The Diary of a Reformed Spendaholic

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If I could give just one piece of advice......
2007-08-20 08:02:00
I've been tagged by Krystal at Give me back My Five Bucks to carry on Moolanomy's My One Money Advice (MOMA) Meme.The aim of this MEME is to promote financial responsibility and awareness in our hyper consumer society.The question:If you can give one piece of advice, tip or story related to money what would you share?Well mine would be, 'Teach your kids early'I grew up in a household where money was no object, I got everything I wanted, my Dad never said no. I continued with this theme for the next twenty years!Kids need to be taught early that they can't have everything, they need to be taught to save for things they want. They need to be taught that going to a park is better than going to the shopping mall. They also need to be taught to be frugal and not waste money.This summer holidays my daughter has been out with friends nearly every day. On previous years she would of had money off me daily for food and shopping. This year she has taken a packed lunch and played football...
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Daily Spends and saving on the little things
2007-08-17 16:19:00
- £37.61 Grocery- 0.70p PostageSo far in August I've spent £81.63 on grocery items. Which means I have £98.37 to last until the end of the month. I'm determined to come in under budget this month and I'm going to have a pot luck week of meals for the last week using everything up out of the store cupboards and freezer! The kids will moan!!I've saved £24.10 on the shopping I've bought so far this month with a combination of coupons and buy one get one free offers. I've bought loads of reduced fruit, vegetables and bread however it's hard to keep track of the savings with these things, especially when buying from the market.I've saved a few pence today by recycling a jiffy bag for an Amazon sale and by walking instead of driving to the post office to post it. I try to re use all envelopes, jiffy bags, postal items. Every letter I receive at home I save the envelope and re use with a sticker on. It saves me money and is better for the environment.
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Daily Spending
2007-08-16 08:52:00
We went out for dinner last night and I paid at a cost of £26.70. Now at the time it felt good but this morning I'm feeling guilty! I know I need to have a life and an occasional treat but that doesn't stop the guilt.I have made £13.12 from Amazon sales this week so at least that will counteract some of the cost. I thought that I had sold everything I could on Amazon but last weekend I revisited our CD and DVD collection, realising that there was still lots of things we would never watch or listen to again. I'm only getting about £1.00 per item after postage but it's better than nothing and it's clearing more clutter.
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Saving money on wedding rings
2007-08-13 07:37:00
Our wedding is fast approaching and bf and I have been applying our frugality to areas of the costs. I've already got my brand new dress off of Ebay.We needed two plain platinum wedding bands. I have a lovely engagement ring but there was no way I was paying the money to get plain bands from the same store (think turquoise box!)We went to a normal high street jeweller, tried on some rings to get boyfriends sizing and they quoted us £900 for the two. We went home searched the Internet and found similar rings for £290. Guess which one's we've bought!
More About: Money , Wedding , Rings , Saving , Wedding Ring

Goals and focus!
2007-08-12 10:15:00
At home we've taken the step of dedicating a small wall to our goals. When I want to get something accomplished at work I always notice board or flip chart it for colleagues so I thought we would do the same at home. I think it keeps focus.On the wall we have photo's of where we want to live, our annual goals in monetary amounts over the next 5 years, to clear off the mortgage and to save, and the ways in which we are going to do it.Saving money (household expenses, holidays)Think before spending (need v want)Set up a business for me (the idea)Buy a rental property (receive passive income)These plans might seem ambitious especially given the fact that I am still £27, 000 in debt but we both are earning good money, we are living quite frugally without any hardship and the main thing, we are both 100% committed to the plan.I know that other bloggers post their goals online but does anyone put them some where else?
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Daily Spending
2007-08-10 12:50:00
-Grocery £29.56 (Saved £10.76 on Buy one get one free items)-£6.10 Parking to be refunded by work-£70.56 Euros purchased for daughters trip to France
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Monthly Update
2007-08-09 08:22:00
It's payday and this month I've got £2670 to distribute. This is more than usual due to a repayment of £700 from my daughter.I'm allocating the following:£150 to emergency savings£550 to monthly bills£180 to grocery£50 to petrol/fuel£8 to a magazine subscription£45 to gifts£50 school trip (daughter)£70 to wedding fund£15 soccer fees (daughter)£1532 to Debt Yes, £1532 towards the debt which means that I've now paid off 40% of the total. I'm so pleased that I finally seem to be getting there.The above amounts leave me with £20 to spend. I'm expecting some more money from cashbacks sites and hopefully from Ebay and Amazon listings. I'll allocate any extra monies to debt repayment as well.It's good to see the amount building in the Emergency Fund. I've put this in a cash ISA which pays 5.5% tax free interest. I can't touch it or I get penalised on the interest payments.
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Daily Spending
2007-08-07 19:29:00
Zero, Nil, £0.00 for two whole days!! Long may it continue.It's nearly payday and this month I have to budget for a school trip to France requiring Euro's, my Dad's birthday, a small thank you gift for my Mum, and a new watch battery. Amounts to follow. I do NOT need to budget for a new lamp, I just need to look at the picture of my latest object of desire. The problem with being a nearly reformed spendaholic is that you can't help looking for things to buy even though you know that a, you can't afford them and b, you don't need them!
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10 simple ways to cut spending on light and heat
2007-08-05 15:47:00
from the British Gas website in the UK.1.Switch off any unused lights and you could save around £27 a year2.Boil the amount of water you need for one cup rather than a full kettle and you could save around £25 a year3.Turn your TV and accessories off standby and you could save around £39 a year4.Turn your thermostat down 1 degree and you could save around £40 a year5.Set your heating to turn off before you leave the house and go off 30 minutes before you go to bed and you could save £16 a year6.Draught proof your windows and doors and you could save around £20 a year7.Putting silver foil behind radiators to reflect the heat back into your room could save you £13 a year8.Make sure your dishwasher is always full and you could save around £13 a year9.Wash your laundry at 40 degrees rather than 60 degrees and you could save £10 a year10.Unplug your phone charger when you're not using it and you could save £4 a year
More About: Heat , Spending , Simple , Light

