Reducing Debt - being accountable and taking responsibility

DrSpendLittle

I've just remembered that I get paid a £500 fee at the end of September for work I do for another organisation in my sector. That will act as a nice financial cushion should my EF get used up in July or August.

I've also got about £180 in outstanding expenses due to be credited to my account over the next couple of months, which aren't in my budget, so that will be put into my 'household miscellaneous' pot cover Things I Always Forget, like the window cleaner. It will most likely be used for new brakes for the car, which I have forgotten about but must be coming up at some point in the next 6 months.

Fingers crossed I can stick to this!!

DrSpendLittle

Today is a working from home day which basically entails sitting at a computer, reading and writing. I've a few deadlines coming up towards the middle and end of the month that I need to meet.

I need to head into the local town at some point to collect my parcel from Boots that contains my mascara and serum. It's been sat there for a week! I also need to return a t-shirt I picked up in the sale that doesn't fit properly. It was a bit of an impulse purchase anyway. So, £7 back in my bank and I'll park and walk rather than pay for the closer car park.

On clothing, I've decided to hold off any further clothing purchases (where possible, I may need a couple of new summer dresses for my holiday) until my debt free date and then start purchasing a smaller amount of better quality pieces that will stand the test of time. I think I remember Redo mentioning that she does this. The price per wear will be much better over the long term. If I think back over the past 5-10 years, buying poorer quality stuff from cheaper end high street retailers has turned out to be false economy. Most of those cheaper products, in my experience, have just ended up bobbling or losing shape after 1-2 washes or looking tatty at the end of the season. I recently saw a documentary on Fast Fashion where it was revealed that Zara clothes are designed to be washed only 6 times! I don't normally shop there anyway, but I did pick up a couple of things in their January sales (to see me though to my debt free date) and I have been really disappointed by the quality. And I wasn't expecting much in the first place! It's been the same with the 'outlet' versions of most high street stores - that same documentary revealed that these clothes are lower quality products that are made specifically for outlet and would never be sold in the main stores. It's a complete scam the way they imply items are heavily discounted end of line items sold previously in their high street stores!

Anyway, back to today! DF has an early evening appointment and then we plan to go out for dinner (he likes to call it date night :rotfl:) but we're keeping it frugal, so one main course and 1 glass of wine each. Will cost about £15 each and my half will come from my Fun Fund. That should be the only spend today.

DrSpendLittle

Successful trip into town to collect my parcel. DF asked me to get some medicine for him and some bacon / bread from Waitr0se for his lunch. Also picked up some flowers for brightening up the place over the weekend for my family visitors. Total spends £17.62 of which DF owes me £5, so not too bad. Will come out of groceries budget.

Have £5 in my purse so will withdraw £10 and that will cover my dinner tonight.

Have about £13 sitting in PA but will keep it there and wait for £20 to cash out towards the end of the month.

OnePoll sitting at £15.50 so over the 50% mark for cashing out at £30. Will take time as OnePoll is fairly slow but I like to see the ££s mounting up.

Stil have £73 pending in TCB. I don't think it'll clear for another 3 months so that will be a nice windfall when it finally arrives.

DrSpendLittle

Another WFH day today with a similar level of computer screen, reading and writing to do. I need to get back into sport to stop the sedentary lifestyle I seem to have adopted these past few months.

About to head into town to pick up some groceries and a new mop from Arg0s for the weekend. I'm armed with a list and will be visiting Al8i for basics and Waitr0se for some nicer bits and bobs as usual.

PA is now up to £15.62. Will wait for £20 to cash out.

Meal out last night was nice but I spent a little more than planned. However, all within the 'big' budget so no significant financial hardships expected this month as a result

DrSpendLittle

Morning Peeps!

Well, a busy weekend all around. Had family to say and we all had a lovely time. Kept all spends to plan, with a few small household and holiday purchases made on a visit to a local town. Budget looking healthy. Had a NSD yesterday.

This week is mainly WFH but I do have a couple of meetings in town later in the week that I need to drive to. No work expenses needed for that though as it'll be a normal working day.

Need to do some meal planning and an Oc4do order. We've some meat in the freezer that will do for a couple of meals but we're back into our old habits of reactive dinners rather than being proactive with meal plans and shopping.

Can't see the need for any significant spends this week. Hopefully a quiet one working at home and keeping spends to a minimum.

DSL :j

DrSpendLittle

A successful NSD yesterday. I also managed a few short studies on PA so my balance is around £16. Going to cash out at the end month so hopefully I'll be over £20 by then.

Today is also hopefully going to be a NSD. I'm working from home again and have a couple of telephone meetings so it should be fairly quiet. I've no other plans. I may do some sport tonight, but still undecided. It would be free either way.

