DaringToDream of a Debt Free Life!

DaringToDream_2

£6.05 spent today so a low spend day. Needed some milk, fruit and yogurt for breakfasts so popped to supermarket on way home which was £5, paid £1 into the brew fund for milk, teas and coffees at work this week, and then got a lollipop from the tuck shop for 5p because I needed a sugar hit mid afternoon!

Now have £39.50 for the rest of the week. Work Christmas do tomorrow night which is dinner and then pub. I'll be driving so hoping I can do the night on £30 or less. Will need to put £10 in car which will use up rest of budget so will be eating out of freezer the rest of the weekend, but I have some good stuff in so shouldn't be too painful, plus i want to eat stuff up to make space for Christmas leftovers!

Going to do the supermarket shop this weekend for all the Christmas bits that won't go off. I have £32.50 of nectar points so hopefully that will cover everything and then we can just get meat/veg in when OH gets home (not buying anything that will spoil because don't want to curse him getting back- so no turkey until his feet are firmly in the country!).

Will have to dip into emergency stash money this weekend too because the heavy snow seems to have bent and warped my rear wiper blade, so I'll pick up a new one at the weekend and then learn how to fit it online so i don't have to pay for fitting- wish me luck!!

2 eb*y sales tonight which should be another £5 to the cc tonight. Chipping away at it!!

DTD x

DaringToDream_2

Back from my Christmas dinner. Lovely meal and had a good laugh with my colleagues. Ended up spending £25 for the whole night which isn't too bad, and was an NSD otherwise. Shattered and full of food now so early night for me- thank god it's Friday tomorrow!

DaringToDream_2

So would have been an NSD today except that I had to pay to get a new wiper blade for the car. What should have been super easy turned into a total faff- the one I bought at the retail park didn't fit, despite it saying on the online search that it would. I was determined to fit it myself but after 5 mins of trying had to admit defeat and pay £2 to get it fitted. Except the bloke there couldn't fit it either because the computer had churned out the wrong blade, and there were no others that would fit. So I got a refund, headed home and called the local car dealer, and they had one in stock they would sell to me, so I drove there on my way to my exercise class, and not only was the blade cheaper, but they fitted it for free for me so although it was a faff it saved me money! Although I did then spend 1.29 in Maccys on a hot drink because it was so quick being sorted I was 45 mins early for my exercise class!

Got another exercise class tomorrow so will need to pay for parking, and then got a list of errands to run.

Ordered the Christmas booze today using the t*sco 25% off 6 bottles deal and also a £8 of £40 voucher I had in the post. Got a cheap late delivery slot for a few days time, thought it was best to do t online so no other treats could creep into my trolley! Then off to the other supermarket tomorrow to get all the dried foods, crackers, cranberry sauce, soft drinks etc. Have a list and want to stay within my nectar points amount so it's 'free'. Then will just need to grab the meat on Christmas Eve.

Can't wait for a relaxing weekend, this week has been far too hectic with far too little sleep!

DTD x

DaringToDream_2

Happy Monday! Last week of work until Christmas and hopefully before OH is home!! Into work late today because had a doctors appointment his morning- loving the lie in to start off the week, but on my way in now.

Did all my Christmas food shopping over the weekend so now only need the fresh stuff. Went £10 over my nectar point balance but that's not bad for the haul I got. Hoping OH will get most of the fresh food shop given that I've got the rest, although I'll chip in given that it's going to be the most expensive one. Going to try and have a really cheap week this week, only spend should be some chicken, and then some bread etc for when OH gets home. Should be able to do all that for £10. Have decided to reduce my weekly budget to £40 this week to cover the extra I paid last week for all the Christmas bits. Need to get some salad today as my contribution to a work christmas buffet lunch today, and will also need to put petrol in the car for going down to get OH from airport. Should be able to do all of that within my £40.

