Everything is possible if you try!

plush_2

Tea&Kittens wrote: »

Hi Plush, I'm happy to say that I didn't go with an IVA option. I was all pretty much set to do so when I thought I couldn't see any way out (anxiety issues came into play, it was a really low day). I backed out at the very last minute after I found this forum, read some diaries, really took a good look at incomings and outgoings. I was surprised at how much I had left over after bills even with playing off the debt which was a huge kick up the behind about how irresponsibly I was spending.
Now I feel that I'm doing something positive about it, more in control it helps.

Relieved. Yes IVA sounded too much for you, but perhaps those debt mgmt companies exist to sell these IVAs? I don't know and I don't want to find out.

You sound so positive. I wish I could borrow some of that.

Tea&Kittens

Plush, I have to try and be positive about it, or I'll just end up not trying. Perhaps there's a small part of me that thinks if I can control this then maybe things will improve for other parts of life too. I've been really struggling with energy levels, motivation and anxiety recently. I've never been particularly tidy, but right now I'm embarrassed/ashamed to have anyone visit due to the state of the house. (a cleaner is not in the budget... and I'd probably feel that I would need to clean for the cleaner to be able to come and do their job). Trying to break down all the housey jobs into manageable chunks, but one day of getting back from work and feeling so ill I end up not doing that day's "thing" and it all falls apart.
That said, at the moment a debt management company don't own my hide (and yes, I think they do encourage the IVAs).
It's a beautiful day here, lovely blue skies, and I'm off to meet a friend in a bit. (£4 all day bus ticket means I can do lunchtime trip and evening trip all for £4 )

plush_2

Tea&Kittens wrote: »

Plush, I have to try and be positive about it, or I'll just end up not trying. Perhaps there's a small part of me that thinks if I can control this then maybe things will improve for other parts of life too. I've been really struggling with energy levels, motivation and anxiety recently. I've never been particularly tidy, but right now I'm embarrassed/ashamed to have anyone visit due to the state of the house. (a cleaner is not in the budget... and I'd probably feel that I would need to clean for the cleaner to be able to come and do their job). Trying to break down all the housey jobs into manageable chunks, but one day of getting back from work and feeling so ill I end up not doing that day's "thing" and it all falls apart.

You sound like me... My kitchen and bath are in need of deep cleaning. I'm good at keeping it tidy so it looks OK-ish - but if you look closely they need a good, deep scrub. And windows need cleaning. I cannot justify the cleaner expense so - sadly - I plan to do it all in October half term.

I booked the week off and my child will go 3 days to a holiday camp, as I have some childcare vouchers left from when I was using childcare vouchers. So the plan is to do the cleaning during those 3 days, then 2 days we do fun stuff together, and the weekend will be me time (child will be at ex).

Tea&Kittens

Sounds like a good plan to get things done. Lovely to be able to plan both having fun times with your child and then have the weekend to yourself I do similarly

Tea&Kittens

I'm calling yesterday a success. For the grand total of £12 I managed to go into town and see friends at lunchtime, then return in the evening for some socialising. A couple of friends bought me post-birthday drinks as I didn't see them on actual birthday! Win!

Today's plan is to have a general tidy up around the house.
I need to de-clutter the living room and hoover
Do some leftover washing up and give the kitchen floor a once-over
Wipe down in bathroom
Do a meal plan for next week

Drink copious amounts of tea while doing the above!

117pauline

Well done for last night. As an aside, do you have an entertainment budget?

So it looks like September Success. How are you going to make October Outstanding? ?

If you continue your spending diary I hope you will record your successes too. It will help you to come up with some coping strategies for the upcoming December event.

How about coming up with your list of personal treats

Have a good weekend
Pauline

DebtFreeDuo

Just stopped by for a quick read, your diary sounds positive and what a great start to your journey having found your credit on you gas and electric. Don't punish yourself for not keeping on top of the cleaning, sometimes we just have so much to do and cleaning is the last thing on our minds. You are doing great and as others have said, be gentle to yourself, do what you can when you can. Stick to your diary and keep us all updated, it helps massively to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Tea&Kittens

So far, I've accomplished tea consumption but struggling with the motivation for much else!
Pauline - I have accounted for some entertainment in my monthly budget. At this stage I'm still trying to get to grips with realistic budget and spending so that I can be realistic about expectations.
I will certainly give myself some goals to make October Outstanding!

