Slimming the Wallet... and Me!

Seasidegal58

I'm afraid to admit I like next day pizza as well..........:o

Well done on the LSD and good news on your pay. It's nice to spend it on the family and as you say, at least you won't be putting it on your card.

The low cal frozen yoghurt sounds a very good idea. Must investigate.....

Alarae

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

I'm afraid to admit I like next day pizza as well..........:o

Well done on the LSD and good news on your pay. It's nice to spend it on the family and as you say, at least you won't be putting it on your card.

The low cal frozen yoghurt sounds a very good idea. Must investigate.....

You definitely should! It's absolutely lush. Another one I can recommend are Skinny Cow (really!) mint ice creams. They are basically like mint magnums but without the outer chocolate shell. They were around 100 calories each if I remember correctly. Picked them up in Sainsbugs ages ago.

NSD yesterday as predicted as all spends covered by Waitr*se giftcard. Evening shift at Showcase and was back home before 11. Another today and then I am free until Monday.

I decided to apply for the HSBeeC Advance account to take advantage of the £150 switching offer- I've applied at least twice before and got knocked back each time, but happily my application was accepted automatically! Probably helped due to my boost in income now with the two extra part time jobs. So that will be a free £150 in a couple of months for not doing a lot! I can also get another £50 in 12 months time if I carry on the deposit requirement, so that shouldn't be too bad. Money for nothing after all!

Also realised that I have a regular saver with !st Direct which is currently sitting at £200, with another four payments to go until maturity. So I will get £300 back and some interest change at the end of February.

If all goes to plan, the extra monies from the bank switch, the regular saver and my two new part time jobbies will mean that I can pay off the MBNA balance that expires in March in FULL! So no need to do another bank transfer.

So what I need to save between now and 16th March:

- £450 from bank switch/regular saver
- £1942 from part time jobbies

Potential earnings from part time jobbies to 17/03/17:

- £1304 - Sainsbugs
- £1658 - Showcase (based on 15 hours a week on the lower wage; potential for more if working Saturdays as 50p per hour premium)

That's a potential total from part time jobbies of £2962! And that is calculated AFTER tax! :j

So carrying on as I am, I could actually make a dent of £3412 from the total MBNA balance, leaving £1753 to pay! That doesn't even take into account the DD payments each month, which is around £55. So the balance should be down another £250 by March, so potentially only another £1500 to pay off before December!

This is only based on using my part time jobbie income against the debt, with any surplus from my main job used on misc spends. If I can really knuckle down on the misc spends, I may be able to squirrel away another £500 or so by March- but with Chrimbo approaching I am not sure if it is feasible or not.

Seeing the calculation above though really hits home that while I will be working (a lot) it will make a massive difference to getting things paid off. It means that I -could- actually be looking at being debt free by Christmas next year, as long as no nasty surprises crop up between now and then :A

So, onwards and upwards!

Another MSE thing I have done this morning is finally book my haircut using a free voucher I got with a Herbal Essences promotion. All booked for Monday. I double checked on the phone at what it includes as I thought it would just be a wet or dry cut, but it goes the whole hog and is a wash, cut and blow dry! All for nothing as we needed to buy the shampoo anyway! I will probably tip £5 or something as I can't bear to walk out giving nothing for their time (although I am sure they are paid something from the voucher) but a cost of £5 for me for a fab haircut is definitely still MSE in my book! :money:

Seasidegal58

You're doing so well Alarae. It's great to see someone young like you getting to grips with their debt. You'll be solvent in no time at all.

:j to the free hairdo and the surprise £300!

Alarae

Truth be told, I have been solvent literally up until the last 18 months when the house/wedding whirlwind hit home. During University I managed to save £7000 of my student loans as I had a part-time job throughout and that bought my car (cherry red Fiat 500- love it to pieces!). I stoozed my interest free student overdraft as well in an interest bearing account so made money off the bank instead of paying it to them!

If we didn't have the house I probably wouldn't be in as much of a hole as I am in now, as my household expenses would be lower, as I wouldn't have the £200 a month payment to OH's dad for the house deposit. Ah well. It got us on the property ladder and if we had waited we would have been priced out, so it is short-term pain for long-term gain.

NSD yesterday, cooked up a chicken stir fry to munch on before my evening Showcase shift. Extremely interesting incident- a customer managed to walk into a wall and break her nose! She must have been walking pretty fast for that to happen. Other than that, no other exciting things happened during the shift. In at 6pm, home by 10:30pm(ish) so another £25 earned after tax. Should get paid around £100 after tax on Thursday for this past week, so not too shabby! I will probably do a running total for part time jobbie earnings, just so I can keep an eye on it.

