Third time's a charm!

twiggy86

You're right @bigbeff - plus I had decided to be a bit more spendy this month to celebrate my birthday, but feel guilty for doing so! 

This week's birthday plans involve dinner with a friend on Thursday night and a "stitch night" on Friday - neither of which should involve much spending (as I won't be drinking with dinner). Next week is busier though with four different things planned! However I must say I am really enjoying my "birthday month"! 

twiggy86

Oh dear! I've been AWOL a while! So what's the update...

I have intentionally been more spendy this month but overall on budget! I have been incredibly lucky to have generous friends who have paid for a number of meals and days out - which was not my intention with my birthday month for people to spoil me, but rather it was about me spoiling myself. All my birthday plans are now completed - although I have now got a number of birthdays around me which include various social events! 

I have felt a bit out of sorts though as I haven't necessarily had money in the "right" accounts, although it was accounted for somewhere! I have tried rectifying everything but still not convinced! I have updated my spreadsheet today and also started my October budget which is helping me feel back in control. 

Some positive bits of money news:

• I saved £52 on my car insurance renewal plus I should get £30 cash back!
• My energy DD is apparently going down (in addition to the government help)! We have been overpaying as previously was in debit but had slowly built up a credit and I'd left the DD as it was
• I'm delivering two crochet pumpkins to a friend tonight - I think we agreed she'd pay me £10?! 
• I was gifted £100 for my birthday (in addition to some lovely gifts) so I will put that aside so I can treat myself to something.

I can't think of anything important to update at the moment but I must get back into the habit of posting regularly as it definitely keeps me accountable! 

twiggy86

Ooops - still haven't got back into the habit of posting regularly! 

It was payday on Friday and I need to finish shuffling money to the correct accounts. One of my accounts was having issues so I couldn't do it on Friday. I think this is key to me feeling in control when everything is in the right place and helps me see what is left more clearly! 

I went for lunch for my best friend on Saturday - spent £15 on some flowers and £30 for lunch. So that's a good chunk of this month's "fun" money with a few more things planned. And I must confess me and OH did have a takeaway last night. However my next step after posting on here is to update my spreadsheet to keep myself accountable even though I've slipped up so early in the month - that is not a reason to sabotage a whole month!!! 

I also need to do a balance transfer as one of my interest free periods is ending, so that's a job for later this week to look into what I am offered. Ideally I want to transfer the whole amount so I still have the same number of debts so hopefully I can do that. My energy direct debit hasn't gone down this month (other than the government help) so I must have mis-read the email as it looks like its going down from next month. 

I think that's enough waffle for now! 

twiggy86

Decided I need to be more organised and/or accountable! So I'm setting out a little list on here of things I need to do this week:

• Make lunch every day! Bad habit of buying lunch is sneaking back in - although it is "only" a £3 meal deal
• Make a meal plan! 
• Sort out home insurance - see if I can go via TCB 
• Look into balance transfer deals and complete transfer

I'm sure there's more things I should do but that's a start for this week! 

SusieT

Making lunch each day is a good saving, surprising how much the "only" £3 can occasionally cost a bit more if there is something like a bar of chocolate saying buy me as you walk past!! Other than the meal plan, the rest should be fairly straightforwards  

twiggy86

You are absolutely right @SusieT - these little "only" bits add up to a big amount over a month! However, guess who opened the fridge this morning with genuinely nothing to put in a sandwich! I was meant to go food shopping last night but OH wanted to car and so I said I'd go tonight instead not realising quite how little food we had in! 

twiggy86

Some positives for today...

• I made my lunch!!!
• I sold something on V*nted finally for £15
• I have enough put aside for my home insurance renewal - and after running a comparison I can get it for about £70 cheaper plus can get £30 cashback if I go through TCB meaning I'll have some left in the pot! (Need to decide what to do with it)
• I got accepted for a fee-free balance transfer so have just completed that as one of my interest free periods was about to expire! 

Not quite so positive - I bought a mattress topper on my CC last month (although I did get for less than half price!) so although I had hoped to clear my Hcard this month, instead I'm going to pay the £241 off my Bcard to clear what I spent on the topper. Meaning I won't be able to clear Bcard until next month but it makes sense to do it this way and save on the interest. 

twiggy86

Checking in before the weekend... although not sure I have much to update. 

