Okay so progress does not mean I have been perfect, my challenge not to buy anymore clothes until an existing item is relegated to the bin or the charity shop has not quite been met this month. I confess I spent money on not quite essential items. I did only spend £10 though! Yes I know I'm trying to justify it to myself, but I have some nice new running shorts and a vest, two things for £10 is a bargain right?
Other than that minor slip I think I've been quite good and as a result I have money left with only a week to go until payday. Hubby and I are still amazed that we are more than surviving on a severely reduced income compared to the when we were skint on two fulltime incomes.
The puppy has also curbed his spending, he's healing well and has resisted the urge to scratch at the wound, for that reason he has been rewarded by not having to wear his silly plastic collar for the past few days and he can now play frisbee again.
The exam marking is finally over, having spent every evening, every weekend and the days inbetween when I wasn't teaching, attached to the computer I am glad its over. It was however incredibly satisfying to see the extra money appear in my bank account and beable to transfer it straight away to the credit card account therefore paying off the vets bill, the two new car tyres and the flights to France in one fell swoop. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about the laptop and the puppy didn't manage to spend every penny I earnt, I am still owed another payment, hopefully at the end of this week. Now I have to decide whether to buy a laptop or something else, I have already treated myself to tickets to see Dirty Dancing at the theatre (something I've been longing to see) but that still leaves a nice amount to play with. Hubby has recently upgraded his laptop however and mine has not died yet so I'm thinking the new laptop can wait and hopefully prices will continue to fall over the next few months as they tend to do with technology, in which case I may buy one for the exam marking in June.
I am still in search of another lodger, but supply appears to have dried up, that and I think I'm being quite fussy, one because I have to live with the person and two because we are not desperate for the money, to be honest the extra money would either be saved for a rainy day or spent on treats so I'd rather wait for the right person.
There are other downsides to lodgers besides living with a practical stranger. Having just read the electricity meter, prompted by one of those little cards through the door, it would appear that our electricity usage is considerably increased. Not suprising I suppose when at the point of having two lodgers that meant 3 televisions, 4 laptops, a minimum of 4 showers a day, 2 extra lightbulbs left on, not to mention the lights accidentally left on in the kitchen, hallway etc. over night because they are not paying the bills so are not a conscientious about energy saving as a billpayer is. Happily I get to keep control of the thermostat (I have lots of warm socks and jumpers) and the weather has assisted in reducing the gas bill a little compared to last winter.
My employer has thrown a complication into my endeavours however by deciding that maybe I should have been made redundant back in September! Funny that considering I had a fulltime permenant contract and they couldn't provide fulltime hours! Trust me I did argue for several months before taking the cut to part time and many people would question why I didn't continue to fight, the answer to that is that for a few hundred quid (I had only worked there 3 years and it was statutory redudancy pay, about £400 for each year) it wasn't worth the stress and misery caused by the uncertainty, and the threat of making working life difficult. Now however after so many grievance procedures against them (I was not one of them) they have been forced to investigate their actions, I'll let you know how that one progresses, but I do feel like its opened up a can of worms that I thought I had neatly packed away.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Puppy vs The Good Life
The puppy it would seem is fighting against me in my quest for the good life! He is spending money faster than I can make it. The exam marking is still in progress in a stop start fashion, which means most of my time is spent with the laptop attached to my knees, much to the puppy's disappointment as this means he cannot sit on my lap as he prefers. He does spread himself over so that his paws are on the laptop and his nose on the keyboard in an unsubtle way of getting my attention. It is for this reason that I believe the morning his stitiches were due to be removed he ripped them out himself leaving the wound freshly parted and the quick trip to the vets turning into an hours session of cleaning up, injections, another bill and more to come for antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. The new laptop I had planned is slipping away, but surely this was his cunning plan. He may not have realised that his plan involved wearing a cone arouund his head and not being allowed off the lead for the next two weeks. Hubby also plans to gaffa tape a sock to his back paw (the puppy's paw not the hubby's) every night to avoid any vigorous scratching.
My car (Tiglet) also seems to be joining in this war against the Good Life, having only just been returned from the garage after the Pre-Christmas accident she needed new tyres and the tyre garage helpfully informed the hubby that the car is not roadworthy due to some problems with steering components. Surely the repair garage should have picked up on this and not let me drive the 100 mile round trip to Doncaster and back? Don't worry I have made my self very clear to the garage and the insurance company that sent poor Tiglet there, strong words and tone were involved and I await at the very least an apology for the lack of care and attention.
It is for these reasons that, despite managing a few no-spend days, this has been a very expensive month and I have concerns that this months wage (newly reduced) will not spread over the next 29 days.
I have arrived at the point (after a couple of Tia Maria's) where I am considering what is is I wanted from 'The Good Life' I feel this needs assessment as I have after all given up a fulltime teaching career in the pursuit of said life. My wishes at the start were as follows:
1. To travel
2. To visit nice restaurants
3. To beable to cover unexpected bills without stressing
4. To be able to treat myself now and again (posh food, nice flowers, clothes and shoes)
5. Not to work my contracted 37 hours a week and bring home the same amount of work to do or worry about in my own time.
6. To take long walks with the puppy
7. To take time to look around and take a breath (corny I know)
8. Not to be stressed and miserable
So far I think numbers 1,2,3,5,6,7 and 8 are pretty much covered, some days more easily than others, but despite the heavy load of outgoings over the past couple of weeks I am not panicking about money and wondering how I will cover the bills even though I only work two days a week. Yes we are still budgeting and I am certainly not throwing money at luxuries, but I don't feel like I can't treat myself if I happen across the perfect pair of shoes. Hubby is still not in fulltime employment and I have one less lodger so there is certainly room for improvement, but the quest isn't about being greedy, its not about having as much money as possible. The intention was to find a better way of living.
