Sh*t creek - is now in my rear view mirror...!

MovingForwards

Trust me, we don't want our furries with phones / tablets or other ways of communicating, they will take over the world. Have you not seen Cats V Dogs 😁

It can't feel like Scotland, we now have sunshine and warmth 😊

Smartphones have improved a lot since they first came out. There's no reason to get a new one every year / other year, that's just people wanting the latest version. You have your laptop for the internet, no real need for a smartphone which costs a lot more than a new laptop and you have to remember to switch the internet off / update settings so it doesn't automatically connect; not good with a low data contract / pay as you go SIM.

Irenadler

Yeah, I don't know why, but that milk advert with the cats and opposable thumbs creeped me out....

Oh dear, climate change has finally happened, we are now in Scotland's climate, and you now have Darn Sarf's weather....

Thank you for the info on smart phones, I had no idea, not having one, that's what they did. A phone costing more than a laptop? When did that happen? I have been living under a rock, lol.  

Irenadler

Ok. Now for the bullet biting moment:

Took another review today. Not good news…

6 days ago my current balance was £400.96, this was where my EF was, so that is gone. I have tried to block out the stress spending/eating and life stuff. Now I am pushing myself to look at where I am at in reality. Before all the rest of the life stuff kicks in and engulfs my time and energy…

400.96 less utilities of £113.69 = £287.27.

Double-checked bills on direct debits:

13.37 t.v. licence

22.99 landline & broadband

72.50 dual fuel

05.00 mobile PAYG

___________

113.86

Don’t know how my brain came up with under £100 a month, I guess it is showing brain farts, so usually it should be Universal Credit of £409.89 – 113.86 = £296.03 for everything else. Somehow, I only have that £400.96, with no emergency fund left… I cannot seriously have spent over £67 odd on food…

Checked it… yes I have, and an extra since then of £51.63. God. My balance is now £235.47. No emergency fund, and less than a fiver in my stash cash, because well, garden centre…

I am finally realising that I haven’t had a proper lightbulb adjustment. I have had the “Ooh cr*p I am up sh** creek without a paddle” moment. Where I had £409.89 income, and £368 odd in direct debits, and around £14 per week for everything else. With all the help from everyone on here, and the benefits thread, I was able to reduce the direct debits from being nearly 90% of my income, to around 28% of it instead. Which I know is a massive achievement, given my farty brain, and I am hugely grateful for. But, and yes I have a massive butt, I am trying to save an emergency fund and it isn’t quite starting….

There is a glitch in getting the saving account ready, which will be soon sorted (I hope), so that doesn’t help with my twitchy spending. Neither does the fact that every time I have been to the 2 nearest ATM hole-in-the-wall thingy’s they are both out of service. Argh! I am realising I am full of excuses as to why it’s not happening, but, not enough action. I can find another ATM, and given the size of my posterior it needs the exercise! I will limit spends to £25 per week cash. I will not give up. I will get that savings account running. I will save £50 every month on a standing order….

And I will get the spending tamed. I actually for the first time really analysed my till receipt. I worked out that the last one was 50% on the list, 50% impulse spends. Some of the ‘impulse’ stuff was offers/bargains so that is obviously something that is in need of reining in. Some of it was sheer treats, like dark chocolate (medicinal), biccies, crisps, i.e. junk/comfort eating. Some of it was being seduced by all singing all dancing possibly bogus claiming healthy eating expensive branded vegan stuff….

So. I am now:

a)      Really annoyed at myself

b)      Really fed up at the size of my waistline/!!!!!!

c)       Depressed

d)      Stressed

e)      Did I say I was mad at myself?

Damage control I am going to:

1.       Hunt down a working ATM like a possessed mad woman – there is no local bank open I can walk to anymore. Or I haven’t found it yet. Google will be my friend.

2.       Go to the bank, and SORT out the problem so the saving account is actually OPEN and running properly and SET UP that bloody standing order. No excuses.

