The Final Furlong

beanielou

I would pay off the OD completely

clearmydebts

Dottles1 wrote: »

it has rained all day here and forecast again for tomorrow. So glad I got out in the garden yesterday and tidied up a bit. for the first time I woke up to the sound of the rain and felt all snuggly under my quilt rather than feeling too warm,
I was invited by my GD celebrate the 1st anniversary of adopting her dog so we had tea and cheese scones with her mum and her other grandparents this morning. A lovely time was had by all and the scones were delicious.
Still haven't done any work for next week so I must get on with it when I finish here. I just find myself putting it off and I know that will end up with me feeling overwhelmed again so need to just get it done.
On the MSE front I joined Prolific Academic last week and have had 2 surveys so far coming to £1.90 and I'm still pushing on with Receipt Hog. It's not much but it is free money and it all adds up.
Tomorrow I need to go into work to print out some stuff and get others checked then I'm going to meet up with BF who is back from her holiday for a coffee and a catch up.
It's pay day tomorrow so I'll be doing the books and budgets at some point but I think I can hold off the grocery shopping as I have quite a bit left in the cupboards and I want to defrost the freezer. I might get through to Friday with just a few bits if I'm careful, I may even reduce the food budget a little this month. The petrol budget may need to be put up again as I had to put £10 extra in this month and I have rail fare to pay for trip to London in November so personal spends will be tight in October. There is an underspend of £21.79 in the holding account which I've transferred out plus I haven't gone into the overdraft again which is good considering that this was the first month of fewer hours worked. I can't decide whether to pay this £100 off something or consider it paying off the O/D completely. I guess it's the same thing really.
I'm still waiting for the paperwork for the new bank account to come through so I can switch accounts, I'm hoping it will be here this week so I can get sorted.
Ok then, no more putting it off, I'm off to crack that work.
Good night all
Dottles x

Enjoy your coffee and catch up tomorrow

Dottles1

Thanks Clearmydebts, I did. It's amazing how long we can chat over 2 cups of coffee. We also planned a couple of trips and are looking into visiting Lumiere at Durham in November. I mean to go every year and forget to book tickets but this year we're on it.
I agree about the O/D Beanie, that's what I'm going to do. It would then be one thing paid off and I can start on the small C/C next. I must admit I'm a bit concerned about Christmas but not going to let it worry me as I'm pretty good at finding gifts at bargain prices.
I managed to get a lot of work done last night and then my laptop crashed. I could have cried but managed to recover most of it so not too bad, that will teach me to save as I go. I have a little tweaking to do tonight but more or less good to go for this week.
I am also making an effort to eat more healthily and to lose a bit of weight before I go away at Christmas. It's about 12 weeks till I go (sorry) and I reckon a stone is do-able by then if I try. I have some intolerances so I'm not supposed to eat wheat, dairy or sugar but I have allowed it back in to my diet recently and have been suffering for it. Why on earth do I do it when I know it will lead to muscle pain and digestive problems? Crazy !!
My friend's dog has gone home this evening so it's just me and Tilly again which is quite nice. She can have cuddles tonight without having to share.
Right, I have tweaking to do
Goodnight all
Dottles x

clearmydebts

Oh lovely Dottles where are you off to? Somewhere sunny?

I am also aiming for a stone off before Christmas. I did SW in 2016 and let the weight all creep back on. I have some lovely clothes from when I lost the weight but nothing fits so I want to get back to fitting into them again!