August Goals
2007-08-05 15:17:00
I'm a bit late with the goals this month, however better late than never!-Increase Net Worth by £1200-Make £150 from Get Paid To sites-Make £60 from a Car Boot Sale-Research local evening classes re book keeping/accountsTo achieve all of the above I need to keep my focus, I became too distracted in July by other things. Procrastination doesn't get things done. Tomorrow I will write a 'To Do' list for the month and then break it down into daily tasks.
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Daily Spends
2007-08-05 15:15:00
I'm back to recording my daily spending on here. The main reason is it keeps you focused on every pound.-Grocery £14.46There has been some price changes at the supermarket so I need to update my Price Book tonight. Bf and I are having a take away Pizza tonight, we have some vouchers and there is currently a deal on where you buy one get another half price so this will be a free meal.
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Net Worth 1st August
2007-08-04 10:14:00
ASSETS:House £190,000Jewelry £3,000Emergency Fund £161General Savings £10Checking Account £147LIABILITIES:Mortgage -£134,862Loans -£24,337Credit Card -£3657Total £30,462 up £1,270 on last month.
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Confessions of a Reformed Spendaholic!!
2007-08-04 10:07:00
I have no idea what I've spent on what this month. Because of my NY trip, my wedding plans, being ill and a lack of organisation I've lost it with the spending diary the last few days! I've bought stuff for the wedding which bf is re imbursing, I've sold stuff on Amazon and Ebay and received money from Cashback sites but I have no clue how much. My head has gone with this cold/bug I've had and I have no energy to work it all out. Oh well it's August now and I can start again.My Net Worth has increased by £1,270 which at least is the right way.
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Update
2007-07-31 21:24:00
Well I've been knocked out by a bug since I returned home last week end, I think it's a punishment for going shopping!!The spending totals are not too bad, I went over budget by about £70. I've managed to get some new work wear from Gap, which is so much cheaper in the US than England, four personal finance books, a Tiffany silver necklace, a Planet Holywood T-Shirt which is so pretty and some bits and pieces.Total spend approx $840. It looks lots written down but that's it for me now until Christmas. It would of been at lot worse if I hadn't returned the Coach handbag that I bought for $350!!I kept looking at it in the hotel room and couldn't face keeping it so I took it back. My mum thinks I'm mad.We went to two Jazz clubs, The Village Vanguard and Dizzy's while there as Mum is mad on Jazz (I'm not). That was the only extravgant evening's out we had. The other 3 night's were pizza slice's and bottled water.I need to update my sidebars tomorrow as it will be August alre...
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NY Spends
2007-07-28 13:16:00
Well I'm back and will post a full update of my spending later. This will include tales of Tiffany, Coach and guilt!!

Holiday Frugality
2007-07-20 21:35:00
Well it's about ten hours until I'm on a flight to NY. I have my passport and my dollars. I'll be there for 5 nights and I have a budget of $700. I know I'm on holiday but I intend to keep track of every penny (cent) I spend.Some of this money was a gift but most was saved up by me. My generous mum has also paid for the trip.I've gone without things for so long now I'm not sure that I'll be able to splash out although I do want a new handbag or purse. I also do not want to undo months and months of hard debt repayment.Wish me luck!
More About: Holiday , New York , Spending , Frugality , Ality

