My journey to a debt free life

Cherryfudge

Onebrokelady wrote: »

What's a usp:)

Unique selling point

Hope the painkillers did the trick? I loathe making phone calls but they are generally easier than expected.

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Unique selling point

Hope the painkillers did the trick? I loathe making phone calls but they are generally easier than expected.

The painkillers and a long sleep did the trick finally:j I didn't manage to make any phone calls today as I couldn't face it again

Onebrokelady

Arrrggghhhh I woke up with a sore throat this morning and now I'm sneezing,I really hope I'm not getting another cold,thankfully the pain in my face has calmed down,I can feel it might come back at any minute because there is a vague tingling but the pain is gone at last

I didn't wake up until 11am this morning so was behind with everything today,I had to check my bank account to make sure all my bills were paid and I had enough money to last until pay day and I've had to borrow yet more money from my emergancy fund so I've got enough to last until payday,my emergency fund is now down to £250 and I am really sad about it,I had a bit of a melt down and couldn't concentrate on money so I didn't sort anything out in the end,I must try to do it tomorrow,I've juggled the figures and if I reduce my SC payment,claim the council tax discount and give up riding lessons I might just scrape by,I need to be able to pay all my bills and save for emergencies and Xmas ,I'm going to hold my nerve until October's payday to see how much I get paid with only one Sunday worked in the month,that will be the lowest I can go I think then I'm going to make the decision on my hours and whether to put them back up again,I'm already resigned to the fact that I need to put them back up I jut don't want to

After briefly losing the plot I got on with my day,this involved taking my dog for a lovely long walk along our local river to the local pet shop because I needed chicken food and cat litter,I noticed the other day that my local pet shop does free delivery if you spend over £20 and I also discovered they sell chicken food,so I bought a 20kg sack of layers pellets and a 16lr bag of cat litter to make it up to the £20 charge,this is the same price that I pay at the big pet superstore that I walk to once a month but the bag should last me for months which means no more struggling home with bags of chicken food,it's really heavy so I'm pleased not to have to do this anymore,DD is paying for the cat litter because the cat is hers not mine

The walk along the river was lovely and the sun was shining,I had to take my coat off as it was so warm here today,it's helped to clear my head a bit

I then came home and had a coffee and chilled out for an hour before cleaning the kitchen,polishing the living room and then hoovering the house,I also tidied my bedroom as there was lots of receipts and paperwork lying around,it's all gone now and is looking really tidy again

I didn't get out to do the garden because I ran out of time and didn't feel too good so that will need to be done on another day,I've just spent the evening catching up on diaries and then I'm going to bed as I don't feel too good

I forgot to say yesterday that I tried to get my flu jab done at work while I was there but couldn't have it done because the hospital have run out of vaccine and are waiting for more to come in,I'm glad i didn't get it done now though if I'm getting a cold anyway, they hassle us to get vaccinated though so I will have to have it soon
Right I'm tired now so will be off to bed in a bit,hopefully I will feel ok tomorrow and be able to get some stuff done

Cherryfudge

You've reminded me, I need to see about my flu jab too. Yesterday I thought I had a cold starting but today I'm fine... hope yours goes too, you do sound as though you could do without it. I'm sure you needed that lie-in, and maybe it will help you fight the cold.

Would it help to do a new SOA? Perhaps someone can suggest some way to trim a bit off the expenses rather than having to go back to work. Or perhaps you could do a few bank hours?

The walk sounds lovely: it's been a beautiful day here too.

foxgloves

Just been catching up on your diary, OBL. You make a good point about worrying about past spending behaviours & possible lack of money in the future. I think it's human nature to do this, but we do sometimes need to get off that particular roller coaster of worrying thoughts & concentrate on the present. Like you, I have been a VERY wasteful girl in the past. Until my redundancy, I'd always been in full time work with a professional (public sector) salary, and for over 12 years, we had a very healthy joint income. I wouldn't be human if I didn't look back at what we were earning then & think of just how very much we could do with that money now that we are are committed budgeters. But the truth is that it's the past. I can't change it. And the only way I can even begin to influence my financial future is to concentrate on positive money habits in the present. I actually think this applies to everything, not just finances. It must be a worry for you thinking you may have to increase your hours again. I expect it will come down to which decision will be the greatest worry......working full time or having less money. Sometimes taking the hit of having less money is worth it for less stress, more time to do the things you want, mental health, physical health & all sorts of things. But only you can know whether there is an income line beneath which the resulting stress would be greater.
I wish you well in your deliberations & I'm going to ramp up my efforts to join you in concentrating much more on the present & all the simple pleasures it has to offer.
F x

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

Just been catching up on your diary, OBL. You make a good point about worrying about past spending behaviours & possible lack of money in the future. I think it's human nature to do this, but we do sometimes need to get off that particular roller coaster of worrying thoughts & concentrate on the present. Like you, I have been a VERY wasteful girl in the past. Until my redundancy, I'd always been in full time work with a professional (public sector) salary, and for over 12 years, we had a very healthy joint income. I wouldn't be human if I didn't look back at what we were earning then & think of just how very much we could do with that money now that we are are committed budgeters. But the truth is that it's the past. I can't change it. And the only way I can even begin to influence my financial future is to concentrate on positive money habits in the present. I actually think this applies to everything, not just finances. It must be a worry for you thinking you may have to increase your hours again. I expect it will come down to which decision will be the greatest worry......working full time or having less money. Sometimes taking the hit of having less money is worth it for less stress, more time to do the things you want, mental health, physical health & all sorts of things. But only you can know whether there is an income line beneath which the resulting stress would be greater.
I wish you well in your deliberations & I'm going to ramp up my efforts to join you in concentrating much more on the present & all the simple pleasures it has to offer.
F x

