I am not trying hard....

deliciosa

Hi Maggie

Yay for your sig, very nice!!
The market day out sounds fab, £10 should cover quite a lot of "luxury" items, such as coffee and nibbles. Well done!! and I knwo what you mean, for me its much easier to spend £300 on a credit card than £10 from my purse...

The amazon wishlist thing is similar to what i used to do: putting things in my basket, then reviewing every week and removing unwanted items.. after a few days you realise you can live without it!!!!

Oooh check out my diary, it is not an easy one... but quite amusing sometimes its here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=369241

I said no to the holiday. My friend was quite sad about it, but I feel ok. I will post a new SOA on my diary tomorrow when my shiny new cheque gets cashed and I take it from there.

Well done for not using plastic, that's something "I" really have to improve on.... HOW on earth can you leave them at home? What if theres an emergency? You see, thats how addicted I am to them....

deliciosa

Snaggles wrote: »

Oooh, have you seen - you're in the weekly email! :T

Yes! thanks for letting me know, I just checked and yes :j :j wow i am famous? :rotfl: :rotfl:

I guess I won;t be the post of the month tho as I just checked that thread and most of the people are voting for another person - a very funny thread actually. I can't vote for me can I but still it means sooo much that I got nominated and that I got to be in the weekly email :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j

MaggieBear

deliciosa wrote: »

Hi Maggie

Yay for your sig, very nice!!
The market day out sounds fab, £10 should cover quite a lot of "luxury" items, such as coffee and nibbles. Well done!! and I knwo what you mean, for me its much easier to spend £300 on a credit card than £10 from my purse...

The amazon wishlist thing is similar to what i used to do: putting things in my basket, then reviewing every week and removing unwanted items.. after a few days you realise you can live without it!!!!

Oooh check out my diary, it is not an easy one... but quite amusing sometimes its here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=369241

I said no to the holiday. My friend was quite sad about it, but I feel ok. I will post a new SOA on my diary tomorrow when my shiny new cheque gets cashed and I take it from there.

Well done for not using plastic, that's something "I" really have to improve on.... HOW on earth can you leave them at home? What if theres an emergency? You see, thats how addicted I am to them....

The cards thing is SUCH a biggie for me - it doesn't feel like I'm really spending that money, and leaving the card at home, or not knowing the pin number (keeping it as part of a phone number or whatever) is a stop and think for me.

If I'm very far away from home, I still bring it, but as long as I've got some way of getting home, or contacting someone to come help me? There's really no emergency that exists that plastic could help me with (and I'll keep repeating that to myself until I believe it ALL the time, instead of just most...)

I'm really looking forward to Saturday, it's usually a really nice day (even if the weather isn't...) with bargains to be had if I go back just before it closes :T


:dance: Well done you on the holiday thing! Your new SOA will be shinier as a result, right?

Right, I'm off to read your thread... I'll see you next week sometime

dfw844

MaggieBear wrote: »

If I'm very far away from home, I still bring it, but as long as I've got some way of getting home, or contacting someone to come help me? There's really no emergency that exists that plastic could help me with />

That really made me laugh - you probably didn't mean it but it made me think of those times I've had 'female' emergencies and no change for the machine in the ladies!!! You're right, even my huge credit limits can't help with that! And for the men out there a) sorry and b) no I didn't mean contraception

CAFCGirl

Delic' and everyone else!

I dont know what you've all done to me, but I actually got annoyed with having to spend money on bread and milk earlier on! It ruined my ruin of no spend days!
LOL I was walking round Tesco's practically livid with the place and everyone in it!

Keep trying to tell mself I do need to eat! LOL as does darling husband to be!
And now I'm just laughing at myself....

And I did manage to watch one of the DVD's last night so all is still really well!

