I got mail today, well it was yesterday, it got sent to my mum's house and I got it today. Anyway, it was a good letter, saying that we had to fill in a form and let them know if we were still interested in the shared equity scheme that we applied for last year (the funds fell through last year, I got a letter about it the day before the wedding) I'm going to fill in the form today and post it (I also need to let them know my new contact details). I really hope that we have some luck.

Oh, the shared equity scheme helps first-time buyers. However, since we are not renting from the council already or a landlord we aren't in a priority group. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this works out for us.

I worked an extra shift today, it was only 5 hours. Hubby started earlier too. This will count towards next month's pay, which is two weeks away. I'm hoping May will be a good month for me, I will finally have paid back MIL. My catalogue bill is going down too. The only thing that's taking ages is saving but I'm sure I'll get there.

No other news to report really. Cancelled life insurance appointment today.

We have an appointment at the bank next week to discuss life insurance. I was at the bank yesterday for my annual review and she asked me if me and hubby would like an appointment. I don't like to think about either one of us dying but I guess you have to talk about it and get something sorted.

I'm getting another credit card. The bank offered me it. It's a lower APR than Capital One and they're giving me 0% interest for 9 months. I'm going to transfer the balance on Capital One to the new card. It's a low balance, just my first month's car insurance.

No other news to report, still in the same position money wise as last time.

Have a good day!

I've been slacking off... meant to update when I got paid but decided not to. The reason being is that I don't have any good news to report.

Got paid on Friday. Went out for a meal for my friend's birthday. Me and Hubby both spent all of the money we had with us. Not good - I wanted to come back with some money.

On Friday Hubby had a funeral to go to. We went to his gran's grave after the funeral. We didn't find out until the day before the funeral when it was so that was more unplanned spending.

Saturday we got invited to the pub at the last minute. More spending. We enjoyed ourselves though.

I checked my bank balance and after my direct debits come out I will only have £9 left. Nine pounds! It's crazy, I worked overtime last month (only two shifts but still) There's money in the bank just, it's just allocated for other things.

The only good news I have to report is that I added to my Christmas savings and I only have £70 left to pay back MIL and then that's her out of the way. That won't be until next month though.

Hope everyone's having a good day! I'm off to read your blogs now.

It's my day off today, so I am going to try and get a lot done. It's not even 9am and I have already registered my Shell reward card online so I can get points when I fill up. When I've got enough points I will get money off vouchers which I can use towards fuel.

I need to phone my mobile phone company and cancel web browsing pack. The last time I tried I couldn't get through.

I'm not up to much today so it should be a NSD. Will be taking Hubby to work later then getting him tonight.

Hope everyone has a good day!

I found out last week that they didn't need me in work today so I was looking forward to having today off, especially since a few weeks ago I thought I would be working on Easter Monday. I get paid normal time for being off anyway, if I had went to work I would have gotten time and a half so I'm not really missing out.

While DH was sleeping this morning I was looking at my budget. I typed in everything I spend into a sheet on a website and apparently I am leaving myself with £66 spare, roughly, each month. I'm not too sure exactly how accurate this is.

I hate that I'm not getting very far with my savings. 4% progress is so depressing. Once I have paid back MIL I will have that money to use towards savings but that won't be until next month; road tax is due at the end of June.

I haven't used the car today or spent anything so overall it has been a good day.

I'd never heard of this show until I read about it in Retire@50's blog. I googled it a few minutes ago. I'm going to have a really good read at what they say, and the advice they give. As far as I know the UK doesn't have a show like this. I don't know if it will teach me anything I don't already know from being a member of SA and reading all of your blogs but I'll take a look and see. So, thank you Retire@50 for mentioning it in your blog. I look forward to reading how you're getting on

I took Hubby to work and I'm picking him up tonight.

I really should be catching up with my ironing and housework but thought I would read some blogs first.

I'm going to my Mum's for dinner later.

My new driving licence came today. I should have updated it a while ago so I'm glad it's here, no more worrying.

There's a pile of washing waiting to be put on, I really should go and do it, I'm just in a lazy mood.

No financial news to report. Today would have been a No Spend Day but I think I'll get some petrol tonight when I pick Hubby up.

Just checked bank balance and car payment is out and I have £25.00 left. I can pay my Christmas savings and get some petrol if need be.

It's meant to be spring and it's snowing! I really shouldn't be surprised. If it keeps up I'm not taking the car to work tomorrow, I'll either get the bus or walk. I'm hoping it won't land, it's been raining a lot over the past few days.

This will be my first month with my car payment and car insurance coming out. I keep on checking my bank balance, I'm a bit worried actually. I worked extra last week but won't get the money till next month's pay.

I found a car yesterday that I liked so I put down a deposit. It's a used car which is what I wanted. Now I'm just trying to find car insurance so I can collect it this week.

I've just been looking at used cars online. There's a Ford Ka for £700 which unfortuantely I can't afford. The seller was less than ten miles away too. I really want a car.

It was my first day back at work yesterday after my twelve days off. I found out that the store has massively underspent on wages for the past few days. Apparently while I was off they were sending people home to cut back on wages. Glad I missed that.

There's a sale at work. I had a look at a few things when I finished but didn't buy anything. I'm really pleased with myself, I'm usually a sucker for sales.

