Must try harder!

Baileys_Babe

We are having the Christmas backup turkey tomorrow at my parents.

WinterWarrior

Oh, I want takeaway! I hate cooking large Sunday dinners, there’s so much effort involved. 

I took dog for her drive, so all is well with her world. She had the window down and sniffed the country and sea sniffs 😁
I may have a look at my quilt. Half square triangles are not as easy to match up as I thought, so my enthusiasm is waning 🤣

moving_forward

Living near to town does have its advantages. He's only allowed a proper curry as a treat when off work

WinterWarrior

We watched the last James Bond this afternoon (free on prime) and are shocked at the ending 😧 How do you come back from that? 

moving_forward

Snap. We weren't impressed at all. Worst one he's been in. We kept waiting for it to get going.

WinterWarrior

Good morning and happy Easter Monday 🐣 
I am awake as I’ve been sleeping in ridiculous positions around the cats and my shoulder is broken, broken I tell you! I have moved onto my back and they have followed…one on my chest I’m trying to type over, one on my lap, one on my feet 😖 
I think we are having lunch out today as it’s the last day off, although we have lots of turkey left over. 

This last week, weekend has been very spendy and I think I need to rethink how I’m handling it…again. One day I’ll find a way that works. My main costs were buying MrWW his bday present early, plus some extra presents ordered and some clothes he needed but wasn’t getting himself, so that was £400 I hadn’t budgeted for this month…but won’t have to spend next month. However, releasing those funds led to another £200 disappearing….I know not where! I try to put everything away at the beginning, leave myself very short and then sneak bits back out, so that’s not working well. But pocket money didn’t work well either. I had a habit of spending it all in week one and then sneaking bits back again. I obviously have no willpower, but am also being too strict and then rebelling. I want to get my savings up quickly, but am practically treading water most months…it’s not good enough. I need to have a proper rethink for May budget and find a way to stick to saving £500 per month. 

On another note @m@moving_forward we quite liked the Bond, but not the ending. However, I do agree it wasn’t his best and it will be nice to see a new one, I’m hoping for a few of the names I’ve read are in the hat. Tom Hardy anyone? Henry Cavill? 

I hope you all enjoy your bank holiday ☕️📚🐣🍫

Sun_Addict

Happy Easter Monday! 

Re the saving/spending, would it work if you split whatever money you have into 2, save half, spend half, with a goal of trying to save some of the spending money but strictly don’t touch the savings. I found committing to a direct debit for monthly savings worked well for me, I don’t touch it. 

You could try recognising your triggers to spend and do something else instead, swap the habit. 

Enjoy your day ☺️

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Morning WinterWarrior

lunch out sounds nice.  My DD1 and boyfr are taking me out for the day, hopefully to see a brass band!
I spent yesterday clearing out my bedroom then DD1 and her boyfr shifted round my furniture, now I'm sleeping in a clean, spacious and calm bedroom - with no pets in sight    Half my stuff is in the spare room though so it will return to my room but it will be sorted first; I have recycled and shredded absolutely loads of paperwork which seems to comprise most of my clutter.

I really enjoyed the last JB film 

love Deni 

moving_forward

Morning WW.
I think you may need to go back to a spending diary. You are trying to live to a budget that isn't what you actually spend. We did this before we got a grip on it.
 Work out what you have spent this year. Yes on EVERYTHING!

Then try and reduce the average by just a tenner or so a month.
Your being too strict too soon and then rebelling. You and me are so alike.

Plus your not going to like this but can you afford £400 on one person's gifts? We have cut our present budget to £25 per gift. We have 2 x gifts each so £50. Everyone else gets one. It made me feel mean but I had to realise we couldn't afford to be so generous. 

it's hard when your naturally a giving person but you can't afford to be. You used inheritance to pay off debt which I have done before but its like consolidation. You never actually learn how to budget with what you have.

You could do a SOA whether posting or not but you probably will already know where your problem lies if you have a spending diary. Your too damn nice and generous.  😘

WinterWarrior

Thanks everyone. @Sun_Addict splitting in two could work. I do move some to savings or pb’s and don’t touch those, but then take it from the emergency fund or pots, so it can be 2 steps forward and 2 back. Then I have to restock the emergency fund without adding to the savings, so eventually I will creep forward, but not really enough. Putting less in to start with and drawing a hard line might work better. 

@Deni_debt-free_dreamer glad you had a lovely day. Well done on the cleaning. I enjoyed JB, but weren’t you shocked at the ending?
@moving_forward you are right, maybe I didn’t get the pain from clearing the last of the loans with inheritance. I would still have had 3 months left to go, but would have put in so much more than I have saved up to now. I am a giver and do budget £50 for family birthdays and £20-30 for lesser ones, but MrWW is a whole different ball park. He wants things all the time and I feel guilty being mean. I don’t begrudge him the presents, but wish I could pull myself together in other areas. I don’t have bad regular outgoings, probably about 50% of my pay, maybe 60-70% including yearly payments like insurance, service and mot. I have all the spreadsheets, I should work this out!