I think i got that bonus in my payslip this month! Excellent. I think what i will do it take at 350 from my account, and put it in my other account. And just really think about what i want to do with it.

Or maybe open up a savings account, and let it accrue some interest. If by the time December comes i still want, for example, a minidisc player, i will buy it then. Right now, i should really concentrate on my revision.

Well, i just opened an ING account. So i guess that when i confirm that the bonus did go in, i will dig out my cheque book and put it straight into there. Then when December comes, i can buy whichever gadget i choose without feeling bad.

posted by small 4:27 PM

Tonight i must go to the library. I have reserved the new Dido CD and a Marcos Valle. So there shold be some hours of good music listening there!

I made a start last night on the many boxes which are in the garage. I found my Bali tape, and my Howls Moving Castle Audio book. Hurrah!

From my room i have a couple of old uni textbooks and some folders. That's really it, apart from the bulky shell fo the chest of drawers and a book case. Both of which will not fit in my car.

So i now focus on the garage. This is more difficult as not everything in the garage is mine, but as i did last night, i will go through it little by little...

posted by small 4:29 PM

I had an early morning training session for Kate on Saturday. she really worked me hard!So hard that my calves and backside hurt today! She also said that she could see a change in attitude in me, and is more confident that i will achieve me goals. Hurrah!

Hey, My Bebel cd came through the post on Saturday! Unfortunately it is WMA protected. This mean that i cannot play it through itunes (my preferred software for PC), nor can i make a copy of it so that i don't damage the original. Grr.

Sunday i had planned to do some revision in the evening, but Lindsay rang and i went round to her house to help her with an ecma and got home at 11pm!

posted by small 4:11 PM

rats. My PT cancelled last night, we arranged for today and she has just rung to cancel again. I am now booked in with another trainer for tomorrow morning.

I will have to discuss about not having to pay for last weeks session.

posted by small 4:08 PM

Yesterday i had around 45 pounds left in my account, today i have 170. I was rather puzzled by this so rang up the bank. I had forgotten that standby allowance was now going to be paid has an expense instead of through normal payroll. This means that i have enough to pay my council tax and next weeks petrol and not go in the red.

Of course it means that i am 125 quid down on my paycheck. But i suppose it's swings and roundabouts.

I will have to be careful again this month, but i know that i can do it.

This weekend i am going to attemp to spend as little money as possible. What i need to do is start shifting all the boxes from my dining room, into more appropriate places.

No CD. yet...

posted by small 3:52 PM

As part of the Big Push I am now onto my many folders of uni work. A lot of it got thrown away last night. Most of it is very out of date, or things that i have no intention of referring to again. I'm keeping the nice salford university folders that they were in though. Those will come in useful for my OU work. Next week, i will start on the last lot of folders, they are in the very top of my wardobe, and require a chair for me to reach.

With those gone, there is very little left. So what i actually need to do, and hope to do a little over the weekend, is to sort out everything that i have moved. You see, at the moment it has all been unceremoniously dumped in my "dining room".

No sign of my Bebel Cd.

I'm getting a bit worried.

I will wait anxiously until Monday though, before ringing up customer services.

posted by small 4:14 PM

Could my life get any worse? After helping mum give ear drops to Precious i now have nits which i caught from mum. Fantastic. The werid thing is, she is prepared to buy me lotion to try and get rid of them, but won't do anything about her own head. I guess another reason to leave...

I am still waiting for my Bebel CD, i hope it arrives in the next few days. I am very wary of ordering things to come to my house, and they often seem to go missing...

I spoke to hR about my bonus. It is 500 pounds each, but obviously with tax and NI it'll be around 350. Not that i am complaining, as that could buy me two very nice electrical gadgets. It will go through in next months payroll, so i think i will give some serious thought to opening a savings account and then when i get paid, simply putting 350 into it. After all, i tend to think for a long time about what i want.

posted by small 4:23 PM

I got home last night to find a letter from the Halifax. My mortgage has now gone through completely, but unfortunately i owe them interest for this month. So that it a rather unexpected 200 pounds that i have to pay. As i have been not spending too much over the last month i do have that around and may just about be able to manage. Just. It is such a shame, as i spent all that time to keep my head above water. Still, i guess that if i hadn't done that i would have put money on my credit cards and i want to avoid that. So i begin again. My secret plan was that in 5 months i would have enough "spare" money in my current account, that if i had to have work done on my car it could be done through there. Sadly that has now been put back another month.

and i got home to find my PT session was cancelled...

On a good note though, just before i left work i found out the my clients were so pleased with work that i had done that they have asked my company to give me a bonus! I am unsure whether it is 500 pounds between myself and the other guy on my team, or 500 each, but what a surprise! And i haven't mentally spent it either!

I don't know when i will get that money, but it will certainly be a nice surprise.

posted by small 2:23 PM

I went Belly dancing with Joolz and her friend Clare last night. It is so good to spend time with people my own age. We have promised that we will get together for a night out, and i fully intend to do that. she is also the first friend that i have had that will hug me. It is so nice!

I bought the Bebel CD via cd wow today. I used a voucher so it only cost me 7 pounds. I consider that excellent value for money (the last CD i bought was the Baebes and that over twice the price!). Now i just have to hope that it arrives. I will move somethings around so that my letterbox is easier to post things through...

