Now for a healthier, wealthier me

LittleMissDetermined

I think with Prolific it depends on your profile and what companies are looking for. I’ll keep checking it but there’s been no more approved since my last update.

Today is a NSD and I’ve sent £5 to the sabbatical fund this morning. Not much going on really. Work is busy on the count down to Christmas as everyone tries to clear their workload before the end of the year…

I’ve a few spendy days coming up, but should be back to some NSDs for Thursday onwards

Thats it for me
have a great Monday!
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Hi all, it's a later start for me today as I have calls scheduled after my finish time so I've had an extra cup of tea this morning and a snuggle with the dog. 

The finances and accounts are all pretty quiet at the moment, we get paid tomorrow but it will be going straight to the savings for a week and I will transfer it back on actual pay day.  I've sent £5 to the sabbatical today and it's not a NSD as I am out tonight (driving though so just a few soft drinks) and then I am out for dinner tomorrow evening. 

I have been checking prolific and there's still nothing happening. I'm not too concerned though, I seem to remember a similar lull last Christmas time. 

In other news, it looks like a Christmas gift I posted to a friend has gone missing. I posted it on 9th first class and delivery still hasn't been attempted. I'm quite annoyed as it was a thoughtful gift for one of my late mum's friends I stay in touch with and she has been quite ill lately.  I should have used Evri  

Anyway, that's all from me today... roll on 4:30 on Thursday when I will be done with work for Christmas
LMD x

Makingabobor2

Ooh what a shame about the parcel. In this area though RM are a lot more reliable than Evri.  I have just got DH a present from the Bay of E and keeping fingers crossed it arrives in time. 

LittleMissDetermined

Will keep tracking the gift and see if they can redeem themselves, there's still a few days to go. 

Today is pay day so I have moved my wages out to savings where they will stay until next week. It's something I have done for a fair few years now and I definitely see the benefit of it when I get to the end of January.

It's not a NSD for me, I'm out for dinner this evening to deliver the last of the non-family gifts. Last night I spent a grand total of £8.50 mainly as I decided to drive, but tonight will be spendy as it's dinner in a restaurant. 

My PAD was £5 to the sabbatical. I feel it would be cheating to include the temporary salary to savings move   The Sabbatical will take me a long time at the rate I'm saving so that's something I will re-evaluate as we head into 2024.  I know I have my emergency fund but that won't cover much in terms of replacing my wage. 

Another task for today is to set up the 2024 envelope saving challenge, I enjoyed doing that last year and it really boosted my sealed pot total. In fact, I still have that in my savings pot at the moment so I am really pleased!  The car is due for the service tomorrow so although I had predicted NSD's after today it won't be. I think it's a major service too so it will be more expensive. I hardly use my car these days, which in itself isn't a good thing when it comes to maintenance so we will see what the garage says. 

Ooh it's a waffling morning... sorry folks! 
Hope you're all doing good?
LMD x

LittleMissDetermined

Oh my goodness… why do storms always peak on bin day? I’m basically picking up everyone’s bottles and cans from our drive and porch 😭 it’s a fruitless task!

Today the car is being serviced so not a NSD. But there’s money saved for it so I’m not too concerned at the moment. The PAD today was £5 to the sabbatical. It was a very spendy night last night as I misjudged the traffic to the shopping centre and then fell into Next and bought some clothes.  Not the end of the world as I’ve not had much in terms of new clothes this year but still an unexpected spend.

It’s my last day of working before Christmas today so I’d better hop to it.

Have good Thursdays peeps
LMD x

Makingabobor2

Very windy here as well. Our bin fell over and I went out to retrieve it, but by the time I had seen it, I think we had lost 1/2 the contents all over the village. I picked up everything I could find, but there was definitely a lot missing....oops.  No way it was going to stay up, so I brought it back in. It won't hurt not getting emptied this time, its only recycling, so not smelly. Neighbour must have had bricks in hers, as it was still upright....lol

LittleMissDetermined

Well after bin-ageddon yesterday (mine did end up all over next door's drive and I'm sure their ring doorbell surveillance will be amusing) the bloody bin men didn't turn up... so we are doing it all again today!  

