Trying to do everything all at once!

LiveLifeFull

Thirty days I've been doing this MSE thing! I must float my own boat here, and say that alot has changed quite drastically in the space of 30 days. I haven't added anything more to my debts this month, have managed to get together £300+ in a emergency fund, and still had some fun days out. I've bought lunch at work less than 5 times, I haven't over spent on the food budget, and tbh, I'm just really pleased for my first month of really knuckling down.


Obviously, I know there's so much more room for improvement, and I could cut back even more, but I think the balance has been quick good this month. Me and OH haven't *felt* like we've been cutting back, as we've just budgeted money for fun things.


I'm just quite proud that we've stuck to it


I went to the gym last night again (which is free as my OH Uncle owns it) so its very MSE. I did arms, and I won't lie, I cannot move today. I did boxing with my OH too, as he used to box all the time, and the gym is primarily a boxing gym. It was so much fun! and oh my god did it half kill me! Loved it!


Tonight and the rest of this week is going to be so hectic, it will be none stop. I have family coming down from Kent tomorrow for the whole weekend, and they will be seeing my new house for the first time, so I want to clean and scrub EVERYTHING. My house is generally clean and tidy, but is it just me, or does anyone go a bit mental with the cleaning when people are coming to stay?


Dissertations for my 3rd years are also due in tomorrow, and deadline days are always mental, especially for dissertations. So I need to make sure I'm ready and up to date with everything else at work so tomorrow afternoon I can focus solely on managing the storm of students that will be coming to the office :rotfl:



TODAY HUMONGOUS TO DO LIST (I will have OH doing this mammoth list with me :rotfl: )
- Tidy ALL rooms upstairs & downstairs
- Swipe kitchen and bathroom
- Take out bins and get a little spritz of something that smells nice
- Polish living room
- Hoover ALL rooms upstairs and downstairs (focus mainly on downstairs to save elec)
- Mop kitchen and bathroom
- Wipe down kitchen cupboards
- De-cobweb all of the house
- Sweep outside front door
- Tidy back garden a little bit (not much as wont be going out there due to weather)
- Change bed sheets in master and spare bedroom
- Sort out books on one bookshelf
- Wipe down windows in living room
- Clean TV screen
- Quick wipe of downstairs skirting boards
- Iron nice guest towels and put in the bathroom, alongside with bath mat
- Quick gym session which I get for free since my OH Uncle owns one.
- Make dinner from stores
- Make lunch for tomorrow from stores
- Share bath with OH
- Clean mirrors
- Put away dry clean washing
- Take dirty washing to parents to pick up later tonight
- Turn off all appliances that aren't in use
- Meal plan for next week
- Write shopping list for tomorrow for when we go to Ald!
- Take a deep breath and relax an hour before going to bed and give myself a little break!


Wish me luck everyone! :eek:

LiveLifeFull

jvr wrote: »

I did run... feeling very smug, it was more of a run/ walk but we shall ignore that... also took our fat dog (we left her with a friend for 3 weeks while we went to SA and I came home to a right tubster!) she was fab and I really enjoyed it... also her calm sleepiness in the evening.


I love salted popcorn so its good snack as I don't have much salt in my diet.


I have an allowance each month so can spend on activities/ shopping of whatever...... just need to make it last this month!


With your debt repayment....... remember its not just what you have paid off... if you were used to putting £200 a month on the cc for instance, you have made cut backs of £286!

Yay! Glad you went! A walk is just a very slow run in my opinion and still counts I went to the gym again last night and the only part of my body that doesn't hurt at the moment are my toes :rotfl:


I have an allowance each month too. Which I then allocate to each weekend and give it a designated activity! Like, at the beginning of the month, I'll sit down with OH, and we'll say, right, what shall we do that weekend, and what shall we do the weekend after, and then we allocate money to it, and its something we have to look forward to! And because we are getting out the house or buying something new, it doesn't seem like we are scrimping and saving too much!


That is very true and a much better way to look at it! I would have definitely spent money on the cards this time last month, so we are getting there! Just wish it would bloody hurry up so I could go to shopping and buy everything I've had my eye for months :rotfl:

jvr

Go you with the gym!! Just managed a 5k run this morning with the dog (she is on a diet too) as I have spend two days eating rubbish... need to get back to the healthy food!


