2020: Becoming a Saver, Not a Spender

[Deleted User]

Thanks everyone
I spent the weekend pretty much celebrating all weekend, too much booze and too much junk food!

I did sell something on eBay and list a second item, though, and got LOTS of washing and housework done, so swings and roundabouts x

[Deleted User]

Back to the real world this morning
A few of my family know, the whole world doesn't need to know until I get the Final Offer after the vetting, all being well we had my brother and his girlfriend over yesterday for a social distanced BBQ which was nice to have some different conversation. 

Got a small to-do list of jobs this evening, which include:

- going out and pruning my plants
- spraying the fertiliser on the grass
- cleaning out the pipes under the sink
- packaging up some items I need to return
- doing the last lot of washing from the weekend (just some bedding that can go in the tumble dryer)

Got so much washing done over the weekend, including curtains, shower curtains, cushion covers etc...

Today I have managed a few hours SE work and 2 meaty PA studies which are worth over £10 so looking forward to those clearing  

My eBay sale was a top I have never worn and don't really like, I have also listed some hair extensions I bought and actually will never get any use out of, they are still in the packaging and someone has asked for extra photos so hopefully they will sell soon, too if they do, that will be my money for the money claim against the dealer who sold me my car, as their two weeks is up on Thursday and I have heard nothing from them. 

I had hoped not to have to spend money to get the money back, but worth a go

[Deleted User]

Well, I certainly wish I hadn't tried tackling the pipes in a way, but also glad I did because they were disgusting. They are also absolutely what was causing the smell coming from the sink. I got out what I could and will be extra vigilant on putting cleaner down the sink going forwards. The only other job I got done was the washing, and that's only because I did that as soon as I walked in

So the garden bits and pieces and parcels still need sorting today, which isn't so bad as my hair extensions sold, so I need to package those up and also I have the money for my money claim

[Deleted User]

Hi again  

Topped up the cleaning supplies today, and have a plan to re-arrange the cupboard space to accommodate them, including a proper drain cleaner as opposed to drain unblocker, and that is going down the pipes the second I walk through the door. 

I need to have one busy night tonight to get back on track with things and stop looking round helplessly at the various rooms and tasks, then I can pick up again with my little 5 minute daily jobs that keep the weekend relatively stress-free. OH has offered to help but to be honest I probably get it done quicker when he is sat in one place...

I also have ordered a fan to collect on my way home from work as I am waking up exhausted where it's so hot and I keep waking up. The kitten has discovered that the windows/window ledges provide a good view and potential access to outside, so we can't exactly have them open wide now. I will try and get some of those fly screens this week for the kids' windows so they don't overheat (and SC2 also hates any form of spider or insect coming through her window when it is open) but I'd prefer a fan in ours for now. It has a timer so won't be running all night so shouldn't cost too much to run - I just need a proper nights sleep

My £7 PA study has been approved, but I'll wait for the other £4 ish to clear before cashing out. 

savingholmes

Some great sales and survey income. So pleased about the new job for you. I must look into insect screens for my DD too who has similar issues.

[Deleted User]

savingholmes said:

Some great sales and survey income. So pleased about the new job for you. I must look into insect screens for my DD too who has similar issues.

I was the same when I was younger, still not a fan of any insects coming in, in my last houseshare I got one from B & M for about £2 which was velcro around the edge of the window frame so you could just peel it back to open and close the window

ETA - these are the ones  https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/easy-fit-insect-window-screen-white-3216871

[Deleted User]

Good morning world thanks to the fan and sleeping on top of the covers, I finally got my first good nights sleep in a long time, though we do need to look into putting the fan up a little higher so most of the air blows over the bed, then I can sleep under the covers without fear of being mauled by a kitten

I got caught up on all of my odd jobs the other day, so I got to spend more time relaxing last night. I also filed the claim against the car dealer yesterday, they have until the 6th to respond.

I dead headed all of my plants on Tuesday evening, and they are already looking heaps better. My raspberry plant in particular has grown beautifully since it was planted. The one upside to all of this rain is that I don't need to water them very often at all at the moment. I may brace myself and spend some time out in the garden if it is raining this evening and attempt to put some more grass seed down whilst we are due to have a damp few days.

Not much else to report at the moment, really. Things are just ticking along slowly. I have a phone call with the OHU of the new job next Friday morning for an assessment. 

Today I need to send off my returns (didn't bring a coat yesterday so didn't particularly fancy getting soaked in the thunderstorm), pick up the fly screens from B & M and pop to Wilko to get some dry kitten food, something airtight to store it in and some netting and pegs for the grass seed. 

This evening will be mostly getting the kids rooms ready - washed SC1's bedding and tumble dried it last night, so just got SC2's to do tonight and then make the beds up, hoover and just do a quick wipe down. They are only staying for two nights but I haven't yet got round to cleaning their beds from their two week visit, so I should really get it done.

I am going back to Aldi for our food shopping, as convenient and spacious as Tesco is it's just much more expensive for a lot of things. We have increased our food budget going forwards by a big chunk anyway, but that's just to accommodate all the extra bits we seem to end up buying out of our own money so as not to dip into the food budget, so works the same either way, just the new ways it is planned for. Added a prescription pot to my Monzo account as that's something I get every month and I always forget about. Yesterday was spent combing through the last few months of statements and creating yet another YNAB budget, however this one has all of my various Monzo pots on and also my car finance as a liability, so I literally think I may have finally got the perfect budget set up. 

