Today - well yesterday actually, it's past midnight here - was payday. I paid the usual bills online, transferred money to MIL.

I took my change to the bank. I had £6 worth of change. Also on Thursday I added £15 to savings. That takrs my new total to £171.

Hubby hasn't given MIL money towards his debt yet. That's causing a problem. The reason he hasn't is that we know we will have a meal to go to for her birthday so we will need money for that. I would pay for both of us but things are tight this month for both of us. When we came in tonight, she had her notebook out and it looked as though she was working out his debt. It's driving me crazy. I wish we had our own place. I'm expecting there to be a new sheet of paper left for hubby with his new total (should match ours though) The only new thing should be the catalogue. He is going to give her money, just not today.

I paid my xmas savings (£45) so they should be upto date.

Bought MIL's birthday present. Spent £20 in the disney store for pyjamas and a mug. The mug will be her xmas present. DH spent a lot on candles for her birthday (money which would have normally gone towards debt)

I bought cereal bars, crisps and fruit for my packed lunches for the next four weeks so they should last.

I can't wait till our debt is cleared and we have increased our savings.

Ordered DH a dvd online for xmas, it was on sale (£7.99)

It was my friend's wedding on Saturday and we actually came back with money!! Originally we had over £20 left over but I had promised my mum we would give my uncle taxi money so we came back with roughly £10. I asked DH what we should do with the money? His answer: put it into savings. It's only a small amount but I'm pleased we didn't spend it all. I'm going to go to the bank soon and put the money in.

We have a few new people at work. I think this means there will be less overtime in the future, although no sign of it stopping soon.

I was worried there for a while about not being able to get overtime. However, as it turns out, I didn't need to worry. I worked seven and a half hours extra today. For the next two weeks I am working six hours extra each week. I'm hoping that the overtime will help me to increase my savings and clear debt.

Speaking of savings, I just transferred another £4 over taking my balance to an even £150. This leaves me with just over £10 when my phone bill comes out next week but I don't mind. We have nothing planned next week, I pack everything I need for work, I have just under half a tank of petrol... I'll be okay. I'd love to have hundreds left over each month - well every four weeks- but that just doesn't happen for me.

I checked my estimated expenses for next month: £725. I think I should be okay as long as I watch what I'm doing, which I usually do. I need to get my outgoings sorted, I need to put more into savings!

While hubby was working last night, I was registering with sites that will reward me for doing surveys. I've only registered with a few but i feel like I'm doing something. I checked my email this morning and there were a few surveys waiting for me. So far this morning I've done three surveys, and that was just on one website. I've asked to be sent as many surveys as possible. I'm enthusiastic right now so I've been checking my email a lot. I don't know how long it will take me to build up enough to redeem my points but I will give it my best shot.

I ordered a dvd for my mum for Christmas last night (through my cashback site) It was only £2.99. I'm trying to get little things out of the way so that when it comes to Christmas shopping with my vouchers I'll know exactly what I'm getting.

I usually get offered a lot of overtime on the run up to Christmas so I'm hoping it will be the same this year. Generally, after xmas there's never any overtime going, so my plan is to get as much overtime as I can just now (maybe even build up a buffer/cushion in my account? any ideas about how to go about doing that?)

I'm starting to think about goals for next year, although it is a bit early. There's just so much going through my head right now, I need to get it sorted out. I know I've got my road tax due in a couple of months, MIL's birthday... that's all I can think of just now.

Wow. This has turned into a long post.

It's only the third of October and already I'm hatiing this month. Why am I stressing?

- payment increase of £20 p/m for catalogue (own fault for ordering laptop)
- behind on xmas savings so will need to make that up in three weeks when I get paid (£45)
- DH's birthday pressie due out at end of the month £60

Thankfully we have money put aside for the wedding we're going to in a few weeks otherwise it would be bad. Aargh!! I'm going to speak to my manager this week about overtime.

I'm not the only one who is skint. MIL is looking for a new job cos she's not getting enough hours in her current job. Yesterday she was talking to me and hubby about making cutbacks - one actually. I've been saying to DH for ages that she should get rid of stuff she doesn't use/need. I don't know how bad things are but we will see. If she cuts the internet I'll go to the library. I said to hubby a while ago, did MIL have savings? He didn't know. In her old job she earned a lot more than now - I don't know how much- but she never watched her money. DH said it would be hard for her to save as a single mum. Well between me and hubby she gets £460 every four weeks - that doesn't include what hubby's brother gives her. Plus hubby gives her extra towards debt that he owes her. I don't know...

Hubby has cleared a lot of the debt that he owes his mum. I've been writing it down, however she said to hubby that next week she will give him his new figures. We already know. We've been keeping track of it.

