NST Penny Pinching GoSober Stoptober

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a meeting with a colleague, for being on the countdown to half term (all the kids are tired and grumpy), for going for a little run, for headspace, for multicoloured fairy lights, for dd staying on for drama club, for the colours of the leaves, for working with some great people, for having the luxury of having ongoing plots and plans and machinations (is that an English word?).

plumduff55

Another NSD for me today so slowly creeping up to 9/15..

ORGANISE- I've been packing today for travelling to visit ds1 and his partner tomorrow. I managed to get everything into a very small case - brilliant for me because I always take loads. Leaving home at 9.30 and will arrive at son's about 6pm. Just hope Paddington's all ok tomorrow.

EXERCISE - I cut the front grass and tidied the garden. The grass was really damp but needs must.

Not much chance of being frugal and not spending while on holiday but I will try xx

Shrewbie

Thank you Thriftylass for the inspiration:)

Budget - have been screwed by the spanish social security system. Newcomers are supposed to receive a discount but they changed the rules part way through the year and didn't tell anyone, so I have paid the price and am now paying €280 social security per month plus 15% tax on my earnings. Fuming a bit but sure I'll get over it.
Challenge - no booze today! But spoke minimal spanish. Must try harder.
NSD today 12/15
Exercise - walked home from work again
Banned no takeaways and no sugar today.

Today I am grateful for being able to walk home from work in the sunshine, chatting with my housemates about rubbish and for students making me laugh so hard I almost cried/wet myself.

Saving_Glut

Challenge: I aim to lose 3lbs this month. It will be good to be accountable here! Lost 1lb so far. I’d better step up my efforts on this if I am to lose another lb by the weekend.

Organise: Will take stock take of food in cupboards, fridge and freezer. This should help with my MFW challenge too. I have been eating from fridge/freezer for the past week and I know there’s plenty more in there. Does this count as being organised?

Budget Items: I do know my expenditure for October, but do need to figure out those regular annual costs and fees which like to surprise me every year! No progress yet.

No Spend Days: 10/15

Improvise: Located coat buttons which I hope to sew on this week.

Exercise: Aim to complete 5 cycling sportives in October, four of which must be free (won two in a competition) and one of which must be self-guided and in a new location. Have completed one - four to go! Took two pooches for a walk at dusk with owl hooting in the distance?

Don't Be A Martyr For Christmas: Researched options for Mum’s gift. Also learned today that contractors will get both Xmas Eve and New Years off work and paid. Sooo happy about this!

Extra Income: Total sales for Oct: £72.95. I cancelled a monthly mobile top-up which cost £4.80 - I think reducing expenditure can be reported here as ultimately it increases my income.

“Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” Oprah Winfrey

mothernerd

Two quiet days. Went to mum's yesterday with her shopping (just basics). She signed her tax return and I've now sent it off. More jigsaw done, some sewing and a little reading. Mum is trying to get me to have Friday off 'to get properly better'. It means getting food to her delivered and letting her know (phone not fixed yet) and atm mutant passwords/ sites are making buying it and taking it in a taxi seem like the easy option.


She has other people coming in over the next few days and if she was ill and needed me urgently, her back up option is to phone her cousin who lives a couple of blocks from me and ask her to come round.


Today was crafts. Only woke at noon (asked DS3 twice as thought I'd misheard him the first time. Quick sitting on the stool shower, clothes on, dropped books off at the library, picked up sandwiches at the little shop.


My chief volunteer is now an official Centre volunteer so she's going to take over as group leader. It's a relief because it means I don't need to go in, if I'm not well (they were worried about me last week as they know if I could crawl there, I would go).


We counted up the lavender bags for the Christmas boxes - 30 were required and we had 33, so handed those in. All the stuffing had been used - sent a full bag again last week. Spent the session cutting out halloween decorations - lots needed as there are two large rooms to be done this year.



Very relaxing cutting bare trees, haunted houses, bats, cats, spiders and skulls out freehand and then minature versions out of the offcuts. One of the members had won a community award, so we had photos taken with him and his trophy and certificate. Slightly awkward incident towards the end of the session but I've decided what I want to say next week (in reply) and then will let it go.


Caught the bus home, walked across the Town Hall square but very wobbly and glad to be home. Sorting through a bag of sewing and doing little bits.


Today I am grateful for my fellow crafters for companionship and banter, for pull on clothes (not deliberate but I seem to have ended up with mostly pull on clothes and it's a good idea going forward, even when my right arm is bad I can manage to pull things over my head with the other hand) and for my shabby clothes - have decide not to buy anything for the present but wear some things to death. The things that have small holes or are lightweight with be worn with leggings and over or under t-shirts or thin jumpers so any shortcomings won't be noticed.


Yes apple, machinations is a word but has slightly sinister overtones mw ha ha ha ha.

sashanut

Hi all :j

Challenge: Oops forgot this one yesterday! Don't smoke & rarely drink either, so it has to be giving up unhealthy snacks. Snacks mainly healthy today. but could do better.. as always.