I went to bed last night and couldn't sleep because I was thinking about money,so I made up my mind that when I go back to work on a Monday I am going to ask them to put my hours back up to 34.5 reasoning that it's only 4.5 hours so not that much really,Then I woke up this morning and knew I didn't want to do it........aaaarrrrgggghhhh all this thinking is doing my head in,Im just going to bite the bullet and put them back up,I can always reduce them again in the future
The thing is that so far the reduction in hours hasn't actually made any difference and I'm not getting to do do anything with the extra time,I still get up at 5.15 for work but on one of the days I finish at 3.30,it then take me 45 minutes or more to get home and I'm still as shattered as I was before,so on balance it's not worth the lack of money especially if it means I have to give up doing things I enjoy like riding

I am valiantly trying to focus on the positives and live life in the moment,it's when I go to bed that it all starts going around in my head driving me bonkers, I have to say once I decided last night to increase my hours again I fell asleep and I stayed asleep all night so that's telling me something:)

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge wrote: »

You've reminded me, I need to see about my flu jab too. Yesterday I thought I had a cold starting but today I'm fine... hope yours goes too, you do sound as though you could do without it. I'm sure you needed that lie-in, and maybe it will help you fight the cold.

Would it help to do a new SOA? Perhaps someone can suggest some way to trim a bit off the expenses rather than having to go back to work. Or perhaps you could do a few bank hours?

The walk sounds lovely: it's been a beautiful day here too.

Hi Cherry,this cold is one of those annoying ones that just hangs around not really doing anything but makes you feel yucky anyway,my throat isn't sore as such but feels a bit painful and I keep sneezing and my nose is slightly runnybut that's it so far,I do have a slight headache but that could just be my normal headache and not the cold, I just wish it would either do something or go away ( go away being my first choice:rotfl:) I'm hoping if I keep taking the echinacea it will clear off
I'm not allowed to do bank hours becasue of my sickness levels,I have a strict plan that I'm allowed to work to for instance I can't work two days in a row,I've decided to put my hours back up now because I can't stand the stress,I feel like I've gone back to the days before I started my DMP
My walk was lovely and it did blow away some cobwebs,we have had another gorgeous day here today

Onebrokelady

So after much deliberation I have decided I'm going to speak to my boss on Monday and put my hours back up,the once a week shorter shift is not making any difference to my health,I'm just more stressed out which will make me ill in the long run, I feel better now I've made the decision but I'm sad that I can't stay on my reduced hours,I can however reduce them again another time if I really need to, that's it case closed decision made.......and breathe

Today has been another beautiful day, I slept really well last night after I had made my decision about my hours and I woke up at 8.20 raring to go,I didn't get up until 9 though because my brushed cotton duvet cover is sooooooo snuggly that I just didn't want to step out of bed,I should never have bought it:rotfl:

I had a leisurely breakfast and then walked the dog,I pottered at home for a while while I waited for the chicken food to arrive,as soon as it turned up I went it town because I had to buy dog food and some ginger for cooking,it was so lovely I walked into town and I had to take my coat off halfway there,so I've been wondering round in jeans and a Tshirt all day,what's going on it's October,I know it's milder in Devon but this is weird,I'm not complaining though because I'm really enjoying it

I'm now on here catching up on diaries but need to get off my bum and do things,I've got biscuits to make and stuff to do

I didn't phone StepChange today because now I've decided to up my hours I can keep paying the same amount as I've paid all year,I still haven't sorted the council tax though so need to get on that ASAP ,it will have to be Monday now though

Onebrokelady

Just a quick update before bed,I've caught up on the diaries and had a nice relaxing evening, I did manage to bake a batch of ginger biscuits earlier,it's a dough that you can leave in the fridge and just chop lumps off to bake as you need it,so there's lots left for other days,it's vegan too so DD can eat them

Tomorrow is my Saturday to meet my mum for lunch so we are meeting in one of our local department stores,we are making the most of it because this store has been earmarked for closure in January,it's really sad because it's been here for donkeys years and they do the most lovely macaroni cheese in the cafe and I won't be able to have it any more,I feel sorry for all the staff who are losing their jobs after Xmas too,it's such a shame
Tomorrow evening me and DD might watch a new Series on telly it's based on the book A Discovery Of Witches, we watched the first one and then forgot all about it,Im not sure if I like it but have decided to give it another couple of episodes before deciding whether to carry on or not,if we don't watch that I will be trying to do some sewing as I haven't done any today and was supposed to

I'm still not feeling too good but I'm hoping the cold I have will fizzle out as it doesn't seem that committed to me:D

Right I'm off to bed now as it's getting late, I'm not actually tired but feel like I should try and get to sleep if I can,lack of sleep makes me feel rubbish

Cherryfudge

It sounds as though you'll be happier with your old amount of hours - more money and more sleep.

We've just put our winter duvet back on the bed. The summer one is very light so this feels like being under a snowdrift, but warm and cosy. Oh yes, and a brushed cotton cover adds to the effect. It's odd, isn't it, this mixture of warm sunny days and near-freezing nights (at least up here in the north). I love it and I'm making the most of it!