Oops, back again...

lcc86 · 29 September 2017 at 10:12PM

Been awol for a couple of days, came down with a migraine on Wednesday and ended up in bed for 36 hours. Not much fun, went back to work today but wasn't really in the right place tbh...

Payday has been which is always good news! :j transferred money into the relevant savings pots - most importantly the emergency fund is at £527. The credit card bill isn't due until towards the end of the month so I won't worry about that just yet. I didn't quite hit my NSD and healthy target for September (I work from payday to payday to avoid confusion in my head!) - I got 17/18 NSD's and 19/20 healthy days.

I did treat myself to a new jumper today at £18 including postage but I no other spends.

Got a quiet weekend planned. I have a laser tattoo removal appointment tomorrow morning, then I need to collect a parcel and get a couple of bits from town before I settle in for a bit of studying. Sunday I'll be volunteering in the morning and then riding with a friend in the afternoon - fingers crossed the weather holds out!

Orange_Ena · 30 September 2017 at 10:16PM

Really impressed with your NSD's and healthy days

I only managed 11 NSD's

I won't mention the healthy days I didn't have :rotfl:

lcc86 · 1 October 2017 at 7:38PM

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Really impressed with your NSD's and healthy days I only managed 11 NSD's I won't mention the healthy days I didn't have :rotfl:

Thanks Ena, even though I manage a lot of NSD's I still don't have much left at the end of each month so I'm sure I'm making up for it on spend days :rotfl:

Speaking of NSD's, yesterday I bought some cheap new blusher, new tights and some plug in air fresheners - all were bought as replacements were needed so no unnecessary spends. I also paid for parking for my laser tattoo appointment. I ended up with another migraine for some reason so took myself off to bed really early. Luckily it had gone by this morning thank goodness!

Today I've been volunteering and then accompanied a friend to a dressage test on her horse. Have definitely managed a healthy day what with all the riding and walking and also a NSD :j I think I rode for too long - we were out for over 2 1/2 hours and my hips, knees and back are in loads of pain now

blooming arthritis... So am sitting with a hot water bottle just watching tv. Good to know where my limits are I guess. Tonight will definitely be an early night!

I also paid an extra £15 off my credit card yesterday as I really want to try and clear it by Christmas if I can and worked out if I pay an additional £15 a month I should manage it.

lcc86 · 5 October 2017 at 1:35PM

Been a few days since my last post, but nothing much to say tbh! Just plodding along at work and at home. I'm off work today and am doing a bit of studying. Off to Devon tomorrow and I have an assignment to start so wanted to crack on. However OH is off work sick today and he is a constant source of distraction :rotfl:

Today hasn't been a NSD as I needed to get a few bits in town - toothpaste and the like, and ended up finding some other toiletries on offer in Savers so thought I might as well pick those up while I'm there. As a result I've practically used my entire toiletries/household budget so chances are I'll go over this again as I need some washing powder soon. Oopsy...

I also got some stuff from £land for Halloween, we've been invited to a party and I initially thought about buying an outfit, but am loathe to spend money on something I'll only wear once so I'm going to just dress nicely and put some fake blood on

£2 spent instead of about £30 :money:

My tally for October so far is:
3/18 NSD's
3/20 healthy days (although today could make it 4 if I eat wisely for the rest of the day)
£19.80/£20 spent on toiletries/household

The next couple of days won't be NSD's as we'll be in Devon and will be eating out. I have budgeted £130 for everything (not including petrol), I'd like to come back with some money but it's not the end of the world if I don't. When I'm away I always feel like I MUST bring some money home with me for X bill or X debt, and if I don't then I've failed. I'd like to get out of that mentality and just be able to enjoy myself... I don't waste money on holiday unnecessarily but I need to relax a little and actually enjoy the fact that I saved this money for the holiday itself!

lcc86 · 8 October 2017 at 8:14PM

Well what a fabulous weekend it's been. Devon was gorgeous. The weather was fab, great food, great company, honestly one of the best breaks I've ever had. The accommodation was to die for as well, I just didn't want to come home! I enjoyed this break more than I've enjoyed a holiday for a long time, I must explore the English countryside more frequently! And a massive plus was I hardly spent any money tbh, all we did was buy food, I think I spent in the region of £50, and I wasn't worried about spending.

Also went riding this afternoon when we got home, the weather held out which is the main thing!

