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Archive for August, 2010

treated myself

August 30th, 2010 at 06:17 pm

It's been a while since I bought something for myself (other than the dress for the wedding, I mean, I had to get that) Today after work I bought:

- a pair of skinny jeans £12.50
- a pair of black trousers £5
- two tops £6
- a box of wine £10 (said on box it lasts 4 weeks so I'm going to try and keep it that long)

The tops were in the sale, the jeans and trousers weren't, however I have been eyeing them up for a hwile. That is me done treating myself,well for the next four weeks anyway. There's still things I have to buy this month. I didn't need the wine but it is equivalent to three bottles.

Didn't spend a penny at work Smile

Yesterday & possible future plans

August 29th, 2010 at 07:18 pm

Yesterday me and DH went to visit my friend. It was the first time I'd driven to her house. I googled directions, and estimated time: 49 mins. Well it took me almost three hours to get there. We got stuck in traffic - apparently there was a football game on - and I got lost. The entire experience was really stressful. I'm just glad we made it there in one piece. I had just under a full tank when I left, now I have half a tank. Half a tank two days after payday.

Once we got to my friend's we had a great time. She made us dinner and we had a good catch up. In fact, she said we are welcome to stay with her and fiance anytime, which I thought was nice. DH and I are considering taking her up on her offer during our two weeks holidays. It will get us away from here for a few days at least. It also means I can have a drink with her. DH and her fiance were drinking beer that DH brought with him. Apart from all the petrol I used, the trip was basically free. We had dinner with them so that was nice.

Payday & a silly mistake

August 27th, 2010 at 03:03 pm

Today is payday. So far I have paid my catalogue bill, the washing machine and two credit card bills. I paid £50 to one and £20 to the other. Well as it turns out I paid £50 to the CC that is interest-free until next year and £20 to the CC with the high interest rate. I could kick myself. It wasn't until I had confirmed the payment that I noticed. I'll take a look at figures and see if I can pay more to the CC with the higher interest rate. By the way, I know £20 looks like a measly payment to make towards it but it is more than the minimum payment they were asking for (£6 something)

4 weeks worth of spending

August 26th, 2010 at 04:15 pm

For the past four weeks I have been tracking my spending. I've just spent a while trying to figure out exactly how much I've spent and where I spent it. That got me thinking, I need to think of a better way to keep track. Right now I just write down what I spend in a notebook. It took me ages to work out exactly how much I've spent in one shop, although I write down the name of the shop next to how much. Anyway, excluding bills, this is what my spending roughly looks like:

ASDA £120.06
Play £6.98*
petrol £65.02**
Caffe Nero £6.70
NEXT £17
social £55.70

* I ordered a dvd for my mum for Christmas and a book for MIL's birthday
** Only £40.00 of this is what I put in. DH and my mum gave me the rest

The social category includes going out for a meal and the cinema for my friend's birthday. I also met my other friend in town for lunch. I paid a deposit too to see a tribute act next month with my mum so I guess it isn't too bad.

I think the biggest shock I got when I totalled this up is the amount I've spent in ASDA. I remember buying walkie talkies cause DH asked for them the day we got paid. I mostly buy food that I take with me to work. I also buy me and DH drink. I just didn't realise it was that much. Phew.

I had a few things to do today. Went to the bank and put £44 into savings so need to update my sidebar. Out of the £44 some of it was change that I've been meaning to take to the bank for a while. Booked an eyebrow wax for tomorrow (£8) Tomorrow's payday so we'll see how I do.

work, visitors, spending

August 22nd, 2010 at 07:45 pm

I was back at work today. No sign of any overtime yet this week. I'm feeling better so will probably try and get something.

My auntie is visiting from England this week. I usually don't see her that much when she's here. Either way, if I can get overtime I will do it.

Spending today looks like this:

Asda £6.95
work 60p

Bought fruit, yoghurts, crisps and cheese, all of which will be used for my packed lunches. I haven't managed to achieve 100% with the lunch challenge but I've given it my best shot.

Hope everyone else is enjoying the rest of their weekend! I'm off to read your blogs now Smile

DH's birthday present

August 21st, 2010 at 04:38 pm

It is DH's birthday next month. I asked him what he wanted. He's picked a game which won't be out until near the end of October. Cost: £59.99 It's a collector's edition. The only problem is it's release date. I'll need to get DH something to open on the day.

quiet few days

August 21st, 2010 at 10:31 am

I've still not been well these past few days. I cancelled on my friend who I was going to visit today. I don't feel well enough to drive through. We're going through next week instead.

Found out this morning that my friend had her baby boy this morning. 8.12lbs We'll go and visit her soon

DH pointed out to me last night that I could help him pay back his mum. If I didn't have my own debt I would plus, psychologically, I like knowing that there's at least some savinsg in the bank. I need to make my priority getting most of the credit card cleared before the interest-free period is up, which is January.

Yuck

August 18th, 2010 at 07:06 pm

I feel crap. I'm loaded with the cold. I've been coughing and sneezing for the past couple of days. We get paid next week, so this week is cut off. Due to that, I usually always try to make sure to do extra the week before we get paid. There's overtime going at work but I didn't take it, I'd rather rest and catch up on sleep.

