Time to stop being frivolous!

30s_Suffolk_Lass

Hi WatchedByOwls

Just read your diary. I too am guilty of lots of frivilous spending lately, almost to the point where it felt like a minor addiction, so I am trying to curb my spends. I have a spends pot which is for things to do, clothes, things for the home etc. It's my not to feel guilty spending pot, though I am still trying to save money from it too.

Looks like you're doing really well!

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all, I hope you've had a pleasant weekend

The last 4 days has been pretty spend heavy unfortunately. I had my leaving do, my friend's birthday, a food festival and then a brunch today. All of which were pre-planned a few months ago, except the brunch which I got a last minute invite for and was well worth going to.

I didn't order much on the birthday dinner out so kept it quite cheap. And I didn't have to buy a single drink at my leaving do! Although I did come back home slightly intoxicated and picked up a Domino's pizza on route ... only £9.99 though! 

I had some money in a pot for the food fest but didn't spend it all so it'll go towards the brunch. All in all while I did spend, I didn't overspend and as I'm keeping expenses down from frivolous spending it hasn't impacted my bank balance too much. 

I also had to buy presents for my Dad, Mum and sister. None of them asked for anything majorly expensive thankfully. I also had to get and post birthday cards for a variety of people! 

This week won't be particularly spend heavy. Aiming for mostly NSDs. 

Tesco order comes tomorrow and that will cover all breakfasts, lunches and dinners up until Saturday. My Dad is coming for dinner next Sunday - will probably do a roast but didn't put it on the food order as sometimes Tesco meat can be shortdated, so will need to go out and get it in the week. No meals out or takeaways planned though! 

Quiet evening in for me now and I'm looking forward to a few more this week. Want to have my dissertation finished in a fortnight so need to focus on getting the last 3000 words done! 

WatchedByOwls

30s_Suffolk_Lass said:

Hi WatchedByOwls

Just read your diary. I too am guilty of lots of frivilous spending lately, almost to the point where it felt like a minor addiction, so I am trying to curb my spends. I have a spends pot which is for things to do, clothes, things for the home etc. It's my not to feel guilty spending pot, though I am still trying to save money from it too.

Looks like you're doing really well!

Thank you for reading it all! I feel like I'm rambling to myself most of the time but it's a good way of holding myself to account. 

Yep I feel exactly the same and it was a big reason I wanted to cut down my frivolous spend - I'd quite happily spend £20 on a spontaneous takeout but umm and ahh and put off spending £20 on an essential purchase.

Good luck in your journey! I've found that planning ahead has really helped me to stop frivolous spends, particularly on food. 

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all. 

This week has been slightly spendy (is that a word?! ).

In my last update I totally forgot I had plans to go for dinner with a friend on Monday. Ended up spending more than I liked which is annoying. It went on the Amex for Avios points but I paid it off straight away. I've doubled checked my entire diary and nothing else social is planned till next week so hopefully I'll have no surprise spends.

I paid our final EON bill today which was £87 so a fair bit less than expected. It was split with the bf so only £43 each and I had some money set aside for it so it hasn't come from my main account. 

I also booked tickets for an August day trip to Winchester. They were only £17 return and I won't spend much while I'm there. Trying to explore more of the UK while I can't go abroad so it's in lieu of a more expensive holiday... or at least that's how I justify it to myself

Thinking ahead I may have to buy some protein powder this week but otherwise no anticipated spending till Sunday. Managed to put another £100 towards my debt so now at a total of £3692 paid off. Hoping I'll get to £4000 by next pay day!

I've definitely not felt very enthused at work this week. I don't think I'm sleeping very well recently which probably doesn't help. I'll try to have a really relaxed weekend where I can catch up on sleep.

I've also got about 10 days to finish off my dissertation... I should manage to get there... Thinking about what I'd like to do next, possibly a Russian language course. I'll definitely take some time off in between though...

Hope you're all having a great week! 

BellaLasagna2018

WatchedByOwls said:

Thank you for reading it all! I feel like I'm rambling to myself most of the time but it's a good way of holding myself to account. 

I’m reading too - I’ve bookmarked your diary  I just don’t post unless I can add something useful, so not very much! 

WatchedByOwls

Good afternoon all! 

Have spent a bit this weekend as we visited Westminster Abbey yesterday and went out for lunch afterwards. I'd never been before and it was nice to visit with very few tourists. Really expensive tickets though! Fortunately my boyfriend owed me some money so he paid for everything. 

No spontaneous and frivolous spending though - everything was planned and accounted for. 

Unfortunately I had to get some ointment for the cat this week - sometimes he over-scratches his ear or other body parts and makes them sore and is prescribed a cream. £24 a pop for a tiny tube! 

Today we did a big sort out of all the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer. Unsurprisingly we found loads of food tucked away that we'd forgotten about. I've planned meals for the next few weeks to use up as much as possible. We popped to Tesco rather than get a food delivery as we didn't need much - it meant this weeks shop was very cheap too! 

