A Budgeteer's Adventure

CharlieKat

I did get the bag cleared and felt much better for it Lots of paper recycled and a few bits to sell / charity shop.

I didn't keep track of the amount of things cleared as i wasn't anywhere near 50 items. I'm starting again this week though with the aim of clearing 50 items a week over the next 10 weeks - they all have to be genuine clear-out things though - not things like a pen which has run out / lotion used up etc.

7 - clothing (mixture of selling / gifted)
4 - miscellaneous items thrown away - no longer suitable for use or for use by anyone

Total 11 items so far for this week. In the process i've been through a shelf we use to store things in a cupboard so the first step made in decluttering that room :T

Hope to clear at least the same number of items again tomorrow.

In work news i've expressed my interest in working more hours - although there isn't any chance of this at the moment, i'm hoping by voicing this now, should the opportunity arise, i'll be thought of. This is part of the reason I'm setting a weekly clear-out target - to motivate myself to get rid of things, Then if i do get more hours i won't still have the clearing out to do as well Hoping i find stuff to sell as well

I've been using up the tins / jars and packets - it will take some time yet but i'll be glad to have used up all but the staples and hope not to build up such a stash of food again - although some of it was hugely reduced (from £1.50 to 29p etc) and are items we use - but clearly not that much

I'm also going to make sure I read at least 30 minutes a day - it's something i enjoy and haven't made the time for - cleared books will count to my target as i do love my books so having it in my target should help encourage me to sell / pass on

Tomorrow i'm going to re-start my studying - so hope to report back on progress - clearing again in another sense as it'll be clearing this course off my to do list

I'm very focused on money at the moment - maybe a bit too much i really want the debt gone and savings built up. My limited income has reduced my paying off / saving power. I seem to spend my 'blank' time - commute, breaks and lunches at work trying to think of things i can sell and how much i need to pay off the cards a month and crunching the numbers Again, taking action and clearing the house should help with this as i'll have nothing left to sell :rotfl: Seriously though, i need to see this as an opportunity and look into upping my income.

i also need to enjoy the 'wins' a bit more. The mortgage balance will be under £70,000 this month - i read other threads and know people see these as milestones, i'm simply ticking the month off as achieving the target i set myself when i remortgaged. I don't seem to be enjoying it and i'm not sure why :think: maybe it's because i'm simply paying what i see as my mortgage payment each month - although i overpay over double my contractual mortgage payment each month.. i'm really not sure what it is. I'm also thinking ahead to the end of my current mortgage deal in 4 years and the balance i *may* have left - I'm saving up to clear that in full but now i don't want to use those savings - especially after the recent redundancy I want everything don't i? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Jessy103

Hi Charlie! Sounds like you're doing great with the clearing out. I understand how you feel, you are so focused on getting to the next target that you forget how far you've come and how well you've done! I suggest you give yourself a little treat when you get under £70K, a takeaway, a bottle of wine or you're favourite chocolate, something to celebrate the great progress you've made! x

CharlieKat

Jessy103 wrote: »

Hi Charlie! Sounds like you're doing great with the clearing out. I understand how you feel, you are so focused on getting to the next target that you forget how far you've come and how well you've done! I suggest you give yourself a little treat when you get under £70K, a takeaway, a bottle of wine or you're favourite chocolate, something to celebrate the great progress you've made! x

Aw thanks Jessy - i'm not sure i could treat myself though We've got quite a few 'special' bottles of wine that we've not opened :eek::eek: :rotfl: Mainly because these are bottles at £20 each or more and were gifted to me for various reasons - i said we'll open one when it's a special occasion and we can really enjoy it - i don't think we'll do it for the mortgage either as it's very much a solo journey for me. The takeaway sounds good but i couldn't justify the cost Too much debt to hammer down sadly. I guess i don't think / feel like i've come far or done well :( The plan was to be here less than 5 years - several redundancies and never achieving the income i had when i bought scuppered that Where i'm at now is way behind where i should be. I really don't mean to sound like a moany thing. I guess writing here gets things working in the back of my mind - I need to flip the situation on its head and say Well I've paid off £70,000 in 10 years even though I was made redundant (without pay) 3 times and I need to be happy about that - easier said than done I think part of the reason for the clearing out is for me to try and be happier / enjoy being here more - i also think, part of me is using the tactic of ' if i was moving would i want to move this with me?' and that is making me think about moving and where i want to be.

Crikey! I really don't mean to sound so down - you can probably tell i've alot / had alot going on and who knew an mse diary would be a tell-all :rotfl::rotfl:

What does cheer me up is having this place to come to and write and popping in to lovely supportive messages - that definitely helps

CharlieKat

Quick post to say cleared out another 11 items - i thought it was 14 but wasn't sure and could only remember a definite 11 - most sadly off to landfill as unusable plastic items which are no use any more and can't be recycled. Other items were gifted and a couple of bits for the bay.

