Puzzledbubbles re-education programme

Puzzledbubbles

Hi all, - this was one of my very first posts on here and i think its now time to take stock and re-address!

Before I start waffling THANK YOU to everyone who has given me advice (and to everyone who i have learnt from by just reading your posts) :T - this is even more relevant now as im learning more and more every day!!!

As you can guess by my title i am trying to re-educate myself (hopefully with the help of you lovely people)

We have debts of around £20,000 - we are managing fine with the repayments and are overpaying on everything so things are starting to wittle down. - ive been back and checked and i was in denial - the actual amount between us when i wrote this was £35,000:eek: :eek: :eek:

The main problem is not our joint bills or debts or anything like that but my own spending - I have around £300 left after all of the bills are paid (the money goes directly into the joint account and is distributed from there) - this is still the same but boosted by pigs back etc

The problem is i dont know where that £300 goes as all i have to buy are clothes and c*rap like cigarettes and things. - am now at 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days without buying any cigarettes and have smoked 8 in total :T

Basically i want to start saving - not for anything major but to take off a lump sum from the debt or even just to cover the big expenses that come along everynow and again (like a girly weekend away or a holiday) - also want to carry on over paying!!!

My aim is to stop my un-necessary spending, to get my butt out of my overdraft at the end of the month and to save as much as possible.

So far i have joined Pigsback and have started the sealed pot challenge but thats really not enough.

If you have read this far thank you - i know i waffle - any advice on how to save/make cash soooooooo welcome!!

tallyhoh

You really need a spending diary. I have started doing mine "backwards" working out how much I have to spend each month & writing it at the top of the page. Then as I buy stuff I deduct it from the total so it shows how much I have left to carry on with.

I find this method works better than the one I had done for years, just spending then totalling it up at the end of the month, its easier to keep track.

Give up the fags--they are disgusting, smelly, unhealthy & cost too much, I should know!

Puzzledbubbles

Hi Tally Ho,

Thanks, ive got myself my spreadsheet and im going to try and update that daily to see how im getting on.

I am also toying with the idea of opening an online savings account and then moving £5 a week over to it to make myself save.

I want to give up but not enough becuase i tried last week and lasted a total of 5 days - im just not ready

Thanks x

Puzzledbubbles

Sorry for compuslive posting on my own thread but ive decided its a good idea to take stock and see where i am so far.

Pigsback - £4.15
Valued Opinions £1.50 (25P pending)
Lightspeed - £0.00 (joined today)
Ebay Sales - £0.00 (serious listing started today)

Savings account total £0.00 (not opening the account until payday)

Wish me luck, lol

MissEyre

Anything that helps you keep track Sounds like you are going in the right direction. I signed up for Pigsback about a year ago and only started making money out of it recently when I found the click throughs and quiz answers listed daily on the freebies board! You're obviously way ahead of me... x

Puzzledbubbles

thanks Miss

I sat here for ages trying to work it out and managed to find a really good description of what to do on the forum thankfully.

Ive managed to convice a friend at work to sign up and she is earning loads as she spends money ALL of the time so is gettin cash back from ebay etc and i keep waiting for her to make her first swap so that i can get my 500 points for reccomending her, lol

Puzzledbubbles

Day two and here goes

Pigsback - £5.20
Valued Opinions £1.50 (25P pending)
Ebay Sales - £0.00 (serious listing started today)

Savings account total £0.00 (not opening the account until payday)

A whole extra pound, lol

An so far a no spend day too - but we are off shopping first so that might change

Puzzledbubbles

:rotfl: Well, as you can see ive not been keeping this diary up to date.:rotfl:

Since my last post on here (a whole 6 months ago now!!!)we have managed to reduce our debt, with a combination of increasing minimum payments, moving some debt around and selling half our possessions (anything that wasnt being used i sold lol) and now, we are now sub £25k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

Now im looking back and thinking that was the easy part lol. Ive got very little left to sell so its just focussing on cutting back and on making as much extra cash as possible.

Also ive managed to stay off the fags - well apart from a few slip ups that were aided by friends which meant i didnt go and buy dirty cigarettes meaning i would have just smoked a whole packet rather than just one. :cool:

Im working on keeping off the pounds (along with Blue jeans and all the lovely dfw's on her challenge) and really trying to focus on making small changes in all sorts of ways. :A

Im going to stop waffling now - i am going to try and keep this up to date ever so often becuase i really think it will do me good.

Hope this helps someone else - even if its just tips on writing shorter posts lol :rotfl: