A welcome wake up call

twiggy86

Hello DiaryLand!

Truth is I feel like I want to have a splurge on things at the moment - which (I don't think) is like me - normally I'm a "fritterer"! So what I have decided to do is write a list of things and then justify why I "need" it or why I "want" it - hoping that will help sort my priorities! A lot of things are running related to be honest, but no point going OTT now in case ankle decides against it!

I did buy one thing yesterday which was a "vegan bundle" of 60 ebooks for £39. I'm not vegan but I do need to work on my diet to eat more veggies and there was some workout guides in there too. I then realised that my work computer was playing up and so couldn't download them so thought I needed to buy a memory stick. However I did a "shop from home" and found one in a drawer! I followed one of the workout plans at the gym today, as I feel there is no structure/plan to my gym sessions normally! Will maybe print out a recipe ebook at work so I can flick through this weekend for some inspiration.

Plans for this weekend shouldn't involve much spending. Need to do the next run on my plan tomorrow morning and then I'm meeting a friend for a walk - we were going to go for lunch but have decided against that! I need to stitch up two crochet animals so that they are ready to give as presents when required. But that is it! So depending on my want/ need list, it might be fairly frugal!

twiggy86

Afternoon all!

It really amazes me how much the little bits really add up and it's no wonder I didn't know where my money went until I started my spending diary! Just updated it with my spends from the weekend and I still feel like I'm frittering! Like I noticed that my post on Friday didn't mention that I'd bought lunch that day - £5.93 frittered!

I do feel like I need to re-focus slightly. Not beating myself up, just re-evaluating my efforts at the moment. I've definitely slipped on Prolific even though I was earning a decent amount! So I've done a couple of surveys this morning. I think I might go back to giving myself a weekly budget rather than monthly and work in cash - I feel like I was stricter when I worked that way.

Weekend was lovely and I had yesterday off, which was very productive. Yesterday's only spend was the food shop (from Lid*) and involved lots of walking which is good for my health goals! I also finally went through the massive pile of post that was by the front door - some dating back to March!!! I'm not hiding from anything, just rubbish at opening and filing post! Turns out I'd missed out on a few vouchers - so lesson learned! Open post on day it comes through the door and file/ dump straight away!!!

I feel like that was a lot of waffle about not a lot, so I'll leave it there!!!

Eyebright

I've been AWOL from MSE and diaryland for months (back again with my tail between my legs and determined now to sort my debts out), but you are doing amazingly well!

You've set some great goals, I'm sure you will smash them all. Keep on plodding as Beanie would say!:D

twiggy86

Morning all!

I'm really annoying myself right now! I caught my arm on a nail in the house resulting in me ripping my jumper and throwing a plate on the floor - not happy! But this has escalated into me wanting to crack on and get the house finished! Of course this would mean diverting money away from debt repayments to pay for this! I would love to have the garden actually done this year so I can sit out there, but that will be a big job! There is also then the downstairs loo (to actually turn into a loo rather than a storage area) and utility room! I would say the garden is my priority though. Maybe I'll make a list of things I can do without spending too much money for now - like getting rid of a sofa that has been out there for near on two years!!!!

However, I have also realised I need to book a hotel and train tickets for London Marathon and buy a fancy dress costume for when I'm away next month - oh and of course some spending money!!! I also still need to "find" £265 to reach my target CC payment for the month! Need to spend a bit of time with my budget, me thinks!

So that's the wingey but done! Let's be more positive!!!

After saying about Prolific, I managed to do a few surveys and cashed out £7.33 so that's already gone off the CC! As I am not running or going to the gym at lunch today, I have bought my old phone in so that I can pop there to get £20 odd for that. I also had a good result with my Christmas present which OH gave me money for and I ordered on Sunday - purchased via TCB and have £20 currently pending! So that means that there's currently over £40 pending - 42p payable but I think I'll wait!! I also moved my little piggy bank this morning and realised there is money in there so will have to tip it out and have a count up and decide what to do with it!

In other positive news - my OH has actually been saving money!!! This is the first time in over 10 years of being together I've known him to save anything!! I do need to help him get the balance right of saving and helping me pay down the debts but it is big news!

Eyebright

Great news that your OH is on board with saving and debt busting. It really does make such a difference when you are in it together and on the same page!

Good luck with all your goals, you are doing really well!:j

twiggy86

Thanks Eyebright!

I realised that I don't think I've mentioned on here quite a big change - I'm trying to quit smoking! (No judgement please!) It's not a MSE perspective but rather the marathon - it is going to be hard so why make it harder on myself! So I bought a vape and have cut down from 15-20 rollies a day to 5-8. I feel like if I tried to just stop I wouldn't stick to it, but hopefully will cut it out totally.

I traded in my old phone yesterday and got £28 - so that has gone off the CC. So current debt total is now at £10,777.84 - with another £236 to find this month to meet my January goal!

twiggy86

Not much to report but a confession to make - ended up getting a takeaway on Friday night! This really is an area we need to improve on as this was really help get the debt down if we cut down in this area. In full transparency, some weekends we have multiple takeaways! But this weekend, I went to Mr T and bought a fake pizza takeaway to avoid temptation! Yes I spent more than an average meal (bought ice cream) but less than a takeaway would have cost. Other than those to spends above (which were a fair amount - need to double check exactly) I didn't spend anything.

The weekend was generally spent pottering around, doing crochet and relaxing! Well, except my marathon training run I had to do on Saturday morning - only 5 miles at this stage. Plus I now have all my crochet projects finished until end of March! Undecided whether to keep plugging away with the birthday presents (as per my list) or make a dinosaur for my god son! Think I might try the dinosaur as I don't actually have a pattern, so it will either be fun to make up my own design or frustrating and end up a disaster!!! Right enough waffle!!!

Eyebright

Takeaways are a danger area for me too:rotfl:,we love a takeaway and have been known to have multiple takeaways on really lazy weekends! :eek:

We've agreed no more takeaways for at least a few months, as we need to lose some weight as well as debt, so that will help with both problems! After that we've agreed one every couple of months as a real treat, as long as it's properly budgeted for is OK.

Low spend weekend for us. Did buy a new bin from Argos and some oven trays from Sainsbury's, but used vouchers in Argos and nectar points in Sainsbury's!

evebeme

I feel for you. I was a smoker for the better part of 60 years. Yes, 60. Started at 12, didn't quit until I was in my early 70's.
I tried everything. Cold turkey, the patch, cutting back ( that was the best, cut down from 20 or so a day to 6 or 7 rollies.) Only smoking outside helped in the cutting down. Also, only a few puffs then putting it out. Must admit, Australian summer helped in that regard. 40C outside is breathtakingly hard.
What finally worked was Champix, not sure it's available in the UK. Comes with warnings about suicide and heart failure. Suicide, well, I made sure those closest knew the risks and knew to watch me for behavioral changes. As far as a heart attack, it beats dying of copd.
Good luck to you. I wish you success with all my heart.

clickerty-click

Regarding the garden sofa, have you looked at your local council website? they may come a collect it for a small fee.e.g. my council does it for under 20 quid.