taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Hi ES

the Barclaycard and Very expire in December - The Very will be done by then - I am not so sure the barclaycard will be however at it stands I can get a 10 month 0% card and will look for a similar offer close the time to transfer anything still outstanding.
Once Anglian are paid my credit report should start to slowly improve so hopefully I will appeal to more lenders , Potentially I can also cash in some bonds to get rid of it altogether however I would like to keep this tucked away as you never know when your personal circumstances may change

The travel is my vice and it is something I do have to keep a reign on
I have promised myself that I won't commit to any more this year and I have to stick to it

The car was always going to be needed , it just came around before I wanted it too - its already proving better on fuel and much cheaper on road tax
its four seater so although I don't anticipate any grandchildren arriving any time soon , I have some passenger room

efes_shareholder

Last post for a few days as tomorrow I am off on a magical mystery tour - excited and also nervous as the control freak in me likes to know whats going on
My friend is revelling in my anticipation and is feeding me slight clues - I have a feeling from the information given that its either somewhere in Germany or Austria but I can't be certain and by this time tomorrow I should know

I'm packed bar my pack lunch box size Ryan air under seat luggage and trying to find room for an additional pair of shoes !!!
I am being picked up from work tomorrow so I have managed to bag a lift of a work mate so I can leave my car at home , it does mean I will have to try and meet up with my friend later to hand my case over which will make for a bit of a manic evening but at least I should sleep well.

I had to make a call to the doctors yesterday evening as my womens clock and my signals seem to be a bit all over the place and I was concerned that things weren't healing as they should - I didn't want to leave it since I will be out of the country at the weekend but having actually got a helpful receptionist I spoke to the GP and was re assured that everything was normal

Its two weeks today until payday and I seem to be very much on track which will be the first January in years that this has happened
I do have a large balance on my everyday card to clear and I am pretty sure I could do this now rather then wait until payday but tentatively I am waiting until closer to payday and the bill being due before I make that call. I don't like seeing the big number each time I log in online though or on my credit score total so I may give it a week and take the plunge.

pidge04

Have a great time on your mystery tour!

efes_shareholder

Happy Tuesday people

Well my friend completely outwitted me and my weekend was spent in Roma Italy
It was wonderful and he did a good job at mantaining the surprise and making me feel very honoured by the effort

It is a wonderful city with beautiful buildings and history - not the cheapest of places but very enjoyable
My actual trip was my xmas/birthday present however I obviously took some spending money for meals , bus/trains / drinks and general enjoyment which came in about £45 a day and I am happy with that

In money news , its 9 days until payday
I havent sent my mobile back and the deal has now expired so I will have to sort that out
My youngest has gifted me his laptop which he has had an upgrade too for his early birthday present so I am going to search out some survey sites and see if I can get on board with that and get some extra ££ coming in

efes_shareholder

Happy hump day

My head is still full of cold and I am filling the office with a lovely aroma of Olbas oil , I'm still taking medication as a precaution but I would like to feel human again

my mobile phone period to return for resale has been extended so I need to kick my rear in to gear and get this sent off , if I can get the cash before the next capital one statement date it will help with the interest so tonight I will package it up



The new car is proving much more economical on Fuel , January fuel bill is currently £100 bit well over two thirds still in the tank of the last refuel so I'm curious to see if I can make it to pay day next Thursday without having to top up

The non smoking is still on target , I didn't use patches over the weekend which did escalate the cravings but they stayed in check

I think this has played a massive part in me being able to remain in budget this month along with the reduced fuel costs, its been a long time since pay day and I have a large every day balance to clear but its all looking good

I need to work out my Vegas Spends , I can do this from my salary I believe however there is some in my EF should I need it

Then come Feb pay day its time to batton down the hatchet and get some of the smaller balances gone and the payment increased on the biggest C/C

efes_shareholder

oh what a day and thank god its Friday

this time last week I was sat in an airport lounge and now I am sat at my desk with problem after problem coming my way !

