£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

I think you've done well to identify the areas where all your good MSE intentions are really challenged (celebration events / hosting people and personal clothes shopping). It's a bit like dieting, isn't it? Easier to stick to in the day-to-day, but the real tests are those special events.

I think that adding envelopes for hosting and clothes shopping would be a good first step, even if you only manage to put £5 a month in each envelope you are creating some kind of buffer for the next event. With the grocery shopping, could you perhaps order the booze online and make use of a cashback website or voucher codes for cases of wine? Is it feasible to "invest" in a case or even a few extra bottles of wine or beer when there is a particularly good offer on MySupermarket? (If you haven't already, do check out the ALDI wine section - it's fab!)

I really hear you on the clothes front because this is an area of spending-weakness for me too. You say that it is necessary for your job, is it possible that you could put together 3 or 4 outfits that are worn only when you see clients? I know that this is going to sound really sad but I have a fortnightly outfit planner spreadsheet, I get all my outfits for work planned out in advance, including shoes, accessories etc (with a bit of wiggle room in case I have a big client meeting added to my diary) and then don't deviate from it. It really takes the stress out of deciding what to wear when I'm rushing in the morning, and having 30 mins per week when I plan my outfits is really enjoyable - I like coming up with a few different combinations for the same base item I feel like a budget version of Cher from Clueless

I am LOVING the idea of the outfit spreadsheet! Definitely going for that.

Buying booze 'just in case' never works for us, as DH ends up drinking it just because it's there (he virtually never drinks, or wants to, if it's not in the house, but he will open a bottle on the weekend if it's there, drink one glass and then the rest sits in the fridge).

mummytogirls wrote: »

Great thank you are going to budget for your clothes out of the business account TOPM xx

Thank you! I hope it works for me.

dktreesea wrote: »

We bought veggies at Aldi a couple of days ago. A cauliflower cost 29p. A 2.5kg bag of potatoes, 6 tomatoes and a cucumber later the bill had crept up to a miserly £1.74! Even cheaper than Lidl, where we usually go. My OH is still talking about the bill.

That really is cheap!

Treadingonplaymobil

dktreesea wrote: »

TOPM, that's great progress paying off the debts. Quite exciting seeing your signature change. Can I have some of your energy :-))? OMG, do you believe in packing a lot into a day or not!

I'm not a 'doing things by halves' sort of person :rotfl:

Treadingonplaymobil

Sigh. No money in bank account continues! Can't wait for refunds from all the online shopping to come in. And to get to the end of the month. I am trying to scrabble together enough for another debt overpayment before the end of the month, but only if the refunds come through as expected.

Yesterday's working day was much longer than expected and I was knackered and stressed by the end of it, but I'll be pleased when I submit my invoice at the end of the month.

Am back to feeling a bit like I'm playing constant catch up again - hoping that a catch up day on Sunday with lots of little bits of work will set me straight again.

To do today:
1. bake biscuits for clients tomorrow.
2. 10,000 steps - will need to go for a walk with DC3 this morning to make that happen, as will be busy this afternoon
3. tidy for friends coming over this afternoon
5. mend DD's dressing up dress (really must do this).
6. social media while working.

To do this week:
1. Make more candles - I did actually do this, but they kept being left to burn for hours due to heavy bathroom usage, so need to make some more. Need to find more containers so I can make more at any one time.
2. Tidy whole house. (Getting there)
3. Attempt to balance holiday budget disaster area once all payments have cleared. Done. Not exactly joyfully, but at least the numbers make sense now, and the shortfall is accounted for (if not covered yet).

Bobarella

Snap to empty accounts. Hope your refunds show up soon.

LadyP01

Hi TOPM long time lurker of yours. Love your thread, we started our journeys at the same time and i find you really inspirational... Just wanted to say hi and that your doing a great job!

Cherryfudge

Hope you're okay, TOPM? I haven't seen any posts for a few days.

You have my permission to take that dressing up dress off the list or use it to teach her to sew . Or repurpose it as Cinderella's dress. I know things stay on my mending list forever and drag me down and you could do without that.

Treadingonplaymobil

LadyP01 wrote: »

Hi TOPM long time lurker of yours. Love your thread, we started our journeys at the same time and i find you really inspirational... Just wanted to say hi and that your doing a great job!

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Hope you're okay, TOPM? I haven't seen any posts for a few days.

You have my permission to take that dressing up dress off the list or use it to teach her to sew . Or repurpose it as Cinderella's dress. I know things stay on my mending list forever and drag me down and you could do without that.

Thanks for checking in on me! To be honest I've been feeling a bit :mad: :mad: :mad: with myself about the overspending and have been sulking about my lack of MSE skills. I haven't spent any more, but none of the refunds have appeared yet either, so I look very very poor (I mean, I am very very poor, but I look even poorer!). I promise I'll pop back on properly later and get myself back into gear with a list for the week.

Oh, and I did mend DD's dress AND make the candles yesterday, so at least I've almost caught up on last week's list!

Cherryfudge

Well done for getting the dress AND candles done, that's impressive! And may I ask please... I've never made candles but I did treat myself to a second hand candle making kit recently - lots of bits in there (colours, wax, moulds...) but apparently lacking something called stearin which I take it is pretty essential. Is it actually cheaper to make your own candles, or do you do it because you're creative? Speaking as one who is creative but totally lacking in experience .

Please don't be down on yourself for 'looking poorer'! I think it's one of those things like losing weight where sometimes you can't see any progress but you have to trust the process and eventually all your exertions now will bear fruit.

ETA: Is the stearin the paraffin wax beads? Sorry to be so ignorant but it's an ancient (1970s!) kit and the labels are rubbed off some of the packages, LOL. I thought till I examined all the bits & pieces that all you had to do was melt the wax and stick a wick in. I have a lot to learn!

Lumanous

Keep going TOPM you're doing amazing. Not only are you changing habits of a lifetime, you're also learning and developing a new skill. Nobody masters a new skill with the click of fingers and both learning and putting it all into practice so quickly is fantastic.

It is disheartening when you're on a long journey not to be exactly where you'd hoped, but just think where you'd be if you'd stuck your head in the sand. There is no bad progress here

Keep going!

Treadingonplaymobil

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Well done for getting the dress AND candles done, that's impressive! And may I ask please... I've never made candles but I did treat myself to a second hand candle making kit recently - lots of bits in there (colours, wax, moulds...) but apparently lacking something called stearin which I take it is pretty essential. Is it actually cheaper to make your own candles, or do you do it because you're creative? Speaking as one who is creative but totally lacking in experience .

Please don't be down on yourself for 'looking poorer'! I think it's one of those things like losing weight where sometimes you can't see any progress but you have to trust the process and eventually all your exertions now will bear fruit.

ETA: Is the stearin the paraffin wax beads? Sorry to be so ignorant but it's an ancient (1970s!) kit and the labels are rubbed off some of the packages, LOL. I thought till I examined all the bits & pieces that all you had to do was melt the wax and stick a wick in. I have a lot to learn!

I use soy wax, so I have never used stearin (which I think is a gardening agent used in paraffin candles?). I literally do just melt the wax and stick a wick to the bottom of the container with a glue gun and pour the wax on top.