I have now actually done my home insurance - only the day before the renewal!!! Went through TCB so should get £30 cashback, plus £30 cashback for my car insurance which I did last month. The other plus side is I had actually saved enough to cover both, so no scrabbling around to account for them at the last minute! 

I did spend quite a lot in Ald* the other night but other than that I haven't spent much this week. I don't have any spendy plans this weekend either. Popping along to a 40th birthday party on Saturday but will likely drive. Then potentially seeing my nephew on Sunday who's birthday is next week - I finished making him a crochet dinosaur yesterday (I had all the pieces made in August but had the sewing together bit left and was procrastinating on it!) Just need to buy some wrapping paper as I have already bought him a card. 

Other than those bits my plans are to spendy some time being crafty (crochet and/or embroidery) and sorting out the house. We want to refresh our living room and have a re-shuffle. However that means moving something into my office but first I need to sort out the office so would make sense to start there! Think OH is potentially working so would be good to get some progress on the house - he's the type that you need to jump on things when he has the motivation so I need to keep things moving along whilst he's in the headspace of wanting things done! (If that makes sense!) 

Doing up the living room will involve some level of spending in the long run but definitely some free things I can start with! For example we don't have a living room door as never felt the need, but it does tend to mean the living room can be chilly in winter as all the heat escapes into the hall. So not just because of the price increases but to make it more cozy I have demanded that we have one! 

Right that's enough waffle about not a lot! 

twiggy86

Back from a nice weekend - relatively frugal too!! 

I did some work on getting the house ready for sorting out the living - sorting out my office so that something from the living room could move into there to allow us to reshuffle the living room. So no spending there - well actually I did buy some new hooks for my "homemade art wall" in my office as needed it on a different wall, but I'd used an amazon voucher. (Also whilst sorting out the office I found a gift card with £20 on!) Now need to work out the logical next steps! 

I didn't end up going to the party on Saturday night so just stayed in with OH. I did buy something for myself but used my birthday money! We then went clothes shopping - OH bought himself some bits but I didn't whilst out, however I did then come home and order some clothes online. I will use the rest of my birthday money and my "clothes pot" once I've decided what I'm keeping - I did use a 30% off code so felt worth doing as I never replace my clothes and my favourite jeggings have a small hole in the knee!!! 

Feel like I'm having a productive day already today! So far I've updated my spreadsheet and shuffled money back in to the right places, bought petrol from cheapest garage around (and should get cashback) and made a couple of CC payments. Let's hope the rest of the week feels as positive! 

twiggy86

Oh dear! I thought I was getting back into the habit of posting more regularly but it's been a week!!! So what do I have to report?! 

So the main thing is that I seem to be trying, but failing, to make a balance transfer! I got accepted for a fee free, interest free balance transfer but firstly couldn't register for online banking and then the balance transfer didn't go through. Turns out the card I was trying to transfer from is within the same group which isn't allowed! So I've been faffing around and worked out if I transfer it on to another card (also with no fee) then I can transfer that to the new card. However I went through the process and then the app suddenly closed so I'm not sure if it actually went through or not!!! I'll give it a couple of days and then try again if it doesn't show! 

I did have a productive weekend of sorting out the living room - unfortunately we've now done most of the free stuff which needed doing! I have semi-prioritized the bits that need buying. I.e. it makes sense to get the door first as that has the benefit of keeping warmth in the living room. 

I did order some clothes online on my CC. However this was because I wanted to order different styles/ sizes so that I can return what is not needed and then use the birthday money I have to pay it off the CC. So I need to prioritize getting those bits packaged up and sent back off so that I get the refund! OH had a little win on football and he bought me a pair of boots to walk the dog in - my trainers are incredibly tatty (that's why they've been relegated to my dog walking trainers) but now they've started leaking! I did manage to get them for £35 instead of £60 though and went via TCB and so will get nearly £2 from there. 

I don't feel like I'm making enough progress on debt payment as I should be at the moment - shopping aside! But I think it is partially because I am actually managing to put money aside for various expenses. Which is great of course but I'm feeling a bit deflated this month that I'm not closer to my end of year goal (which is problem not feasible now). 

So definitely a mixed bag - which means to keep myself more accountable on here to ensure I'm not just being more frivolous and not confessing to myself (although I do track everything in my spreadsheet!)