taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Thanks MrsMac - I've known him as a friend for a while , neither of us really saw it coming but for now we will just enjoy each others company with no expectations

I'm pretty much set on cashing in some bonds , I want to get rid of some of the picky debts and get my budgeting back on track
I've lost my way a little bit recently - Part of this will be setting up a DD to replenish the money used and pay myself back

Over the weekend I will be creating an honest assessment of my spends as I am going wrong somewhere and I need to identify where.

Its going to a long hard month , the only thing I have on the calender is my sons graduation ceremony which I need £22 for the train fare and we will have lunch or dinner and purchase grad pictures which I will allow £50 for.

efes_shareholder

Happy monday people

So the tally up did not take place this weekend , in fact the whole weekend has just vanished
Went to the pub on Friday night with "friend" and then for something to eat on the way home , it was nice - he is a big strapping lad and I feel safe in his company but I'm not too sure its going to go anywhere
I think he may slightly be on the rebound from his last relationship which ended before Xmas and a little older then me than what I would usually consider however I feel secure around him so time will tell

Oddly enough i got a whatsapp from someone I went out with once or twice in the past who i bumped in to at my recent night out with the girls asking me if the guy I was talking too was my BF and whether I was involved with anyone ( he wasn't he was just a good friend) .............it seems men are like buses for me at the moment

I did an hour or so in the gym yesterday - My new friend is the rowing machine , I also got on the gym scales which I wish I had done 2 months ago to really know my progress , I'm about a stone lighter but according to the machine still a stone overweight
Everyones telling me how good im looking , apparantly i should be anything from 8 stone 10 to 11stone 4 - Jesus if I was 8 stone 10 I would look ILL !!

I am still in the black after watching my spending this weekend , I have enough for my barclaycard payment and prob another tank of petrol but I'm pretty sure it won't stretch further then that ...............I have decided I will be using some bonds to get rid of the small nitty payments but not how much as yet , I want it to be a minimum so I may see how the month starts to roll out before deciding

efes_shareholder

good morning
Today I am not happy - you may recall that back in april we had to take my mums dog to the vet and because of my mums situation I paid the bill on my credit card ( paid in full when the balance came in from my EF)
The agreement was I would deduct £40 a month ( £10 a week ) from my housekeeping , so currently £120 has been paid back

Well the dog is struggling in the heat again and has been having trouble with his mobility. Last night she tells me he couldn't get up the previous evening and then says "you may have to get your credit card out again" Why has this annoyed me so much ? It's not that I don't want to help her but since she has stopped smoking and got some of her cards down to £1 payments surely she should be trying to keep some money aside but she seems still maxed out with the overdraft and shopping often gets declined on pension day as they have tried too early to take the money
It was the very flippant way she assumed that it would be ok to use my credit since she has no access to any credit herself - I know the momey will come back to me but I won't allow any balance to sit on the card so it will be tapping in to my emergency fund and technically if anything happened to her it would be "my debt" if I let it sit on the card

I'm not sure how I am going to handle this one , I don't want to be uncaring or unhelpful but I also don't want to be her emergency pot when I don't have my own finances where I want them to be

efes_shareholder

So today is a sad one and I waving some pangs of guilt

After complaining slightly that my credit facility was assumed free use for my mum , the dog settled a bit and we just kept him cool and hydrated and didn't walk him in the heat
Last night after dinner my mum called me downstairs in a panic , the dog who had been fine just moments before was struggling on the floor with his head held at an alarming 90 odd degree tilt , distressed and unable to move.
Within half an hour we were at the vet surgery who rushed him straight through from the car - Vet was of the opinion that he had either suffered a stroke or had a tumour and the prognosis was not good.
After a lot of deliberation and heartbreak we felt the kindest thing was at 14 years old to let him go there any recovery would take if several weeks if at all.
Off course I settled the bill and then felt terrible for grumbles about this facility being used - In reality , within my family we are all terrible with money and I was the only one who could be in a position to help

I am undecided what to do now - obviously I know my mums finances are already strained and I told her not to worry about it for now. She has just lost her companion and her best friend.
I am going to try and just cover the bill myself , it seems the least I can do

[Deleted User]

Sorry to hear about the dog ES x

efes_shareholder

Thank you SSD23

As much as I cursed the hound , he was a loving little soul and I will miss him x

efes_shareholder

Just as you think there can't be any worse luck , my cubs favorite thing in the world , their cat was run over and killed at the weekend
Fortunately as he was micro chipped we were made aware but they were heartbroken - the hardest part of being a parent is not being able to fix their broken hearts no matter how old they are

As expected , we are pretty bare in terms of funds this month - I had to pay out £10 for new key to be cut as amongst the drama of getting the dog to the vet my key cut clean off in the lock , I also bought my mum some flowers to cheer her up and had to refuel the car. I have £30 in my purse so the object is to make this last as long as possible however I think this will be the month that I get some bonds cashed in and clear the ickly pickly debts - I haven't managed to clear the capital one card which was my target so I am going to do this , plus the recent dog bill and set up a standing order to repay myself

I had a lovely weekend with the new man friend , we had a night in and take away on saturday night and then took a road trip to the coast yesterday and had a lovely lunch out.
I even got breakfast in bed - I enjoy his company but I am cautious and don't want to get in too deep too quickly

efes_shareholder

so its a few days since my last post

Successfully completed the baby cubs graduation ceremony , like his older sister he is staying for a masters
Quite a spendy day what with train fare , lunch , photos and celebration drinks since neither myself or his dad had to drive

Managed to have quite an at length chat with the ex regarding house and his plans , I needn't have been concerned about the clingy girlfriend moving in. He is adamant this will not happen and also adamant they won't pool resources to buy once the house is sold ( this isn't my business by the way ) - Clingy gf was just that , he had to tell small white lie about arrangements to get there and once we were on the way home I understood why.
She bothered him about having a celebratory drink , and quizzed him over what I wore , whether we had pictures taken , what I drunk , how he greeted me , whether I contributed to the lunch cost and various other things...................REALLY !! I never knew I had such an impact on her !! She must have called him at least 5 times on the train journey , each time with more questions about me !!

Anyway , thats for him to deal with !!!

efes_shareholder

good afternoon

My god I need pay day to hurry up !!!
Not much to report except I have £50 to payday and pot of coppers to my name
Capital one bill is GONE ! NO MORE! cleared so now just the three things to monitor

I'm feeling really lean from my gym sessions and my belly fat is starting to diminish and slowly shrink away...........after 3 months I am starting to really feel the changes and other people are noticing too.
My mum told me the other day that I now have abs on my midrift and my bingo wings are not as saggy as they were.

This weekend I have been in the company of the new man again - he really is quite sweet considering he is over 6ft and built like a tank
I told my mum there was a new man on the block but I didnt go in to any detail and asked her not to quiz me too much as it was very early days.
my only reservation is that hes on the "scene" that I am in too and we both know each others ex partners and he is a little older then me. The age thing isn't a huge issue
Hes been great giving me advice on diet and fitness and told me I', starting to look like a supermodel ! (i'll take it)
During a conversation over the weekend , he told me he just wants to look after me which is very sweet.

[Deleted User]

:hello: that's me waving goodbye to your Capital One!

Glad things are going well on the man front