[Deleted User]

Hi all
Best night's sleep to date last night thanks to being able to have the window open I apparently also sleep better with one of our current pillows than two!

I am having one of those days today, everything is going slightly wrong but not disastrously wrong so I'm a bit 'flappy' and plan to have a full on night at home just getting things organised in our house, we have the kids for the weekend but I'd rather plough through things tonight and have all of Saturday and Sunday to spend with them than keep stopping and starting through the weekend. Going to go through each room with the bog standard "Keep, Throw, Donate/Sell" and I have booked a slot for the tip for next weekend. It's pointless trying to keep on top of stuff that's not very well organised to begin with I also want to get on top of the washing and the ironing, so it will be a late night! I may count up all of the things I declutter as I see people doing on here, it looks very encouraging and fun 

Main areas will be the kitchen, lounge, bathroom and my bedroom. Main focuses in each room will be:

Kitchen:
- sorting cupboards so things don't fall out when you open them
- tidying up the paperwork around the desk (File/Shred)
- looking at cleaning products that have always lived at the back of the cupboard and working out what I don't use

Bathroom:
- mainly the under-sink unit, what can be thrown away or isn't used to free up space under there to clear things from the sides
- bleed radiator whilst in here as since a TRV got fixed in another room this hasn't heated up and I need it to, to try my face flannels

Living Room:
- go through drawers and sort them out so they can be better utilized
- sort out the cupboard under the stairs as we tend to get it really tidy then it fills up with rubbish, I also want to repurpose two wicker baskets in there for elsewhere

My Bedroom:
- bedside drawers (full of junk)
- ottoman in bottom of wardrobe
- clothes in wardrobe
- storage boxes on top of wardrobe

Seems like a lot, but I get through stuff like that quickly enough, mostly to allow me to be ruthless rather than umming and aahing

On a positive note, after a few Populus surveys today, I only need one more £2 to hit the £50 mark and they do payments into your bank now, so no waiting around for a cheque

[Deleted User]

Morning everyone  

I actually got most of the above done, the only thing left to sort is the cleaning cupboard under the sink but I did everything else, three bags to take to the tip on Sunday, so far I didn't make a list as I literally whizzed through it all and had it done much quicker than I thought I would.

We had a lovely weekend, all of OH's kids were at our house for Father's Day yesterday which was really lovely for him and I got a photo of all of them together with him, so roughly planning to get that printed off and put in a nice frame for him. 
I got back in the routine of getting prepared for the day ahead last night. All of my uniform was ironed and ready to go for the week, I had decided what I would be taking for lunch so I managed to do my ten minute facial treatment whilst pottering around with other bits and pieces this morning

I have a much smaller to-do list today, it's  mostly to book the kitten in to the vets to get him done and try and hunt down some Chinese 5 spice for some Pinch of Nom Kung Po pork for dinner tonight, I'm also going to make the Zinger Burger fakeaway probably on Friday.

Right, time to crack on with some work and then catch up on diaries x

[Deleted User]

Soooo I have to confess....

There have been spends here and there since probably February, on the cards mostly via money transfers to buy things from my current account and (excluding the car finance) I have a Big Scary Debt Figure (BSDF going forwards) of around £5k once again. I don't even have much to show for it, which is pathetic. That means it has probably been food and other things that vanish once you use them! Admittedly a lot recently has been on various bits for the house, there were a few more small car hiccups although nothing to the extent of before, and the rest, well, I don't really know.

I feel like a fraud and like I want to run away from the forum and hide but I have cleared it all once before, and I can't do it if I don't account for it on here as it's too easy to pretend. So, to anyone who started a diary inspired by me I apologise for not being the person you thought I was!

Anyway, onwards and upwards...

On the plus side, my TCB for the broadband switch has finally been confirmed after having been a missing claim since I did the switch so hopefully that won't take too much longer to become payable. Not too sure which way the claim with the car repairs is going to go, he emailed me politely at first and then tried to be a bit intimidating once he realised I wasn't going to cancel the claim because he was nice, then said he was going to counter claim but nothing has come through yet so he may well just be hoping that I will chicken out. That will make a nice dent in the figure, too.

My new/current/re-arranged Monzo pots look like:
- Groceries
- Fuel
- Road Tax Sinking Fund
- Car Insurance Sinking Fund
- Dental Sinking Fund
- Emergency Fund
- Prescription

On YNAB I have the payment/direct debit dates in the name of each budgeted item so no excuse for not knowing when items will be coming out.

I also still have my VSP and my LISA although minimal funds are going into there at the moment. SE work if there are enough hours should make this a relatively small journey.

As I said in one of my earlier posts, literally I have combed through and nothing is now missing from YNAB at all, this is the reason why I feel really ashamed (I'm sure that comes across quite strongly!) but ticking off my debt targets (DTs) worked before so here they are:

DT1 - £750
DT2 - £1600
DT3 - £1000
DT4 - £858
DT5 - £770

Please don't shout at me, please allow me to come back in with my tail between my legs and pay my debt down super fast xxx