Sorting out my life before the BIG 50

Ollielikesswimming

AUGUST

'White Rabbits':D
I am not going to do a monthly roundup now as my pay cycle goes mid month but I will plan to do a bit of an update this evening to see how things have gone in July which I can add to later in the month
Petrol £40 - £0 left
Me £10 - £7 left
Food £20 - £0 left
So my plans of not spending went out the window:rotfl:however other than a planned £5 tonight that's it for the week. I have lots of bits of food in I'm just getting lazy about preparing and eating, As I had a physio appointment last night I was in a different part of town and noticed that fuel was cheaper so decided to fill up and get a little more for my money. The food spends however could have been so much more useful :beer: anyone ?
The August £100 challenge is starting at £31 is I suppose it should really be the £131 challenge however I am not sure what else I have to sell. Luckily its my weekend off so I have Saturday to look through the house for more bits to sell.
After reading Foxgloves declutter challenge in July have decided to attempt it myself in August so I need to find 1 item to go today and then increase by 1 each day that should mean by 31st August I will have either decluttered, gotten rid of, sold or repurposed 496 items :eek:

Ollielikesswimming

Gosh I am going backwards :mad: I've just woken up ( done my meditation) then proceeded to eat an entire packet of jam & cream biscuits with my cup of tea! I know its because I have not done a 'proper' shop this week and just been popping to Lidl for bits - which basically means ready meals and biscuits. Need to give myself a good talking to over the weekend
Petrol £40 - £0 left
Me £10 - £0 left ( spent on crap food and paper)
Food £20 - £0 left
So penniless now until Saturday morning when my pots reset. 1 more week till payday so I need to review my accounts as well this weekend to make sure I am on track. No more money in the £100 challenge today so still at £31.
Finishing a little earlier today as have to pop back to the physio so after that I am treating myself to an early night as this has been my first full 5 days in a row week for ages and I am struggling ( thats also effected my eating)
In my August declutter challenge :
1 box full of recycled stuff left the house yesterday

DebtFreeMonkey

Just read your diary and it's super encouraging and full of ideas. I may just start the August challenge of getting rid of stuff with you! A day late but I can make it up good luck. It's enjoyable reading your entries and I look forward to more.

Ollielikesswimming

Thanks for popping in Alicia:hello:

So all of my pots have reset for the week and its the final week of the pay period for me so
Petrol £50 / £20 left
Food £30 / £5 left
Me £20 / £15 left
So higher budgets this week as I have a planned trip to London tomorrow so know that fuel will be higher and I wanted to be able to plan my meals better this week as I feel as though I have been struggling in the past couple of weeks. There is enough left in the account to allow for this.
I've done a big shop this afternoon across Lidl & T's and believe that I have enough in to last the week. I've made a lovely Veggie Chilli this evening and there is enough for at least another 2 meals . I just need to make up some overnight oats for breakfasts and up my water intake and I hope that I will be back on my game:rotfl:
In my £100 challenge am now up to £66, selling has really slowed down so I need to take another look at this to get a little extra. Am hoping that as the numbers I need to declutter increase I will find some bits.
Declutter for 2nd - 1 broken pencil, 1 very smelly rubbish bag
Declutter for 3rd - lots of weeds from the garden, yucky tea bags that i will never drink, mouldy tub of greek yoghurt

DebtFreeMonkey

Veggie chilli sounds delicious. Do you possible have the recipe to share?

Hope you enjoy your trip to London! I dread the place, myself but it's because I've realised that though I am from a city, I'm pretty much a country girl. :rotfl:

Ollielikesswimming

So I'm back after a fabulous day in London on Sunday I was just so tired yesterday that I on just managed to get through the day at work and spend a couple hours at my favourite place with a friend in the evening, Then it was home for tea and a bit of veggie TV time:D

