A debt diary with a newly-aquired Yorkshire accent!

Milly1974

Morning all!

Managed to ring up the water board as well over the weekend, to find out why they have not been taking money for the water. For some reason, it seems that the computer randomly stopped taking the payment. They have reinstated the DD, and it should start again from 1st September. Good, as I really didn't fancy a big bill at the end of the year! :money:

Also phoned Vanquis to close my card with them. Took it out a while back to get the Quidco money, have never used it, and now never will! I love Quidco.

Still waiting for the last payment to fall through on the citi card. Then can call them up and close that as well. Really looking forward to that.

OH has almost finished fixing a motorbike for me, so now really need to get my helmet sorted. Might have a look in town today, see if I can find one that fits. I seem to have a funny shaped head, as I always have trouble finding lids that fit!

Raining here, so glad I brought a can of soup with me for lunch, as it means I won't have to go out at all! Summer, you say? :rotfl:

Milly1974

Yay, the last payment to citi has cleared! :beer: Am on the phone to them now to close it!

I really hate how you say that you want to close it and they completely ignore you and tell you about the card benefits. :mad: Had to tell them three times before they listened! Anyway, that is all done, which is great!

Had a good week with my allowance, as I put the last couple of quid in Johnny on Wednesday night. Good move I think. Have another camp to go to this weekend, but should be one where I don't really drink, so cheap. Also, one of the ones where there isn't usually anything I want to buy!

We are cheating by using OH's work van, so we may sleep in that instead of in the tent. Saves dragging home a damp tent on Sunday that we then spend all week drying. Van should be cheaper than the car as well, as it will sit at 70 on the motorway at 2000rpm instead of 3500rpm. Diesel can be useful.

On the less than DFW side, I have now booked our hotel for OH's cousin's wedding. Had a great night last time his family had a 'do' so wanted us to both be able to drink, and staying in a nearby cheap hotel wasn't an option, as there isn't one! Is costing £120 B&B for us both for one night, but at least we are combining it with my birthday celebration trip to my fav hotel for a couple of nights.

OH asked if I wanted a newer car for my b'day, but it doesn't seem like a very birthday sort of present to me (Here, let me have your current scabby old car, and have a slightly less scabby, slightly newer car in return. :rotfl: ) So instead I decided it would be nice to have a couple of nights away relaxing. Really looking forward to it. If I were to run a B&B, it would be just like this one.

Think I have prattled on enough now. Have a great weekend all

Milly xxx

peb

Afternoon

Great on the Citi card - it's annoying when someone just doesn't listen to what you tell them and follows a prescribed script!

Have a good weekend - you can't get much more MSE than sleeping in the back of your van!

ps have wine and cider in fridge in readiness for weekend (also lager in the hope I have a visitor who will take it off my hands...)

Milly1974

Hey Peb!

Had a good weekend, but, what a surprise, it persisted down almost all weekend! If we had taken the tent though, at least we would have had a porch for boots and stuff, and maybe not been cramped up. Decided I am not a huge fan of camping in a van.

Did very well with my allowance over the weekend, as I only bought us a lunch on Saturday. Did have a wander around the shops this lunchtime as well, but still have almost £30 in my purse. Quite good, as I had forgotten that my car tax is due by the end of the month. :rolleyes:

Anyway, have to admit to being pretty knackered today, so will probably be doing rubbish of some sort for dinner. OH definately has loads of good stuff in the freezer, but I keep taking mine to work with me for lunch, so I don't think I have any home-cooked-frozen-meals in there.

I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your wine and cider? :beer:

peb

I? Wine and Cider?

Actually didn't drink other than a couple "out" on Friday night; even then upset my Dad by asking for a latte!. First time I asked for one it was on a friend,s round and he asked for a bottle of latte assuming it was some sort of alcopop!

Had ginger beer if that counts!

I see what you mean about persisting it down - I went walking at Howarth on Sunday and there were loads of quick sharp showers but a friend who walked on Saturday got drenched. Maybe you need one of those annex type things to add on to teh end of the van!

Milly1974

Oooh major dilemma time. :eek:

I have been thinking about getting a laptop for some time, and have seen one on ebay for £135 buy it now including delivery. Not sure if I should get it though.

:dance: Positives
- Can use the two hours a day I spend on the train doing useful things like planning meals, doing online food shop, filling in questionairres, booking mystery shops, keeping up with paperwork and so on and so forth
- I have been thinking about one for ages, and this is a good price
- It is the kind I want
- It will mean I don't have to check e-mails etc when I get home, giving me more time to do useful stuff around the house

Negatives
- I could use the money elsewhere
- I would then need to get mobile internet to go with it

Opinions people? Please shed some light for me! :idea:

Milly1974

Well the laptop decision was taken from me when someone else bought it!

However, after a minor fit of mess-hatred yesterday morning, I have decided it is really time to start getting on top of things in our house. I have got a bit fed up of being disorganised, living disorganised and looking disorganised! So I have finally booked in to have my hair cut on Saturday. It has been about 18 months or more, and is really starting to wind me up.

