taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Well Happy Monday

relatively quiet weekend , spent friday have a night in with friends one of whom cooked , saturday was treat to lunch by the daughter and yesterday took my nephew to the opening of my football teams new stadium.
Stadium is fantastic and I am back there next week for another game , also today a co worker has offered me a season ticket they wont be using for the first proper home game and they don't want any money!
I bit his hand off , quite literally those tickets are like rocking horse poo
I have told him that I will buy the beers.
The new stadium has really reignited my love of the team again and its a good job i am 68000th on the list for a season ticket as I may have been tempted had I not

My quidco payment has gone in and I have £60 on the nose to last until Friday , this after making a payment to capital one to round my balance down

I know April is going to be another lean month but I have to ride it out as best I can - As recently said the tapping of the credit card has slowly slipped back in to the game prob more so since Xmas and I have to stop this habit
I am clearing the balance every month but it is having an impact of my budget so it needs to stop
This month is has only the middle childs car expenses on it and I am trying my hardest not to use the card again , Once I can get a grip on this I hope I can really get this budget working for me.
I may use monzo or another app - maybe I could do with some additional assistance as 1 year on I haven't quite made the progress this year which i would have hoped.

In other news , my application for property gaurdianship has been successful , they currently have units around 4 miles away in a former care home and quite competitive at £350.00 PCM
The viewings are for this thursday evening which is my usual aqua night however I may re jig this class and book a viewing so that I can see what kind of thing is available.

Also my daily perusal of right move bought up a flat around 3 miles away which technically I could afford to purchase on my salary without any need to sell the house yes , ok its not the most appealling being in a tower block over the town but since I actually like the town that wouldn't be a massive issue.
My savings would be gone covering the deposit however its encouraging to know that my own front door isnt as beyond me as I thought
This oppurtunity has come too soon but if it was similar when I became debt free I would also be booking a viewing of the flat
It just feels a stretch too far right now

[Deleted User]

Hi efes - lots of small wins there like the use of the season ticket and your successful application hope the small wins continue for you x

Kitten868

Does knowing you could move out very soon help? Im better at coping when i know i can escape any time. When i quit smoking i had a packet of fags in my bag all the time so i could smoke if i wanted to.
For someone feeling so low you've been so proactive and taken control of the situation. Youre doing so well. You can do anything you set your mind to. Get all your options on the table and decide what you want. Xxx

efes_shareholder

Thank you both for your positive thoughts

Right now SSDD23 is completely right , its all about the small wins and Kitten , its given me hope that what I am aspiring too is not that far out of my reach without any injection from my former home ( however its still preferable to have this to go and buy with)

I had a brief chat with a friend last night who messaged me about the new stadium and he has given me an indication of my borrowing power when I am debt free

It all really hinges on battering down this debt

The gaurdianship properties would mean an outlay not too far away from what I give me my mum but it would mean I had weekly groceries to take care of - I am pretty confident this wouldn't be ridiculous
Also I would need to take in to account , set up costs - I got rid of so much when I moved back home which now I am kicking myself !! I did a few people a good turn , maybe it would be paid back in kindness my way at some point.

I struggle more some days then others but I am really trying to wade myself through this and try to keep a positive outlook

Its a year since I started my journey to being debt free and it certainly seems like the scenic route - I am by my own admission , still learning.
I'm learning to say no to things I don't really fancy doing , I am learning not to over commit myself with short breaks and holidays , I am learning that I have things and really need very little around me and I am learning that the simple straight forward things can bring you some contentment , I am learning that once I've spent my "mine" money , its gone.
I have learnt to live without using my overdraft , that the most important thing is not to increase your debt and that each payment no matter how small counts

efes_shareholder

Following on from todays reflection and the wonderment of where I am spending money , I've just done a little reconcilation of this month.

It opened the eyes slightly , it is a birthday month so the eating out bill was £115.48 , the corner shop wine stops were £42.00 !! ( they soon add up !! I didnt realise I bought a bottle so often) , the what I would call personal spends , the nik naks like hair dye and the monthly car wash came in at £58.97 , the little hour or two in the pub to meet friends ( I appear to have been in to the local ALOT this month) was £38.45 and the little things for me ( football trips and aqua classes came in at £58.70
When you add it all up thats a fair whack - I can certainly look at improving this and as I said this month wasn't typical as there were two birthdays but all told it adds up to quite a considerable £313.60

I'm going to do this process every month so that I can be completely aware as its a fine line between living and "living"
I don't feel like I've pushed the boat out or had a very "spendy" month so I think for me it will be a worthwhile excercise to monitor this side of things a little closer as I would refer to these as my "personal" spends

efes_shareholder

So tonight I am trying to do something positive and am checking out a couple of options to make life slightly simpler

Summer is coming so I am always a little happier when the suns out and easier to coax out of my bed - Firstly I am going to check out the 24 hour gym near where I work , I am considering replacing my aqua aerobics class for this as it should work out considerably cheaper , It also has private shower facilities !
Figured I could kill two birds with one stone , Tone up on the way home from workand also get clean - WIN WIN

The other option a viewing at a gaurdianship property , this I feel quite bad about , I really worry about my mum but I am interested to find out what £350 gets me in terms of privacy and generally the requirements when living being a property gaurdian. I'm thinking the gym stop may make life more bearable at home but it wont stop her sloppiness or the noise nuisance of the dog.

