Time to stop being frivolous!

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all (if anyone is even reading this!).

Spent all day in the office today. Brought lunch and some snacks with me so I was able to resist wandering to the shops and buying something. So no spending there. 

Got into bed last night and remembered I was supposed to be seeing a friend tonight. Plan was originally to go to the pub and get a few drinks and some food but he then suggested coming round to his and told me not to bring anything as he had beer in. He also ordered pizza delivery and paid! So had a nice evening catching up and didn't spend anything! Ideal! I'd mentally allocated £20-30 for tonight so that's an extra bit of money back to paying off debts. Though I'm currently trekking halfway across London to get home as he lives some distance from me! 

Did have to spend a bit today though as I needed to order some new protein powder. That was £23 but it was a planned spend and is my breakfast most days so not a frivolous waste of money. I order from Myprotein as they always have some kind of deal and I know their protein powder is drinkable (many aren't!) but not sure if they're the cheapest. Will have a look around next time I need to get some.

I emailed the estate agent today to start the process of putting my flat back on the market. Don't know how quickly it'll go and I'm still worried about any unexpected lease issues but I want rid of it as quickly as possible! 

I'm glad it's now the weekend, it's been a long and tiring week. Aiming to keep the spending to as close to zero as possible!

Have a great weekend! 

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all! 

It's been a busy weekend, feel like I've not really rested and it's almost Monday now.

Saturday wasn't an NSD. It's our anniversary next weekend and we're going for a night away in Suffolk. We had to book tickets for one of the country houses we're visiting so that was £10 and also had to buy tickets for another exhibit at £25. Everything else was booked and paid for a little while back. We'll be going out for an evening meal and Sunday lunch while we're there but otherwise we're bringing snacks and breakfast to keep the costs down.

I know I shouldn't be feeling guilty about paying money to celebrate my anniversary but I still do. I don't think it counts as frivolous spending and I'm massively cutting down elsewhere. But still... 

We also decided to make a plum cobbler on Saturday and needed some ingredients for that, though the bf paid for those. 

Today however was a NSD! I went on a walking tour this morning, I'd been wanting to do it for ages but it hadn't been run since before Covid. It cost £15 so not the most frugal but I bought it ages ago. However usually I'd go out for lunch after or pick up a drink and snack while out. To avoid that I brought water and some food from home. It was a sensible idea and meant I could resist frivolous spending.

It's just occurred to me this has been the first week in ages we haven't ordered takeaway or gone out for dinner which I'm really pleased with. Clearly the commitment is paying off. I've just finished updating the food delivery order and have planned dinners for all week except the Saturday we're away.

I hope you've had a great weekend! 

enthusiasticsaver

Have you thought about setting a budget and saving in pots for various things?  That may help you feel less guilty on any sort of spending if you keep to certain limits.  So for example for things like birthdays, anniversaries etc you set aside a certain amount each month to pay for them.  Whether you are paying down debt or saving up for a deposit or car or whatever I always find it better to find a balance between paying off debt, saving and spending.  A budget will help with that and also help you focus on what is necessary and what is frivolous. 

WatchedByOwls

enthusiasticsaver said:

Have you thought about setting a budget and saving in pots for various things?  That may help you feel less guilty on any sort of spending if you keep to certain limits.  So for example for things like birthdays, anniversaries etc you set aside a certain amount each month to pay for them.  Whether you are paying down debt or saving up for a deposit or car or whatever I always find it better to find a balance between paying off debt, saving and spending.  A budget will help with that and also help you focus on what is necessary and what is frivolous. 

Hi enthusiasticsaver! I do actually use Pots for most things except for my 'discretionary spending' which comes straight from my bank account. I have a "Spending Pot" which I have some spare money in but I try to keep it saved for big spends like cat vet fees or if I NEED to buy something such as a new mobile phone when my old one breaks - it avoids having to take it out of my savings. Perhaps I should get better at Pots though. 

WatchedByOwls

Good evening everyone! Again feeling exhausted today - didn't sleep well last night and was up early for the gym.

Today was effectively a NSD though I did have to post a jigsaw puzzle I sold on eBay. I don't like their new managed payments system - the buyer paid on Saturday and the money still isn't in my account so I had to pay out of my own pocket for postage. I'll get the money back (in a few days I hope) but just annoying. I also made a grand profit of... £1.63 on the sale. Almost not worth it - at peak lockdown jigsaws were so in demand but I guess that's dropped off now people can go back out. Oh well, every little helps.

I've finally set up my First Direct account and transferred some money into it so hopefully my £125 joining bonus will be with me in the next 28 days! That'll go straight to paying off debt. Keeping my fingers crossed that the switch goes smoothly.

Now waiting for the Tesco order to arrive. It's late and I can't cook dinner until it comes

Edit: Aahhhh Tesco order is cancelled due to issues at the depot. Really annoying as I'm now having to go out and get dinner as we've nothing in. They've given me a £10 voucher though so that's MSE! 

WatchedByOwls

So unbelievably just as I sat down to eat the food I'd gone out to buy, the Tesco order arrived! 

Spent some time on the phone to customer services and finally resolved it, accepting the delivery but giving back some items that would've been tonight's dinner. 

They've now sent me another £10 voucher so that's a total of £20 off next week's order! Highly irritating but I guess it's all worked out for the best..?!

Loveactually

£20 pounds for a missed and incorrect delivery is good

WatchedByOwls

Loveactually said:

£20 pounds for a missed and incorrect delivery is good

I agree! It was 15 minutes of hassle at most so no complaints from me with the voucher!

We've had pretty much no issues with Tesco deliveries since we've been getting them so this was unusual 

WatchedByOwls

So the last 24 hours have been very strange!

Not long after my update yesterday my partner ended up having to be taken into hospital by ambulance after quite a worrying incident. He was kept there till about 3am before being discharged. They're still not sure what happened but he's going to see a specialist tomorrow. Hopefully they'll work it all out.

Anyway that meant I was sat in the car outside the hospital till 3am too (not allowed inside of course!). Didn't get to bed till about half 3 and woke up really early so have felt a bit off today - had to have a nap mid-afternoon.

Positives though in that today was a NSD! Although I didn't actually leave the house... 

Fingers crossed for a more positive update tomorrow! 

Loveactually

Wishing a quick recovery for your partner and hugs to you.

yes I agree regarding the Tesco delivery’s very unusual for them to miss a slot