I really like your way of doing the allowance and planning things in, may sit with OH and look at doing that, although I tell him these things are all my ideas as he has no idea about my diary haha

LiveLifeFull

ITS PAYDAY! :j :j

My first payday, and I've been looking forward to this since I started :rotfl:


My OH puts in another £100.00 to the food budget when he gets paid at the end of the month. He also pays all the essential house hold bills, apart for our window finance loan, which is on 0% until June 2019 that I pay for. I save for all our holidays, and will be paying off all our debt. I have also started (since last month) to put away £21.00 per month for my MOT and Service. It wont be the full cost when its due in October, but it will be most of it, which is much better than when I was paying it all off in one go without planning for it.


I am also a bridesmaid for my cousin, and we are going to Disney land for her hen party in October, so I'm saving for it monthly until then, which is what the £50.00 is for. I have also renewed my car insurance this month, and saved £13.88 per month, so I've allocated it to a house fund, instead of frittering it away. £25 to the emergency at the moment, as we have a couple of hundred in there already at the moment, and then once my OH gets paid, he'll will add some too.
I know the £100 for my OH birthday is quite high, but we are going to Harry Potter studios, so this will need to include petrol to get there and back, food for the day, a present while we are there and a card. I am hoping to have some leftover though, so if there is anything, I will put it somewhere accordingly (either in the EF or towards debt).


We are going to Bali in May, which we have saved for instead of putting on the CC, so I have one more payment for that left at the end of April, and then that's all done with! The money that I would have been saving will then be going towards debt! :j


So, my monthly budget looked like this:
Income: £1472.52

Outgoings:
Car Finance: £128.80 Car Insurance: £41.14 Phone: £55.02 Windows: £175.00 Cineworld: £17.95 Glasses: £31.67
Petrol: £70.00Food: £150.00 Savings for Bali: £395.00Debt Repayments: £139.00Emergency Fund: £25.00Savings for Hen: £50.00Dentist: £56.15MOT/Service: £21.00Bens Birthday: £100.00House Renovations: £13.88


Happy Friday everyone!

LiveLifeFull

Also,


I have my family coming over for dinner etc tonight, so I was cleaning all evening last night. I'm still not finished, so I need to continue with that as soon as I finish work.


So my TO DO LIST for today:
- Swipe kitchen and bathroom
- Take out bins and get a little spritz of something that smells nice
- Hoover ALL rooms upstairs and downstairs (focus mainly on downstairs to save elec)
- Mop kitchen and bathroom
- Wipe down kitchen cupboards
- De-cobweb all of the house
- Sweep outside front door
- Tidy back garden a little bit (not much as wont be going out there due to weather)
- Wipe down windows in living room
- Clean TV screen
- Clean mirrors
- Go food shopping at Ald!


I'll be glad when this is all over!

LiveLifeFull

Morning everyone!


The weekend just gone was a bit of a hectic/spendy one. My family come over so I cleaned the house like a mad woman, but it looked so lovely in the end. It actually made me realise I don't need to spend half as much as what I wanted to on it, all it needed was some TLC.


I did buy a few house hold bits and bobs though. A new toilet roll holder £7, Tea towels £4, Vase £14.00, and some things for the dining room (total TBC once its all come out the account). BUT, it should all be within my budget. I didn't put a penny of it on the CC.


I paid off £139.00 off the debt this month. AND my OH got paid an extra £200.00 more than we thought he was going to, so he's hopefully going to be paying that off one of his cards too. I will update my signature in the middle of the month once all the interest etc has been added, but I'm really pleased with our progress so far. :j


We do have a dilemma though. My OH works as a community mental health nurse, and needs his car for obvious reasons, but it is almost 10 years old. The last MOT he had, they said hes going to need a new clutch soon, and as of last week, his exhaust is blowing. He REALLY needs a new car asap, and we obviously don't have the savings to buy a new one out right, so we are going to have to get one on finance. Its not going to be a brand new car, it will be second hand. Its just frustrating because our disposable income will go down, which means less to throw at debt.


This has made me realise how important savings are. :mad:


But, onwards and upwards.


TO DO LIST:
- Keep on top of work at job
- go to gym with OH (its free so very MSE)
- Make dinner from stores
- Make lunch for tomorrow from stores
- Put away dry clothes
- Do two loads of washing (washing machine is fixed now, yay! Cost £70.00, could of been worse)
- Go over budget for the month with OH
- Meal plan for the next few days


Happy Monday everyone!

jvr

I think there is section on the website when looking at new car as getting a loan can work out cheaper than finance or even 0% card depending on the cost of the car... worth considering

LiveLifeFull

I've been hit with 'the cold'. Been stuck in the house the last two days, but I dragged my butt to work today, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to have a good Easter.


