DaringToDream of a Debt Free Life!

DaringToDream_2

Morning! Back on the train for my normal commuting diary update :rotfl:!

Feeling far less sorry for myself this morning, had a mope and a little tear last night and then gave myself a stern talking to! Need to update my figures but not quite sure where I am because of expenses flying in and out. Know things aren't too bad but cc might have crept up with some work expenses so will have to keep an eye on that, and wait until everything has gone in and out and work out where I am.

Otherwise not too bad, should be a low spend day because I am on expenses for breakfast and lunch and have one of my batch cooked dinners defrosting in the fridge. Need to get back on the healthy eating wagon!

DTD xx

DaringToDream_2

Morning all. Thursday morning so nearly the weekend! Getting worried about this month, think things are gonna be super tight! Went shopping yesterday and bought myself a few new clothes. Haven't bought myself anything for ages, but I noticed yesterday that my work skirt was faded, my sleeve had a hole in, so I generally just looked a state! Have been wearing those clothes to death so I'm not surprised they've given up on me! Bought a new dress, skirt and top (using discount) which has gone on cc so now I'm feeling guilty. Really need to get past this thing if not being able to spend money on myself. Cc will probably still go down this month, but once I include the curtains and paint I had to buy for house this month it won't be going down by much. Overall debt will still have reduced though which is a positive, just want that cc gone!

Hen do this weekend. Once I factor in fuel whole thing will have cost me £350 :eek:. I swear people live in never land. I've always tried to go and be supportive but I end up spending so much money a year, and then can never afford a holiday myself :mad:. Need to try and get past the negativity around cost so I actually enjoy it. Have already decided I'm driving to the wedding and just won't drink so I don't have to pay for hotels and taxis.

In a foul stressed mood all week so need to get past this.

DaringToDream_2

Back from the hen do, was a lovely weekend and so nice to see everyone. Absolutely exhausted today and a bit overwhelmed at how much needs doing in the house after being away last weekend and working the weekend before. Feel like i've barely been here and everything is just out of control so have taken today off to try and get on top of things. I have tomorrow off too for the curtain fitter so should be plenty of time to catch up on everything. Think i've just been trying to do too much between my 2 jobs (1ft, 1pt), my freelance work, uni course, and trying to also catch up with friends, so i've run myself into the ground and just got a bit overwhelmed today. Seriously thinking about cashing in my emergency fund just to pay off the OD and CC (which i think will have increased this month because of having to pay for curtains). This will give my some breathing space but will also reduce the emergency fund to less than £1000 so will leave me a bit exposed financially should anything need doing in the house.

Have also had a massive rant at Hitachi finance this morning re. my loan. I made what i thought was an overpayment this month, but actually they just reduced my direct debit. According to the girl on the phone you can only make overpayments if the amount is equal to or more that your direct debit, so i'd need to save up overpayments of £350 before i could overpay anything. This completely kills off my idea of overpaying £100 a month, and isn't at all clear from their online info. Have emailed to complain this morning, but how ridiculous. It's all just a money making scam for them rather than helping people to borrow responsibly. So i'm going to have to do the very un-MSE thing of saving lump sums in a much lower interest account before paying off the higher interest loan :mad:.

Ugh rant over, hopefully now i've caught up on sleep and i can get on top the house/finances then everything will seem a lot less stressful!

DaringToDream_2

To keep me focused:
Paint the kitchen (before shutters installed tomorrow)
Mow the lawn- Done
Go to the dump- Done
Clean the kitchen -Done (ish)
Hoover
Clean the bathrooms
Sort out eb*y sales
Sort out finances- Done as much as i can sort until payday, but back on top of everything
Take back some of the clothes i bought- Done £34 back to CC
Email some uni course people i met at a conference last week.
Try and make a start on cleaning the house before OH is home next week
Book opticians appointment (glasses are giving me headaches again but can't really justify more spends on new glasses so putting it off- stupid i know!).

But first i'm gonna have a cuppa!

DaringToDream_2

Third update of the day now that the stupid (not overpaid) loan payment has gone out. When i spoke to them earlier i changed the payment date to the 1st so i'll be able to do 1 monthly update and keep on top of everything better, rather than things going out at different points in the month. No response yet to my complaint though.

CC1: £1021.82/1186.47 (-£164.65)
CC2: £0
OD: £847.03/876.13 (-£29.10)
Loan: £13848.31/£14000 (-£152.69)
Total debt £15717.16/£16062.60 (-£345.44)

So £345.44 paid off this month which isn't really good enough. Next month isn't going to be much better, but at least now hen party and curtains will be paid for. Have £75 in the pot for the rest of the month, but have a well stocked fridge freezer and cupboard so food-wise will be do-able, and will probably only need to put in another £20 of fuel, so hopefully will have a little bit left over at the end of the month to put towards a big shop just before payday of treats for OH when he is home NEXT WEEK :j.

