The Final Furlong

Dottles1

Evening all.
Clearmydebts - made me chuckle too. Luckily my friends are like minded though I am aware that they tend to lay the blame at my feet for these "adventures".
I'm back for a round up of spends to get back on track. Also all C/C payments have come out now. I managed to get some deadheading done and pulled up one or two plants which had gone over and took the bunting down for another year (nooooooo!!). I didn't manage to cut the grass as it's too wet but hopefully will get it done at the weekend. I have been accepted for a M&S credit card (which will be cleared each month). I thought about it for a while and decided to take the plunge as I have a couple of large spends coming up including flights and vet bill so I may as well gain some points along the way. The plan is to save up for each item and only then buy it paying off the savings at the end of the month. I shall report back here to keep myself accountable.
Today has been a NSD and tomorrow should be too so a good start after the weekend.
Budgets are as follows:
Groceries = £150/100.55
Personal spends = £100/41
Petrol = £50/20

I was paid £20 I was owed from a friend at the weekend which has gone into the holding account. It now stands at £79.43 plus the £450 I put to one side rom salary o/payment. I have private work booked in on Friday which should add another £25. This will cover the MOT which is booked in later this month unless there are any unforeseen problems.
Debts are as follows:
C/C 1 Aug £7587.75 Sept £7417.03
C/C 2 Aug £1185.58 Sept £1160.58
C/C 3 Aug £544.95 Sept £519.95
O/D AUG £200 Sept £100
Total debt August £9518.38 Sept £9197.11
It's not a lot but is going in the right direction

Night all
Dottles x

Dottles1

This week seems to have escaped me, I've been so busy. I only managed 1 NSD, mostly due to lack of planning and being so tired however, I am still within budgets, so far so good. Went to see an Agatha Christie play on Friday night with my DIL and her mother. The ticket was part of my birthday present and last night I went to see the new Downton film. Both were fab, I love the dresses and the furniture. On the same theme, I'm off to a local NT property today with a friend and as it is sunny, she has made a picnic. Looking forward to immersing myself in a little vintage therapy and coffee & lunch in a garden.
I'll be back later to catch up.
Dottles x

DebtFreeMonkey

The budget outfit sounds great! And you're right, it's about how you feel not how much you spend on an outfit! Glad you had a good time

Dottles1

Thanks Alicia, I do like a bargain. I find that now when I need something I check to see if I can get it second hand first as so much stuff gets chucked out when it has plenty of life in it still.
Had a good day out with friend yesterday. She is a cook and brought us a lovely picnic lunch which we ended up eating in the car as it rained in the afternoon.so it was only fair that I bought the coffees (£5.50). Not bad for a day out.
I still have £20 in personal spends, £20 in petrol £44.88 in groceries and £83.73 in the holding account. I have some private work booked in for Friday so there should be enough for the MOT next week. I also need to pay £52 to BF for rail fare to London but that will come out of next month's budget. I have plenty of food in so only a few bits to get this week if anything, as was gifted tomatoes, cucumber, onions and sweetcorn from friend on Sunday (her husband has an allotment) and also a jar of hm jam and 2 jars of hm chutney. I must however, get to grips with taking my lunch to work again this week asthat has slipped a bit lately.
The weather has been lovely here for the last few days and I was able to sit outside with my book for an hour today. On Friday I mowed the lawns and sowed the wild flower meadow seed on the patch at the side of the house. I also put up my new bird feeder where I can see it from the window and pulled up a few plants which had given up the ghost. Autumn is fast approaching despite the sunshine and warm weather.
And so to bed my frugal friends, tomorrow is anther day (and I have to be up for work).
Goodnight all
Dottles x

Dottles1

Morning all
I haven't gone in to work today (first time ever apart from when I had an op last year). I barely slept a wink last night and feel terrible. I know it is (work)stress related as I have a difficult 3 weeks ahead starting next week, but don't feel I can discuss on here in case someone recognises me. Anyway I feel dreadful this morning so I'm going to try to get some rest and then may be able to do some catch up work this afternoon if I feel any better.
I had a call this morning from the garage to tell me that my payment plan will be a few days short of payments for my free MOT & service which is booked in for Monday. I will have to pay around £14 when I take the car in but as well as any costs if they find anything needs doing. I will get it back but may not be until November so not the end of the world but annoying when you've budgeted it.
On a positive front I had another NSD on Monday. I seem to be managing 1 per week this month and feel I could do better. I plan to increase slowly so aim for 2 each week to the end of the month. I should be able to manage one today as probably won't leave the house apart from walking Tilly.
The big shop on payday seems to be working as I have plenty left in the freezer/cupboards to last me with just fresh veg/fruit to buy However I have noticed a bit of spendy frittering creeping into my week which I need to crack down on. I am still within my budgets but may be able to trim them further if I understand what I'm spending on. I think a spending diary is in order. I think I mentioned before that I tend to be full on at the start of a project and then tail off along the way. I'm determined that this won't happen here, hence this diary to keep me accountable.
I'm trying to get my head around the fact that leaving work is not a viable option right now and somehow get my enthusiasm back (at least a little) to make work more enjoyable.