Dottles1

I recognise that Clearmydebts, the wardrobe with multiple sizes in !! I'm off to the USA to spend Christmas with my granddaughter. She is working and studying over there for the next 2 years at least. We are looking at somewhere warm and sunny (and affordable for me) and were talking about LA last night. I committed to the trip before I started this diary and perhaps wouldn't have done with hindsight until I was in a better financial position but it will be lovely and I'm embracing it. Just need to save up as much as I can before I go.
I have more private work booked in for Friday and then a lovely free weekend planned when I can try to get my house back into some kind of order. I minded to have a go at Foxglove's decluttering idea next month, the one where you declutter one item on the 1st of the month, 2 on the 2nd etc. I have managed a couple of drawers but I now seem to have homeless stuff hanging about. Perhaps I need somebody to organise me
I would like to defrost the freezer and start filling it up again with batch cooked meals for the evenings when I'm working. I'm a bit of a peasant cook, I just throw things together but I want to get into using recipes more. I have a few good books so that might be a job for the weekend. Last night I might a really simple dhal and had it with flat bread for a late meal. It was lovely and I must make it again
I've passed my 2nd observation today so just one more to do next week then I should be ok until next September. Tonight I'm doing nothing work wise just chilling, reading some diaries and watching Poirot on tv.
It's really chilly here in the evenings now but I haven't resorted to putting the heating on yet but have a throw handy just in case.
The Belgian detective with the little grey cells is beginning so I'm off for a bit of sleuthing.
Have a lovely evening all
Dottles x

Dottles1

I made the fatal mistake of falling asleep on the sofa after eating and woke up at 1:30 so ere I am wide awake at this unearthly hour. My "official" working week is over again but I have private work booked in tomorrow (or I should say this morning) and I plan to spend the afternoon catching up on phone calls and doing the books/budgets for October. After that I'm hoping to get a bit of housework done and a food audit/meal planning. If I can get all that don the weekend will be mine (apart from a bit of work I ned to do). That's the incentive.
Workwise I managed to talk to my boss and tell her how I felt about an incident that happened in July that has been hanging over me since then. She is aware of it but just being able to tell her how this has affected me and how I feel about my job was good for me. We all need to feel heard from time to time. It doesn't change the fact that I want to leave but it will make the time until I can do that more bearable.
I'm meeting a friend(the one who's dog I look after) for breakfast on Saturday. We don't often get chance to catch up and she is planning to move away when she sells her house so I really need to do this while we can as will be much harder to do once she goes.
I've been feeling a bit of a slump regarding paying off debts lately. I know this is how I work ( big full on push at the beginning followed by a slump and then giving up) so have been looking at my achievements. Over the last few months I have:
paid off all my O/D
started an emergency fund (although still small)
opened a birthdays pot
opened a pot for the xmas trip
kept within set budgets
reduced grocery budget
Changed bank account to one better suited and made money doing so
sold several unwanted items for extra cash
Gained a better understanding of where my money goes

That's not too shabby.
I'm aware of things coming up that will be potentially costly like Christmas but have started damage limitation and this will be the last time it's not totally planned for. Also I've known that Tilly is going to need some dental work but this looks lie it might be sooner than expected. I have booked in with my vet, who is also a friend, to look
options and what is essential as opposed to cosmetic. If I know what I'm working with I can plan how I deal with it.
On the bright side, once I get into the new year I can really kick in and get things moving so maybe I just need to acknowledge that no mountains will be moved before then and pat myself on the back for where I've got to so far. That's exactly what I would say to someone else.
I really should try to get some sleep now
speak again tomorrow
Dottles x

beanielou

Not too shabby indeed.
Keep plodding

savingholmes

It's normal to have slumps in motivation - but if you do continue to sustain your progress you will see the difference. I keep a spreadsheet and colour in squares as payments go out. It's a least something...

clearmydebts

I am very similar Dottles. I start off brilliantly and then slump. It's a bit of a slog at times isn't it?

You are doing great though, so don't give up!

Dottles1

Thanks all, it really helps to have the encouragement on here, especially when I start doubting myself.
Well finances are done and budgets set for October as follows:
Petrol = £60/£13.95 left
Groceries = £100/£78.60 left
Personal spends = £100/£41 left
I've upped the petrol budget as I had to top up last month and reduced the grocery budget due to still having plenty left in the cupboards from last month. I've also paid for my rail ticket to London for the November trip out of personal spends which doesn't leave me much for the rest of the month but I've not much else to pay for so it should last.
I've added £50 each to the emergency and birthday funds and £180 to the USA fund. I didn't get round to the food audit and meal planning so that will be my first job tomorrow and I'm hoping it will be dry enough to cut the lawns tomorrow as more rain is forecast for Sunday.
Finger crossed.
Night all
Dottles x