Flying solo

twiggy86

Had a lovely dinner out last night with "new guy" and he paid... which was great as walked through the front door and saw my purse!!! Didn't even realise I didn't have it with me!!! So that meant yesterday was a NSD - there have been far too few this month!! 

I did get a text yesterday from my neighbour to say that there has been a number of break-ins and dodgy characters in my area recently! So I did attempt to set up one of those little cameras that I was given a while ago - I failed at actually getting it working, but I did still put it in the front window as a deterrent!!  Will have another look when I have a bit more time! 

Today's bits and bobs...

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Do fridge/ freezer shuffle that I didn't do yesterday 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Possibly not have dinner as I have acro tonight which involves potentially being upside down a lot!! 

twiggy86

Fun night last night however back late so dinner was crumpets! I'm out again tonight at my stitch night but will probably have something whilst there. 

Today I have/ will:

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Dad at mine fitted a door handle on my new living room door (which will help keep heat in the living room)
• Update spreadsheet 
• Snap a receipt 
• Consider where I can park for free tonight - but need to be mindful of walking back to my car in the dark 

twiggy86

Oopies daisy! It's been over a month since I posted!!! Apologies for going awol! 

Payday today but I'm feeling a bit down in the dumps having to budget/ watch every penny. I feel like my progress hasn't been great - although I wonder if that has anything to do with my lack of posting and maybe I haven't been as determined as I was previously? I did use a chunk of my misc savings to pay off some debt and get my smallest CC down to £1,000. So my current debt total stands at £11,567, with £1,671 remaining in my misc savings (i.e. unallocated savings - I have a separate £1,000 EF and various sinking funds). 

So what can I do to shake this funk and feel like I'm making a bit more progress this month?! I have halved the amount I intended to send to misc savings and instead this will go straight to the CC. It might be a push but I would like to try get the total debt to £11k this month. I think this will mean that I need to work out how to get some extra earnings this month - so the first step was to claim a whopping 62p from TCB! 

In non-money news - it didn't work out with the last guy, we get on just not in a romantic way. However, I have met someone else and it seems to be going extremely well, so we will see what happens there! He came round to mine and cooked me dinner last night which was lovely! Maybe it's dating that has hindered my progress slightly? I have been open about my financial situation and so have been sensible, but equally I don't want to always rely on someone else paying so I have paid for some things. 

twiggy86

Today's list of bits and bobs:

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Finalise budget for May 
• Do money shuffling when pay comes in
• Claim teeny amount from TCB!
• Dad coming to mine to do some gardening I think 
• Possibly pop a present to friend on way home from work if I have time 
• Dinner from stores - new guy coming round for dinner tonight but just cooking a lasagna I had in the freezer

Can't think of anything else for today, but I must get back into the habit of coming on here most days!

PennysIntoPounds

Nice to see you back. If I were you I'd send the whole misc amount to debt and admire my shiny under 10k total...

twiggy86

Thanks for your input @PennysIntoPounds - I wish I was a more decisive person! Would make it sooo much easier!!! I keep thinking that I should leave it where it is for now - my phone is probably on its way out soon and my smart watch died the other week. So at least I could potentially use some of this money to cover those expenses if/ when I eventually make a decision! 

I am also torn between sticking with my goal for the month (get debt to £11k) to re-start my motivation by seeing some progress OR paying only the minimums this month, not saving anything and giving myself a month "off". Wondering if having some more financial "freedom" for a little bit might get rid of the negative feelings I've got at the moment - i.e. I'm in this position because of ex taking advantage and feeling tied to the past when I just want to move on with my life. As I said, it would be so much easier if I was decisive! The CC payments aren't due yet so I don't have to make any decisions - and I could of course, simply pay the minimums, leave the rest in the bank and see how the month goes! Then if I need/ want to spend it on myself for fun things I can, but if it's still there at the end of the month send it to the CCs! 

Last nights plans changed slightly as I ended up going bouldering with some friends - was good fun!!! It cost £16, but I parked a short walk away for free to save a little bit of money. I got home late and hadn't had dinner so I cooked a pizza and the lasagna (as it needed cooking) - I was too hungry to wait for the lasagna to cook and it was getting late! So I ate half the pizza and will have the other half quickly before acro tonight. Lasagna will be lunches for the next few days. 

Today's bits and bobs: 

• Post on here two days in a row! 
• Take portion of lasagna to work for lunch 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Continue considering budget! 
• Leftover pizza for dinner 
• Drop present to friend on way to acro 
• Pay minimum at acro (they offer a sliding scale and I always feel obligated to do the middle option which is £10, rather than the lowest which is £7.50) 

vampirotoothus

Hi too, I'm am indecisive too, it's a real pain. How about taking the £171 of your misc savings and allowing yourself to treat yourself this month, but continue with the rest of your plan. To me that would feel like I am still working for my future self, but also having a break. Good luck with the rest of your plan V x

PennysIntoPounds

You could move the money that's needed to separate phone and watch pots then the rest see how you feel at the end of the month. As long as the minimum payments are being covered then if you need a wee break then go for it, we can't push ourselves all the time without getting tired.
You could make it a mini challenge to see how much you can happen to put aside this month, like putting the 2.50 from acro and other small bits into a separate pot and then marvelling at how much it's added up over a month!

twiggy86

Thank you @vampirotoothus and @PennysIntoPounds - I'm not going to do anything for now but will consider the points you've put forward as options! 

Last nights plans changed! Acro ended up being cancelled, meaning I had a quiet night in and saved the £7.50. New guy popped round for an hour which was nice and then tonight he is coming round (and apparently cooking me dinner!) before my game of netball... which isn't until 9:20!!! So yesterday ended up being a total NSD! I did stop at the shop and bought myself a salad and some fruit juice I feel like I might be on the edge of being poorly - you know when you don't actually feel ill yet but feel like something might be about to hit! 

Oh and I remembered that I have a £10 voucher thing that I need to pay into the post office at some point - had a letter about some government survey! Will try pay that in on Saturday! 

So today's bits and bobs are as follows:

• Take leftover lasagna to work for lunch 
  
• Update spreadsheet 
• Snap receipt 
• Dinner being cooked for me 
• Park for free at netball 

See if there is anything else I can think of!

twiggy86

Oooo "exciting" news! My dining room table is being delivered on Tuesday!! So I now need to get rid of a two-seater sofa - it's not in good enough condition to sell but will advertise it for free in case it's of use to someone. I am also having a palm tree thing from work which I think will look good in that end of the room - could be wrong but it's free! So I am going to take that home from work today - it's a bit wonky at the moment but I think it quite simply needs taking out the pot and re-potted? I have no idea as I don't have the greenest of fingers!