Facing reality

mark55man

My OH and I have had some success with the Fast 800 diet, which is 12 weeks very low calorie.  But there's a great FB group and although the recipe books cost there are lots of great recipes. which can be bulked out with carbs for non dieters in the household.  Its a keto-type diet without being full on.  Recommend drinking lots of fizzy water or however you like it, with a slice of lemon/lime/cucumber.  A bit to think about, and the first week is quite hard, but after that you just get into the groove.  You don't have to do the full 12 weeks, just what you need and what suits

Sarahwithlove

joedenise said:

Have you still got the books Sarah?  You could carry on doing SW and come and join the thread on the Health and Beauty board for SW support.  There are lots of SWers on the forum and several who post regularly.

Quite possibly I'll have to hunt them out. It's more the syns side of things i think but I'll take a look thanks 

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

My OH and I have had some success with the Fast 800 diet, which is 12 weeks very low calorie.  But there's a great FB group and although the recipe books cost there are lots of great recipes. which can be bulked out with carbs for non dieters in the household.  Its a keto-type diet without being full on.  Recommend drinking lots of fizzy water or however you like it, with a slice of lemon/lime/cucumber.  A bit to think about, and the first week is quite hard, but after that you just get into the groove.  You don't have to do the full 12 weeks, just what you need and what suits

Not sure i could cope with that struggle as it is. But I will take a look to get some ideas thanks. 😊

Sarahwithlove

Signature has been updated. 
£100 loan payment has been made
I have set up a regular overpayment on mortgage of £29.34 per month which is equivalent of rounding regular payment up to a nice even number. Also hoping to then make a manual overpayment of between 45-50 a month on top. If manage this then my mortgage by end of year should be below £100k. Whoop.

Had some unexpected expenses this month. Went for a walk on Tuesday during my lunch hour and came back in extreme pain on bottom of my feet which is now covered in blisters. Seems I have worn the insoles down so much they had a chunk missing. 😭 £40 later and currently have on a new pair of Sk£chers. They did last me over 2 years so I shouldn't complain really. These new ones seem to have a deeper memory foam and sole so hopefully be better.
Also forgot that my breakdown renewal was due this month. Gone down again this year though so that's good £29 for year. Bargain. Have managed to juggle things round a little by using my hair and beauty fund as won't be able to go until at least end of Feb and have 5 massages left on my account that's already paid for.
My not spending money on junk has gone OK ish. Had one McDonald's and one Costa. But have also said no to a takeaway, McDonald's this week when housemate got one and Costa twice as well. So not too bad considering. Have to be more strict though as not much left in personal spends after the trainers, yearly parking pass and breakdown renewal.
Probably for the best as been doing my Calorie counting with mfp this week and takeaways and McDonald's don't help with those. Costa I can put into my daily allowance so not so bad as long as resist the cakes. 
My brothers wedding has been pushed back again now to April 2022 so although I'm pretty sure my bridesmaid dress will fit if I lose about 7lbs I'd ideally like to lose more just to generally feel better about myself. If that means either paying to take it in or buy a size smaller it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for my health. That's why I'm also doing my walking again. Well once my feet have recovered. Think should be OK to do walking again tomorrow after few days off.
Though have noticed my food bill has shot up a bit as a result of healthier foods. But think might just be a sacrifice I have to make. 
Got my email also from VM about my bill increasing by £4.50 per month and was told could cancel if wanted. Turns out doesn't apply to me as I'm in a contract so looks like have to keep going until April. But it did prompt me to do some looking around and if can't negotiate with them to get it right down I will be leaving and using my firestick for prime and netfl!x as don't watch much actual TV. Also will switch to sports channels via mobile as I mostly watch it on my ipad now anyway as its easier then listening to my housemate huff or watch something on her phone in the same room as me if I have it on TV. Although funny how whenever it's mentioned she always says I've never stopped you watching football... 🙄
It would also save me £20 a month on just sports tbh anyway without other general savings. 
I've noticed a big increase in our electric usage this month with both being home over Xmas and new year and now we're both working from home as well it will no doubt continue. I'm being quite strict on the heating though as don't see point in heating whole flat when we use two rooms. Now my housemate has set herself up in her room with the desk instead as it's warmer 🤣 so now it's on even less. Although she did moan because she's got the armchair in her room and she doesn't have room for a computer chair but the agreement for the bunnies being in living room was she got the chair as it takes up less space then the two pens combined. So she's gonna have to suck it up as I don't want to sell the chair on its own as wont sell like that. Needs to sell as part of set with foot stall but she wants me to keep that as she uses it. As much as the money is helpful and we get on well for most part I do look forward to when I have my flat back to myself but it's safe to say that won't be this year.
I do often feel like she forgets sometimes that although we are now good friends she is very lucky. Not many places would allow you to have pets, the rent is cheaper then most rooms locally, and I seem to end up doing most of cooking and cleaning. 

Sorry rant over 😂😂

mark55man

You should check about cancelling.  I thought if they just did inflation then you couldn't cancel but if they increased by more than the index then you could.  

Probably worth Checking

Edited to add: https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/how-to-avoid-broadband-price-increases/#:~:text=Broadband providers must give their,paying an early termination fee.&text=Double check the terms and,what you're entitled to.

Sarahwithlove

Yeh it only increases from when my contract ends in April by looks it so don't know if that changes it. I'll give them a ring again maybe thanks. 

Sarahwithlove

So another unexpected expense for me and another thing gone wrong. Hoover stopped working. Had a burning smell during the week when used it, then today just stopped working. Tried changing the fuse in case was that but no luck. So have had to buy a new one. Did a bit of research and asked for friends and family opinion and settled on Shark one. Slightly more than had wanted to spend but very good hoover and great for when you have pets. Also trying to view it as an investment. Did it via cashback site so hopefully get something from that to help towards costs. Atm it's on my 0% spending card whilst I work out how want to pay for it. I don't really want to dip into the emergency fund if I can help it. I'll see at end of the month with where it stands. Also need to go back and see what my plan was with the money I'm waiting to come back to me.
So far it's £96 for sofa £25 from one poll, £10 from receipt app, £26 from cash back site.
I have also started doing some matched betting. Sadly some of the bigger companies I already had accounts with from watching football etc but I have a few of the less well known ones to do and then reload offers. Hopefully might be able to make some of the money up from that. 

CreditCardJunkie

Ohhh Sarah did you get the cordless shark? I am dyingg try one! We inherited a hetty hoover with the house who is still going very strong!

Sarahwithlove

CreditCardJunkie said:

Ohhh Sarah did you get the cordless shark? I am dyingg try one! We inherited a hetty hoover with the house who is still going very strong!

No this one is corded but it comes away so you can use it as a handheld one. I looked at cordless but they have lower capacity and twice the price. Very powerful though, hoovered the front room this morning before old one blew up and then used new one on it and can't believe how much fur it got up off the carpets 😱

CreditCardJunkie

That sounds fabulous! We have a husky cross and the hair is something else 😂