Total 22 and i'm set on clearing rest of cupbard out after which should see a few bigger bits leaving :T

CharlieKat

Ho hum - the credit card debt. I thought i'd share it with you all, in case you're interested. I love reading other peoples diaries and identifying with them on things. Anyways to the debt. This really feels like a confessional :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I have 5 credit cards, all with balances on them. Some of the balances are part of the mortgage - about £5000 - £6000 worth now i would think. I was stuck on a very, very high interest rate and couldn't remortgage - having been made redundant twice and new job much less pay than I had when taking on the mortgage. i paid some of the mortgage on my card as the interest rate was better and work (at the time) had unlimited overtime which i was assured would be the case for months. The overtime was cancelled - even though the work was still there to be done so i then had the mortgage and cards to pay without earning any extra income. However, reducing my mortgage and managing my card payments i was finally successful in remortgaging to the deal i'm on now which i am really greatful for - i know others are on lower rates than this but i'd even been turned down by brokers and applied to my bank and their underwriters reviewed it - i was really, really happy when i got this approved :T I had to extend the term of the mortgage, as it had reduced with overpayments, but i have happily paid all the extra i said i would do so i know the mortgage won't go on for that length of time :T

One of the cards is the balance of my car - 2nd hand and new to me and i love it 2 jobs before the job i'm in now i wasn't using my car alot but was applying for new jobs and knew i needed a car to get there - due to location. My car, which i had at the time, broke down, i'd literally thrown good money after bad on that car and it was the final straw and it had to go but i didn't have the money to replace it - all the 'car' money i had had been used on repairs. I was very lucky to find my new to me car and again was so happy that i got this Shortly after i did get a new job which i had to drive to, and, after being made redundant the job i have now is only realistically get to-able by car for me.

Another card has my living costs on for the time between me being made redundant and finding my new job - i had to pay the bills somehow and this was my emergency fund - part of the reason i now don't want to use savings at the end of this deal to clear the mortgage balance - i want to have real savings!

Final card has a course on it which i didn't finish there were a lot of reasons for this - issues within the college itself - many of the students complained, also i was ill and trying to manage that and i started my new job and literally couldn't go as i couldn't make the classes. I really feel bad about this one but will learn from it - although if i was ill like that again i wouldn't be in a position to do anything any different.

Determined to clear these asap - but not above the mortgage payments. I pay almost £1200 a month to the mortgage - £800 of which is an overpayment. When i hit the 10% limit i put the £800 into savings. I see the £1200 as being my mortgage payment.

I really need to up my income to clear these cards faster - hopefully clearing out will find some things i can sell *fingers crossed* but i also need to think about other earning potential...

CharlieKat

Quick update to say 4 more items have been decluttered :T the cupboard has been cleared, cleaned and re-organised and looks great :T

Total 26 :T

CharlieKat

A further 7 items decluttered, sadly none sale-able

Total 33 :T

Really pleased as the bits of my home that i've done look so much better - and it feels so much better. Even if these things were in cupboards those areas are now feeling so much better than they were :T

Now to declutter a bit of my book Really enjoying reading again

CharlieKat

Total so far is 41 items decluttered so I'll have to declutter 59 this week to stay on target. The areas I've targeted are so much better now though I've got rid of more than 59 things but i got rid of a set of things i counted that as 1 item.

Card balance in my sig has reduced due to bay of e sales and also selling books to a b00k buying place :T

Meal planning seems to be going quite well. Having become aware of packets and jars to use up i was able to take advantage of a reduced price meat offer and a warming casserole will feature on the horizon soon

Work has been very hard this week - i need to put quite a bit of time into studying this weekend in the hope that will help with it.

CharlieKat

Total clear out is 47 items - so 3 to find for last week and 50 for this

Decluttering has confirmed my tendency to 'stockpile' some things, so i was really pleased when i needed washing up liquid last week and only bought 1 bottle - i'd normally buy 2 or 3

Other things have been 'stocked' up for more obvious reasons - buy 1 get 1 free offers etc.

I've done well using items up in the cupboard with another couple of packets being used today :T

I have enough hair product, except maybe conditioner, to last a year both :eek: and :T :rotfl: Organising my toiletries I decided to try a neglected bottle of styling product to see if i should use it or part with it. It's now currently replacing my other product and, as there's plenty in the bottle, should last me a year at least :T

I also have a lot of body lotion - not sure how long this will last as i've never been a regular user. These have been mostly from either hotel stays or from gift packs with other things in and these too have been neglected. I'm happily using them now, and, just like with my hair conditioner, i'm using the smaller bottles first to hopefully clear space in my home quicker With 18 bottles i'm thinking it should last a year

I have enough cleanser, toner and moisturiser to last a year :T Although i will need some new make-up - i have needed some for a few weeks but i'm trying not to spend.

I'm happy with how well decluttering the utility has gone - there's still some bits in there which need to be used up - fruit, jars, packets. But what has been done has made a difference to how the room looks and feels and i'm happy the jars and packets are being used up too :T

I've also stocked up the freezer as i have done some batch cooking today using reduced priced meat :T pleased this is done and got the washer on as well so i don't need to do this tomorrow but am feeling a bit under the weather and think an early night may well be on the cards.

I wanted to get some studying done and hopefully can do that tomorrow if i feel a bit better.

CharlieKat

I hadn't realised quite how long it had been since i last posted. I did keep meaning to pop in but was pretty down for some reason and didn't want to post a 'moany' post.

Anyway - here I am

Decluttering has continued apace and I'm going to just put the target of 500 and then what i've achieved towards it when i get to my list (upstairs at the mo)

I've realised I need to push myself more to fit more into the days. The decluttering I've already done has really started to make a difference - my wardrobe is clearer which is a good thing :T And i'm focusing on using things up - ie stuff that won't sell i'm wearing until it's unwearable :T My extra weight at the moment has probably encouraged me to part with far more things than I would have previously - as items simply don't fit and who knows if i'll want to wear them when they will? This has seen lots of items donated or listed on the bay :T

i've stuck to my 'not buying new' although did buy some jeans with vouchers i'd received - as i've none that fit :eek: - but these are being returned 1 was too big, the other too small. As these were gifted vouchers i'm not counting that as going against my challenge as they would be wasted otherwise.

I've continued to meet my mortgage overpayment target and also continued to pay extra off the credit card as and when i can - from bay of e sales as that has been my only extra income so far.

I have a long to do list for today / this weekend / this week - so aim is to do some of the jobs listed and then pop back in here.