Actual spend for October: £2649

Food Spends

Budget: £240
Actual: £285.38 (-£45.48)

Whilst I'm over budget this month, it's not by much and it's allowed us to make lunches and coffee for work each day. We also limited how much we eat out, which can be anything from £10-15 a time.

Travel

Budget: £110
Actual: £139.38 (-£29.38)

I'm over budget here too - yet I expected to be, I've been doing reduced hours at work and I've spent more on bus and taxi fares.

Personal Spending

Budget: £150
Actual: £369.83 (-£219.83)

This is the second month running I've been significantly over budget here, I'd like to say it's because I've been out having fun but alas - it's mainly household spends. With £149.99 spent on a new vacuum cleaner, almost £20 on bird seed and 39.99 for a thank you gift for my Mum - it's scary how quickly spends build up :eek:

To help me see where I am with household versus personal spends, I'm going to separate them in Novembers budget. This will help me to understand exactly how much I need to be putting in an emergency fund and a regular household fund.

Household bills

Budget: £649
Actual: £629.27 (+£19.73)

Glad to come in under budget somewhere made a saving on my home phone/broadband costs which helped. Need to make sure I keep an eye on anything coming up for renewal to make sure I get the best deals.

Puppy Costs

Budget: £266.50
Actual: £378.73 (-£112.83)

This is another area where I need to get a handle on spends, with some more unexpected spends coming in £50 on an 8 week puppy class, £26+ on a vet bill and over £40 on new food, collar, training treats and ear wipes! None of the costs this month have been frivolous, all were needed. I guess it's going to take a little while to adjust to the true costs of having a puppy.

Debt Payments

Budget: £1100
Actual: £773 (-£327)

Due to the overspends in other areas this month, namely household and puppy costs - the amount I've been able to put by for debt repayments is less I really don't want to make a habit of this. I've got 0% deals coming to an end in Spring 2017 and want to be in good shape with my savings to be able to pay them off.

Focus for the month ahead

I've got additional costs coming up in November with my London trip, Bonfire Party and family meal. My main focus is keeping these costs to a sensible minimum while still having fun and thinking before I spend.

As with all spends, budgeted or not - I'll be thinking before I make a purchase and tracking my spending to keep myself on track. I already know I've got an extra bill coming for fencing (estimated £350) so will have to keep my treats to a minimum.

Jumblerina xxx

Jumblerina

Morning Diary,

A foggy start to the day - I did want to go out today, so I could spend at least one of my days off having fun! Although on reflection, I'd need to get there (£20-ish travel costs), grab coffee (£8-ish), lunch (£15-ish) and be tempted to do Christmas shopping.

When I really think about it, I'm not completely sure how much I'll have spare as I haven't got the bill for the fencing yet. It's just 10 days to my London trip where I'll need to pay for the Hotel and some spending money. I allow myself £150/month for personal spending - £23.19 of that has already been spent on lunch/takeaway in the last week :eek:

Plus - my house could do with a really good clean and a de-clutter of the cupboards/drawers we use most often. It's amazing how they get untidy again so quickly! I'm going to put my summer clothes away too - I won't be needing them again for a while :rotfl:

So, today I'll stay in, make my own coffee and potentially a cake and have the following done by the end of the day;

- Clean bedroom and change sheets
- Clear out wardrobe/drawers of summer clothes/put clean clothes away
- Clean the bathroom
- Vacuum everywhere, including the stairs which are a pain to do!
- Sweep and mop living room & kitchen
- Dust and tidy living room
- Deep clean kitchen
- Wash doggy blankets - the kitchen smells like doggies :rotfl:
- Clean utility room
- Do a load of washing
- Make dinner

That should keep me suitably busy - back to work tomorrow, so want to have the house ship shape I'm working from home on Thursday and have a tonne of admin to do! So there's no time for chores, it will be eyes down and wading through all the paperwork.