Haven't ventured out today but going out for a joint Halloween/birthday celebration for my friend. Basically an annual tradition as her birthday is on the 30th. So no NSD but not planning on spending much as I'll drive in (max £3 for parking) and I will stick to Diet Coke as I'm not really a drinker (I am literally the most boring 23 year old you will ever meet! )

I've just realised as well that I got an invitation to a bra fitting from my Amex card (don't ask me why! Probably need one though as the girls have definitely deflated with the weight loss... ) which is completely free but I will get a £50 Selfridges giftcard for going! It is in London though so would cost £15 to venture out (railcard fare), but technically I will be £35 up. Should be able to sell it for 80% of cost at £40, so taking away the £15 train fare I could make £25. If I can be bothered to do it that is... Would take up at least a few hours from my day to do it. Need to do it before mid-November if I'm going to...

I lament about my lack of social life then I realise its because I genuinely can't be bothered :rotfl: Saves on the pennies though!

Alarae

A fun night was had by all although my waistline will not appreciate the fact we all fell into Maccy D's at 1:30am! :eek: Still I managed to go out and not spend a penny as the OH bought a couple of drinks for me and food at McD and my friend ended up paying for parking as I offered to drive her back instead of her getting a taxi. She is pretty much on the way home so no real diversion. So Friday was a NSD!

Unfortunately I didn't sleep until 2:30am and was up again at 7:30am on Saturday as I had my induction for Sainsbugs. Just a load of admin basically, paper work, watching safety videos etc. Bit miffed though as I drove to what will be my store, only to arrive and then told it was at a different one and to drive there! And they had the cheek to ask me to take the other girl who they also told the wrong thing! Ugh. Ah well. All over and it is paid. First shift on Monday - have to wake up at 3:45am as need to leave at 4:15am...

Was a bit pooped due to lack of sleep so ended up ordering Pizza No expense though as it was treated out of the joint account. NSD again! :T

Today we nipped out to Mr A for lunch bits for the week only to arrive and be told that all their card machines were done and it was cash only! As a typical human of the technology generation, I don't carry cash anymore so there was a ten minute wait for the cash points. Apparently it was store wide! Still, means technically no spends as it came from the joint account.

Did treat OH and I to a McFlurry and double cheeseburger from McD.... but I recently got my cashback rebate from my Amex card so no real cost to me! :T

Had a reload offer today for MB, so £7.84 profit made.

I've also decided to flatter Seaside (i.e. imitate!) and pinch her idea of doing a running monthly total for expenses. I'll start from 1st November, so a couple of days until I start. I'm hoping it will keep me on track as food shopping is definitely a weakness of mine! I'll also do weekly totals for earnings from the part time jobbies and any extra income from the MB. Hopefully this will motivate me to keep going even when I'm working every hour under the sun.

As I'm also looking to lose the last few pounds, I'll probably tack on my daily weight to each post. It will fluctuate (as everyone does) so not expecting losses every day, so I'll do an overall loss for the week on Fridays.

Was sitting at 9 stone 2 lbs on Friday, but gone up a bit due to pizza and McDs this weekend to 9 stone 3lbs. I fully expect that extra to disappear by Weds or so, so hopefully can report an overall loss on Friday! Currently goal is to hit 8 stone 7lbs and hopefully to see an 8 on the scale by my birthday next month on the 21st!

Will be a LSD as I bought a lot of mini Pokemon figures for £2.40- my plan is to make bath bombs in the mould of eggs with them inside. Just a bit of fun for my sisters as Chrimbo pressies as we all grew up with it! Never made handmade presents, so thought this would be a nice (and easy!) go at something. If anyone has any tried and tested bath bomb recipes, please let me know!

Alarae

Shattered today... unfortunately I don't drink coffee so will have to muddle through!

Had to get up at 3:45am this morning in order to get to Sainsbugs (30 minutes to travel) for my 5am - 8am shift. This was my first shift as a shopper and it is actually quite fun! Had a buddy today showing me the ropes but they said I've picked it up quickly and will be unleashed on my own for my next shift. Won't be tomorrow as I'm off for exams, so Friday will be my next shopping trip! I did stay an hour over my shift so will get a bit extra for the overtime- made sure this was with HR! I also have my sexy uniform but the fleece is too big, so have to order a size 8 (single digit clothing!).

Filled up on the way home as my little car was protesting... £39 for a full tank. Definitely no NSD today.

I did try to drift off for a quick nap this morning but for some reason I cannot fall asleep during the day for the life of me and instead will just spend the whole day like a zombie I have worked my way through some Accountancy questions tomorrow and got quite a few right which is reassuring for tomorrow! Not aiming for perfection- just need that magic 50 marks! Also received a Good Luck card from work in the post yesterday, which was sweet of them.

Haircut booked for 2:45pm, so while my hair will look fab the rest of me probably won't from lack of sleep! I have a cinema shift tonight, 5pm-11pm (probably will be home by 10:30pm however) so I need to cook dinner before I leave after I get back from my mop cut.

Still currently stuck at 9 stone 3... hoping that will slowly start to drop back down. I'm so close to the 8's!

Seasidegal58

Good luck for tomorrow!

I don't know where you get all your energy - it must be that Waitrose frozen yoghurt!:D

Alarae

It could have been... If I hadn't eaten it all two days from purchasing it!!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get on the past few days as I have just been too shattered to think about it. I've stolen a few quiet moments to myself before heading off to bed, so best get updating!