So of course the last few days have been neither NSD's or healthy days (far from it!). I decided that as I'm already on a spend day today I'd buy a few bits online so I got myself a couple of second hand books, a little Christmas present for my niece and some stuff for Project Bunny :rotfl:

Back to work tomorrow, busy week ahead work wise which should make the week go quickly hopefully. I need to start racking up healthy days and NSD's.

Also just as an aside, I forgot to update my signature after payday, but my emergency fund is now at £527. It's the first time it's been over £500, which I'm super pleased with! I really want to get it to £1,000 and then I'll be happy lol.

lcc86 · 11 October 2017 at 8:40AM

Not much to report, just plodding along. Direct debits have mostly been paid for the month, shopping delivery came yesterday and everything is ticking along.

The dreaded Christmas word keeps being mentioned by my family - people asking what I want and vice versa. I have no idea what to get people and no suggestions for them either, and everyone else seems to be in a similar position, so we're at a bit of a dead end at the moment!

My totals for the month so far are:

6/18 NSD's
7/20 healthy days
£23.25/£20 (slight overspend, but I shan't beat myself up over it!)

elsien · 11 October 2017 at 8:58AM

You mentioned Tesco clubcard earlier. Have you considered not spending them on shopping but saving them for the clubcard boosts. Obviously it depends where you live and want you like doing but I think last year £2.50 worth turned into £10 day out vouchers which got me into Blenheim palace and 12 months free entry to the grounds.
If you're having less holidays, days out like that can help to make up for it. Take a picnic, and you're sorted for a lovely day out.

lcc86 · 13 October 2017 at 5:44PM

elsien wrote: »

You mentioned Tesco clubcard earlier. Have you considered not spending them on shopping but saving them for the clubcard boosts. Obviously it depends where you live and want you like doing but I think last year £2.50 worth turned into £10 day out vouchers which got me into Blenheim palace and 12 months free entry to the grounds.
If you're having less holidays, days out like that can help to make up for it. Take a picnic, and you're sorted for a lovely day out.

Thanks Elsien, I've never looked into club card boost but you're right, it could be a winner for days out next year so I'll definitely find out more :money:

Been a busy but productive week at work, although a little frustrating at times. The journey is the most frustrating part actually :rotfl: most days this week I've spent 4 hours commuting... I go through phases where I get to the end of my tether with it and want to look elsewhere, but the money is good where I am and closer to home a similar job probably won't pay as well as I won't get London weighting. Plus in just over a year I should be working from home half the time, so if I can stick it out it could work out quite well. I do enjoy the work so I don't actively want to leave, I just get frustrated sometimes, as we all do!

I need a small top up shop so am going to go to the supermarket tonight rather than tomorrow when it's busy. My local is closed for a couple of weeks for refurbishment so will be trying either Morrisons or M&S as they're the next nearest... M&S would be a lovely treat...

Plans for the weekend are to study tomorrow, then volunteering and horse riding on Sunday. Weather should be good so it'll be nice to be outside for part of it.

lcc86 · 17 October 2017 at 9:20AM

Morning all,

Well I was good the other day and went to Morrisons for my shop. Never really been there before, it was okay, they seem to have a decent vegetarian selection so I might have to pop in there a bit more regularly.

Saturday I managed to get the first draft of part of an essay done - I really need to crack on with this! It's my first essay for my Masters so I'm really nervous about the mark. It's not the be all and end all as it's not weighted particularly high overall, but I desperately want to get off to a good start.

Saturday was also a spend day as I got some compost for some indoor planting of seeds, some hair stuff, and bought a few bits online.

Sunday was a NSD, I was out all day and absolutely knackered by the evening.

Yesterday was also a NSD, and today will be too.

Current totals are:
9/18 NSD's
10/20 healthy days
£23.25/£20 on toiletries/household

lcc86 · 17 October 2017 at 9:30PM

Just wanted to add a quick note re our roof - we knew when we had our survey done before buying the place that it was "coming towards the end of its useful life". Then we found out a couple of months ago that it's actually needed doing for five years but the other freeholders were too cheap to get it done at the time. Anyway, we all agreed it needed looking into again recently but the other freeholders argued the toss and said we needed another survey first before deciding what to do... So they came back today and said, rather unsurprisingly, that it needs replacing. So as a collective we've wasted money finding out something we already knew, and now we're going to have to get it done.

As it's a flat roof I don't know how much it'll cost. On the plus side we have a few thousand in our freeholder reserves account which can go towards it, plus it gets split between the six properties, but im still a bit concerned. I'm sure it'll wipe out my emergency fund but we'll have to wait and see. Just glad I've started saving!

Oops, back again...

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free