3.       Kick myself repeatedly up the backside. Again.

4.       Looking at my spending, I am going to avoid anything processed for now, no sparkly seductive packaged wot-evers…

5.       That means – push myself to go whole food plant based and cook from scratch.

This is going to be hard. There are a lot of carp things happening at the moment…. I have to push to sort myself out though too, otherwise I will end up back at GP’s (I had a pre-diabetic warning and a stern lecture from the doc), or for worse things than that if I neglect myself… and breathe…

Perhaps I should chase myself around the place and flip myself with an ‘orrible wet dog towel. Not as much fun if you are doing it to yourself… ha!

  

MovingForwards

Looking at my phone company, a cheap smartphone is £30 to buy, what the phone offers is something I had about 10 years ago. 
What I could have upgraded to, in order to beat what I have in my hand (next model up from mine), would cost £900.
The most expensive phone is £1400!
I've never spent £1400 buying a car.

Laptops can easily be picked up for £250, less if you only want one to surf the internet and not try and do things like if you were in the office.

Quite scary isn't it, that for the average person, their phone is worth more than the cash in their purse / wallet.

Irenadler

  At the prices! I have never spent much on tech, which probably explains why the screen blanks out sometimes on this one, when I am trying to read the forums! Doh....

MovingForwards

Ren, do not make me get WilFred the wet fish out again!

There's only so much talking we can do, the rest comes from you. That's the harsh reality. 
If you do not start saving and pulling back on the spending you will be paying for your home insurance by instalments, kicking yourself at how much more it costs or worse, pretending everything is ok and hiding how things are.

So, you need objectives and targets. Can't set high as it's unachievable, can't set low as it's not motivational. Need to start off simple, to get you used to consistently setting targets and meeting them.

Your first target:
Find the ATM and take out money for one week only. You spend all of that and sorry, but it's tough poo. You do not take out anything until the following week.
Pick one day a week that you go and stick to it.

Your second target:
Shopping once a week.
Meal planning. Go through your kitchen, write a list out of what you need for your meals, if it's not on the list you will not be buying it!
Leave the debit card at home, you only take cash.
Pick one day a week, not the same day as ATM day, and go shopping on that day only.

Your third target:
Get that savings account open, put £1 in and leave it.
Do not put any more in, do not transfer that £1 out. 
This is the start of the new you and will be worked on later.

This is all you need to do this month.

Now, pick yourself up, dust yourself down and move on. It's happened, it can't be undone, learn from it.

Irenadler

Going back to the spending motivation/navel gazing...
In my rambling post I meant to summarise that I must still be in 'instant gratification/consumer wally' mode, rather than 'delayed gratification/saving savvy' mode.

I got 'instant gratification' of sorts changing monthly direct debits - forcing myself to apply for help on them all. And got results reasonably quickly which is highly motivating and morale boosting. 

I am not getting that same instant feeling with trying to save vs. comfort/stress eating/buying... Chocolate=endorphins...

So - automating the saving with SO is the priority because I am standing in Sh*t Creek, up to my knees at the minute...  

Onebrokelady

Irenadler said:

Well, I survived the outing, and spent the grand total of £5. Talk about sticking to a budget for the first time ever....

Had a great browse around, even with temptation everywhere, looked at the poorly plants (reduced section) and talked myself out of buying:

75% reduced damson tree (was £40)
Bucket loads of cute dog related giftware (mugs, name tags, amusing signs, kitchenware, coasters, and blank cards)
Attractive preserves with the funny names, like 'Gardener's rest chutney', 'Flaming hot mango spiced what-not', 'Diabetes-inducing bramble-fied jelly'
Christmas stuff  items which you would normally buy for winter festivities.
Plants, more plants, and even more plants.
Golden raspberry - very difficult to resist.
Jostaberry - even harder to resist. I mean, come on, twice the size of normal blackcurrants?
Blackcurrants!
Thornless blackberries. Which seducer of wallets invented that one?
Herbs (reduced section)
Flower bulbs (sobs quietly - it isn't fair!)

Must. Resist. Glass. Baubles. Hand-hewed by Nuns in the Far East. And priced at a whopping £16, what the heckers like?

That was easier to resist. Garden centres should be re-named as seducers of pockets. Just as many gift shop items as there are plants now. Totally proud that I did not go into the shop that advertised a 50% off sale. Didn't even press my nose on the glass, because the danger signs of 'bargain' that floated into my brain...