This has turned into a rant. I'm off to read your blogs now

Ideally i would have loved to have a NSD but that just wasn't going to happen. Had to transfer money to MIL this morning (which DH gave me back today) This money ended up being used for food in Farmfoods. Also we had to put the lottery on for MIL.

So here's my spending:
Farmfoods £18
Lottery £10

Bought stuff for packed lunches and food for dinner tonight.

Since my last post, I've cheered up.DH persuaded me to go out on Saturday night with him and his friends.

We went to the hotel on Sunday. It was a nice room. We only spent money on food and dink. We went to a nearby pub for dinner neither one of us enjoyed our meal. We would have saved money if we'd gone to ASDA and bought some food, but I thought it would be nice to go out for something to eat.

We got back from my friend's yesterday. We might not stay again, DH's allergies were bad, even though he took tablets. Apart from that it was a good night, we had pizza and drinks.

October should be a quiet month. Apart from my friend's wedding, we really don't have other plans. My goals are to get overtime at work, pack 100% and to have money left over. It should be easy to get overtime, we have stocktake this month. Also the week after the wedding two people in my department will be on holiday so I should be able to get overtime.

DH's birthday went well. I got him a book to open on the day and I made him a cake. We went out for a birthday meal with DHs family. When it came to paying the bill, in-laws paid cash. I had my card so just said I would get the bill and they would give me their cash toward it. Well I can't find the cash that they gave me towards the meal now. I know I dropped my bag just as I was getting out of the taxi but I would have noticed money. DH thinks it will turn up. I hope it does. Next time I'm bringing cash.

Today was a no-spender. We tidied our room and watched dvds. I went to visit my mum. Originally I was going to put the money into my bank account but that isn't happening now...

I think this week will be quiet, we don't get paid until Friday.

We bought a new laptop - well ordered it from my catalogue. Our reasoning? We had been using MIL's for months and it had been causing problems. There have been many arguments over how long we've had it, level of charge left etc... We spoke about it and decided enough is enough. We haven't got our own place so may as well get it now. We're paying it up, interest-free over a year. There were 2 year credit options but I didn't want to do that. So what's the damage? £402 (this includes a 3 year warranty) It's smaller than i thought it would be but at least it's ours

On Friday I worked 6 hours overtime. Then we went to visit my friend who just had a baby. They offered us dinner but we had something to eat before we left. We stayed for a few hours, she and her hubby were tired since this is baby's first week home. She liked my presents. Total cost: free

Last night it was DH's friend's birthday. We went to his house. Put petrol in the car before we went. DH gave me £10 towards it. Total cost: £20 (£10 me)DH took beer that we bought last week.

I was back at work today. Asked supervisor for overtime so I'm working on Thursday. DH is working nightshift on Friday.

I'm doing well tracking spending, especially DH. Basically I'm aiming not to spend money on anything that I don't need. I'm going to look online for my friend's wedding present tonight.

In other news, I spoke to my friend about staying at hers when we're on holiday. The offer's still there so we're going the week of our anniversary for a night.

Today I put money into DH's bank account, posted a letter to DH's grandparents and my friend who is in the army, posted a Love Film DVD. I also bought in all of the special occasion cards that I will need for this month, including DH's anniversary card. Spent £10.50

Our first wedding anniversary is sorted. Booked the cheapest hotel I could find: £23.50 We're staying for one night. DH is going to buy us breakfast the next morning at a restaurant near the hotel. I love it when things come together!

Going to my mum's later so need to get some housework done, and my ironing. Off to have some lunch now and get started.

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday then we went bowling and had a few drinks. I spent all of my £30.

Last night we went to visit one of our friend's who has just bought a house. It was a late night but good.

I'm going to take my mum to see a Beatles tribute in September. I'll need to pay the ten pounds deposit for each person this week.

Checked my bank balance, and once I take out the £20 for the deposit I will only have £29 left. My phone bill didn't come out automatically so had to phone and pay that today. Hope its sorted by next month.

Trying to keep spending to a minimum for rest of the week. I've got three more shifts left to do this week before payday and I've been buying snacks at work. Next month I will try the lunch challenge again and record my spending. I bought in a small notebook that fits in my bag perfectly so that will make life easier. It'll be even easier to record if I don't spend anything. However, life isn't that simple.

We're going to see Toy Story 3 tomorrow. DH wants to see it in 3D. He's treating me. I'm buying us sweets to take into the cinema.

Afterwards we're going bowling. I'm paying. I have £30 in an envelope that my mum gave me when I went shopping for her (I paid for it, she gave me the money back). I was going to put it into my bank account but I will just use it tomorrow instead. All in all, I'm hoping the day won't cost too much.

What's everyone else up to?

We went to DH's friends house on Friday. We ended up not going to a club. Spent £9 on drink to take there and £20 for the taxi home.