I got hubby up for work this morning and when he left I couldn't get back to sleep. I kept on thinking about the debt that he owes his mum(3k) and the money I owe her. I've been keeping track of my spending since the start of this month, I'm planning on keeping it up.

Although Hubby owes MIL 3k total some of the debts are smaller. I told him a while ago - when we found out exactly how much - that he should clear the smaller ones first. If anything it would make me feel better knowing that I had achieved something if I did that. Ideally while Hubby clears his debt I'll be clearing mine, which isn't that much actually. However since we don't have our own place yet I think we should at least use this time to get rid of debts before we do.

Speaking of homes, I'm going to the post office soon to send an application form to another housing association since our council was no help (we have the minimum points)

My current debt:

catalogue: 511.86 (interest free)
washing machine: 250 (roughly)
credit card: 62.79 (will clear this month)
MIL: 370

Total: 1194.65

That's the first time I've totalled it up, didn't realise it was that much.

which means we will probably spend a lot. We have a voucher for a restaurant which we've never been to - so will cost us to get taxis to and from there - so we're just going to use that another time and go somewhere else.

I've had two NSDs in a row but it will end today. Tomorrow I'm meeting my friend for lunch, I havent seen her since the wedding so it's worth it to catch up with her.

I was just reading Gamecock's Mind over Money blog and one quote has really stuck with me:

"How you spend your money today effects the life you will live tomorrow."

It's time to come up with specific goals for 2010. I'm serious, I want me and my husband to have our own place (even if it is rented).

I need to cut back on spending.

I need to pay off any debt I have (hubby too)

I need to SAVE otherwise we will be here forever and that's crazy.

I've joined a cashback website. My balance just now is £8.27 so not a lot. Once I get to £25 money will go into my bank account. I have a feeling this is going to take ages, I really shold have joined before Christmas since I done most of my shopping online.

I've forgotten how to edit author info, how do i do it?

It's been over 2 years since I last wrote in this blog It's really bad I know. Well I've decided that I need to get some savings behind me again since our wedding used up all of my savings. We are currently living with hubby's mum and brother.

I have the cheek to write that when I am a member of a saving website, but it's true. Although me and my fiance have decided that we're not going to get married until 2009 I want to start saving now. I have tried to put some money away but I don't think it's enough. Also, I don't want to be the one that saves all of the money and pays for everything. We're hoping to book something next year and then we'll have plenty of time to pay it up. I did have some money put aside but my mum needed it so I gave it to her, so now I only have a pathetic £20 to put towards a wedding.

I haven't written in here for months! I should be ashamed of myself. I need to start getting in the habit again though...my boyfriend proposed on Friday and we're getting married in a couple of years. I can't wait!!!

I decided I better update my blog. I'm ashamed to admit it but my savings have not gone to plan. I ended up taking out the loan for the graduate endowment because realistically there was no way I could save the full amount.

My boyfriend and I just celebrated our 4 year anniversary this month. We have finally started to take a proper look at houses, since we're planning on moving out at some point this year. We found a website which lets us look at different houses, all we have to do is include what we want in the search criteria. I was very impressed. I thought we would just be looking through newspapers. So, what do we want?

- A two-bedroom house
- I don't want to live in a flat
- gas central heating
- parking space (I'm hoping to pass my driving test this year)

The average rent for a 2 bedroom house seems to be £500, which I cannot afford right now as I am still waiting on starting this other job. I've done a lot of phoning but still I haven't started, they need to find something for me. I'm waiting on a local primary school getting in touch. (I could have started at another place last week but I was doing overtime at the supermarket, we had a visit.)

We are hoping to move out later on in the year i.e. August/September, just to give us a chance to put some money aside.

This month I am spending a lot, but I'm hoping to save some money too. This month I am spending money on:

bills
meeting my friend for dinner today
anniversary meal with my boyfriend
driving lessons
night out for my birthday

The friend I am meeting today is going to Australia for a year in a couple of months, so I don't mind spending money for that. I haven't seen her since October.

I don't need to go out for my birthday or anniversary but I want too.

My blog anniversary was on 14th January. I've been keeping this blog for just over a year

I wish I could participate in the new challenge but I don't think I will manage to save the money that I need too. When it's over in April I will still save money. I'm not feeling confident about this saving at all. If I'm being realistic then I should admit that there's no way I can save this money, not in three months. Maybe I could just send the money that I do save and then they would know that I tried?

Quiet new year overall.

Let's see how 2007 turns out.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas tomorrow.

Between now and Christmas, I only have one day off from work. We've been really busy recently. Next week will be worse.

I have to buy a secret Santa gift for work. I only have to spend £5 so that's fine. Apart from that I have a couple more presents to buy.

I've got a new driving instructor. I had my first lesson this week and I booked my test today, it's not until January though. Driving lessons are more expensive this time, I'm taking two lessons a week rather than one. One of my friends has booked her test already and she's only just started taking lessons, some people have all the luck.

Started Christmas shopping.

My job interview is on Tuesday. If it doesn't go well I've made sure that I'm doing a lot of extra shifts at my current job over Christmas. If I do get it then I will keep my current job for a while longer.