As for the holiday Del, I'm kinda glad you told your friend No.... Holidays are never just the cost, theres always food, spending money etc. Like someone else suggested (sorry cant remember and it was on page 6) you could put half of that £250 you would have paid against Tokyo (coz that is gonna ROCK!) and then the other half against a credit card, so a bit of a treat and some payment to debts!
Congrats on the tax revenue as well... I've always found there so quite to take your money, but drag their feet when it comes to paying it back!

deliciosa

MaggieBear wrote: »

If I'm very far away from home, I still bring it, but as long as I've got some way of getting home, or contacting someone to come help me? There's really no emergency that exists that plastic could help me with (and I'll keep repeating that to myself until I believe it ALL the time, instead of just most...)

I'm really looking forward to Saturday, it's usually a really nice day (even if the weather isn't...) with bargains to be had if I go back just before it closes :T


:dance: Well done you on the holiday thing! Your new SOA will be shinier as a result, right?

Right, I'm off to read your thread... I'll see you next week sometime

you see i am such an addict, if i dont know the pin, as you said... well i just use it online!!! :rotfl:

ook we can make this as a tough love club mantra: "there is no emergency that the plastic can help me with" ohh but what if... and if... and if maybe.. and what if......?????????? :o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o

Now my weekend looks the following: friday, sat and and sunday staying in town in aunt's house = no travel costs (i dont have travelcard anymore, cycling everywhere or pay bus on oyster....). friday dinner - free. sat lunch and din - free. sun lunch - aunt's fridge :rotfl: sun eve party - free. SOUNDS absolutely fab

tomorrow have to buy diet coke tho (£2.66) and i only have £1.24.... means i will go through drawers and pockets tonight. wish me luck!!! why don't we do a "who finds more cash in the house" challenge :j:j

deliciosa

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Delic' and everyone else!

I dont know what you've all done to me, but I actually got annoyed with having to spend money on bread and milk earlier on! It ruined my ruin of no spend days!
LOL I was walking round Tesco's practically livid with the place and everyone in it!

Keep trying to tell mself I do need to eat! LOL as does darling husband to be!
And now I'm just laughing at myself....

And I did manage to watch one of the DVD's last night so all is still really well!

As for the holiday Del, I'm kinda glad you told your friend No.... Holidays are never just the cost, theres always food, spending money etc. Like someone else suggested (sorry cant remember and it was on page 6) you could put half of that £250 you would have paid against Tokyo (coz that is gonna ROCK!) and then the other half against a credit card, so a bit of a treat and some payment to debts!
Congrats on the tax revenue as well... I've always found there so quite to take your money, but drag their feet when it comes to paying it back!

hahaha :rotfl::j i can see you fuming and muttering in tesco :rotfl::T but you DO need to eat, please eat, you surely know where the no eating thing got me a year ago - straight in the hospital for two weeks!!! i probably also told you guys in my diary that they didnt believe i wasnt anorexic.. i kept telling them I LOVE FOOD and i want to eat it (and swallow it!!!) i just dont want to have to spend money on it... so they gave me big portion of dinner and were like "prove it, eat it" and I was like, gladly, and ate it all and asked for more :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: but i went through a phase where i thought i should not spend on food as a way of punishing myself for being in debt. those days are gone but i remember them. so be careful!!!!

which dvd did u watch....?:cool:

I have dinosaurs here (disney anim) supposed to be fun, will watch now ish.
Yay about tokyo - i have put £50 in that fund (tomorrow it all will clear ) how come tax office cheques clear sooner than private ones

by the way aunt has many dvds so can borrow a few again = wont have to buy for at least a week - yayyyy

new soa coming to diary tomorrow!

what will you do this w/end?

deliciosa

by the way, amex addict as i am - when's the last time I used my american express (- starbucks...)?

....
....
....
the
13th of february!!!

Can you believe it?

I have been using it every day, thrice a day! i was living off it! nothing could upset me more than places that dont take amex. and I am abstinent for seven days now!!!
i deserve a little tap on the shoulder don't i.