Well I'm off to make a coffee and plan my day. I always feel better with a plan.
I will pop in later.
Dottles x

clearmydebts

Afternoon Dottles. Hope you are starting to feel a bit better and you have been able to come up with a plan.

beanielou

Sorry that work is so tough
Keep plodding

Dottles1

Thanks CMD & Beanie, feeling a bit better now, I think sleep helped. I'm going to go to bed soon with a cup of tea and my book cosied up under the duvet. I'm just feeling rather overwhelmed which is usually a sign of stress for me but have a plan of sorts which helps. I managed to get some work done this afternoon and will work out how much is left to do and divide up over the weekend. I resent working in my own time these days but if I can get this bit done I should be ok until November. My first task though will be to prep for next week's observations so that I feel a bit more prepared as I have very little non teaching time in my working week (half an hour per day).
Once I'm back on an even keel I must put adverts out for my private work as this will both hasten my date to leave work and help with paying off my debts.
By 6pm I felt well enough to take a walk so Tilly and I strolled round the village. It was a lovely evening but needed to put a light jumper on as it is getting a little chilly in the evening now. It's amazing how a walk in the fresh air can lift your spirits isn't it?
On a MSE note I have decided to change my bank account and after doing some research have opted one which will give me £220 (£120 up front and then another £80 after a year). I have been considering it for a while but wanted to pay my overdraft down first.
Today would have been a NSD but I needed to put petrol in the car so that's my petrol budget for the month gone and all other budgets are on track so should be ok till payday - only 12 days to go.
I'm off to put the kettle on and fetch my book.
Night all
Dottles x

Dottles1

Well that's work done for this week. Private work sorted this morning so £25 pound to business tax account and £25 to the holding account. I've just had lunch and finished my book in the garden, now having a coffee and then I'll get on with some work for next week. I've allocated 3 hours then I'll take Tilly out. The sun is shining here and is very warm, I love these autumnal days. I fell asleep on the sofa again last night which is dreadful for my sleep patterns, I need to sort it out, maybe get into a bedtime routine.
On the plus side workwise, I realised yesterday that somebody had piled their files on my shelves and so I don't have as much work to catch up with as I thought. It's all feeling doable now and I'm going to take things a step at a time.
There is still a lot of colour in the garden, geraniums, rudbeckia's and coreopsis going strong and some other flowers that I need to identify, that I bought in a job lot from FB for £5 in the spring. Hopefully with the mild weather we are having they may last a while longer. It does seem strange having to water the garden at this time of the year though. Most of the veg has given up now except for the courgettes which are still prolific fruiters. It really is true that one plant will give enough fruit for one person for the whole summer, very MSE.
Off to finish my coffee and down to work now.
It was nice chatting
Dottles x

Dottles1

Happy weekend all.
I took myself out this morning to collect free daffodil bulbs as a friend had given me a voucher before she went on holiday. I planned to have a look around the local market town near there as the greengrocers usually sell local grown wallflower plants really cheaply. I realised that today was the local agricultural show so no chance of that due to traffic and no parking. Instead I went to the next village where I used to live and walked around and to the little park there instead. Tilly came with me and behaved beautifully (she usually barks at any dog who dares to walk past). So a lovely morning in the sunshine and free daffs to boot.

I have changed my bed to get the sheets dried before the rain arrives next week and another load out as well. That should see me through the week and another job out of the way. Am I the only one who hates making up beds? I love getting into clean sheets and don't mind washing, hanging out, folding etc. but really wish they could magically appear on the bed. It's even worse when I have to battle with the duvet cover.

When I moved house last year I go rid of lots of random mismatched towels, bedding etc. but never got around to buying more than basic essentials so I've also started a bit of a stocktake for household items needed. I need to plan for another set of bedding and another set of towels as I usually wash and put back in a day at present. This gets so much harder to do in the winter and I the having washing around on the radiators unless necessary. I also want to buy a clothes airer (I'll look for one on FB) which I can put in the conservatory as it's always warm in there on winter mornings or to dry things in the residual heat in the living room when I go to bed. Oh what an exciting life I lead !!

Well I've just been invited to go for a glass of wine in the sunshine with my DIL & GD. In their garden so no cost and I have a bottle of wine left from my birthday so I'll take that.
That spurs me on to get an hour in on some work for next week, dangling carrots and all that

See you all later
Dottles x