Time to stop being frivolous!

WatchedByOwls

Hello all! Today was payday so I spent a bit of time moving money to various pots. I also put £100 to paying off what I'd spent on my Amex. Another £100 left but interest doesn't kick for a month so I'll pay it off in January.

I spent £3.70 on some bits for dinner. Because my partner and I are going to our respective families over Christmas and have a few meals out this week we haven't got a Tesco delivery booked.

Night in front of the TV for me tonight though! 

WatchedByOwls

Hello all! I've been intermittent at posting again, poor show by me!

January wasn't the best month financially for me. My flat sale fell through and my tenants left. It's now back on the market but I haven't got new tenants in so I'm paying a mortgage and rent at the same time. Hopefully it gets sold pretty swiftly as it's a financial burden at the moment.

I've just been landed with a conveyancer bill for the incomplete flat sale which I need to pay off today. Bit of a hit but needs doing. My conveyancer wasn't great so I'm finding a new one for any future sale attempts.

I also start paying back my postgraduate student loan in April which will mean a couple of hundred pounds a month comes off of my pay packet. Makes it all the more important to be careful with the money I do have!

We had a large vet bill for the cat in January which was part of an ongoing problem so couldn't use insurance. Fortunately I had anticipated this so had been putting money aside in a Monzo pot each month meaning I didn't have to touch my main current account for it.

I was supposed to be flying out on holiday today but for various reasons that got cancelled. Sad but in a way helpful as I got the money back and that has paid off another holiday I have in August and also meant I have some spare money leftover for flights and other bits. So the money I was putting towards August can be kept for other stuff. I also have a BA voucher (they wouldn't give me a cash refund!) but that's valid till the end of 2023 so I'll use it at some point.

I have now paid back £5862 of the £10000 I owe which is great. I don't imagine that figure will increase massively over the next few months but I'm almost 60% there which is good.

Today is a day of chores and life admin. I have most of next week off work so might treat myself to dinner once or twice to cheer me up about not being on holiday but other than that I aim to keep frivolous spending down!

Ovo have very kindly increased our energy direct debit to £75 pcm. Hopefully this will build up a credit over the summer. We don't seem to use much gas or electricity anyway. 

WatchedByOwls

Also putting some time aside today to write a new budget. Given I have a lot more outgoings now and nothing more incoming I need to have a rethink about where my money goes. Last one I did was in July so it's been a while.

Will also do a sort through of the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer to work out what food we have that needs using up which will inform this week's food shop! 

WatchedByOwls

I don't post for ages then 3 posts in a day!

I've spent some time working on a new budget which was helpful. I also calculated my discretionary spending for December and January and I've spent a ludicrous amount on... well nothing! Utter rubbish! Really mad at myself as I know better. 

WatchedByOwls

Am on leave from work today so I've used it to get a few chores done. Went to the gym, only when I got there did I realise had to pay £2.40 for parking! Then went to Tesco for a food shop. Usually order online so going on a Monday morning was an experience - the queues for the tills were huge! Managed to keep the shop to £27 including using a £5 Clubcard voucher. That's most of our food for the week (2 adults).

I ordered some new jeans from Asos as a pair of mine ripped. Unfortunately they turned up smelling of chemical cleaning fluid. Despite washing them twice the smell hasn't gone so I'm returning them. Was hoping to send them off today but they're still slightly damp so that'll be a tomorrow job. When the refund comes through I'll order another pair.

I've had the final refund for my cancelled holiday processed which is £140. That'll hopefully be back with me in a couple of days. It'll go onto my Amex and basically pay off the balance which is handy.

Going to do some cooking a bit later on and some of my Russian homework (doing a language class!). Otherwise a pretty unexciting day! 

WatchedByOwls

I've also decided I'm going to change my Amex card from an Avios rewards one to a cashback. I have a big pool of Avios which I rarely use and I think having the cash in my pocket will be much more helpful. And of course... It'll be a free one! 

WatchedByOwls

Evening all!