I'm sorry for the late post, as I am off I thought it was Saturday although I probably will post daily over the Christmas period and the temptation to spend in the sales takes a hold.  I was up with hubby this morning and had done the grocery shopping in 2 supermarkets before 6:45am.  It was still painful in Mr T's with all the stacker cages and packer trolleys but it's done. 

I've then been cleaning up the house and just getting it straight for visitors over Christmas. It's that time when people can just pop in... hubby doesn't care but I do! 

So, my PAD was £5 to the Sabbatical fund and it's a NSD today. There were no impulse buys at the supermarkets, I just bought what was needed and on the list.  Quite proud of myself for that to be honest as there were lots of offers and tasty looking party food.

That's all from me. 
LMD x 

Keedie

Bin-ageddon! You do have a way with words. I'm in a flat so we just have a large communal bin by the front door but sometimes people get lazy and chuck their rubbish in front of the bin door instead of opening it 🙄. Or everyone seems to empty their bins at once and it's overflowing 🤷🏾‍♀️. Sometimes though, my neighbours act like normal people and the bin men come on time and everything is cushty.

I hope your gift to your mum's friend turned up? I think they can't cope with Christmas posting even if it's done early, as I'm just starting to receive post dated the beginning of the month for some reason. So hopefully it's late and not lost 🤞🏾.

Still jealous of all you prolific people, I'd love to do those surveys.

LittleMissDetermined

After the chaos, bin-ageddon seemed fitting   They did get collected yesterday afternoon though, I ended up strategically parking my car to shelter the bin from the wind and then as soon as it was emptied I went and retrieved it before it ended up in Oz.

Merry Christmas eve-eve to you all, I have zero plans to spend today so it will be a NSD, I'm visiting a friend for coffee at hers but other than that it will just be relaxing and walking the dog.  My PAD today was £5 to the sabbatical fund, still not sure if I need to increase these contributions in the new year, or maybe I wait until pay review time and send any extra wages each month as an additional top up? Would appreciate your input... maybe I was too ambitious aiming for 3 months wages and should start at 1 month to make it more achievable. 

Finance wise things are OK and plodding along, it's that financial 'quiet time' of the month where nothing much happens with the accounts. The savings did take a hit this week with the clothes shopping and the car service but there's still a decent amount in there.  On 27th when I move my wages back I will do a recce and update the signature. 

No luck on the missing gift Keedie, I am quite disappointed as this will be the first year she's not had a gift from me so I will need to call her and explain. 

That's all from me today, I hope you enjoy your days 
LMD xx

Keedie

Glad that there was a positive ending to bin-aggedon 😂.

With the sabbatical fund, personally I would do one month at a time and stick to the £5 a day until your pay review. You can then add lump sums to top up up your fund once the pay increases, but do a Financial Freedom approach, as in a portion of the increase is for your financial future (sabbatical fund) and a portion goes towards guilt-free money to enjoy the freedom of life. So if you decide on a whim that you do want that extra Starbucks, or lipstick or a concert you hadn't anticipated attending has tickets on sale.

I'd split the pay rise as a percentage in whichever direction you'd feel most comfortable. If the focus is still sabbatical fund then the Freedom bit might get say 60% or 70% and the guilt-free Freedom bit like 30% or 40%. That way you have the consistency of your daily payments with a lump sum boost. Psychologically you feel like you get there faster, even if the actual amount is the same.

In terms of the one month at a time, not sure if you have any kind of trackers like you did when you were on your debt free journey? But I think that would help in terms of visualising the progress and not getting savings fatigue. When I was saving for unpaid parental leave, I was only focusing on my debt repayments, but I'd worked out the value of each one and then saved the amount and moved onto the next. If the parental leave had actually happened, I would have then moved onto living expenses and applied the same approach. 

I'm focusing on being debt free in 2024, but in 2025 I'll be getting ahead of my bills and I'll make some savings trackers on Canva. And I'll probably either have each bill amount or doing them in categories of my budget and save the relevant values and track them. Then as the trackers will be laminated, wipe them clean with nail varnish remover and start all over again once I've done round of each tracker.

I'm sorry about the present, but I'm sure she'll understand, it's just a shame that they've spoilt your kind tradition.