Tuesday was exam day. Two three hour and fifteen minute exams, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. Started my first exam at 10am and finished my second exam at 6pm. Loooooonnggg day. Didn't help that I went straight to Showcase for a shift and didn't make it back home until just after 10pm. Still, all extra pennies! Not a NSD as I bought a sugary drink and bottle of water for the exams.

Wednesday was my first day back at the office and luckily as my client list isn't too big in comparison to the others, it wasn't a hectic catch up. Had a nice lunchtime walk to get some fresh air. Finished slightly earlier as I had to get to Showcase for 5pm, finished at 10:40. More pennies! And a NSD!

Thursday was finally an evening back for me. Even though I wasn't feeling massively up to it (lack of motivation!) i still dragged my sorry Butt to the gym and did my hour HIIT class. Absolutely spent after that and felt so much better! Love a good gym class to kick the body into gear. Not a NSD as I bought a sandwich for lunch as my salad wasn't cutting it. During my evening shifts at showcase I can't really eat a proper meal as there are no facilities (the microwave broke...) so have been munching on a pack of crackers each night for dinner. Thought I would get a filling lunch while I could! Also bought a poppy wristband so a small donation made to the charity collection at work.

On to today, up nice and early for Sainsbugs shift, and by early I mean 3:45am!! Was awake from around 3:15am, so probably only got about three and a half hours sleep last night. Still, I power through! 5-8am at Sainsbugs then a quick 25 minute drive to start main job at half 8. Got there a few minutes late thanks to traffic so stayed until 4:45pm. Since then I've been vegging out on the sofa as I can't really muster anything at the moment. Will be off for an early night soon!

As promised, here are my totals for spends to date for this month:

£39 - petrol
£3.50 - lunch
£1 - poppy charity band

Current Weight: 9 stone 1.8 pounds

Showcase earnings to date: £142.50

Note: No food spends other than lunch counted as work bits bought at the weekend as we used the joint account.

Seasidegal58

Don't do too much Alarae and knock yourself out. The early shift on top of everything else sounds horrendous!

Alarae

I seem to have a sort of balance worked out but thanks for the worry Seaside! I've promised my OH that if things get too much I will throw one of the part time jobbies out. I should still be able to pay off the debts before the 0% runs out, it will just take a bit longer.

Yesterday... Was interesting to say the least! Early start at Sainsbugs, finished at 8am and picked up some sale bargains from the freezer section:

£1.25 for Skinny Cow Double mint ice creams
£0.75 for Carte Dor strawberry sorbet

They are deliciously low calorie so a nice treat when I'm feeling a sugar hit! :A

Then travelled into town (parked ten minute walk away to save on paying) in order to pick up wristbands for a limited entry firework event. I managed to get some but 40 minutes in the cold really put the message across that I need to start taking my gloves out!

Also returned a pair of shoes I had ordered for my friend which I had planned on being her wedding gift. They were the new Irregular Choice 'glittering entrance' Cinderella flats. She had said she wanted the heels, but they sold out so I got these. Only thing was is that they are hideous! Sounds horrible, but I can't gift something I think looks tacky. For the price I paid as well, I don't think they are worth it. So that's £106 back on the card. Probably shouldn't have bought them in the first place but ah well... Got my money back after all!

Had a biggish lunch of chicken Kiev, fish fingers and chicken dippers before Showcase shift as I wanted to have a decent meal as I wouldn't get one while there as I refuse to buy anything from Cost* as it means I basically have to work an hour for free in order to pay for whatever I bought! The shift was short staffed and I ended up staying 45 mins over my shift end as no manager was forthcoming to cash me off. Ended up ringing them and whining I wanted to go home! Started at 1pm, home at 11pm. :eek: Straight to bed.

Today it was a more leisurely get up as it's my only lie in of the week. Did my washing and then trotted off to Mr A for lunch bits- ended up with a whole trolley full of lovely reduced bargains! Filled up my freezer a treat and will only need to buy veggies to go with them. Unfortunately with my evening shifts I don't cook as often now so only buy the veg as and when needed, instead of in bulk at the weekend shop. Also ended up walking out with three bags of the Nestle treat bags from Halloween... They have mini chocs in which are perfect mini calorie snacks. They were only £1.50 a bag and will last me a good while, so couldn't pass then up...

Posted off the HSBeeC signature mandate form in order to open up my account. Hopefully will get the card through soon then I can switch my account so I can get the £150 bonus paid before March.

Noticed that the direct debit for AA has been paid but not appearing on my bank statement yet. Will wait for the transaction to post then will update signature. It's the first time I have been able to since starting my diary! I feel like I need to be able to update it more often for motivation, but can't really as can't send little bits to the CCs as it won't come off the right balance transfer on the MBN*

Spends for yesterday/today:

- £2 groceries
- £22.86 groceries (my share)

Weight at 9 stone 1.6 pounds today. Why can't I be under 9 already?!

Totals to date:

£39 - petrol
£3.50 - lunch
£1 - poppy charity band
£24.86 - groceries

Showcase earnings to date: £142.50