Tonight when I get in, I am putting all my work clothes through the wash so that I will be organised on Monday morning. Dinner tonight can be sausages for himself and a flan that is in the fridge for me, along with veg. Will pick up some spuds at lunchtime to go with it.

Have a load of quiche fillings in the fridge as well that I need to make quiche with. Will make a big batch of pastry tonight while dinner is in the oven and then I can chuck a quiche in there while we eat dinner. Think I may see if I can find a second flan dish this lunchtime, so I can cook more than one at a time!

Must also remember to take the stuff I have sorted for the charity shop down on Saturday. So much to do, so little time!

Milly1974

peb wrote: »

I? Wine and Cider?

Actually didn't drink other than a couple "out" on Friday night; even then upset my Dad by asking for a latte!. First time I asked for one it was on a friend,s round and he asked for a bottle of latte assuming it was some sort of alcopop!

Had ginger beer if that counts!

I see what you mean about persisting it down - I went walking at Howarth on Sunday and there were loads of quick sharp showers but a friend who walked on Saturday got drenched. Maybe you need one of those annex type things to add on to teh end of the van!

Sorry love, didn't see your message there!

Mmmm, love lattes. I can just see my dad doing something like that too. Certainly after 10+ years of being veggie, he still offers me bacon butties. OH almost offered me some of his posh burger the other day as well. :rotfl:

Tried ginger beer for the first time the other day, and it was one of the fiery kinds. Quite suprised how fiery it was, but quite nice. Might try a slightly calmer one next time though.

Think we are mostly done with camping for this year, so won't have to worry about how to stay dry. Might chuck OH out next weekend to a camp though. My mum is coming to visit, so I think he would be glad to escape our nattering for a bit! Other than that, maybe one final camp in September, and that should be it.

Hope you have good weekend plans in place.

M x

Milly1974

Good heavens, is it really Monday already? Seem to have been non-stop all weekend.

Friday night got home to find OH already tipsy (he got home 3.5 hours before me) and trying to saw a plank up for kindling, balancing it on the wheelie bin and looking like he would sever fingers any second! Chucked some washing in and went to the pub for a drink. Came home, had dinner and a fairly early night.

Saturday morning I carried on with the laundry and had a bit of a tidy in the conservatory. Went into town to get my hair cut, which has been traumatic as it is wonky and unfinished. Did the food shopping and had some lunch with himself in the greggs cafe (classy!) He took a bike for MOT while I was having my hair done. Unfortunately it failed.

Have been quite naughty, and bought a slowcooker in Tesco. Should have tried freecycling one first, but thought it would be a good investment anyway. Made soup on Saturday afternoon in it, which has turned out really nice. Also made a flan and cooked a ham for himself to have in his sandwiches. Saturday evening went to a BBQ and had a few drinks while OH got smashed. Can you see a pattern here?

Sunday morning I got up early and made a start on the kitchen as OH hadn't done any washing up since Friday at least. Took down the kitchen curtain and washed it. Eurgh! Started to wipe the curtain rail, and realised how filthy the wall was. Started to wipe the wall and accidentally wiped a bit of the ceiling. I am sure you can see where this is going!

Have washed about 1/3 the paintwork in the kitchen, so now have that to finish this week. Got OH to clean the bathroom for me while I did some handwashing, then I had a nice long soak in the bath last night while he (surprise surprise) drank beer about 3 hours after getting up. Did a quick snacky dinner and had an early night while he stayed up to watch MOTD.

So today the plan when I get in is to do bangers and mash for dinner, make some sandwiches for him for tomorrow's lunch, clean a bit more of the kitchen ceiling, then do a quick bit of flylady by hoovering the kitchen floor, emptying the bin, washing the lid and giving the counters a wipe.

Have Friday and Tuesday off over the bank holiday, as my Mum is coming to visit. Looking forward to a bit of a break!

Milly1974

Woohoo! It's a new month already, and at the close of July (my month runs 20th-19th) I have paid off £551.23! That is 15.3% of my grand total of £3,608.09! :T :beer: :rotfl: :j


August is not going to run as smoothly, as my Mum is coming to stay over this bank holiday weekend, we have a wedding to go to and we are having a couple of days away for my birthday.

But before I get carried away with next month, a quick analysis of last month's spending.

Food shopping - £200.95
I have no idea how this happened. I did partially meal-plan, and we have got fridge, freezer and cupboards completely full at the moment. I can feel a bit of a storecupboard challenge coming on. :rolleyes:

Petrol - £126.25
Not too bad. I still have about 1/2 a tank of petrol, and considering the way prices have risen, I guess this isn't too bad really.

Spending Money - £200
My 'allowance' idea seems to be working really really well. Taking £40 cash on a Friday seems to focus me on using my money wisely, and means I know exactly where I stand. I have managed to buy a nice scarf and a rug, have a haircut and still have over £10 in my purse today. :A

So the aim for August is to get through the month, making minimum payments plus the £55 I have due from Quidco, and not run the overdraft any higher. Between the car tax, my mum's visit and a weekend away, it's going to be a challenge, but I am determined!!! :money:

Milly x