Hope you all have a happy Tuesday

Jumblerina xxx

doingitanyway

Nice to see you back Jumblerina. Your job list for today is epic and will keep you busy. I hope you bake a cake and put your feet up after with a coffee and a slice a cake when you have finished.

You got a little off track, but you have caught yourself and you are ready to go again, so well done.

I don't have a working oven so I can't bake and I miss it!

I'm thinking coffee and walnut cake or lemon drizzle

Jumblerina

Thanks Orange Ena and DIA it's good to be back on track, thanks for your kind words. I didn't end up making cake in the end DIA, all is not lost as there will be free cake tomorrow at my work training event

Jumblerina

Good Afternoon Diary,

Had a productive day and rewarded myself with a couple of hours snuggling on the sofa with my puppy watching N@tflix

Made good progress with my to-do list

- [STRIKE]Clean bedroom and change sheets [/STRIKE]
- Clear out wardrobe/drawers of summer clothes/[STRIKE]put clean clothes away [/STRIKE]- still need to put away summer clothes
- [STRIKE]Clean the bathroom [/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Vacuum everywhere, including the stairs which are a pain to do![/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Sweep and mop living room & kitchen [/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Deep clean kitchen[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Wash doggy blankets[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Clean utility room [/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Do a load of washing[/STRIKE] - 2 loads done as well as my jumpers and the mildewy shower curtain
- Make dinner - yet to do

I've just got to;

- Make dinner
- Make lunches for tomorrow
- Pack work bag
- Measure out puppies food
- Have a shower and an early night

Hope you all have a lovely evening

Jumblerina xxx

Tinkerbelle2000

Wow Jumblerina you have been so busy you deserved that early night.

I'm hoping I can get lists going like that next week when I am on holiday.

Tink xx

Jumblerina

Thanks Tink - I never thought I'd get so excited about cleaning on my days off :rotfl: you can't beat a nice tidy house xxx

Jumblerina

Good Evening Diary and fellow debtfreers,

I started writing a post last night but abandoned it, as I was feeling very tired after my all day training course and was pretty chilly - so had a nice early night

I did have another takeaway last night :eek: - it's a terrible habit I get into when I'm tired, being over-tired puts me in a terrible 'can't be bothered' state of mind. I end up eating things I shouldn't, spending money I haven't got and feeling even worse. It's a vicious circle and one I find myself in, again and again.

When I get some rest and a decent nights sleep, I'm fine again and wonder what the hell I was thinking! :mad:

I ran out of milk today and despite working from home - I was trying to keep the heating off, ended up cold and then eating snacks all day! Everything is out of balance again, I need to make it simple, get rest, eat simply and well, talk it through with my OH.

Had jacket potato for dinner, chatted with my Dad and also my brother - both of them always make me feel better and are two of my very favourite people. Had a chat with a good friend this afternoon about some work worries I've got too - which made me feel better too.

It's at times like this when you really appreciate the people you have in your life and it puts everything else into perspective. It's almost the weekend, we've got a family bonfire party which will be fun and I want to spend some quality time with my best friend.

I'll also be preparing some easy meals and popping some stuff in the freezer for when I need a good meal but I'm too tired. I'm only in the office for 3 days next week, as got some time off and will be off to London with my best friend - can't wait :j

Hope you're all having a great week

Jumblerina xxx

Tinkerbelle2000

Can't wait to hear about your London trip, any advise for ours will be much appreciated.

The first boss I ever had used the saying "tidy desk, tidy mind" all the time and I try to use that with my house too. I don't ever seem to settle properly if something needs doing.

I do exactly the same and go into a CBA state when I'm tired. It's not a good place to be and I've been tired a lot lately. Think I might look at starting Vitamin D as I've seen that mentioned on here a lot.

Hope you have a lovely bonfire night.

Tink xx

Jumblerina

Thanks Tink how long is it until your London trip now? It's so exciting you're totally right about the tidy house thing, it's just a much better feeling. Let me know how you get on with the Vitamin D - it seems a lot of people are feeling tired at the moment, maybe it's the change in weather. Make sure you take it easy xxx