I'm still holding on to the hope that I can buy the new laptop (it will be essential for the exam marking in June, mine won't last) and the puppy seems suitably upset about his situation not to continue sabotaging his treatment.
On a good note my little iwallet app is working well, over the past eight weeks it has shown me that me biggest non essential spends (vet bills count as essential) are:
1. Pertrol
2. Clothes
3. Snacks (mainly chocolate)
The petrol I know I can't do much about, we barely use the car as it is and the biggest journey is the bi-weekly trip to Doncaster. Clothes however I have a wardrobe full of, to the point that if I buy any more I will have to start borrowing some of hubbies wardrobe space. I know I don't need anymore clothes, but I love buying them! So my decision is not to buy anymore until I have to throw an item out because it doesn't fit, can't be altered or is worn out (unless of course there is a special event the calls for something particular)
Next item on the list, Chocolate. I'm a chocoholic, but the pennies spent at the local shop and the work refectory are not helping my waistline or wallet so second decision is to cut back (there is no way I can deny myself completely)
So I would advise the use of the iwallet, its nice to see the non spend days and the guilt works its magic when I see how much I have spent on things I didn't really need.
The newly reduced wage is holding up okay so far, I have money left after the essential bills have gone out, not enough for anything spectacular, but I am happy I can pay for Salsa classes once a week for the rest of the month, buy a special lunch after our spa day next week (£10 for 2 from lastminute.com) hopefully find a table at the auction we're going to on Saturday morning and still have enough for a few bars of chocolate :-)
So situation to date:
Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract (have been much better about only going in on the paid days)
Lodgers: 1 (finding the new lodger is proving difficult)
Eating out: 0 (lack of a car for part of the month and exam marking have scuppered my availablility)
Hubby: 1 (7months of married bliss minus one argument)
Dog: 1 (vets bill approximately £500)
Stepson: 1
No Spend Days: 8/14 (helped by the exam markign which has kept me tied to the house)
My car (Tiglet) also seems to be joining in this war against the Good Life, having only just been returned from the garage after the Pre-Christmas accident she needed new tyres and the tyre garage helpfully informed the hubby that the car is not roadworthy due to some problems with steering components. Surely the repair garage should have picked up on this and not let me drive the 100 mile round trip to Doncaster and back? Don't worry I have made my self very clear to the garage and the insurance company that sent poor Tiglet there, strong words and tone were involved and I await at the very least an apology for the lack of care and attention.
It is for these reasons that, despite managing a few no-spend days, this has been a very expensive month and I have concerns that this months wage (newly reduced) will not spread over the next 29 days.
I have arrived at the point (after a couple of Tia Maria's) where I am considering what is is I wanted from 'The Good Life' I feel this needs assessment as I have after all given up a fulltime teaching career in the pursuit of said life. My wishes at the start were as follows:
1. To travel
2. To visit nice restaurants
3. To beable to cover unexpected bills without stressing
4. To be able to treat myself now and again (posh food, nice flowers, clothes and shoes)
5. Not to work my contracted 37 hours a week and bring home the same amount of work to do or worry about in my own time.
6. To take long walks with the puppy
7. To take time to look around and take a breath (corny I know)
8. Not to be stressed and miserable
So far I think numbers 1,2,3,5,6,7 and 8 are pretty much covered, some days more easily than others, but despite the heavy load of outgoings over the past couple of weeks I am not panicking about money and wondering how I will cover the bills even though I only work two days a week. Yes we are still budgeting and I am certainly not throwing money at luxuries, but I don't feel like I can't treat myself if I happen across the perfect pair of shoes. Hubby is still not in fulltime employment and I have one less lodger so there is certainly room for improvement, but the quest isn't about being greedy, its not about having as much money as possible. The intention was to find a better way of living.
I'm still holding on to the hope that I can buy the new laptop (it will be essential for the exam marking in June, mine won't last) and the puppy seems suitably upset about his situation not to continue sabotaging his treatment.
On a good note my little iwallet app is working well, over the past eight weeks it has shown me that me biggest non essential spends (vet bills count as essential) are:
1. Pertrol
2. Clothes
3. Snacks (mainly chocolate)
The petrol I know I can't do much about, we barely use the car as it is and the biggest journey is the bi-weekly trip to Doncaster. Clothes however I have a wardrobe full of, to the point that if I buy any more I will have to start borrowing some of hubbies wardrobe space. I know I don't need anymore clothes, but I love buying them! So my decision is not to buy anymore until I have to throw an item out because it doesn't fit, can't be altered or is worn out (unless of course there is a special event the calls for something particular)
Next item on the list, Chocolate. I'm a chocoholic, but the pennies spent at the local shop and the work refectory are not helping my waistline or wallet so second decision is to cut back (there is no way I can deny myself completely)
So I would advise the use of the iwallet, its nice to see the non spend days and the guilt works its magic when I see how much I have spent on things I didn't really need.
The newly reduced wage is holding up okay so far, I have money left after the essential bills have gone out, not enough for anything spectacular, but I am happy I can pay for Salsa classes once a week for the rest of the month, buy a special lunch after our spa day next week (£10 for 2 from lastminute.com) hopefully find a table at the auction we're going to on Saturday morning and still have enough for a few bars of chocolate :-)
So situation to date:
Employment: Parttime 0.33 of a fulltime contract (have been much better about only going in on the paid days)
Lodgers: 1 (finding the new lodger is proving difficult)
Eating out: 0 (lack of a car for part of the month and exam marking have scuppered my availablility)
Hubby: 1 (7months of married bliss minus one argument)
Dog: 1 (vets bill approximately £500)
Stepson: 1
No Spend Days: 8/14 (helped by the exam markign which has kept me tied to the house)
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