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Archive for February, 2006

March goals

February 28th, 2006 at 04:37 pm

Save £200 towards holiday.
Save some money in change jar.
Do more overtime, about 8-10 hours extra per week.
Have 4 no spend days.

Accomplished a little but spent a lot

February 28th, 2006 at 08:29 am

Yesterday I was working on my project. I spent ages in the library photocopying my questionnaires. Anyway the end result was that I spent £10 just on photocopy cards. It was worth it in the long run it's just a lot of money to spend in the library. The only good thing is that I didn't have to spend any money to print out my other questionnaire because my printer is working at home and I bought a new cartridge for it a while ago.

I managed to get over twenty participants but I still need a lot more. I have to come in to uni an extra day so I can go into another class and ask students if they can fill in my questionnaires. This means that I will have to spend extra bus fare that day.

I'm working on Friday so I should have a good wage when I get paid. I have to stop doing as much overtime because I have to focus on uni for the time being.

Time is going in too fast

February 27th, 2006 at 01:04 am

I really should be in bed now but I can't seem to find enough hours in the day to get everything done. I'm finally getting participants for my project so I've spent ages printing out questionnaires. When I go to uni I will need to photocopy lots of the second questionnaire Im using for my project which is going to cost loads but it will be worth it in the long run. I just need to get as many participants as possible this week before my deadline - 5th April - which is a lot sooner than I thought, about five weeks away I think. I can't believe February's nearly over I have less time than I thought.

I managed to save some money

February 25th, 2006 at 11:47 pm

I looked at my spending plans for the week and I spent less than I had planned and I started work 2 hours earlier today. First of all I didn't buy a day ticket a couple of days ago, and we got a lift home that night so that saved me £1.40. Also I brought my own lunch with me. Yesterday I brought my own lunch with me, walked to work and got a lift home. So I think in total I saved about £3.70 plus money I would have spent on lunch which is usually about £2.00 or more. I've been putting change into a jar. I'm going to try and not look at it till near the end of March when I'll have more. Now I'm wondering, if I do happen to save a decent amount, should I put it towards my holiday or towards bills? I have to pay £600 more to the holiday by June.

Spending so far

February 22nd, 2006 at 07:18 pm

£25 at Morrisons
£6.50 for prescriptions
£3.80

Tomorrow:

£18 driving
£2.30 daysaver
stationery for project

Friday:

£2.30 daysaver

Saturday:

£2.30 daysaver
£1.00 for bonus ball



Sunday:

£2.30 daysaver

Hopefully I won't spend much more than this.

The soup i made this week lasted us two days so i'll make more soup next week. Asda has a promotion on mince so my mum will buy that on Monday so we can get some meals out of it next week. So far that's my spending plans.

I'm a bit behind...

February 21st, 2006 at 01:13 pm

I read in these forums and in other people's financial blogs about the family on Oprah who spent $100 a day on takeout. I never actually seen the show since it probably won't be over here for a while, but I did check the website. All of the families wasted so much money, yet they all had good jobs e.g. in one family both parents were teachers. Hopefully the Debt Diet will help all three families.

I passed my exams!!

February 21st, 2006 at 12:26 pm

I got my exam results today, and i've passed!! I'm so pleased because I was expecting two re-sits which would have cost me £30 each. All I need to do now is register to graduate.

The other good news is that today has been a no spend day.

Recipe ideas

February 20th, 2006 at 10:18 pm

I have just been reading the financial forums and I seen some recipe ideas that I might try. My mum is responsible for food shopping, i just make suggestions when I want something e.g. carrot soup which I'm going to make tomorrow. It looks as though a lot of people have soup once a week, so i'll stick with that, this will only be my second week in a row so I'll see if I manage to keep it up. I think I might make pasta too. Also I noticed that someone said that when they make a roast they use it for more than one meal. When we have a roast we usually just use the leftovers for sandwiches, since there is only two of us, or the dog gets some of it. It's definetly sensible to make more than one meal from it. We usually have a lot of eggs in the house so I'll start having eggs more often, even if it is just boiled eggs in the morning.

Busy day

February 20th, 2006 at 07:54 pm

It has been a busy day yet somehow I managed to save money. I walked instead of taking the bus and I took my own lunch with me.

Yesterday at work my boyfriend bought my lunch with his smart card that he got. It wasn't actually his money on it, he got a "gold card" because he was mystery shopped and he got 100%. So really Asda paid for my lunch, so I'm not complaining.

I think I'm going to make soup tonight or tomorrow. I'm quite enjoying making soup once in a while, it's a nice change and if I make more this time it will save us money.

Stressful day

February 15th, 2006 at 05:12 pm

I feel as though I am not getting a single thing done today. I slept in this morning and missed one of my lectures. I have been trying to get in touch with people for my project but it hasn't been successful.

