📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Now or never

Options
1232426282936

Comments

  • Well it's nearly bedtime, Boxing Day over. It's been a very busy two days for which we are eternally grateful, spending time with family, but now it's back to just me and DH with puppy, a bit of TV and relaxation.
    Very much looking forward to the New Year and all the debt busting it will bring, shake off those cobwebs, wondering what next Christmas will look like debt wise..
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    No shopping spends as yet but am running out of butter so might have to do a quick shop visit.
    Nothing added to debt so far this month.
    Looking forward to Friday when I can total up the monthly figures.
    A calmer day planned.
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I've got so many threads to join in next year I am just waiting for 1st January to get going.
    Paid £325 off the debt yesterday plus some Tilly tidying amounting to £35 odd it's amazing how quickly that adds up without me missing any of it.
    31st December I will tally up all the debt and see what this month brings, I will be pleased just not to have added to the debt considering the time of year.
    I asked my DIL to add some butter to her Tesco order which stops me browsing in Lidl and potentially buying more.
    I have added £4.44 for butter and £6 for a large comfort from Amazon, on offer and cheaper than Lidl, that's it for the year.  I am really looking forward to the 1st.

    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I have totalled up Decembers figures and as I know there wont be anymore paid off or added today or tomorrow the figures for the month are:
    Debt paid off in December £993.18.
    Total Debt balance is now £25,772.85
    So that's £3394.67 paid off so far.

    Goals going into 2022 are:
    Keep paying off debt by,
    Paying anything freshly put on cards off immediately, joining threads on MSE such as grocery challenges and debt paying off challenges and basically only buying essentials.
    Lose 2 stone in weight and improve my overall impression of myself by,
    Following the Slimming world, Frump to Fab and similar threads and increasing exercise daily.  Also by watching my internal chit chat which to be honest is absolutely awful.
    Keep posting here and keep on thinking of ways to lower the debt.  Our dream is to be debt free in 2022 but as yet we don't know if this will happen, will update as the year goes on, as the figures lower we will be able to see if a date this coming year is possible.  It's made more difficult because both DH and me have self employed businesses with fluctuating incomes.  Fingers crossed.  We would then love to start to pay off the mortgage, first things first.
    Looking forward to 2022 and all the improvements we hope will come with it.
    Thank you for all your advice :smile:
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I've just been to Band M and Lidl and spent £13.99, no treats at all just necessities, bacon, washing powder, mayflower curry sauce and a loaf of bread for me as it has a lot less calories than my homemade ones.
    I've joined lots of new challenges and i'm praying I have enough willpower to stick with them.
    We've had a quiet week over Christmas and New Year will also be quiet, we never do anything and are usually in bed by 10 or 11pm.  
    We've been invited out next weekend for dinner which will be absolutely lovely and we are looking very much forward to it, will be the first time for about 2 years.
    These boards really do take up a lot of time there is so much information here.
    So frugal things i've done recently:
    Used a new diary that I had given to me from work which is yuk, cheap and nasty, usually I would buy myself a nice one but I am going to make do with this one.  Have made toast on the rayburn rather than the toaster, have made tea and coffee from the kettle on the rayburn rather than boiling the kettle and have not used the tumble dryer for about 3 weeks now.  
    Tonights' tea is chicken and tomato pasta with cheese over the top, DH might have some garlic bread with his.
    House insurance is due on the 4th January, usually I would have paid it already but the money is better off in my account until the last minute.
    DH is going back to work on Monday which although this is a bank holiday wont make any difference to him as he works from home, it is more important to us to pay off the debt as quickly as we can.  I am not going back until Thursday for my business but have worked quiet a lot for Job 1 over the holidays, it doesn't get any easier!  
    Pup is not well at the moment, she seems to have eaten something, she was ill the day after boxing day and then started to get better until yesterday where she was like a bottle of pop completely better, today she has gone back downhill and has been sick again.  DH can't find anything outside that she might have eaten.  I was so worried about her the other night I rung the out of hours vets for advice which was to monitor her overnight and bring her in in the morning if she wasn't showing signs of improving, she was so we didn't.  The vets felt the need to tell me straight away should we need to bring her in out of hours the cost to walk through the door was £220!!!!! Then the consultation and treatment on top.  I mean come on....how many people can afford that? I am grateful that pup didn't need to go in but what about all those animals that do need to go in and their humans can't afford that cost.  So sad.
    So far today I have stuck to my diet and after having a good read on here I am off to do my treadmill workout.
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Been quite a nice day today with lots of positive feelings.  I hate the limbo feelings between Christmas and New Year, everything feels much better on the 1st.
    Have had 3 new jobs for this year so far, all booked in and all came in today.
    Pup is now absolutely fine and has been for her first walk since feeling unwell.
    Diet is going well, have had 5 maltesers tonight which were lovely, no guilt attached at all as I have been very good all day.  Made a nice curry as Slimming World as I could possibly get tonight and put two extra portions in the freezer for another day.
    House is looking quite tidy and clean, lots of de-cluttering has been going on including taking down the tree and bits and bobs today.  
    All washing machine runs have been on the daily wash at 30 degrees, we are hoping it will make a difference to the electricity bill.
    Have done 2 loads in the tumbler today out of desperation, my own fault I had let it build up a bit much, smaller loads equal easier drying.
    Ventured out to my veg patch and greenhouse and sewed four lettuce seeds, might sound minimalistic but I usually throw a load in and end up with about 200 lettuce which I can't eat, decided to be sensible and just do 4 at a time, I will sew some more next week.  As the year progresses we are going to grow tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe some potatoes but will see.  Definitely some runner beans and peas.  
    We looked after DD's two little dogs last night along with our pup, that meant 3 in the bed with us.  Let's just say we are looking forward to a better nights sleep tonight.
    Tomorrow I need to scrub the wall where the leak is, DH is going to have a look at it in the spring as we can't find anyone to look at it, the paint will be marked but it's the best I can do.
    Horses are all doing well, DH has been mucking out over Christmas and will carry on doing it until Monday when I will go back to doing my two.  
    I have a beautiful new himalayan salt lamp on my fire glowing tonight, it was a Christmas present that I have wanted for a long time, I really, really love it.