DaringToDream_2

Curtains and shutters have finally been fitted. Love them so much that i actually did a dance around the lounge as soon as the fitter had left. As OH said to me yesterday, it'll be the first time in 2 years that we haven't had boxes/towels up covering windows :rotfl:.

On course for another NSD today (after one yesterday) which is good. In fact on both days i've managed to make money so really positive.

Done a few surveys on PA (they only seem to be there in the daytime for me, not in the evenings/weekends, so not ideal for a FT worker). Up to £2 payable and £2.60 pending already so hopefully will be able to add a bit more to that today and make the most of being off work. £10 cash back from a house purchase also became payable so has been transferred straight to the holiday fund which now stands at £170.27 , amazing how all those little bits really add up. Have also transferred the £30 i wanted to overpay to the loan into my savings account, so that's the start of a lump sum loan overpayment!

Still need to do a few jobs from yesterday's list, including painting the kitchen. Think i'll try to do that this afternoon. Now we've got the fancy new shutters it seems a shame to have big test splodges of paint on the wall next to them! Have also finally booked an eye appointment to check out my sore eye/headaches. It's not for a few weeks but have managed to dig out my old glasses and they seem to be making things better (although it might be psychological), but will wear these for a few days and see if there is any difference. Still need to sort out some eb*y sales and relist some bits that didn't sell.

Starting to feel a bit more on top of everything now i've caught up on sleep and the house isn't such a mess. Went to an exercise class last night too which was so hard but really made me happy because i could see some real progress in my fitness, and was able to do things i would never have been able to do a few months ago! So the dark cloud has finally lifted, just need to shift this pesky headache now!

DaringToDream_2

So kitchen has been painted and looks great (if i say so myself). Only did one wall but will try and do another at the weekend if i have time. If not i think OH is keen to do some painting when he gets home.

Otherwise have caught up on laundry and had a general tidy up. PA is now standing at 3.55 confirmed and 4.50 tracking so if i can get a few more in i'll be able to cash out before payday at the end of the month. Back at work tomorrow which i am dreading, but all good, has been a luxury to be at home for 2 days, during the daytime, and only 7 more working days to go before OH is home and i have 2 weeks off . Managed to stick to my NSD, so that is 2 in a row. On expenses tomorrow so won't be a NSD but will hopefully be low at least!

DTD xx

DaringToDream_2

Another day done, was on expenses but ended up buying a fancy juice and a cuppa so went £5.50 over my expenses budget. Those were my only spends though, was really fancying a curry so was tempted to go and get a ready meal, but was strong and came home and had the chicken and veg i had defrosted.

Have done a couple more surveys on PA- currently balance is at £4.55 with £8.90 pending. Not bad in 2 days so fingers crossed for a few more this week and try and get it up to £20 to cash out before payday. Got to get a decent first payout so Hidden gets a good referrers fee .

Feeling exhausted again, am putting it down to the storm last night keeping me awake so fingers crossed i sleep better tonight and then can hopefully start feeling a bit more energetic. Exercise class tomorrow so need some energy by then! No more London days this week, and finally have curtains so am counting down to Saturday morning and the prospect of sleeping in past sunrise!!

Hiddenidenity

So close to OH being home now I love reading your countdowns.

Well done on the painting Amazing how much better it can make you feel.

Hope you catch up on sleep, have a lovely day x

DaringToDream_2

Thanks Hidden, feel like i'm constantly counting down to something, either OH coming home (8 sleeps:D) and then when he's home counting down to him going back (not in a bad way, love him being home..... most of the time:rotfl:).

Low spend day today, spent £2.50 on a coffee mainly because i got ambushed by a rather stressful problem at work so when i had sorted it out needed to step out for a minute to recompose myself before i took out my stress on some poor innocent person.

Went to exercise class tonight which was adult ballet. Can safely say that all that money my parents spent on ballet class when i was younger was wasted because i was about as graceful as a hippo. Spent the whole class staring at my bingo wings in the mirror and wanting to cry a bit, but at least i'm out there doing something about it. I'm not even that overweight but it just all seems to go on my belly and arms! Now sipping on peppermint tea trying not to drown my sorrows with a glass of wine :rotfl:.

Short day tomorrow followed by another gym class (hopefully better) and then a fairly chilled weekend. Need to go show my face at an event work are putting on but other than that will just be tidying the house and making up all the beds ready for step son coming up and some visitors next week when OH gets home .

Happy nearly weekend all

DTDx