However feeling a lot better today, luckily a later start at work and a train journey so have a bit of time this morning. Money pots so far are:
Petrol £50 / £20 left
Food £30 / £5 left
Me £20 / £10 left
Not too bad really, London only cost £30 which came from the treats pots and was well worth it. Pay day on Friday so it will be the first proper new salary and I am hoping that my tax code will have been sorted ( there have been lots of emails flying around).
I've stalled on the decluttering challenge, I think that I have too much going on at the minute so I am going to keep gently doing it but not task myself with a daily amount , 1 to think about during the darker days.
£100 challenge still stands at £66, with £10 to come and hopefully this month there is the second bank switch ( may log on a see if thats about next)
Managed to haggle TV package down by £5 pm over the weekend, not the greatest deal but I went for easy & quick and will look again in a few months . Have started to look at house insurance, think that there is about a £25 saving on this from a quick check but need to spend a bit of time looking ( there is over £150 in the yearly bills account & nothing else is due this year so I'm not too worried). Moved my hair appointment for tomorrow, still have one booked for August but I will have to pluck up the courage to cancel that one as well. Decided that as much as I love my hairdresser she is just too expensive:( Am thinking that I just have one last cut before my hols in Sept and then start the search for another one when I'm back - have been growing my hair for a while now and I spend half of the time with it up so really need to decide if I want it long or not and then find a still thats cheap to maintain. Won't even think about the grey:eek:

Ollielikesswimming

Phew - day off:p
However its a planned day out so not very relaxing or looking able to do many of the jobs the I need / want to do but it will be nice to spend time with my parents.
Easy day yesterday NSD as only spend was train fare which I will be able to claim back:D
So running totals are:
Petrol £50 / £20 left
Food £30 / £5 left
Me £20 / £10 left
£100 challenge is still at £66, but there is another £15 to clear. Had no luck with any of the bits of BF this week so think I will look on the bay next
Just putting a small list up as a reminder of a few things I need to do in the next few days:

• Follow up house insurance quote
• Check recovery paperwork
• Book airport parking / hotel
• Check payslip and re budget
• Buy white paint
• Send pension letter back
• Look at moving 3 x old pensions
• Chase RBOS 'free' money

Ollielikesswimming

Great day out yesterday and who cares if the floors didn't get cleaned ( my windows did though thank you Mr window cleaner man:D)

Late start today but have managed to sort out the house insurance, saved £30 on the renewal quote, 241 meals etc and SW points so happy there. Other things on the list will have to wait till my next day off I think
A cheap day yesterday, only spend was parking which was necessary as Dad struggles too walk to far
Petrol £50 / £20 left
Food £30 / £0 left
Me £20 / £7 left
Top up shop should last well into next week and there is no other planned spend for me before the pots reset. I will however use the fuel money today.
Pay day on Friday, I have already seen my payslip this new wage will take some getting used too but thats for future planning on next day off too.
The £100 challenge currently sits at £76, have added to BF this morning but still need to up this as can really see another £10 at the moment for this month.
Right really need to get my run out of the way, make lunch and start to think about getting to work - although after seeing my payslip I need to make sure I am not doing extra 'free' hours

Ollielikesswimming

So at the end of another week and gosh has it been raining overnight:eek:
So my pots this week will reset tonight so the final figures are:
Petrol £50 / £0 left
Food £30 / £0 left
Me £20 / £7 left
So all in all another good week, although I had upped the pots as I knew there were things to do this week.
I will sit down tonight and look at next months budget ( month runs 10th - 9th) and see what savings I can make and what needs to be paid for. All of my yearly bills are now up to date so I may decrease that pot for a few months to get a few other things sorted.
In the £100 challenge the total now stands at £86 with a further £25 +£5+£10 due so should be able to start my next £100 next week:D

Ollielikesswimming

So I have managed to not float away in all of this wet and windy weather but it has made me very lazy! Didn't manage to go out for my run yesterday and I waited for a buyer to arrive ( they didn't:mad: ) so missed being able to get to the gym. I need to improve my exercise quota as I am in serious decline and also I am not getting any value out of my gym membership
No spends at all yesterday, so my yet to be decided pots are all still intact. I will probably try and go till Tuesday before spending , although I may get a chance to review my accounts tonight, its no big deal though as there is enough food in the house and petrol in the car and I am working all weekend
So as my buyer failed to arrive the £100 challenge remains at £86 but the item had loads of interest so hoping that it will clear over the weekend. I missed the cut off for my expenses this week so that will roll over till next week. I still need to make a decision about my hair cut next weekend and the jobs I listed earlier in the week need to be reviewed, so all in all a bit to do in between work:D