    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper

    A reminder to myself.

    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Chrystal
    Chrystal Posts: 2,000 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Wishing you a Healthy and Peaceful 2022.  XXX
    I Believe.....
    That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.
    Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

    Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery
    Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.

    happiness isn't achieved by getting extra things,
    but by getting rid of the things that make you unhappy
  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    @Chrystal thank you, that is truly lovely 😊
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



  • Its_time
    Its_time Posts: 409 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I had a bit of a mess up with my diet yesterday or so I thought, until a lovely lady on another thread explained how it was alight and more than likely within my syns, so today is a new day and I will do better.
    I spent sometime yesterday working on my latest project for business 2, I'm waiting for an outside source to do some work with it so thought I would get ahead doing what I could do before starting back Thursday.   
    We had another potential job ask for a quote yesterday,  a person I've previously worked with so I'd imagine that will go ahead at some point. 
    All plugs still off, no tumble dryer used yesterday even though I did 3 loads of washing, put all the excess cooking from the dinner into the freezer.  
    Horses had smashed through a fence so DH had to repair that yesterday afternoon...buggars!
    Just realised how many times I've written yesterday 🤣

    Anyway on to today, more washing, hoovering and bread making.  Going to do more for business 2.  I'm going to stop calling it business 2 because I feel that it deserves much more credit than that.  From now on business 2 will be called The Sanctuary because working for it gives me so much peace and the money earned from it gives so much hope for the future, when we are debt free and job 1 is history.
    Today I will be working at the Sanctuary,  sounds lovely 😍 
    *Stop giving up what you really want for what you want now*
    *Face your fear, don't do what's easy, do what is right, fight for it because it will be worth it*
    January grocery budget £215.07/£250
    #18 The 365 day 1p challenge 2023 £108.50/£667.95
    #48 Saving £1 a day for Christmas 2023 challenge £31/£365 
    Emergency fund £83.98/£1000



Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.2K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 599.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.1K Life & Family
  • 257.7K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.