Snaggles

I think you deserve more than that - have a row of hyperactive jumping smileys...

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

englishmac

Sorry if this is repeating advice given elsewhere on the site but I’m still quite new to this (is there a list of meanings for abbreviations???). Me and OH are working hard to reduce our debts. Have found the following things help us; hope someone out there finds them helpful too.

Budget honestly. Sounds easy but it isn’t, as most MSEers probably know. There’s no point in budgeting for £30 housekeeping if it isn’t realistic. You will fail immediately and it will just encourage you to give up before you’ve really got going.

Do not carry a credit card or cash if possible - carry your account card. This reduces the amount you have for ‘emergencies’ – let’s be honest it is rare most of us have an emergency that requires a cc or cash. Provided you don’t have an overdraft it also means you are spending your own money and the extent of your spending is more obvious. I used to carry £20 in my purse all the time for ‘emergencies’. Most of my emergencies turned out to be me urgently needing to sit down in a caf! and drink coffee! And then I withdrew more cash to keep £20 on me for ‘emergencies’!! I now spend nothing on non-essential items (from necessity it has to be said but I don’t ever want to go back to casual spending).

If you have to spend, plan it and carry only the cash you have allowed for the item(s) in question. If that is all you have, then you can’t overspend. Take a calculator with you if necessary.

To keep yourself motivated, plan specific rewards for successful milestones and specific treats for the times when you get disheartened. By doing this you reinforce your resolve to meet your goals by celebrating your success and allowing yourself a bit of indulgence for when you need a little TLC. By pre-determining your rewards/treats you still remain within your budget and have no good reason to feel guilty if you temporarily ease off.

Another form of writing the amount of your outstanding debt and leaving it in your purse is to write inspirational statements and post them in appropriate places like the fridge door. Supportive comments from friends, sayings from calendars/books, etc. It’s surprising how effective this is in keeping your spirits up. It’s like the equivalent of the forum coming to help you without needing to log in.

Join your local library. Libraries are something we don’t tend to bother with in these modern times when our lives are so busy. But they are a great cheap way to read/access the internet/hire CDs and DVDs. If you pay for internet access but don’t use it much, it may be cheaper to ditch it and use a library pc. Choice of books, etc may not be as good as when you buy but you can usually find something and why not try a new subject/area such as autobiography instead of novel?

Buy supermarket own brands. I know there is some information on this elsewhere on the site. I work for a leading supermarket chain. I know they are supplied by some leading brand producers. Not all chains are equal in quality but as Martin has said before, give it a try. Some of it is actually nicer than the leading brands and it saves a fortune. Also check value and deal prices – they are often not cheaper than the standard prices. And don’t be drawn in by ‘bargains’. Think before you buy – it is tempting to get 1 ‘free’ but is it really cheaper? I buy value bread (not the best but essential at the moment). I have been tempted to buy ‘BOGOF’ rolls on a couple of occasions but when I thought about it, it was still far more expensive than value bread. Plus if you wouldn’t have bought the item if it wasn’t on offer, and haven’t bought it in place of another item, you haven’t got one free at all – you have actually spent £x.xx more.

Join forces with someone of like mind and work together on your goals. Eg another way of looking at BOGOFs is they are half price items. If you don’t want to stock up, share the offer so you both get a half price item. If you holiday with them, agree a budget you can both afford then you aren’t under pressure to participate at a level you can’t afford. Don’t be embarrassed to admit your limits. You don’t have to tell them your financial situation in detail; just be honest and say ‘I can’t afford that’ or ‘I can only afford this’. It is hard at first but people get used to it eventually and it’s surprising how much of a relief it is to relieve the social pressure on your finances. Family and friends were so used to us apparently doing/spending whatever we liked. They didn’t really believe us when we first started to say we couldn’t afford. Now they are hugely supportive.

Feel like I am rabbiting on a bit too much by now so I will sign off. Hope this helps even one person out there. Keep the financial faith. Good luck.