DF keeps talking about getting a new kitchen knife as the one we have and use the most is over 14 years old (I guess that's not too old in 'good knife' lives is it...?) and it's been sharpened so much (DF is a habitual sharpener :rotfl:) that he says it's beginning to shatter. I personally think he is just over sharpening it, but it is looking quite 'narrow' shall we say! :rotfl: I reckon we can hold out until October when I'm debt free but I have a sneaky suspicion that DF may just go ahead and buy one himself sooner. He often gets things in his head and can't settle until the problem is 'fixed'. He's very much a completist and a bit of a perfectionist. But, he's also reasonably good with money and is a natural 'saver'. I'm the natural spender in our relationship!

Weather is fairly miserable today but it doesn't bother me. I quite like the seasons and before we know it, we'll be moaning about the heat!

Last night I watched some episodes of a bankruptcy tv series on nexflix, can't remember the name of it, and it's made me even more determined to 'own' my possessions and provide myself with a comfortable and secure future. I'm even tempted to pay off my car loan earlier than August. The balance on May 4th will be £431, so I could pay it off in full on 30th May, which would be 2 months earlier than planned. I'm not sure just yet. Maybe I'm just getting angsty!!

DSL :j

DrSpendLittle

Day 174 was a NSD. I wonder if I can achieve one tomorrow as well! I'm not so sure it will be possible as I think we'll need some stuff for dinner but lets see! DF cooking some sort of Swedish concoction for dinner which will be late as he was out for the afternoon, late back and the had to nip out again for forgot ingredients. Doh.

DrSpendLittle

Today is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday! I'm working from home, we have dinner out of the freezer defrosting. DF has nipped out as he is off work this week and will likely pick up some bits and bobs he thinks are necessary additions to dinner. I'm sat in my home study working away at a task with a deadline for tomorrow. I've also done my work to do list for this month and it's got a few big deadlines on it so I need to be on my A game for the remainder of the month...

... Job rant ... I like some parts of my job but there are other parts that I'm struggling with motivation for. Without wanting to divulge too much about my life, my job / career is largely entrepreneurial, which gives me great discretion for how I plan and manage my time and what I choose to work on. That would normally be a good thing for most, but my problem is that I'm completely lacking in motivation at the moment, which makes entrepreneurial tasks much more difficult. I'm not sure why I'm struggling, as things are going reasonably well for me, but this lack of motivation has compounded over the past few years and I'm now in a situation where I have lost the knack of self-discipline. My spark and motivation to succeed are really poor right now. My career spark plugs are damp!! :rotfl: I used to be so conscientious as a child and young adult but lately, I seem to have lost that desire to achieve. The particular tasks at work that I'm 'drifting' on are, surprise surprise, the most challenging part of the role. I think I'm just self-sabotaging and avoiding them. I wonder if my new found motivation for financial peace is contributing to this? Whenever I consider a career change, I arrive back at the same conclusion - I'm in a fairly well paid and flexible job that has scope for career progression (it's there if I want it) and these positives more than make up for some of the deficiencies that I feel about the particular aspects of the role that are frustrating me. However, I'm in a bit of a pickle because my work time is discretionary and I don't have a line manager breathing down my neck - it allows me to procrastinate to my hearts content and this is bad bad bad for someone prone to self-sabotage. Ugh. I feel stuck in a rut and I need a good dose of reality and accountability to get me back on my A game. I know if I continue as I do, the reality of this compounding self sabotage will eventually catch up with me and affect my career progression so I need to get a grip on it sooner rather than later and figure out precisely what is driving my self-sabotage and avoidance. Maybe I need a life routine and a clearer work routine? Hmm, one to ponder over the coming months. Thinking out loud, I feel I've become really lazy in other parts of my life as well and I seem to be wasting an inordinate amount of time surfing the web. I'm not at all depressed or addicted to the internet (!!!!). I love life and feel very grateful and privileged to have what I have. But, I guess I am avoiding something. I need to figure out what that is!!

Bit deep and meaningful!

Right, back to MSE stuff :money: I'm on track with my YNAB categories. This month I've been cheeky and put a few extra pennies in each category so that they are still green after I've spent up I thought it would be a good psychological boost. By this time in the month, most of my immediate obligations and bills have been paid and my YNAB is a sea of 0's and grey. It's actually very nice to see every category still green, even if there are only a few pennies in them :rotfl: Does anyone else do this????

Right, back to work!

DSL :j

DrSpendLittle

Forgot to add, today will most likely be a NSD as I can't think of anything I need to spend on and I probably won't even leave the house!

wishingthemortgaheaway

Sounds like lots of thoughts going on in your head. Maybe take some time doing some mentoring task and see if you can suss it out.

With regards ynab, I have my ynab broken down into sections:
Monthly bills, the aim is to get to 0 - so that doesn't bother me if the are 0,
Then there are the categories I can spend, groceries etc, the idea behind these Categories is to see how much I am 'save' by doing tilly tidies etc.

The. There are my savings categories that I need to get as high
As possible each month. I know it's games, but it keeps
Me motivated.