Tea&Kittens

I've made myself a meal plan for the week, which looks something along the lines of:

Today - chicken stew (this I'm going to make a big batch of so we can have later in the week) - Currently simmering away, just waiting for the addition of dumplings (which are just resting!)Looks like it'll last us for about 3 meals
Monday - Thai chicken curry (again, I'll batch cook this today for during the week) - Made, just needs reheating with the addition of rice. Should do 2 meals
Tuesday - Veggie pasta
Wednesday - Stew or curry
Thursday - Stew or curry, depending on what we ate Wednesday!
Friday - Salmon with potatoes & veg
Saturday - leftovers of whatever remnants of stew/curry there are - Made, just needs reheating with the addition of rice. Should do 2 meals
Sunday - lamb with potatoes & veg (the lamb has been in freezer waiting to be eaten for a couple of weeks so now is as good a time as any!)

With that in mind, I made a shopping list, and included things for taking lunch to work/school.
I already keep in stock all the necessary herbs/spices for both stew and thai curry paste, and have a tin of coconut milk to use, so the menu was partly based around what was already in the cupboards.

So, off to the shops I trot, and this is the result:

Food : £35.82
This was made up of:
chicken (to make both stew and curry)
Mangetout and babycorn for the curry
carrot, potato, sweet potato, broccoli, parsnip, spring onions for the stew
big tub own brand yoghurt (I like it on cereal for breakfast)
eggs - breakfast, and baking
fruit - I got bananas, apples and oranges. stayed away from the expensive berries.
ham and salad (cucumber, celery) for my lunches during the week

This week also needed to get some shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and deodorant. These came to £11.

Catfood : £20.90, though this should last them nearly 3 weeks (and they were on offer )

Other bits:
sponge scourers, "pour and store bags" for premade stew and curry, pritt stick for Kitty's school art stuff came to £3.85

they had an offer on a big stock pan, reduced from £25 to £16 which I bought as an investment to be able to make big batches of things.

Total: £95 ish ..... Kind of almost had big panic attack in the supermarket - not good, which is why I decided to break it down and look at what I actually spent on what, as I can't be having a nervous breakdown everytime I enter a supermarket, I find them stressful enough as it is. One supermarket visit uses up a vast quantity of my energy reserves as it is!

Ok, so the food budget part of this was ok, coming in at £35. I was estimating about £40/week for food, so I'm not too disappointed with that bit, though am aware that I haven't bought everything for making this weeks meals due to actually checking cupboards prior to shopping to check,

Cats - While this came in at just over £20, I won't need to buy any more of that food for 3 weeks, so this works out at just under £7/week, or £3.50 per week per cat as I have 2.

Shampoo etc - doesn't get bought every week, so while it pushed the spend up this week, I'll need to get better at noting how long they all last to include a more realistic figure in my budget.

I know spending £16 on a stock pot could be viewed as a frivolous purchase, but I'm thinking I'll be able to make more volume of stewy curryish type things which should help keep costs down.

I'm really trying not to beat myself up about how much todays spend has been, even though looking back to my original budget, spending £35 on food, and the budget for the cats is within expectations.
Any advice is most welcome

Tea&Kittens

Aims for this week:
Money related:
4 no spend days (will need to refuel at some point!)
5 days not spending anything on lunch.
Not taking any cash or card out except refuel day.

Health & fitness
Attend minimum of 2 dance classes
Practise yoga at least twice during mon-fri.
Keep log of water, drink 2 litres/day.

Take repeat prescription in to GP for refill.

Other:
Re-investigate ebay for posh worn once dresses (they were bought for weddings hence the single wear ... )
Check out etsy for inspiration of jewelery I could make and sell from existing stocks of bits.