I have a box in my car with more stuff, so i am very slowly getting there.

posted by small 4:50 PM

My ankle is really stopping me from doing better at Balance, I hope that it heals up soon. For the first time in a long time i needed my hooded sweatshirt on the way in to the gym. Those evenings are getting darker earlier...

Remember i work with two off-shore colleagues? One has come up to speed, and is now very reliable. The other...well let's just say that my team leaders end of year report wasn't very complimentary. And yet, that guy gets promoted! Me, i have never had a promotion and work very hard and certainly am far better than he is. And that isn't false modesty.

It makes me very sad.

Today I am just moving a few books. What i actually need to do is move a bookcase from one room to another. I may give that a go.

posted by small 4:39 PM

I went to the opticians on Saturday morning. She couldn't see any abrasions, but when i said that i thought it was under my eyelid she inverted the lid. And therefore she found something. Apparently i have an enflammed tarsal plate. So i know have some lubricatng drops and an appointment in a fortnight.

Then i had a whole day at the M500 revision weekend. It was manic, constantly doing membership cards. I was exhausted. I took two paracetamol and was in bed for 10pm.

Sunday i went to the gym, did some shopping and then generally lazed about. I moved some stuff around, but not much. I did buy a stanley knife, now all i need is the courage to use it!

I have around 200 pounds in my nationwide/telly fund. So i am looking seriously at what i can buy. All i want is something that has widescreen and a couple of scart sockets. Nothing too flash really. Then i can move my dvd player over. Ididn't move anything today, as the traffic is so bad that there simply isn't time to unload, unpack and get changed for Balance. I tried that last week, and ended up tripping over things. So i will get home, make a quick tea, if i have time, and head on out. When I am completely moved in, things will be much better!

posted by small 4:06 PM

As yesterday was Thursday it must be PT day with Leanne. We did 5 mins on the cross trainer and 5 minutes on the strider. Then 15 minutes on the treadmill. I couldn't do more the 3 on the incline as it just gave my ankle constant pain. Then i did leg presses which were rather painful, hamstring curls, and somethign on my quads. Apparently my quads are significantly weaker than my hamstrings which explains why i have knee pain.

Just one more thing to work on!

My mortage is very shortly going to go through! Because i over estimated how much i had left on the mortage, i got 120 back from the solicitors. As with all my extra money this is going in my nationwide account to by a widescreen tv. I must, by now, be very close to that goal.

I am going to drive to the otherside of Birmingham and put my TMA through my tutors door. The last one. ow i have no excuse but to concentrate on revising...

posted by small 4:28 PM

It seems like it's been a while since i wrote. In that time, Joolz contacted me about Belly Dancing, so i shall be doing that next week. I cannot wait, and hopefully my ankle will be up to it by then.

I had a tutorial on Saturday, and bumped into Mel twice when i was shopping in town before it! The first time was in Primark by the handbags. I might have guessed that woudl happen really! For the first time, during the tutorial, i felt that i might actually have a chance of passing this. I know so much vocab, although i still have a lot to learn.

posted by small 4:34 PM

PT session last night. I found out that I have put on weight, so i am hoping that by tomorrow i may have "just" maintained. I did 7.5 minutes on the stepper, and then we went upstairs for free weights. The same as last week, but i could actually do weight on my right arm during a "fly". This is an improvement! I then went on the treadmill and Leann discovered that if i walk at 2.6 i don't smack my feet down. And i could do inclines with much more ease (apart from my sprained ankle!). She decided that i have simply been going too fast, and we will build it up from 2.6. I then tried to do lat pull downs, but after the increase in free weights i found it quite a struggle.

Leanne is also going to help me with my eating. This is really my biggest problem area. I think if i can find a routine i will be fine. I am generally ok at home (although i confess that this week i bought two tubes of pringle and ate them both), so i need to be more careful during the day.

Tomorrow i have a tutorial, last but one, and i'm hoping to get my hair cut. It really needs it. It is another expense, but it does need doing.

posted by small 4:24 PM

The BBC website has some cool quizzes. According to them I am a supervisor type. This is probably due to the fact that i do like lists and plans and loathe people being late! I am also a "musical thinker", and it's true, i do think of songs a lot and can often be found humming to myself. When learning my vocab i often make up little songs to remember things by!

As for my big push, I am doing well. Of course, I am finding more things to add to my list, but that's ok. I really, really need to sort out about the carpet. I have the money to pay for it. Hmm maybe that should be my next step. Sunday i should go and get a quote, and then I should try and work out how I can get the money from my new broker (we had some restricted shares released, and the company put them into a a different broker account than my usual one).

The reason for the carpet...well i'm running out of places to put my stuff! And there is little point moving it into my bedroom when i need to move everything out of it!

posted by small 4:23 PM

It turns out that i actually had 100 pounds more than i thought i did! Somewhere along the line Ms Money had messed up. This is good news, and means that i can afford the payment for my contact lenses. And has reminded me that I can afford my little treat of a film magazine once a month. But i am going to keep living frugally, as I am more determined than ever to pay off more of my debts.

I have decided not to go to see Bebel. I have such a bad memory that in truth i will probably not remember it in 3 months. Instead I will use my 30 pounds expenses to buy her CD. I can enjoy that. If she releases a video then i will buy that. The Baebes video is a little odd (it was recorded for a canadian tv show), but seeing them visually is great! And i can watch them anytime!

posted by small 4:24 PM