I saved money today by

bringing my own lunch
walking from my campus

However I did end up buying a sandwich because it looked more appealing than what I had.

Two driving lessons tomorrow, I can't wait until I stop taking them, I could really use the money right now.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions

February 14th, 2006 at 11:26 am

I made soup last night, so we're having lentil soup tonight for dinner. I think I will also make carrot soup this week.

For my birthday night out, I got £40 which I'm putting towards my holiday. Also I took £20 with me which I didn't spend so that is going towards it too. When I get paid I will put £200 towards it which will take the total amount to £260. It would be nice to do that every month.

I paid for my graduation tickets yesterday so they're out of the way.Hopefully I can find a nice dress to wear for it now. Hopefully I will get money off staying at the hotel because i'll be at a function there (fingers crossed).

I just found out that we will have to pay the full price for the hotel. At least we've got till July.

My Birthday

February 10th, 2006 at 02:18 pm

It's my birthday today! We're going out for a meal tonight but I won't be spending any money. So far the only money I've spent today is £8 for a haircut. Tomorrow I'll try not to spend a lot when me and my boyfriend go out with friends.

I wish I had more days like this. I am going to try and aim for one no spend day a week, then I'll work up to two.

Ways to save money

February 9th, 2006 at 04:46 pm

I have been thinking of ways to save money next week. So far I have come up with these ideas:

take my own lunch to uni..and not buying anything extra there
walk to my campus one day a week
take my own lunch to work
work to work
make soup for dinner at least once a week

The last idea has got me thinking: will making soup actually help with our shopping bill? It is just the two of us so it should last a couple of days. What does everyone else think of this?

Graduation ball

February 9th, 2006 at 02:18 pm

My exam results are due soon, so it was for that reason that I was considering not going to the graduation ball in July. After all, there's no point going if I'm going to graduate later than everyone else. However I've decided that I might as well go, I have spent 4 years at uni so I think I deserve it. I've phoned the hotel so I know how much it will cost to stay there for a night so I'm prepared. I don't need to pay for the hotel until July, and my boyfriend is going to pay for half of the bill anyway so it should be okay.

On a completely different subject, my driving lesson was cancelled so I'm going to keep that money for my double lesson next week.

I've decided to sell some of my books on Amazon. I don't use them anymore so I might as well make some money from them. Any money I make I'll just put towards my holiday.

I worked an extra shift yesterday, and I went in earlier so I should notice when I get paid next week.

If only money grew on trees...

February 7th, 2006 at 02:15 pm

Due to it being my first week back at uni, I have books and reading packs to buy. In addition to this I had to re-order prescriptions at the pharmacy so I need to pay for them.

There is a ball at the end of the year for everyone who is graduating. The tickets go on sale soon and i am considering whether to buy one or not. If I don't buy one I will save some money and it can go towards my holiday. If I do then I'll be skint till next payday, which is only in a couple of weeks but I have to pay some bills and the tv licence is due too. I should have been organised last year and put money aside for it but I wasn't so I will just have to suffer the consequences. The price is meant to be increasing next year.

I have just been moaning so far and I haven't actually mentioned anything good so far. Today I only bought one packet of crisps at uni so that was good, tomorrow im working overtime. I just get so stressed out.

Oh well, maybe next month will be better, assuming I learn how to budget properly and tell my mum that I need her help sometimes (she doesnt work due to illness). She relies on me a lot for electricity money, bus fare etc and I don't let her know when I'm struggling but she has to realise that I can't afford to pay for everything at once.

Back to uni now

February 6th, 2006 at 12:06 pm

It is my first day back at university now so I will need to consider bus fares etc when considering how much money I will need for the week. Right now I am planning to save money by taking my own lunch with me, it's amazing how much I spend here, and it's all mostly on stuff that I don't need (magazines etc).

I have found out that our holiday needs to be paid for by June. I am doing extra hours this week to put towards it. I want to start paying it now for two reasons: I can't afford to pay the full amount in one go and I feel as though I am actually accomplishing something if I pay it monthly. I don't need to worry about buying a passport, thankfully, as mine doesn't expire until about 2013. The resort is all-inclusive so I will only need some spending money. It's so long away but I just want to try and be organised.

It was our anniversary last week and my boyfriend bought me flowers and chocolates, even though we're both struggling with money at the moment. We've agreed that for Valentine's Day we will just get each other a card since it's the thought that counts. Also he has my birthday to worry about too. It's going to be a busy month.

A really good day

February 2nd, 2006 at 02:49 pm

I am having a great day so far. Although I just had a driving lesson and spent money, the lessons are getting better. I'm hoping to stop taking them by summer and pass my test by then. If I do I will have more money to put towards savings.