Taking back the control

Thick_n_Thin

So today I had to give myself permission to be a lazy mare! I just couldn’t get going and my biggest accomplishment was getting a shower and getting into fresh pyjamas, I just couldn’t face the world today it was too wet and windy outside so decide to take a very rare duvet day and watch daytime telly! I did wrap my eBay parcels and I will post tomorrow. I made myself a delicious tostie at lunch out of fridge scraps that in a previous life would of been thrown in the bin, mushrooms and spinach that where slightly past their best and some mozzarella cheese ( something I always buy but have no idea what to do with so almost always gets binned) all toasted on some crusty bread! It was the type of tostie a posh coffee shop would charge £7 for ! So yummy! Pay day can’t come quick enough now, can’t wait to start of my savings accounts and start my master plan!

Onebrokelady

Sounds like a perfect day to me,I was stupid and went out shopping in the rain,it was horrible:(

Thick_n_Thin

It was quite a nice day but I feel so guilty when I’m doing it like I’m being lazy, I like to feel like I have been productive on my days off, I have just worked our December budget out and it’s so tight it’s squeaking! Because I haven’t planned for Christmas or the 2 birthdays in December it’s swallowing up all the surplus cash I had planned to use for any overpayments and to start building up my savings accounts! We also have the fixed penalty notice to pay and Ohs car tax runs out on the 30th which I had completely forgotten about! I feel like I’m going to be chasing my tail a bit in December and can’t even afford to make the tiniest overpayment looking at it all wrote down, I have allowed additional £40 in food budget but I’m hoping with some careful planning I won’t need to use it and I could maybe use any surplus for a small overpayment, I will need to get some more e baying done so I don’t fall back into my overdraft, I’ve also allowed a little extra for diesel so if I try and minimise car usage this also may not be needed! I think the best I can hope for is not to accure any additional debt in December and try and stick to my budget for Christmas shopping, if I can squirrel any spare pennies away I will aim for a £20 overpayment to the credit card!

Thick_n_Thin

So the council tax is still in my account and will be taken out tomorrow when I get paid so I don’t need to use my overdraft this month which means I have ended November in the black:money: as soon as I wake up tomorrow I’m cancelling my overdraft which was the 1st target when I started this diary last month! So I’m happy with that! I have also ended the month with a nice crisp £5 note in my purse which I have been determined this week not to touch so that has been put in my coin jar! Another win! Have worked out my budget for December and there is definitely no room for an overpayment on paper but I am determined o will find the money from somewhere, my aim being by end of December to of paid at least a £20 overpayment! I’m going to need a lot of resolve this month not to fall into fu@k it mode, I have already declined 2 nights out both for next week and tbh it just dosnt feel natural especially at this time of year and I also don’t want to tell people the real reason but I don’t want them to think I’m being antisocial!

Thick_n_Thin

Payday has arrived! So I have rang the Halifax and asked for the £100 overdraft to be removed from my account ( it wouldn’t let me do it on line!) car tax has been paid, penalty notice has been paid, water bill has been paid and have also paid the minimum to the credit card until I scrape an overpayment together! I have Tilly tidyed 45p to savings which now stands at £6.22! I have just sold another item on eBay for £5 and another last night for £2.50 so that’s starting to replenish my PayPal account, the next few sales will probably just about cover my eBay fees for last month, need to remember this as I always forget then get hit with the bill! I have done my budget for this month and hopefully if I can make some cash from eBay I should make it through, I have some nice going out stuff I need to get listed over the weekend that will hopefully sell with it now being party season so need to get than done over the weekend. I’m working a late shift today so instead of taking my car I’m going to get the bus and get Oh to pick me up later this will save £4 in parking!

Onebrokelady

Well done for ending November in the black and for cancelling the overdraft,I think you can cut your self a bit of slack over December if you need to,as you have been doing so well,make sure you do a few enjoyable social things or you will get fed up and end up throwing in the towel
Do you have a savings pot for entertainment,even though I'm on a DMP they allow me £60 a month for leisure and entertainment 😊

Thick_n_Thin

Thanks OBL (hope you don’t mind me shortening your name?) I do feel a sense of achievement for last month efforts! It’s made me even more determined to stick to my new ways this month and o really want to find a little overpayment from somewhere. We don’t have a separate budget for social or entertainment, anything we want to do has to come out of our personal spends, maybe this is something I should consider for 2019! We do have a night out for NYE so this will be our 1 night out over Xmas and I feel it will be quite expensive!

Thick_n_Thin

So I need to set some aims for December as it’s a tight month so there are going to be times when I feel like not much is happening at all so to keep myself motivated I have 5 things I would like to achieve this month!

1, my health and fitness has took a backseat over the last few months my weight is creeping up to a place that I am not comfortable with and I’m a dress size big than most of my clothes, instead of waiting until the new year to get a grip of this I’m going to start now, I’ve been slacking in my visits to the gym and running so I’m going to renew my commitment in this area and get things back on track! 1st visit tomorrow!
2, mental health, I belive I suffer from SAD, I always struggle at this time of year so I’m going to really try and tackle this, I have recently discovered podcasts and I have been listening to a series by Ferne Cotton called happy place where she interviews celebs about their mental health and how they manage it and I have found it really interesting, I want to cut down my time spent on social media so I am going to try and use this as a distraction
3, read more books, I have got 2 books on my reading list that I would like to try and finish for 2018
4, declutter 5 things per day from my hous, this dosnt have to be anything big it could just be a newspaper etc but instead of leaving it to one side I will declutter!
5, would like to try and make £50 on eBay!
This is all in conjunction with my current money saving efforts! It’s to try and give me something else to think about rather than money!

Onebrokelady

Excellent ideas there,I too am trying ( and currently failing) to cut the time I spend on social media or the internet in general,I just get sucked in and before I know several hours have gone by,I have lots of hobbies I could be doing and I read a lot but social media has such a pull on me it's ridiculous
I too have been thinking of listening to more podcasts,especially motivating ones,I use an app called curable to help with pain and they have podcasts that I've listened too and i found them really helpful
I'm going to investigate more,my DD has been listening to TED talks on her phone and some of them are really good,she has downloaded the app onto my phone for me so I'm going to give them a go too
I like to listen to them while I'm on my way to work on the bus,and again when I walk home

Thick_n_Thin

I agree Obl, I can’t belive how much time I fritter away on social media and a lot of what I’m looking at just winds me up anyway so I don’t know why I do it! I have started an instagram detox and I’m going to try and not go on for 7days, I have started using the timer that they have now and it alerts me when I have spent 30 mins on it and I have been quite strict with myself but tbh I think 30 mins each day is too much, that’s time I could be spending doing something else instead! I’ve not investigated TED talks yet but I will do, I’m assuming that they are similar to podcasts? I also like to listen to them when I’m walking, makes a nice change from music!

So today has been quite good, I have sold 2 items on eBay for £25 so pleased with that, I’ve strarted using buy it now rather than auctions as I seem to have a better success rate that way, maybe people are just too impatient now for week long auctions? I recently started collecting £2 coins and was given 4 today in change so they have gone straight into my pot. Apart from food shopping today it’s been a nsd, was proud of me and OH, we managed to resist the coffee shop today when we where out and about so saved ourselves at least £10 there! eBay parcels are packed and ready to go tomorrow and I have prepped my lunch, a nice chicken saled, tomorrow is the re -start of my healthy eating and gym program, I need to look after myself if I’ve any hope of staying committed to this frugal lifestyle!