Grocery Spends
2007-07-17 22:01:00
I have previously blogged about how I reduce my grocery spend. So I thought I would update you on how I'm doing against a budget of £180 for 5 people this month.So far I have spent £125.90 on grocery. I have saved £4.50 using manufacturers coupons and £12.23 on bogofs. Tonight I timed my visit to the supermarket perfectly. I managed to get 4 x packs of 24 bread rolls for £1.12, 3 organic lasagne's for 0.54p each, 3 large packets of steak mince for £1.01 each, 4 packs of 6 bagels for 0.30p each.My freezer is full and I am happy. Off to update the menu plan to reflect my bargains. We should have enough food to last the rest of July especially as I am away for six days from Saturday.
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Rockin' Girl Blogger
2007-07-15 23:49:00
I've been taggedfor a Rockin' Girl Blogger award by Michelle at Smart Not Cheap. Thank you Michelle. The Rockin' Girl Blogger award was started by Roberta Ferguson at Blogging Made Devilishly Simple. If you want to learn about the award please visit her website.If you want to participate you have toPut the badge on your blogGive credit to RobertaNominate 5 other bloggersHere's my 5 Rockin' Girl Bloggers,Louise at Eliminate My Debt who's going to pay off her mortgage in 5 yearsJennifer at Finding Financial Peace who's aiming to be debt free using Dave Ramsey's steps.Ann at Domestic Deficit who's paying off her debts.Leigh Ann at Save Leigh Ann who's paid off her debts and now helps other people to do the same.NIUiceprincess at Life and Debt in Chicago who aims to stretch her money as far as she can.All 5 have helped me in some way so far in my debt free journey.
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Emotions and Debt
2007-07-15 10:16:00
Now I'm not one to spend too much time thinking about my emotions or my state of mind. After all I am English and we don't do that sort of thing. However I have noticed that since I've started the debt payoff I've been happy and I mean really happy. Before when I was spending I wasn't really happy I was just pretending to be and using shopping as my support.Becoming debt free is creating a buzz in me that no amount of spending ever did. I no longer need to buy stuff as a quick fix to my unhappiness.I'm also quite sure that this is related to the fact that for the first time in my life I feel 100% secure in my current relationship. I know that my bf (soon to be husband) loves me for who I am. After all I'm in my early forties with 3 kids and an extra few pounds and defiantly not like the super vixen I was in my twenties!!
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Daily Spends and Update
2007-07-14 16:47:00
I've had a really busy week due to work and family commitments. School term has now finished and I have six days to go before I have a two week break from work. The trouble is no one does my job while I'm away so I need to organise everything in advance. At least I've been paid.So far allocated £395 to debt repayment and £550 to household bills (including mortgage). I still need to make some payments and update all my balances. Will do this tomorrow.Some people from work have been picking my brains on my money saving ways this week. I've tried to help them as much as possible especially after seeing one of their grocery receipts. £129 for four people for a week!! I easily halved it for her just by swapping branded items and taking out the ready meals. She was in shock and now wants me to go shopping with her. Maybe after my hols but I really haven't got the time at the moment.Spends so far this week£33.20 Grocery£38.37 Work expenses£0 personal spending.
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Daily Spends
2007-07-10 08:30:00
8th July£24.56 Grocery (CC)£9.64 Grocery I've received £9.86 from a cashback site and £12.41 from Amazon and paid this amount off straight of Loan 1. I know my main aim of this year is to clear the credit card debt but I like to pay the odd small amount from my loans just to see the balances come down.Payday tomorrow so I will update all progress bars and debt amounts then.
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8 random things
2007-07-09 16:59:00
I've been tagged by Louise from Eliminate My Debt and Ann from Domestic Deficit for 8 random things about me. This is my first meme (not sure what that is) as I'm quite new to the blogging world.I'll give it a go, however everyone I know has already been tagged so I'm stumped as to what to do next.I hate cheese of any typeI love toyboys! I hate domestic chores although I'm anal about tidinessI secretly love Joshua JacksonI love straight sofa cushions (very random)I have a magazine addiction that involves keeping them for yearsI've had three babies all weighing over 11lbs at birth (ouch)I played sport to county level although you couldn't tell now
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No Spend Days
2007-07-09 16:58:00
When I was at my most prolific spending self I used to spend money every day of the week. Whether it was on grocery, books, cd's or Burberry I just had to spend money. I couldn't stop myself it was an addiction. As soon as my checking account ran out of money I would use my credit cards. My spending increased as my salary increased. It didn't matter that I was consolidating every year or that my level of debt was rising. I thought that I could afford everything as I never missed a payment and never had any late payment charges, which is amazing when I think about it now.The no spend day came about from realising the only way that I could get out of this mess was to keep my money in the bank, not in my wardrobe!I would, and still do challenge myself to 3 no spend days a week. Its a way of proving to myself that I don't need to buy things every day to be happy. It's amazing what a difference it makes to your budget.
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