Must try harder!

WinterWarrior

Made it to NSD4 yesterday, quite by accident. I was going to get a takeaway for a treat, but MrWW didn’t fancy the trip into town to collect one with me, so I cooked instead.
Had a pootle around the garden and did a bit of crafting. Logged into work briefly as there’s a job I’ll need to do, but it hadn’t turned up yet so I quickly logged back out...other than that, not much was done.
internet banking has been down for over an hour this morning, most annoying! My largest loan dd goes out on the 5th and I like to see that it’s gone. I tried directly on the website as the app wasn’t working, but that wouldn’t work either. 

I have no idea what I’ll do today, so expect another thrilling update later. The suspense must be killing everyone 😬. 

Have a fantastic Wednesday everyone, May the sun shine, your worries be few and your spending on plan ⭐️

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

Have bookmarked your diary WW and will be following along. Sounds like you're doing great!

WinterWarrior

Thanks @Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here, it’s lovely to see you 😁
It’s early days here, but I’m hoping I’ve turned a corner (and won’t turn another back in the wrong direction!). Money saving/not spending is hard ☹️. I need to get back to that pocket money mentality of when you’d spent up that was it for the week. Pondering if you should have that 10p mix now or wait and have an ice cream later 🤔

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

Haha yes, pocket money mentality is about right! 
It really is so easy to spend isn't it! I've taken my eye off the ball for the last 3 months and !!!!!!, the credit card suddenly has £1.5k more on it and I can't say I really know what it all went on!! 

beanielou

Pocket money mentality is a good way to put it.

WinterWarrior

Well I made it to 5 in a row. NSD5! Sadly tomorrow I will break my run as I have a kindle pre order due to land. That’s £6.99 out of my pocket money 😖 I’ve got a bit precious about spending any of it! I can’t decide if I should put the extra I don’t spend from my allowance each week onto the smallest loan or if I should save it. 

We haven’t done anything much with our day off again. I did a few jobs, some washing, tv, a bit of reading, a bit of crafting! Tomorrow we’ll be going out to vote...I keep meaning to change to postal voting and then always forget! 

CRANKY40

Put the extra in a virtual savings jar until you have enough to treat yourself should the occasion arise. I'd say £50 or £100 ( I'm square and like easy numbers) but you may have different ideas. After that you can start chucking any spare at the debt. It's not having that treat money available that makes you think that it's acceptable to use credit cards/loans in the first place - or maybe that's just me? What crafting do you do? I'm supposed to be finishing the next blanket but it's not looking promising. I spent the afternoon doing crosswords with my best friend instead. We've been in a bubble with his sister, the HT and I since I managed to be hospitalised in February and they had to look after the HT for me for four days. We're all vaccinated and the HT and I are lateral flow testing so the adults are lookng after each other for various health related reasons.

WinterWarrior

CRANKY40 said:

Put the extra in a virtual savings jar until you have enough to treat yourself should the occasion arise. I'd say £50 or £100 ( I'm square and like easy numbers) but you may have different ideas. After that you can start chucking any spare at the debt. It's not having that treat money available that makes you think that it's acceptable to use credit cards/loans in the first place - or maybe that's just me? What crafting do you do? I'm supposed to be finishing the next blanket but it's not looking promising. I spent the afternoon doing crosswords with my best friend instead. We've been in a bubble with his sister, the HT and I since I managed to be hospitalised in February and they had to look after the HT for me for four days. We're all vaccinated and the HT and I are lateral flow testing so the adults are lookng after each other for various health related reasons.

I’m sorry you were ill ☹️. It’s nice to have a bubble though. My family and friends are really far away, so we don’t have a bubble. MrWW worked up here before we married and as I WFH it made sense for me to move, but it can be quite isolating. In that sense COVID didn’t change much for me.
I round up numbers too and that’s a good idea. I’ll add a pot and set a top amount, so anything over that can be an extra payment. I have quite a few pots set up and am also aiming for a Dave Ramsey style emergency fund (currently at £125). 

I had many years of making cards, but then moved on to making quilts. I saw a YouTube instruction on making a quilt and thought I’d have a bash. I had a sewing machine I’d never used and barely knew how to thread, so dragged it out and off I went! I’ve been quilting for about a year and a half and have gifted 5 full sized (double and king sized) and 2 lap quilts and have made 3 bed sized for me. I’m no expert and I expect I’ll be learning for any years, but it’s something to do! 

CRANKY40

I like the idea of quilting. I fancied being able to sew a good while back so I bought a sewing machine. I should have remembered how much I didn't like sewing at school. I made some lavender bags then gave up - in my defence I did have a toddler at the time too and the late MrC was working away 4 months at a time so I was a bit too tired for learning new things. I gave the sewing machine away to someone who could actually use it properly.
My sister lives in Ireland so I haven't seen her for a while (thanks to Covid) so I'm probably relying on my very small friend group even more than usual. I do have a very small friend circle (4 people) and luckily we are all vaccinated. Me because of my job and them because of age or health issues. I socially distance chat with two of them and the other two are my bubble. The HT is flow tested twice a week and so am I and my looked after person, his parents and the rest of his carers are also vaccinated. 
I've made cross stitch cards in the past but they take ages. I'm never convinced that people understand how much work, time and effort have gone into them so it's the 5 for £1 ones from the Card Factory these days. Hope your day goes well today 😊

WinterWarrior

I was the same with the sewing machine. It took so long to learn to thread it and I was terrified to begin, so it got stuffed in a cupboard for about 4 years. Then I stumbled across the beginner quilt demo and I had a go at a tiny one and got such a sense of achievement. I’m not sure I really enjoy any step in the process, but I do feel proud of the end result 😬 Cross stitch really does take such a lot of effort....and if it’s not in a card, what do you do with it when you’ve finished? I’ve done a few, but not for a long time.
A small money win today...the pre order book was £3.99, not £6.99. I rounded it up to 10 and put the difference in my weekly spends ‘not spent’ pot! 

I hope everyone has a very happy Tuesday 🍫