Went to Poundland after I had finished work and bought Beechams all in one. (£1) I was impressed with the price until I came home and realised there's only 8 in the pack and I've already taken two. I'll be finished the pack tomorrow. I guess I can buy another pack tomorrow.

Tomorrow's going to be busy, well I think it will be. Told my mum I would take her to the doctors, she's making an appointment in the morning. Also she wants to take her dog to the vet. Plus I take DH to work. And I'm going to my mum's for dinner. I think she wants to spend the whole day with me.

Friday should be quiet; DH is playing poker at night but apart from that we have nothing planned.

On Saturday I'm driving through to see my friend who is getting married in October. I'll need to clean the car before I go.

Today's spending looked like this:

£1 Poundland
£2.89 Asda

I bought fruit, yoghurt, sweets which were half price and cereal bars for work next week.

Home alone

August 16th, 2010 at 06:20 pm

Well not really, MIL is home. DH is working tonight, he's covering a shift. It's good because he hasn't done overtime in a while.

As soon as I stepped into our room today I noticed MIL had been in our room. DH hates when she does it. I do too but he has proper arguments with her. The last time he brought it up they had a huge argument and MIL used the phrase "it's my name on the house" It's times like that when I wish we had our own place. Hopefully tonight won't turn into an argument, although by every right it should, DH has told her that we deal with our room. It's silly how I know she's been in. She's tidied the room and put Farmfoods bags in the bin. A few weeks ago I bought bin liners for our room which I've been using. MIL doesn't know about them, I keep them in a bag (which, in fact is out in plain sight) DH does though, and he would have used them.

Weekend update

August 15th, 2010 at 07:13 pm

Spent the day in the house yesterday. Would have been a no spender except I topped up Hubby's phone. £10

Today was spent at work so thankfully it was a no spender. I wish I had more of them.

I almost forgot, yesterday I done the one thing I said I wouldn't do: ordered from my catalogue. My friend is getting married in October. I ordered a dress from the catalogue for the wedding, DH helped me pick it. I think I got a good deal on it. Originally £85 but then I redeemed my rewards so it took it to £67. I still need to find a pair of shoes and a bag to go with it.

Yesterday's spending

August 13th, 2010 at 07:26 pm

I met my friend in Edinburgh for lunch. This is what I spent:

bus fare £6
lunch £9
magazine and a sweet £1.75

My friend had a 25% off voucher for the restaurant we went to so that was good. It was nice catching up with her. She's away back to London on Sunday so it will be a while until I see her again.

On the way back home yesterday I went to MIL's work. Got a free coffee (saved £3). She was by herself so I asked if she needed any help. She did, and three hours later I left to pick up DH. I can't complain, she made a milkshake for me so that was another £3 saved.


I worked six extra hours today. I'm not too sure if I will be able to work extra next week, my mum wants me to go to the doctors with her.

I was hoping to have a NSD today however I picked up a bottle of wine that was on offer (£3) and drink for DH (3 bottles, £1.88 per bottle) and snacks for tonight and breakfast tomorrow. We're going to watch The Ugly Truth, it arrived from Love Film today. Originally we were going to go out but we decided to stay in.

I'm hoping not to spend a lot next week, although I am sure I say this every week. Have a good weekend everyone!

musings

August 8th, 2010 at 07:48 pm

It's our first wedding anniversary next month. We were talking about staying in a hotel for a few nights. If we do it will have to go on the credit card and I know that's a bad idea. I don't mind if it gets paid off quickly but I do mind it staying on the card for ages. We still have a voucher to use at a restaturant. I'll need to talk to DH tonight to decide what to do. We really only want to go to the hotel to get some time to ourselves.

I've been ordering from the Avon catalogue these past few months. I haven't ordered that much. The last order I put in was £23, my biggest one yet. Ironically the woman who does the Avon said she didn't get my order. I have the money put aside just in case she finds it. I haven't ordered anything from the new brochure.

Lunch challenge going well. Bought more crisps and cereal bars to take to work.

It's my friend's birthday tomorrow. I took out the money today that I'll need.

Need to buy a present for my other friend who is having a baby soon.

I'm also meeting my other friend for lunch in Edinburgh. Phew. Sounds like a lot of spending to me.

weekend spending

August 7th, 2010 at 03:13 pm

I'm a few days behind tracking our spending. I've got the receipts together though so it won't take long to write it down.

Went to local shopping centre with DH today. We went for a coffee, and used our loyalty card so we only had to pay for the cheapest one (£2.80) Bought a birthday present for my friend. (£10) and a bag of sweets - impulse buy at the till. £1 Also bought a t-shirt that DH wanted that was in the sale. (£6)

Bought BIL's birthday present too. £20 for a griddle pan from Denby. It was half price. His birthday is next month. This money was from my old bank account.

Total spending today: £39.80

cashback paying off

August 5th, 2010 at 12:27 am

I received £30.53 cashback a few days ago from the cashback website I use. I just transferred the money to savings, so my new balance is £97.96 - almost at triple digits!!

Goals for this month

August 1st, 2010 at 08:13 pm

I've decided to make some firm plans for this month. Or should I say goals? Here they are:

1. Track my spending 100%
2. Track DH's spending
3. Pack 100% at work
4. Add to savings