20% Down! Well almost!!

Hello!

Feeling pretty pleased with myself ( not smug, I'm nowhere near good enough for that yet!) : -)

When I started getting a grip if my finances I had 10 debts to clear, today I have cleared the  2nd,earlier than  I needed to. Yay!

So, when I started in June of this year my total personal debt was £14,530.00

Now it stands at £11,875.57

I've cleared £2,654.43 in 5 months!  Thats 18 %  
Hurrah! 

How are you doing? 

Win Win Win!

Hello,

Well it's not often you can say you're winning in any sort of sense but actually I am at the moment! Winning against the bank, winning in the buy/organise Christmas before December and winning with Mr M! Sounds too good to be true!

Firstly the penny dropped the other day and I realised I was paying S******er £30 a month to have an overdraft with them on an account that I only use to pay bills!! In a moment of inspiration I called them and  asked to cancel the overdraft, the bemused girl at the other end said that there was no need for me to do this as the account was in order, money being paid in etc and they were quite happy with me! I bet they are!
 I had to go through to the collections dept and ask again,eventually I convinced them that this was what I wanted and yes I understood that it may prevent further credit with them.......
Because I have an "agreement" with them now, they cancelled the overdraft and I will pay it back at £50 a month, it also meant that they stopped any further charges, so in real terms for an extra £20 a month I will clear the overdraft and not be paying out £30 per month for nothing! Win 1! 

Christmas is organised! Yayy! My wonderful in-laws are taking us out on Christmas Day so we don't have to worry about food on the day just tea later on when we watch Strictly and Doctor Who! We only have the in laws to buy for as well as 2 cousins and of course our son! The in-laws gifts  we will be bought on Friday, M&S vouchers and car mats! Mr M is having new Converse and they are bought and in the wardrobe and our son, well he's been asking all year for a Playstation. I know that lots of bloggers are writing about handmade Christmases but I don't think that will cut with a 10 year old! He isn't spoilt and he doesn't ask for too much through the year so we do treat him and in terms of cost per play/minutes  where I can have a quiet cuppa it's well worth it! I've bought this from Argos where they had a six month interest free deal with free delivery , I've saved the money throughout the year so when the time is up I'll just pay it off. Win 2!

And finally, Mr M! Well he's heard me banging on about budgeting, being more frugal, saving money, rarara for ages. I wasn't sure whether it was sinking in as it didn't  really seem to affect him in any way. Well after months of hearing him say " I don't know what my money goes on" and "Why haven't I got any money?" I finally snapped! After a full and frank discussion (!) we have decided that I will take charge of his money and do the budget for him. I have a list of his outgoings and tell him what to withdraw, we then divvy it up into envelopes and he knows what he has to spend  for the month. We're one month in and I think it's been an eye opener for him, only one mishap but apart from that it seems to be going well. When we've got him on track and spending less than is coming in then we will tackle his overdraft. Win 3!

Hope this post doesn't  sound too smug, it's just me feeling pleased with myself ; -) 
Hope you're winning too x

Towel Transformation :-)

Hello,

A bit boring this post but something I'm quite proud of and a post to get me back in the swing again! 

So, I'm by no means as good as I could be financially  I read a lot of blogs and feel very inspired, I've made some significant changes and have started seeing some real progress with debt busting! We renovated the bathroom on a reasonable budget but even using reduced tiles, auction site suite etc it still added up.

I really wanted new towels to go with the new bathroom but I have expensive taste in towels and I couldn't justify £30 for a new matching bath sheet ( x 3 and hand towels!) 

So, what did  I do? 

I went to Dunelm Mill! And look what  I bought! 

£4.50 a packet and the cost of running the washing machine et voila!

And inspired by these I did some others as well!

The towels were all M&S and still in good condition despite their age and now I have new looking towels for around £10.

So I am learning! ; -) 

Bathroom Renovation (be prepared!)

Hello,

Welcome to my new readers, apologies for the lack of welcome, it's been  a  hectic month :-0

We've renovated our bathroom, hurrah!

So it's gone from this:

what we inherited 

To this

                                                                                     

To this 

To this......

TA DA!!! 

I'm thrilled it with it! My design inspiration was Art Deco and it's all been done on a budget! 

Apparently pink bathroom suites aren't fashionable anymore ;-) 

I'm so fed up with seeing the same plain white suites in everyone's bathrooms that I wanted something different for ours. I started looking on auctions sites and came across this suite, brand new and had been stored in the owners garage. It came with a bidet as well as all the matching taps and a soap dish all the for the pricely sum of £125!!! We did have drive through 5 counties to collect it however ti was definitely worth it. 

I sold the bidet for £25 so our suite cost us £100 not including diesel. 

The tiles all came form the reduced section for various branches of a diy store in my area and came in at £ a box/1/2 metre, total £180.

The majority of the budget went on labour costs and the taps! Who knew they were so expensive! 

It won't be to everyone's taste but we love it and why be  the same when you can be different?!

x

Fabulous Birthday Week Part 1

Hello,

Hope you're all well and coping with Stoptober!?

I've had a fabulous birthday week, the weather couldn't have been better at each location and the time with Mr M alone and with our son has been much needed.

Last weekend Mr M and I went to Somerset. Mr M has wanted to go to Stourhead, a National Trust property with beautiful gardens forever, so that was out first outing.

We then went to Wells and saw the Cathedral

**On Monday we went to gorgeous Bath. I felt very pleased with myself as I had allowed some money for a treat but despite the huge temptation from all the lovely shops; I didn't buy a THING!! **

A surprise birthday treat basket from my best friend, she knows me so well!!

My actual birthday was Thursday and it was off to London with Mr M and our son. Buckingham Palace, London Eye and Madame Tussauds.

My birthday present from our son was this fabulous blanket

It was a made by a  lovely lady called Sonia, she has learning difficulties and attends a local centre where they can learn new crafts and meet friends. Samuel spoke to her and chose the colours as they mean something to me and him. I was thrilled and it's my favourite present ever.

I have more photos to show but I'm sure this is enough for tonight!

How have you been? x