£2014 in 2014 Challenge Update March

Hello,

A quick update post for March :)

Final total was £467.82.  Yay!

My running total is £1375.82  so only £70 a month to find for the rest of the year!

We are incredibly busy at work at the moment so we are having to do the overtime. I used to claim for time however we don't have the opportunity to take it so now I claim payment and pay it off the snowball as extra payments.  I've been rounding down every few days and that added nearly £80 to the total which it was amazed at when I totalled it up. 

I've sold nearly everything of value and hoping to do a boot fayre to raise a bit more and clear out those odds and ends!

My bike payments finish this month ( bought through work and interest free) and next month that will be set up as a standing order to the mortgage, really excited about that!

Next month it's back to paying council tax, that was a nice bonus to add to the total, next month's total may not be as good.

Hope your challenge is going well : )

Thank you Sara @ Frugal Wife

A Confession :(

Hello,

I have a confession to make, it seemed like a good idea at the time and I knew I could make it work for us...

I applied for a loan to clear the rest of our debt :(

However we were turned down! Arggh!

My reasoning was that we could afford it, we'd pay the debt off sooner , the payments would be less and I'd be able to start on the mortgage at the same time.

I was upset when they said no but it has galvanised me to attack the debt and get it paid off the hard but much more satisfying way.
In a strop I switched bank accounts and earnt £100 plus £25 for charity.
I've closed accounts that were no longer needed and sorted things to sell.
 I've trimmed back and rounded down.
I'm on a mission!!

And I've got to keep up with the £2014 challenge and This lady

£2014 in 2014 Challenge

Hello!

I've been joining in with Sara's challenge for 2014 as mentioned Here. It seemed rude to take up Sara's blog with my updates so I've followed the link she kindly added.

I'm passionate about this challenge as I'm desperate to get the debt cleared ASAP so that I can attack the mortgage, the sooner it's  gone the sooner I can look at other work options! This challenge, savings/extra money are additional to my snowball that  I follow religiously every month!

My new comment to myself whenever I go to buy something is " this is another debt payment " and it's great for reining me in!

My figure for February  is. ....

£521.57

This was achieved by overtime, claiming old expenses, a frenzy of eBay selling ( 2 free listing weekends!)  rounding down daily and an interesting phone call with BT which resulted in a reduction of £120 on my yearly bill!

My running total is £908 

This leaves £1,106 for the year or £110 per month

I've made a good start to March with a current account switch which should net me £100

Thank you again to Sara for hosting the challenge

I love it when a plan comes together...

Or I would if it was coming together!!

Sara over at a Frugal Wife wrote a post on her  5 year plan and along with the many other blogs I read daily, I realised that without a written plan it's all a bit wafty and I'm not really getting anywhere : (

The snowball is going well but I have no idea about the amount of savings I should be aiming for or anything else really. I seem to have had a bit of " lifestyle creep" ( thank you Laura ) and I need to get back on track.

I'm off to paint more furniture and mull over a 9 year plan which would take me up to 50. Gulp!

I need a project....

I need a project!

The house is all done apart from a few " just jobs" the snowball is coming along very nicely and I feel fed up! I like having something to do particularly when work is stressful as it's something for me to get involved with and switch off my brain. The living room could do with sprucing up but will end up being a bigger job as really the walls need skimming and the furniture isn't right anymore (pine gone orange : ( ) and then we'll need new sofas as the old leather ones have started breaking up where the leather has worn, so you see it's not a quick job and will cost.. I know now  why people move after they've done a place up. There's always been something for me to do in the house and now it's done I'm at a loss.
There is the garden but that's also  costly and involves cutting down leylandi. Bugger!  Big trees! And getting the garden re- fenced things I can't do alone and the husband doesn't do DIY!

I  suppose I could eat Galaxy Counters and read more blogs!!

Any suggestions for things to keep me occupied?!!