Firstly money matters - 6 days until pay day , my payment from work for my glasses has reached my account
The glasses are currently on my every day spends card and which is due for payment on the 7th March
I am tempted to send this money to my capital one which is now acquiring interest just to get the interest down but this would deviate away from where the spend is , although I would be able to clear it when its due
I still have half a tank of fuel so hopeful I will make it to Thursday without topping up
Some spends , some flowers for a work friends birthday , a top up of medication and a session at aqua aerobics last night ( total cost £17.50)
I need to get back in to some form of excercise and am still contemplating joining the leisure centre as I would only need to go twice a week for this to pay for itself , it would also open up classes and also the shower facilities ! I have to sign up for a min of 4 months however I won't make any firm choice on this until after my vegas holiday as I can't see myself leaving the house extra early in the winter months

I am trying to get all my ducks in a row in all areas - have been super organised and booked both my hair and nail appts for my upcoming trip and made a check list of must haves for the long flight

Also looked at smallest cubs graduation dates , All I can confirm at the moment is the week the ceremony will take place so I have had to block book the week out so I know I can have the time off as only one person can be off at a time

I've booked our hotel for Barcelona , its a hotel i know from a previous visit and its available to reserve and cancel for free up to 24 hours before ( plus pay on arrival) so I've secured the room and if anything comes up thats much better value etc I can cancel without penalty

Finally the mothership needs to have a camera down her throat as she is having trouble keeping some food down , this makes me slightly concerned however NHS have fast tracked her to a private hospital but its in east london - She won't make that on public transport and its down to either my sister or I to help out - her original appt was the day I fly out to Vegas however she has managed to move it to a late evening slot the week before so I can leave work and take her
Not looking forward to that drive in but it needs to be done , My sister can take care of the next one in my opinion although its slightly more akward for her as she also has my nephews care to arrange

It feels like an ultra manic day , The traffic all week has been awful one way or another with my commute taking on one day 1hr and 30 minutes when its usually a 20 minute journey

I cannot wait to settle down this evening with a glass of grape juice

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend

Kitten868

Wowee Italy! Is this a romantic type friend? What a lovely place to go. What did you think of the Italian pizza and what did you see?

Your spends all sound great. It's funny how much easier is it to budget without £8 going out a day. I do think it's cruel how they work out the cost of glasses.

Well done on the cancer sticks - you're doing amazingly!

With your sons friends tell him how much don't say contribution or it won't happen. What do you want? £15 each? Decide your figure and tell him.

Keep going xxx

efes_shareholder

We saw all the usual in Rome , The ruins , the colleseum , vatican city , spanish steps ( glad I did these as a non smoker )
It was lovely , it is kind of a romantic friend ( its complicated ! ) but it was an absolutely lovely gesture and one I will never forget.
We did have a traditional pizza but didnt really find traditional italian food so we had our last meal at the hard rock

The trip to Sheffield has been sorted without the friends , they were delaying proceedings and it makes it easier to just sort out myself and the cubs
It also means we can just take the one car which is much more straight forward
I will leave the youngers to party the night away and return to my hotel and I will do the driving so I know that there will be no weary hangovers , I'd rather my daughter didnt do the 200 mile drive following a night on the sauce

I was hoping for a few NSD's toward the end of the month but haven't acheived them - had an all you can eat chinese with the middle sprog at the weekend and bought some charcoal supplements which help my stomach problems. Also did a shop of all my shampoo/shower gel etc for forthcoming trip to Vegas. Also got a little bit nervous about how much more I could push out of my tank of fuel so ended up topping it up although in hindsight it possibly would have stretched , I'm not familar with the car enough to be brave enough to chance it. Got the car cleaned and valeted which was £20 and then got very very upset when another car put a large puddle of rain water down one side !

However Today is my birthday so I thought I could treat myself over the weekend.
I'm at work with a cold but I've already been very very spoilt , Am looking forward to this evening when my daughters are taking me out for dinner

efes_shareholder

I have just had a delivery of the most wonderful bouquet of flowers

very surprised and now the office smells beautiful instead of Olbus oil
They are from my friends boyfriends best mate ! An admirer maybe

efes_shareholder

So I've done a bit of a reckoner and although I have dipped in to my savings pot I have overspent in January slightly more then I expected and had realised

My impromptu trip to Rome contributed to this along with some trips out to the shopping centres with the middle sprog ( those lunches out soon add up) and also not being organised with my lunches etc and a shed load of medication ! Aswell as bits and pieces needed for the new car ( mats etc ) I will need to be more organised and stricter with myself going forward , starting with bringing in lunches every day again.

However as a positive , had I been smoking the overspend would have been far more and had much more impact

I am not expecting to have any surplus cash for February and I have accounted for that but come March I really need to knuckle down and start a structured budget and payment plan
I'm away toward the end of Feb and after lots of lovely gifts for my birthday I shouldn't need to buy anything to take with me and I will need to be stern on myself and avoid the temptation of treats to take on my holidays , the kids got me some new CD's for the car , some new comfy Toms x 2 , a couple of hoodies and a nice little shoulder bag , mother did well with a selection of jumpers ( I haven't updated my collection in a very long time ) and Daughters BF gave me 60 dollars left over from his last US trip which will be my casino money

I also need to get on the survey bandwagon as any extra cash I can generate will be helpful.