Nothing much to report. OH paid off another £200.00 off his own debt this month which is amazing. If he can do that every month, we will be debt free by August


No news on his car yet. We have booked it in, and we are going to see how much they quote us to get it fixed. If it is anything less that £700, we will just get it fixed, if it is more, we will be getting a new car, either by finance or getting a loan. Really don't want to do this, but my OH needs a car as he is a community MH nurse. (FYI - When I say new, I mean new to us, it will be second hand for sure!)


I'm taking it easy the next few days, just going to completely relax over Easter.


TO DO LIST
- Complete all urgent work at job before Easter break
- Tidy all downstairs rooms
- Take out food shopping money in cash
- Go food shopping for the next few days
- Change bed sheets
- Have a little pamper - paint nails, cleanse, tone, moisturise.
- Maybe see my parents/OH parents


happy Easter everyone! :j

LiveLifeFull

Afternoon MSErs!


Had a bit of a wild bank holiday to be totally honest. Been out drinking twice, which is A: bad for my health, and B: Bad for my bank accounts.


We haven't put any money on the debt though - wish is what we would have a done before. But it just means we cant really much else for the rest of the month. We just got sick of being out with our friends and them having all the money in the world and us constantly considering the price of everything we were buying.


Thinking about it now, it is ridiculous. We don't know how our friends finances are. For all we know, they could also be in £1000's of debt, and feeling the same as us, as just putting on a show. It was a life lesson this weekend, and one me and the OH has discussed. We are not happy with our behaviour, and will change accordingly. :mad:


Also, the council tax came out this month. I thought we had 2 free months? It didn't come out last month, but it came out in January. So we've only had one free month. Is that normal? I have no idea.


Need to get back on track with life though. OH had a phone call form the doctors and he has high cholesterol. He is one of the fittest people I know exercise wise, and definitely does not have a weight problem but because of his diet in recent months, his cholesterol has spiked. Its only 5.5 but he's only 28, so it needs to be sorted. And my weight has gone out of control too. So we need to seriously rethink our diet.


I've been looking on the Musclefood website, and I'm seriously thinking of ordering from there. The meat is supposedly really good quality, and the price is great. I haven't really heard anyone complain about it. Has anyone had an experience with them?


Also, good news. Me and the OH are ALWAYS saving for holidays. But OH's mum has said she wants to take us on an all inclusive holiday to either GOA or Dominican Rep. She said she would put £1000.00 per person towards it, and we could pay the rest. So next year, instead of spending £3000.00 on our holiday like planned, its looking more like £800.00 :j Very lucky in that respect.


TO DO LIST:
- Tidy living room/ bathroom / toilet done
- Cook healthy dinner from stores. done
- Prepare healthy breakfast and lunch for tomorrow from stores. done
- Do some exercise (at least 30 mins)
- Catch up on job work from Bank Hol done
- Read a self help book (Only 95 pages long but apparently is really good) done
- Personal routine: Bathe, Cleanse, Tone, Moisturise, use gum protecting mouthwash. done
- Do two loads of washing (washing machine is fixed now, yay)
- Hang up dry washing from the weekend
- Go over budget for the rest of the month with OH done
- Chill out with OH and finish the last season of Fr!ends done
- Order Muscle food slimming hamper done


Happy Tuesday everyone!

LiveLifeFull

Well, me and OH royally f***** up this weekend :rotfl:


All of the transactions from our two nights out have come out of my account. It isn't looking good. Luckily, we had already paid off what we wanted for the debt this month, as we are going to have to be extra strict with what we have left. And we have OHs birthday and we are going to the pub on Friday. :mad: so stupid. Never. Again.


I had a really productive day yesterday, and I'm finally getting back into the swing of things in terms of my work, my health and general well being. Still need to keep an eye on what I'm eating though, and do more exercise. But I'm slowly getting there.


I've also just started a bullet journal, which is fun. (the journal was a gift to me). I will be doing a debt free chart and a spending diary in there, so I can really keep an eye on what we are doing, and how far we've got to go before the debt has completely gone!


TO DO LIST:
- Complete my work to do list (its long so heres to hoping)
- Start bullet journal
- Tidy living room/kitchen/bathroom
- Cook healthy dinner from stores
- Make healthy lunch for tomorrow from stores
- Put away dry, clean washing
- Do two loads of washing
- Watch a film with OH


Happy Wednesday! I love how quick this week is going