Its pay day tomorrow , I've tallied up what needs to be paid out and with a holiday balance due and now the car scratch to be repaired there is really not much left over - I am not going to stress or use the credit card , I am going to ride the wave through it , try my best to keep my spends down and if there is more month than money I shall dip in to the safety net and replace it when things stabilise after next months pay.

Becoming a Gym freak would probably help with this as it will keep me out of trouble and tire me out !!

Yesterdays reconcilation has helped with my focus for the month - I can see the areas where spends ran away slightly.
This month is also my mums 70th and my neices 21st birthday so again some expenditure to be expected here..............On a positive once these birthdays are done , thats it until June and no big milestone ones coming up either
so far this year I have had 1 x 18 , 2 x 21 and 1 x 70 .............We didnt plan that well did we

efes_shareholder

Happy monday

Well i visited they gym and although its ideal in location and facilities its £32.95 a month for a 12 month contract and £20 joining fee. According to a couple of girls in the office there is another in the town centre which is £16.95 and doesn't have a contract , I plan to check it out on Thursday

I didn't make the gaurdian viewing - I found the road and saw the property and decided from the outside it wasn't for me - there was limited parking on a busy one way street and despite really being more interested in what I could expect for my £350 I knew from the outlook that I wouldn't want to live in that location.

Had a bit of an up and down weekend , found out on Friday that one of my oldest friends has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. The outlook is promising as it can be operated on but never the less I'm gutted she will have to go through this and scared of the future for her.
It certainly puts life in to perspective.

Took my mum out for dinner on MD , along with my kids and my sister and her kids - We only went to the harvester which was lovely and not too terrible on the pocket. Mum had told me a card was sufficient along with her dinner but seemed a bit put out when that was what she got.
I guess I must think like a man and think she means what she says then as my daughters said to me that when a women says that under no circumstances just get a card
Me , If I told you just to get me a card - I would honestly only want a card.
I get embarrassed when people over indulge me buy me gifts , particularly when they are expensive ones.

I'm not looking forward to making this months salary stretch and think it may be a bit of a push - dropped my car off 30 miles away for its paint job and my rome friend followed me and bought me back so I treat him to dinner. typically on the journey there a huge stone chipped up off the motorway and hit my screen with a clunk that scared the life out of me and left a nice dent in the windscreen so as soon as I have it back I will be calling the insurance to get that looked at
Fortunately the eldest cub has leant me her car else I don't know what I would do

I am feeling quite down and despondant despite the entrance in to British summer time so I am going to take myself for a sunbed after work and then hopefully make a rota of positive steps so keep myself moving forward

Kitten868

I don't blame you! It's one thing after another with that car! You hadn't even got it home yet! And your mum being ungrateful. I'm in the man camp too. What I say, I mean. People never trust it. And sorry the guardianship isn't going to work out.

Its tight because of the holiday - thats a nice reason. Its not because of something annoying or boring.

Nearly through the birthday milestone saga. Keep going! Xxx

efes_shareholder

It certainly seems like I am out of luck with the cars this year - I am counting the days until I get mine back albeit with her little bit of screen damage.
I'm leaving all my payments until I have too this month as I know once I have made them the well will have run dry and I just want to look at my money for a little bit longer
The guardianship is absolutely a viable option as I know friends who have done it however although this one was only 3 - 4 miles away it was in a not so nice neighbourhood on the outskirts of north London and the one way system and lack of parking made it completely unsuitable. I am on mailing lists for new places and get offered viewings weekly so will keep my eye out for something suitable.
The gym should solve the bathroom problem short term when I have the energy and time to visit.

I'm feeling quite lonely ATM and grateful to be able to put my thoughts down on what has become my little blog. There are so many places that my life can be improved I just have to keep upbeat enough to implicate them
I do have a couple of getaways coming up which is something to look forward too and these do keep me going - Again I could have possibly commited to less however this is the fewest things I have signed up for for about 3 years so I am listening to my voice of reason here too.
I do however feel with my personal and living circumstances I need to give myself some time out.

efes_shareholder

Happy Thursday

Well firstly the game was amazing and I will be forever be indebt to my work mate for showing such kindness with the gift of a ticket.
The stadium is something else and I was so glad I was there - I did buy a few drinks for us both which was only right but other then that relatively low spends

Just as well as my account will be limping through April and I am going to have to be very Coy - I cant see that there is any chance of me not dipping in to my back up fund however it will be a case of damage limitation
Car damage , holiday , big birthdays just show me that I need to be far with organised with my budgets
I think I may consider looking at the budgeting accounts like Monzo which have been so good for my eldest daughter

I am supposed to have a girls night out on Saturday , my ticket is already bought £5 but I now have a co-operate ticket to a box at Wembley stadium on Sunday
Myself and my daughter will be attending the FA cup semi final.
since I am techinically repping the company I am now considering blowing out the girls night or at least not drinking as I can't roll up looking like I have been on it all night.
I probably won't make a call on that one until closer the time but not drinking would be cheaper and also embrace the healthier lifestyle