I worked a few days last week but took a couple of days off. I did eat out a few times but mostly used some of the money that was allocated to the aborted holiday. I was a little bit down about not being able to go away so it was a bit of a treat to myself.

Sadly my aunt passed away at the end of last year. She had quite advanced dementia and had been in a care home for the best part of a decade. I went up to the Midlands with my family yesterday to the home to sort through her belongings. I took a few small items. Most of the rest we left for charity, for other residents or to be binned as there wasn't anything of value. I had to pay £25 for train tickets but it was a necessary expense. 

Her estate is going through probate at the moment. Her house was sold a fair while ago to pay for the home and most of her possessions (she was a hoarder) were cleared out then so there isn't anything else left apart from a small amount of cash in the bank. My dad thinks I might get a few thousand pounds when it's all sorted which would be nice but I'm not counting on it.

Valentine's Day has been a quiet one. Had a long day working and then the Tesco order came. Rocking it! We're going out later in the week to a restaurant we've had booked for months. Hopefully this week will be low-spendish otherwise. And payday on Friday! 

WatchedByOwls

Good evening all! Today has been a NSD but I was non-stop at work all day.

Made dinner using up some noodles that had been sat in the cupboard for a fair while. Now a quiet evening and hopefully an early night! 

WatchedByOwls

Good afternoon all!

In light of Storm Eunice I've been working from home today. It's a great way to money save - I have no desire to go to the shops on such a grim day! Unfortunately my social plans this evening were cancelled but I've had a busy week so I'm quite content to have a night in. 

Today was payday for me. I spent a bit of time sorting money into pots. Our council tax bill is paid over a ten month period so this month I don't have to pay anything so that was an extra £170 I don't have to pay out. Water is the same though that's only £30 - but every little helps! 

It meant I was able to pay back some more of my loan and I've now rescue a grand total of £6039. Really pleased I've broken the £6k barrier.

I've had a difficult week with my flat. My tenants refused to leave for 2 weeks after their notice period and weren't paying rent. Fortunately they left in the middle of the night on Wednesday so I have it back. There's viewings going on over the weekend for a sale so hopefully I will get a new offer soon. Hoping they've left it in a good state and I can get the unpaid rent from their deposit.

Unfortunately this week wasn't too MSE. Last night we went for a belated Valentine's Dinner. We'd had it booked for 2 months and we'd been wanting to go to this restaurant for years. Overall we spent £140 together for 3 courses and drinks. Not ideal in my current state but I think it was worth it. Nothing else like that will be booked in now till I'm in a better financial position.

Otherwise I've been really good at not spending frivolously! No random supermarket visits, no unplanned spends. Hopefully the weekend will be much the same. 

WatchedByOwls

Hello all! So it's been a few weeks since I updated and life has been a bit of a rollercoaster since then.

If you've been following my blog for a little while (or want to read back) you may remember that last summer my boyfriend was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening medical issue. A few weeks ago he went into hospital for a procedure to permanently correct it. The surgery went well but there was a complication afterwards which impacted him quite severely and kept him in hospital for a week. Fortunately he has now hopefully got through the worst of it and is back home convalescing. He should be back to full strength and health in about two months.

Unfortunately all of this led to MSE going right out of the window! Lots of random food shopping as I couldn't plan, taxis to and from hospital, congestion charge for driving into London, etc. I was in a proper state and couldn't really focus on much at all. Now he is back home and on the mend I am in a much better place mentally and back on the MSE wagon.

My tenants paid their outstanding rent which was good. I am going into battle with them as they have left the flat stinking of cigarette smoke (in breach of their tenancy agreement) so it needs a proper deep clean. This will hopefully come out of their deposit. I have begun conveyancing for the sale so keeping my fingers crossed that it won't fall through again!

Despite the stressful few weeks I've been able to put some more money back to paying off my debt and have now paid a grand total of £6259. I keep chipping away at it. Could've been more but hey, onwards and upwards from here.

I know it's been talked about loads elsewhere but the energy price rise didn't really hit me until last week when I got a letter from Ovo telling me how much my costs a likely to go up. Absolutely shocking The heating is definitely staying off now...