I've also made a chickpea curry for lunches this week. I'm only working 4 days as I have Friday off so might go to a free museum. I think I might have weekend plans but nothing is really confirmed yet. 

In some good news I've had an offer on my flat even though it's only been on the market a few weeks. The offer is under asking price and I'll probably make a slight loss but I've got sufficient equity in it to make it worth selling. It's currently rented out and I lose money on it each month (which is a big reason I'm in my current financial state!) so I'm going to accept the offer. Still lots of hurdles to jump through and the sale last year fell through so I'm not too optimistic, but keeping my fingers crossed. 

BellaLasagna2018 said:

WatchedByOwls said:

Thank you for reading it all! I feel like I'm rambling to myself most of the time but it's a good way of holding myself to account. 

I’m reading too - I’ve bookmarked your diary  I just don’t post unless I can add something useful, so not very much! 

Thank you! I was being slightly tongue in cheek when I made that comment  I also read quite a few but don't say very much! 

WatchedByOwls

Evening everyone

A little while since I've updated. It's been a busy few weeks and I've had to spend a little bit but none of it has been frivolous or unnecessary spending. I've also been able to put money back towards the debt and have now paid off £4023. Really pleased with this and hopefully will be able to pay off a bit more before payday.

I had to pay my conveyancer £500 today. This came from a separate account which I have money in for flat stuff. Really keeping my fingers crossed that the sale progresses and goes through without any issues. It'll be a real weight off my shoulders.

I had to pay out about £50 for train fares for work. I've put the expense claims through so should be paid it back soon. It went on the Amex so I'll get Avios points! Last time I was away for work my train home was delayed by over an hour so not only did I get my fare paid in expenses but also got the full ticket price in delay repay compensation! It was something like £100. Alas can't hope for that every time

In some good news I've FINALLY finished writing my dissertation!! 15000 words and only a few days behind. It just needs proof reading and formatting ready for submission in a couple of weeks. Then I'll be free! Not thinking about the student loan I'll have to start repaying next April 

Food shopping has been reasonably cheap the past few weeks. We're slowly getting through our stocks of food in the cupboard which has meant I've been making good use of the slow cooker. It also means we've been experimenting with some recipes we wouldn't usually make - we had homemade Afghan bolani today and I'll be making a chickpea and date stew later in the week. 

Off on a day trip to Winchester tomorrow by myself. Hoping that the weather holds up! 

Hope you're all having a great week! 

WatchedByOwls

Good morning all!

My spending habits have slipped in the past week which I'm not proud of. I've bought lunch at work a few times instead of bringing food in, had a couple of takeaways and bought stuff here and there that I had no need to. Not very impressed with myself. Back on it as of now and using this diary to hold myself to account!

I've managed to pay a bit more off my debt to the total of £4223 which I'm pleased with - though frustratingly if I'd been sensible about spend I could've added another £100. Edging closer towards the 50% mark which will be a nice milestone.

In other news, we've only had one sofa in our flat since we moved in and have been meaning to get another one for ages. One of my friends is moving back to Australia but has offered to sell me his sofa and armchair for £50. Having to pay £60 for a van man to help move it but even with that it's at least a third of the price of a brand new sofa we were looking at, and we get the armchair too! Sofa isn't an exact match to our current one but the colours are similar. Really pleased with that bargain.

Will also have to go and do some clothes shopping this week. 2 pairs of jeans have ripped beyond repair and given I only have 3 pairs, I need to buy some new ones urgently! That'll come out of the spending pot.

My trip abroad planned for next month has been postponed till 2022 so I used some of the money I'd saved for that to book a UK break instead. I've got plenty of time to save the money back up. Will be nice to get away, even if it's only for 4 days. 

My Dad is coming over for lunch today so I've had a lamb leg in the slow cooker since 5am. Smells delicious though I forgot how expensive lamb is!

Now off to have a look at some of the old school cleaning methods. I spilled a bright red Chinese takeaway sauce all over my fabric footstool last week and am struggling to get it out. Think it was some sort of divine punishment for spending money on takeout when I had food at home! 

WatchedByOwls

Evening all! I've been a little bit rubbish at updating here recently. Probably because I've been trying my best to save money but as always life seems to find a way to disrupt the best laid plans and big spends suddenly come about!

I'm now up to £4484 repaid back. Not as much as I'd have liked but slowly getting there - hopefully be close to £6000 by the end of the year if I keep progressing at this rate. 

I'll try and properly update later in the week

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all!

So my money saving totally dropped off a cliff towards the end of 2021 as did my posting here. I didn't quite reach my goal of £6000 by the end of the year but I did get to £5362 which I'm very pleased with, given that I was at £0 in January. 

I had a few big essential spends over October and November which increased my spending and then I just veered off track more generally too.

Pay day is tomorrow. I've done pretty much all my Christmas shopping so not much to get except a few food bits. Hopefully should be able to keep spending down as we head towards NYE. Must keep up the mantra: no frivolous spending!