Saturday morning I went to the garage. £69.30

Bought a few things today before work. £2

Not doing well on lunch challenge, I think that's because I haven't blogged in the past few days.

I still have money left over that I withdrew on Friday. I need to give a girl at work sponsor money (£5), I sponsored a woman in my department money too and a girl at work is leaving, so that will be £3.£8 isn't too bad. I've got £17 in my purse right now so at least I will have money left over.

I finally found out how much I have left to pay off the washing machine: £127.55. I requested more payment slips and they sent me a letter with my balance on it, which was good.

Ok that may be a slight exaggeration. I done some overtime at work today, eight hours to be exact,and it was spent showing customers into the fitting room and helping them. Eight hours. It was really boring, especially in the morning when the shop was quiet. On the other hand, I did get paid for basically doing nothing. I thought it was going to be worse than it actually was.

Came home from work to find DH tidying out the cupboard in our room. We found some spare change in a tin so I added that to the change in the drawer. I'm going to take it to the bank soon.

On another note, spoke to DH. He is going to continue to pay back MIL and I will try and save as much as I can.

Do you know what's helping me to save? The Lunch Challenge? Packed 100% today. Bought a multipack bar of chocolate bars for £1 this morning so that will stop me from buying chocolate at work.

It will be a relatively quiet weekend. Went to the cinema with MIL last night. Spent £4.75. MIL paid for the tickets (it's my turn next time)

It was payday yesterday. I paid my catalogue bill online and transferred money to MIL.

I try and use the envelope system for some things. Every four weeks I put money into an envelope towards my road tax, one for Christmas savings and one for if I have bought anything from the Avon catalogue (but that's just to make sure I don't spend the money) I tried using it for petrol but I usually just end up using my bank card or the cash I have on hand.

I seen a few things yesterday that I would like to buy friends and family. However, I didn't buy anything. I've got a few more things to pay this month, and I need to put money into savings.

I'm going to start putting money on an Asda (Walmart) Christmas savings card. It will mean I have a bit extra to spend on Christmas. I will start this month.

Well July is off to a good start. I worked four hours this morning and managed to pick up an extra shift next week.

I think I will continue the Lunch Challenge this month. I will have the same goal as before: 16 days packingf 100%. I'll keep the rules the same too:

- pack everything for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack
-no additional spending

I think the June Lunch Challenge made me conscious of how I'm spending my money at work. Also, the no-spend week really controlled my spending.

It's payday tomorrow. My bank account is now fully switched over, just need to close my old account. Tomorrow's pay should go into my new bank account.

I noticed today that I'm spending more money by renewing my road tax every six months rather than every 12 months. I'm going to aim to saved £150 by December so it can be used to pay it off in full.

I should have made a few appointment last month but I've been slacking. I'll need to get them sorted soon, hopefully today. Actually, that's what I'll do.

This weekend should be spendless since I haven't got anything planned. However, I'm not back at work until Monday so I might end up doing something.

Packed 100% today so that is another day to add to my challenge.

I watched the new Harry Potter trailer, I can't wait until it's out. I have to wait until November to see it.

Speaking of movies, I'm hoping to go and see Eclipse soon.

and I've met my Lunch Challenge goal of 16 days! Woohoo!!

Bought yoghurts and ice lollies after work (and milk for MIL) Only spent £3 (MIL reimbursed the milk)

DH is still at work so I've got some time to myself before I go and get him later.

I had to use my credit card today. On Tuesday I was driving home from work when I heard a noise. It was coming from my car. It turns out that my engine had almost fallen off and was dragging along the ground.

Wednesday I didn't use the car since I didn't have time to go to the garage.

Went to the garage today to get it fixed. £180 on my credit card. I need to get a spare tyre too, but I just decided not to get it today. I'm hoping nothing else happens with my car now. Fingers crossed.

I've had quite a busy day today:

-took car to garage
-went to the shops
-posted a birthday card and present (£2.65)
-collected car (£180)
-watched Four Christmases
-filled in tax credits form

Later I will collect DH from work.

Lunch challenge is still going well. I bought breakfast on Tuesday but yesterday I packed 100%

Unfortunately I spent nine hours of it at work. The sun was still shining when I finished so I sat out in the garden again, at least I got to see some of it.

Lunch challenge going well. I packed everything today. After work today I bought some snacks for this week, since I finished the other ones. Hubby wanted me to get him Pot Noodles so I got a sachet for myself to take to work since sandwiches do get boring. I'll need to update my sidebar now, only 4 more till I've reached my goal.

I packed breakfast, lunch and snacks 100% today so the challenge is going well.

Just went and paid the credit card bill online. Next on the list is road tax.

Uneventful day, got a lift home from work so that saved me bus fare (£2)

Hubby went to the bank and paid the washing machine payment for me (I was going to go during my lunch)