Organise. Start as you mean to go on. Know the contents of your fridge, freezer and cupboards. Plan your meals around them. Cook from scratch. Don't buy anything you can make unless cost /time taken dictates otherwise. If you are new to turtle challenges or still have full cupboards you could try living from the cupboards. Lunch was YS growler for DH, I had an omelette from the egg mountain. Supper was risotto with the YS half cooked chicken gifted by DD. She got some of it back as DH took a portion round - plus her uniform trousers - for lunch tomorrow. Didn't see her as apparently she had the hangover from hell:rotfl:

Regular budget items should be set by 1st October. If you don't know how much you are spending on food or petrol, now is the time to find out. Question every purchase - need or want? No purchases today.

No Spend Days. Aim for 20 (high target) or 15 (low). Am aiming for 15 but hoping for more. Now 11/15.


Improvise. Make do and mend with a creative twist. think of a substitute ingredient, how to make an old/broken piece of furniture last a little longer. Used wet newspaper instead of masking tape whilst painting, tip I heard somewhere. Works well, but you have to be quick!

Exercise Four times a week at least (20 minutes minimum but can be done 10 minutes at a time). Get outside in daylight as often as possible. No gardening today but got outside for a couple of hours painting the sunroom outside, as DH held the (quite wobbly) ladder for me. More to do, but it is a lot better already.

Christmas Nothing today, other than a bit of knitting. Have a fun item to knit as a joke gift for DD...couldn't resist.

Banned Will only be chippys normally with the odd takeaway planned for a celebration etc. No takeaways today.


Extra Income and Extra time Did survey plus input my numbers for Nectar points.

Report in, daily if possible I'm here..


Go turtles !!

shabbychic12

Wise words from our October leader thrifylass. I was feeling like giving up on October as it seems to have been a disaster for many reasons some under my control and some not. Her post yesterday has spurned me on to keep plodding on so l will. Away next week l will be away but l will be on it like a car bonnet when l get back for both money and weight. X

Chandelier.

I'm back reporting in with a total of 7/15 NSDs so far. I'm hoping for a lot more over the next two weeks.

Yesterday I had work but nipped out to the doctors on my lunch. I came away with some antibiotics and steroids for a chest infection. I knew I had one but I didn't want to go on medication again but needs must. There were no spends yesterday.

I'm hoping for today to be a NSD. I am nipping round to my friends this morning and then I have a dentist appointment. I also have the car repair man coming round tonight to give me a quote on the work that needs doing, I know it will be a lot .

Anyway the plan for the rest of the day is to chill out. I want to update all my online banking again and see what funds I can move around to cover costs of car.

dolly84

Hi all.


Got the car battery yesterday and DH fitted it so car is back up and running for £60. Had a parcel delivered yesterday - 2 more presents for DD and not much more to get now for her or DS.


All sorts of problems with mum at the moment, she had a scam phone call on Saturday saying they were from BT and she gave them all her bank details, DOB, mothers maiden name etc. In the end we had to close her bank account and re-open a new one, not an easy job when everyone works and the banks shut at 4.30pm. Got that sorted then her phone line died, turned out it was a BT problem which they sorted from the exchange but the poor woman is so confused now about whether people are genuine on the phone, I've told her not to tell anyone anthing and just to ring us and we'll deal with it. I hope she's listening.


Off work today and DH has the day off too so we have a 35 mile bike ride planned, gorgeous day for it here so that should be really nice. DH is off tomorrow, first time in years he's had a day at home on his own, he has some jobs he wants to get done and I might give him a couple more in case he gets fed up:rotfl:. Once you get my hubby doing jobs you can't actually get him to stop, it's like he's been wound up in the back and is charging about with tools and paint cans and won't give up till the key stops turning, the frightening thing is what he might actually do without supervision, I worry he may lose a limb.

thriftylass

Oh Dolly84 what a scare. It's sometimes hard to tell unless it's totally obvious like "you had an accident"-no I didn't, "your computer is infected"-don't have one, etc. Luckily FIL (81) now checks with us first.

Chandelier hope you feel better soon and the car quote isn't too painful either.

Today I'll do sth that will probably raise some eyebrows . DH and I got a lot better talking about money but it's far off what it should be. We're now at the stage where we agreed I save and pay off other debt and he pays the bigger chunk of bills etc to even that out a bit and focus on his OD. He cleared that OD with a 0% card thinking that this would encourage him to pay that off before the deal ends. Well, I don't think it happened. he won't give me details, just says it's ok, but then needs to borrow money (which I get back on payday) etc. I just don't know where his (our?) money goes. Obviously, I know where some of it goes as he pays fuel, goes out drinking, often buys his lunch. But I don't know the full extent and judging by what I think (!) earns, he must have a lot of spending money and his CC still not being paid off worries me.

So, as he never opens his statement (does online banking, so is not completely unaware of balance) and they accumulate on the desk, I pinched a few to look at in work today. I'm not worried to the effect that his debt is spiralling or anything but he's been in an 2k OD since I met him despite his wages increasing etc. And I need some fact before I broach the subject again.

EDIT: got the wrong statement, doh (took one that turned out to be from 2014!) but the other letter from this September showed he got another overdraft :mad:, now it' s less that the original one but I don't know if he reduced the old one or got a new one. Oh Dear......:(.

Speak later

P.S. I just put big order for herbs and spices in a online basket as I have a tendency to buy those little jars in Tesco or Asda. £30 spend but got over 4 lbs worth of them and got free delivery. Then realised I don't want to lose an SFD and might wait to press submit till Friday when I go to Asda anyway.....just as well I hadn't checked out yet as I just found a 10% off code, yay