December 2022: The Turtles do the Cha Cha Cha

Thrifty_Taylor

Happy December all! Please can I be #21 @apple_muncher? My age on my birthday next week 🤣😂🤣 (in my dreams!)

apple_muncher

ldee, I like you comment on how charting things helps you see the little wins adding up. It works the other way too, doesn't it- the way the spends add up if we don't keep a note of them.

Dfw38

Yay December!
CHALLENGE: I am starting my extreme no spending Challenge today.... a no spend year. I can only spend on food, nothing too fancy... , usual household bills and 1 tank of diesel a month. Hoping to save a packet by not spending on my usual categories: clothes, toys for children, books and magazines, food on the go and top up shop where more money is spent on treats then what I am topping up, craft materials and household paraphernalia- blankets, cushions, candles etc etc. 
All money saved will be put towards debts starting with the smallest first and any money made from anything that I can sell will go towards paying overpayments on 2nd largest debt which stands at £6209 and 0% interest runs out in November 2023. So watch out v1nt3d, eb@y and f@c€back marketplace you are about to be flooded with my stuff 🤣

CHARITY: I am going to aim to donate stuff to the charity shop weekly to coincide with our library visit (as it is next door). This week I am going to finish organising our pantry and take whatever we do not want or need to the food bank. Over the weekend I intend to sort out kids grown out clothes and offer them to my school mum friend as they are experiencing loss of wages due to employer cutting back on hours. My friend has a jacket for my ds that she is going to give for when he starts school.  We regularly swap bits and pieces.

CHART: will chart all wins and gratitudes.

Have a lovely day everyone.

apple_muncher

Go for it Dfw38! Sounds like an ambitious and excellent plan.

thriftylass

Better late than never. Could I please join @apple_muncher.

Had my scary turning point yesterday that just confirmed once more the bad habit I need to give up, drinking. Got a phone call last night that FIL really isn't well, luckily BIL was on his way anyway, but neither of us could have gone at that point...

Luckily, FIL is slightly better but I've been scared last night.

Grateful for health, being a turtle and second (third...) chances

apple_muncher

thriftylass, we'll all be cheering you on with your second chance. Hugs x

apple_muncher

"Welcome, December,

New month, new chapter, new page and new wishes.

May the month give you courage, strength, patience and peace.

May every day in December be filled with hope, love, sunshine, and energy.

Let there be joy, fun, and laughter"

-unknown

lcc86

Evening turtles. 

Had a mad day at work unexpectedly. Got stuck in court dealing with something. I bought water with me but there's nowhere to refill and I ran out so I had to buy bottled water. With my current UTI I couldn't afford to go without! Also picked up my prescription for said UTI, luckily the same price as a NHS one.

Main direct debits have gone out which always makes me sad! 

I'll set out my stall properly tomorrow as have the day off work, tonight I just need to decompress.

Dfw38

Thank you @apple_muncher. I have come to realise that once I start spending my willpower is non existent. I have been considering it for about 6 months and working out the practicalities and limitations of it. My dh will take care of the 3dc birthday presents and I will take care of the Xmas presents. We normally go 50/50 but changing our way of doing it this year will hopefully enable me to not go down the slippery slope. Going to be really hard though, I normally pick up bits throughout the year but will not be able to start until Dec 1st.... this is the part I am going to struggle with the most I think 😖. I am normally done and wrapped by then!
Today I dropped off a bag of things to the charity shop, some toys, clothes and kitchen bits. 
Grateful for feeling better, spaghetti bolognese for tea (had a bag of rigatoni in pantry... my favourite pasta!), getting some bits out of the house - more space for me and hopefully money for the charity and bargains for the shopper! 
Wasn't a nsd as we needed milk and fruit. 
Day 1 of no spend challenge completed 👍

grandmanerd

On the First of December I moved a wall - next door's back wall fell into the backs a while ago. It's now (all but about a dozen bricks and the odd chunk of stone) back inside their boundary. I also persuaded DS3 to come outside and he's done a chunk of knocking our wall down. Just hoping bits of me stop hurting before tomorrow.

Grateful for getting the wall moved, DS3 playing with the sledgehammer, crowbar and one of his wooden swords, food from the fridge.