Got £8 coming in for a book I sold, and posted a parcel of old cds yesterday which should get be £6 so that will all go straight to cc when it comes in. Also got £5 waiting to track on prolific, £11 pending on TCB and £14 cash back due next month from my current account which will more than pay off the wedding shoes once it tracks! Bad news is got car insurance due on Boxing Day, and contents insurance due on the 6th Jan so gonna be a Spendy start to the new year! Already shopped around and can't get cheaper for the car, but job for one evening this week is to try and find a cheaper contents policy.

DTD xx

DaringToDream_2

Back on the train so turn for my standard commuting diary update!!!

In London today, last day until next year . 4 more working days to go and 4 days until OH hopefully home!

Money tight but apart from petrol not many more spends needed this week, and next week will largely be budgeted for in all the Christmas food.

Looking forward to the end of the year and seeing what (little) progress I've made, and ready to hit it hard next year!!

DaringToDream_2

Worked from home today which meant i could catch up on laundry before OH is home, which is hopefully tomorrow!! Really can't wait but won't believe it until he is back!

NSD today, will have to get a few of OH's faves in tomorrow so plan is to brave town early. Need to try and get some exercise in too before all the Christmas indulgence!!

Tucked up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a blanket, so tempted to either pop out to the shops to get some chocolate or eat the remaining contents of my advent calendar!!!

DaringToDream_2

New Year and back to being MSE! OH went back to work on Wednesday and we have 6 weeks til he is home again when his offshore contract comes to an end. He doesn't have a new contract yet so we are hoping that he'll be able to get a UK-based contract and be home more.

I had a job interview this week so am waiting to hear. If i do get it i need to think carefully because it is London-based but for no more money (work currently pay for the days i have to work in London) so would have to find about £500 a month for the commuting costs, so it would really dent the debt-busting. Some of this would be offset by reducing car insurance and petrol costs, but it's still an awful lot of money. I'm very unhappy at work though and the stress is really starting to affect my physical health, so i think i need to make a change and move jobs even if it does mean less money.

Debt has stayed relatively static this month because of christmas, and the fact that car insurance and contents insurance were due. I need to pay £260 next week for some work on my car so have spent the afternoon listing things on eB*y to try and cover at least a little bit of this cost. Job for the weekend is to go through wardrobe and boxes from my parents house that are sitting in the spare room, eb*y what i can and take the rest to the dump/charity shop. I also need to sort out my study because it is an absolute mess in there.

Otherwise everything is ticking along. I'm really run down so planning a chilled weekend to try and recover a bit so i don't succumb to this horrible flu that is going around- the commute into London has been horrible these last few weeks with everyone around me coughing and sniffing-yuk!!

DaringToDream_2

Just spent £26 signing up to weightwatchers. That covers me for 3 months so will take me until after holiday. I don't have any scales though so will have to buy some tomorrow. I thought i ate pretty well but terrifying to see how many points are in some of the foods i eat, so that would explain why i wasn't losing weight quickly before, even though i was exercising loads. Hopefully once i feel better i'll be able to hit the gym again and i'll actually start losing again!

DaringToDream_2

So a fairly chilled day today. Bed linen and towels done, scales bought (£13.50) plus some bonus b@ots points and listed a few more things on eb*y. Also did a survey on prolific which should take me over the cash out point, but might try and keep the money in there a little bit longer and keep it aside for holiday spends!

Also spent £11.50 on food, dine in for £10 deal and 2 bags of veggies. All the convenience food I have in scores horrendously on weightwatchers, so I got a whole chicken, salad and fruit in the deal, all of which are O points (still trying to work all these points out!!), and the drink that came with it is stashed in the cupboard. I figured it was MSE as well as good for the diet as a whole chicken will do me for loads of meals, plus I'll be able to make a nice stock for a soup.

Bath, sofa then bed for me I think, already wishing January away! 2.5 weeks til payday, and £100 left in account so it's going to be tight, but freezer is looking decent so just need to try and eat that without breaking the diet too much!!

8 weeks today until holiday. All paid for expect for spending money so the saving and dieting challenge is on!!!

DaringToDream_2

Eat from the freezer, not eat the freezer- it's been a long week