Taking back the control

Onebrokelady

Yep Ted talks are similar but are accompanied by a film of the talk,I think there is an option just to listen to the talk though and not watch the film
I'm not doing too badly with my social media embargo,I nipped onto FB for a few minutes today but got bored and logged back out again ,I've been busy today to not really had time to look at anything
Tomorrow morning will be a test because I don't have to be in work until 12 and last time I did that I wasted the whole morning on FB and here,but I have plans for tomorrow so should be busy doing things and not procrastinating online,we will see

Thick_n_Thin

So not updated for a few days and as a result I’ve gone of track a little..... have done a lot of my Xmas shopping now just 2 presents left to buy which I’ll do next week, but I’ve been very unorganised this week which has resulted in two shop bought lunch’s, eating has been very disorderd abit all over the place and I don’t feel great atm, I’ve slipped into a winter slump! I have managed to make £60 on eBay sales this week which has been positive!

Thick_n_Thin

So I have been AWOL for a few weeks, battling through Christmas and the 328 days that was January. Mangaged to get through Christmas unscathed and without falling back into overdraft territory but January has been tough, it’s one of my hardest months financially and also mentally so I have not been feeling great, positivity has been Thin on the ground and I have just been trying to get through each day. Finances are not looking much better for the next couple of weeks either and it’s two weeks until I get paid again so really need to get back on this site to help keep me motivated. Also been comfort eating and drinking far too much so this needs to stop as well.

Thick_n_Thin

I haven’t updated in a while things have been a bit up and down. I have slipped of the money saving wagon in spectacular fashion and have built up my overdraft again to £400 and have also borrowed £200 from our savings which needs to be paid back. I am getting really tired of living like this and the effects that it’s having on me, I just don’t seem to be able to manage my finances. I have gone over my bank statement for last month and my overdraft has crept up due to overspending on the grocery budget each week and then the top up shops that happen a couple of times a week. My social life has also contributed to it with a couple of days out here and there when I was off work and a mega expensive night out last month that was planned but ended up costing more than I’d anticipated. So I have 3 days until I get paid and my current account is over £300 overdrawn with a direct debit due tomorrow for £111 that will bounce. I have not 1p to my name and haven’t for the last 2 weeks.. this was the same last month as well, the last 2 weeks before pay day had to be nsd’s As I didn’t have any money at all... so embarrassed to be living like this.

Thick_n_Thin

Miracles do happen... so last night I had resigned myself to landing in unauthorised overdraft territory, a direct debit for £111 was due to be taken today and I had only £94 ish left to use if my overdraft, then just as I was getting ready for bed I had an eBay sale with buy it now that netted me £21 with postage, I quickly transferred it to my current account :j leaving me a surplus of £3ish before I go over again! I still need to post the item £4 that I will need to root out of our coin jar but needs must... 3 more days until pay day! I’m determined to manage my money better this month!

Today’s money saving efforts,
Bought lunch in from home and today will definitely be a no spend day! Apart from that nothing much else going on .....

Thick_n_Thin

Last week I Was prompted to enter a meter reading for the gas and electricity which I did, they have now given me an amended bill saying I owe them £189 . This will set my plans to become overdraft free back this month! I think the best I can hope for is to pay off £100 this month, ideally I would of liked to do £300. Last night I cancelled oh’s Music subscription for £9.99 per month that he had never got around to doing so that’s 1 thing done!

Thick_n_Thin

So I have read back over my diary to try and identify what goes wrong for me on terms of managing my finances. I am definitely more focused when I post regularly and loose momentum when things get a little bit tough. I have a lot of grand plans like overpaying my mortgage and becoming mortgage free when the reality is I can’t even stay out of my overdraft or stick to my budget, then I get frustrated with myself and slip even further into debt, i really need to learn to take baby steps with this. There is no point thinking bigger picture at the moment I really need to get to grips with the basics so I am setting myself some small slightly challenging goals for this month and also focusing on how I’m going to accomplish them rather than just having a list of things to achieve.

So my goals for this month are as follows.
Stick to my grocery budget of £75 a week ( £300) per month. I will achieve this by making a meal plan, creating a shopping list, limiting the amount of alcohol purchased.
Pay £100 out of my allocated spending money to start reducing my overdraft. I will then divide what’s left into envelopes for each week for spending money, I usually have £250 for spending money so the rest will be divided up with the aim of saving what’s left over each week into a jar for Christmas.
Make £100 on eBay and reduce the overdraft by a further £100 by end of the month, I have plenty to sell I just need to get back into the swing of eBaying.
I think each goal will be challenging enough without becoming unachievable so I loose focus.
Seeing it all written down like that makes me feel a little calmer...

Thick_n_Thin

So I received my car insurance renewal today, it has gone up by £250 for no reason! So I will definitely be shopping around for a new quote and I will try and go through Quidco which I haven’t used before. I have a couple of items ending on eBay tonight 2 of which have bids on and I sold a dress earlier for £2.99 ( hate it when things sell for buttons) but every little helps. Pay day tomorrow, can’t wait to start my new budget.

Thick_n_Thin

So after what feels like the longest month ever I have finally been paid, I have been staring at my account balance and was tempted to completely clear my overdraft but in reality I can only afford to knock £100 of it. One of my direct debits was returned unpaid ( it was for a regular payment to an isa that I save into so not exactly a bill) but they haven’t attempted to take it again. I will wait a few days if it’s not taken I will reduce the overdraft by another £100.

I have set up some accounts on my online banking ready for me to sweep money into, one is for Christmas, one for long term personal savings, one for treats and one for everyday bills, I want to start putting £150 per month into my bill account so when we get a household bill we have the cash there waiting instead of scrambling round for the money, I won’t be able to achieve that this month as the £189 gas/electricity bill will need to be paid 1st.
I have set up save the change on my current account and this will be swept into the Christmas pot.
Right off to make myself a coffee and then I need to get working on this months budget and also my shopping list for this week, I’m determined not to go over £75. Back later x

Thick_n_Thin

So I managed to get my food shop for £71.12! Really pleased with this as a first attempt as i have to admit I didn’t do a shopping list, I roughly buy the same things every week, so I totted it up in my head as I added things to the trolly rounding everything up to the nearest 50p I think I will do a list though for toiletries and cleaning materials as I did buy toilet rolls when I didn’t need to but at least they won’t go to waste. So I was thinking of what to do with the underspend and I have decided to send it as an additional payment to the credit card, so I have just made my 1st overpayment of £3.88. This will give me the added motivation to spend under each week.

My budget for the month has been set and after all the usual bills have been paid it leaves me with the following,
£270 personal spends, I know this feels like a lot but I have a dentist appointment this month so god knows how much that will cost. I have also paid £100 off my overdraft out of this and I also have a Father’s Day gift to buy so I am budgeting £30 for this. This will hopefully leave me with £20 per week for the month which for me is tight to say the least.
I have managed to jig the budget about so we can pay an additional £60 of the credit card, I just want to wait for the next statement before I send this and I have also managed to put £230 into savings account. This is something that me and OH are really concerned about so we have a joint account that we can only access with the other persons signature, so far due to a successful PPI claim early this year we have £3180 in there ( I owe this £200) so we are hoping to top this up and keep building it up as a little nest egg, would love to get this to £5k so the sooner I can pay off this credit card the better!