Trying to be back in black, in the words of ACDC

Fudgefund

Time for a mid-pay-month update I feel. I am still behaving myself and have £62 left of my ongoing budget. I think next month I'm going to do the same thing - not think 'oh I have £40 a week to spend" but rather, let's spend as little of this figure as possible and see how much I have left to put towards savings. I have had quite a few NSDs, I had to spend £10 on train travel at the weekend but I knew that was coming. I'm also going to have to spend £9 on a prescription which again I am aware of. I have kept up with my work lunches and breakfast so am still succeeding with shoestring living.

I have to go out for dinner on Friday with a friend which I am looking forward to, but I'm not looking forward to the spend. Hoping to come in under £15, it's not as though I'll be drinking alcohol (now been sober for 6 weeks!). I'm hoping to have £30 of my overdraft left at the end of the month, it will go down to the wire but next month should be much better. I had to repay £120 I 'borrowed' from the joint savings last month, I shouldn't have that problem this time. I gave £5 to charity last week but it was a cause close to my heart and a colleague doing a good thing so I don't regret this. I'm not sure whether or not to cancel my union membership at the moment which is £14. It seems an easy saving but I feel bad about it.

DH has let me spend a gift voucher we got from the wedding on some new boots, so I'm really pleased to have something new and some waterproof shoes. Sick of having wet tights at work in this weather.

Finally, I have lost 5lbs this month which I am pleased with! It's actually more, but I have a bit of a block in my mind when it comes to admitting I've gone above a certain weight. :rotfl: Seeing something in common with my debt here. :think::think:

Drawingaline

Lol at the weight denial. I have lost half a stone this month, but actually I had put most of that on in August so loath to count it!

Fudgefund

Yes, it's a constant struggle DAL. I just have a weight which I just absolutely refuse to believe I am over and then just work back from there.

Positives about this week - lots of NSDs. I took my breakfast and lunch to work every day and managed to miss someone's work collection (didn't like them anyway :rotfl:). I went out for my meal with friend on Friday and had a lovely time, she insisted on paying for the meal as a late birthday present which I wasn't expecting so I bought a couple of rounds of drinks and that was all in all £12.05. My DH took me out for another nice meal last night which I didn't pay for in recognition for spending all day doing the housework while he nursed a hangover. I've now been sober for nearly 7 weeks so have lost all sympathy.

The one thing I don't feel good about this week is wasting £10 on something stupid. I don't really want to go into what this was in case someone reads this who knows me because it would be a dead giveaway and this isn't after all confession! Suffice to say though lesson learned and will not do again. I will be approaching this particular spend as I have alcohol consumption - complete cold turkey from now on.

Anyway, this now leaves me with £37.06 until I get paid. I remember someone on here used to have a diary called 'too much month at the end of the money' which is exactly how I feel at the moment. It's a five week month and I had a brief period where I was convinced I was getting paid this week only to realise I'd just ignored a whole week. Ah well. I have to go out on Friday night but hoping to keep my spend under £15. I know DH is going to want to stay out and I'm not going to want to as I have no money, am not drinking and they're his friends not mine. Really hard to stay positive about staying out until 2am when you're sober and everyone else is half cut.

Have a good week all, I'm aiming for all five work days as NSDs.

Fudgefund

It's my payday today. :j Weird really, I spent most of last week fixated on it, made my payments as soon as I woke up about 6:30 this morning and now feel a bit deflated. I guess it's just the fact I've got another month of scrimping to look forward to. This must be the first payday I've ever had where I haven't bought anything. :money:

I have paid £83.03 to Barclaycard, which brings me down to £990 and into three figures which is pleasing. I managed not to spend anything on my card last month and therefore I was actually able to see the amount go down a bit for once. I finished the month with about £5 left over which is obviously not terrific, but I was already in tight margins due to having to repay £120 to savings, so really an achievement in a way. I think I possibly need to be a bit more positive! £60 has been given to my 0% FD card, and £250 back to joint savings. I think at Christmas I might feel like I'm making progress but it's all a bit like treading water at the moment.

Last month got me into much better habits which I'm hoping to take into this month. I have taken breakfast and lunch in everyday to work and have stopped buying anything unnecessary. I've also been going to the gym and have cancelled my union membership so that is £14 a month saved (I swear I will rejoin when my finances are less dire). I have given myself £160 for everything for the month again, so will be counting down from that (I'm already down to £117.65 after deductions for birthdays and bonus ball at work, so similar figure to last month but crucially only a four week month. :j If I can stick to this, I have a sporting chance of having £100 left of my overdraft at the end of the month which would mean my Christmas pot isn't totally empty. I actually should have a bit more money in December so I may just end up buying everything last minute anyway. I'm one of those Peter Pan characters who never has to worry about food etc at Christmas as I descend on a family member with a few bottles of plonk so presents really are my only concern. :rotfl:

I'm off to visit family this weekend so have no idea how much will be spent (train is already paid for). Hopefully I'll get a few free meals and my budget won't be hit too badly. Fingers crossed.

beanielou

Well done on a no spend payday

Fudgefund

It's been a while since my last post, things have not been going swimmingly. It was going fine, until I went on a night out, spent EIGHTY POUNDS on alcohol, woke up with the hangover from hell, a very annoyed husband, and then spent an entire week with my mood spiralling. Anyone who remembers my old diary will know I am constantly at risk of pulling these stunts so I need to be extra vigilant moving forwards. I've pulled myself together now and got myself back on track but my Christmas buffer has gone. I now only have £21.78 until I get paid on the 15th, but it could be worse. I have all food and travel paid for, I have zero plans to leave the house until the 15th save for going to work which is a free activity, and I have no more direct debits to come out. It was obviously a spectacular !!!! up, but I was overdue one to remind me of how much of an idiot I can be. We move on.

I have had some bits of good money saving news this month and I found a leaflet from Sainsburys this morning on my doormat offering £9 off £60 shops for the next five weeks! I usually spend about £60 per week so this is tremendous news. Any extra spending to meet the £60 will go on non-perishables to stock up and some foodbank items. I went to a seaside town last weekend and only spent £5 on machines which I think is a superhuman effort. My old friends Sky are refunding me £95 due to the delay in setting up my new broadband which apparently has something to do with the ombudsman.:j I don't actually get a cheque but they will knock the money off my bill. The amount is actually greater than the bill I pay, so I presume the remainder will roll over onto the next bill. I will be watching them like a hawk. I'll be putting the money towards train fares over the festive period which I had no idea how I was going to pay.

On the negative front, First Direct have sent me a text to say my 0% offer is ending next month. I have done my sums and I think it's worth a BT to Barclaycard for a fee of £40.80. It will mean I can just throw all my efforts at one card which will mentally probably work better for me, but it's a blow. I always knew the day would come but I just hoped it might be next year. It says you can ring them if you need 'help' but I'm pretty sure they aren't just going to extend it for another 18 months and I don't need Stepchange at the moment.

So, 13 days until I get paid, I will be counting them down with all the NSDs I can. No alcohol either and back to the gym. Failure is not fatal and all that.

Fudgefund

*I said c*ck up, I swear. :rotfl:

Fudgefund

Pre-payday weekend update. Six days to go, and I'm beginning to get obsessive about my plans again.

I have been ill all week so have not spent much as my capacity to generally get about has been greatly reduced and I've (thank god!) never been much of an internet shopper. I have had a few NSDs, spent £7.50 on a birthday present which I knew was coming and 85p on a can of coke zero to try and settle my nausea, so all in all not too bad. I'm hovering perilously close to my overdraft limit now (about £14 left) but bar milk for work I don't think I need anything else so just need to achieve another 5 NSDs. I'll be planning my meals for the week and I'm too tired and ill to do anything else so I think I will be fine. I haven't been to the gym or drunk any alcohol due to illness, so flu has really been a gift that keeps giving. Might even have dropped a few pre-Christmas lbs.

I think DH is getting a bit bored with the fact I can never afford to do anything. He doesn't seem to understand that I'd rather stay in than waste money on something I'm not particularly interested in, probably because before I would have just gone along with it. I feel selfish as due to my alcohol fueled slip up I'm on a back foot but I really do have to draw a line under that now for my own sanity. Next month isn't going to be much better, as we're going away twice I won't have any money for anything else. This is where single money saving is much easier.

I'm set on my plan to BT to BC (try saying that quickly ten times in a row), so will do that this week in preparation for payday. My interest this month was £19.33, and the estimated next month is £18.52, so I'm slowly chipping away. Obvs adding £40.80 to my debt in transfer fees isn't great and I truly, more than any other company hate giving Barclays anything :mad:, but it will save me money long term if I stick with it. I'm hoping things will seem less complicated in January, as I have no plans and no spending commitments and I don't have the constant shadow of Christmas. From my Xmas pay I've budgeted £181 for presents, so hopefully I can just come in under that. Sainsbury's are running their Nectar double up this week so I'm hoping to buy armfuls of booze to take to relatives houses who will be feeding me so I look generous whilst not spending anything. 'Ooh, Taste the Difference! You shouldn't have...":rotfl:

I'll update my signature next week as I think it's a bit misleading now, and my debts should be more streamlined. It would be exciting if it wasn't so depressing.:o

beanielou

Keep plodding:)

*Robin*

Hello Fudgie! :hello:

Great to find a new diary from an MSE stalwart of the dark old days [2012] - although sorry you're fighting the debt-monster again.. Never mind, you'll beat it with encouragement from everyone here. :dance:

Subscribed, and thanks for providing encouragement for me to start again, too.