Anyway, after much happy tired wandering, found the grow your own section, and settled on the less fun but totally more practical and value for money options:

50 onions sets (Senshyu yellow, claims to double up as spring onions for young growth too) £1.99
2 garlic bulbs (Topadrome French, soft neck apparently early harvest AND good storer) £2.99

Actually, I am UNDER budget by tuppence! There's a first...

Really thinking hard about what to get, what was worth buying, best value for time and effort. I use onions and garlic so much for cooking it would be fantastic to get these in and growing.... thank you to a certain someone for that top tip....
 

Well done on resisting the nuns baubles 🙀😀🙀😀

Irenadler

MovingForwards said:

Ren, do not make me get WilFred the wet fish out again!
Argh, no, not the wet fish.....

There's only so much talking we can do, the rest comes from you. That's the harsh reality. 
If you do not start saving and pulling back on the spending you will be paying for your home insurance by instalments, kicking yourself at how much more it costs or worse, pretending everything is ok and hiding how things are.

So, you need objectives and targets. Can't set high as it's unachievable, can't set low as it's not motivational. Need to start off simple, to get you used to consistently setting targets and meeting them.
Right.
Your first target:
Find the ATM and take out money for one week only. You spend all of that and sorry, but it's tough poo. You do not take out anything until the following week.
Pick one day a week that you go and stick to it.
Agreed - mission find the ATM that actually works...
Your second target:
Shopping once a week.
Meal planning. Go through your kitchen, write a list out of what you need for your meals, if it's not on the list you will not be buying it!
Leave the debit card at home, you only take cash.
Pick one day a week, not the same day as ATM day, and go shopping on that day only.
I am going for it.
Your third target:
Get that savings account open, put £1 in and leave it.
Do not put any more in, do not transfer that £1 out. 
This is the start of the new you and will be worked on later.
Getting on the bus, masked, and getting there no matter what.
This is all you need to do this month.

Now, pick yourself up, dust yourself down and move on. It's happened, it can't be undone, learn from it.

Totally agree. I am letting real life & my issues sabotage my goals/motivation.

On board the savings train properly, and not just swinging my legs at the station, waiting to hop on it.... 

Irenadler

Onebrokelady said:

Irenadler said:

Well, I survived the outing, and spent the grand total of £5. Talk about sticking to a budget for the first time ever....

Had a great browse around, even with temptation everywhere, looked at the poorly plants (reduced section) and talked myself out of buying:

75% reduced damson tree (was £40)
Bucket loads of cute dog related giftware (mugs, name tags, amusing signs, kitchenware, coasters, and blank cards)
Attractive preserves with the funny names, like 'Gardener's rest chutney', 'Flaming hot mango spiced what-not', 'Diabetes-inducing bramble-fied jelly'
Christmas stuff  items which you would normally buy for winter festivities.
Plants, more plants, and even more plants.
Golden raspberry - very difficult to resist.
Jostaberry - even harder to resist. I mean, come on, twice the size of normal blackcurrants?
Blackcurrants!
Thornless blackberries. Which seducer of wallets invented that one?
Herbs (reduced section)
Flower bulbs (sobs quietly - it isn't fair!)

Must. Resist. Glass. Baubles. Hand-hewed by Nuns in the Far East. And priced at a whopping £16, what the heckers like?

That was easier to resist. Garden centres should be re-named as seducers of pockets. Just as many gift shop items as there are plants now. Totally proud that I did not go into the shop that advertised a 50% off sale. Didn't even press my nose on the glass, because the danger signs of 'bargain' that floated into my brain...

Anyway, after much happy tired wandering, found the grow your own section, and settled on the less fun but totally more practical and value for money options:

50 onions sets (Senshyu yellow, claims to double up as spring onions for young growth too) £1.99
2 garlic bulbs (Topadrome French, soft neck apparently early harvest AND good storer) £2.99

Actually, I am UNDER budget by tuppence! There's a first...

Really thinking hard about what to get, what was worth buying, best value for time and effort. I use onions and garlic so much for cooking it would be fantastic to get these in and growing.... thank you to a certain someone for that top tip....
 

Well done on resisting the nuns baubles 🙀😀🙀😀

Ha! If only I could do that with chocolate/junk food....