August 2016 Week Two
De Dum De Dum...One of those weeks when I don't know where the week has gone. Took Stan the Van down to the park over the weekend and had myself a little BBQ and chill out listening to music. Few people came by to nosey and said it looked fairly cool. Wonder how cool they would think it was if they knew I was living in it full time :)
Sorted the smell in STAN, was just some installation I had missed. All sorted and happy. Got one of those airwick battery powered air fresheners that goes off every 30 minutes or so....sorted :) Makes a big difference getting into a nice smelling Van.
The issue of finding time to do everything is still coming up. Can't believe I'm so busy that I can't get everything done. STAN really needs a wash. I said last weekend I'd do it but things keep cropping up. The issues of girls keeps coming up, the gym works worked a bit too well. Still going but I've split it to 2 days Gym and one day off. My body was just getting too tired....
So someone asked what do a I really miss the most? Ummmmmm
A Sleep in :)
Just staying in bed for the whole morning......
Routines still good. I've decided to park up permanently at the business I told you about. The owners really cool about it and actually asked me if I would mind parking over the weekend blocking the warehouse doors....seriously, if you are thinking about doing this consider this option. Find a Business with a Warehouse on a industrial estate and just go and ask! Best thing I ever did.
The owner as I said gives me free Wi-Fi now and if comes in early bangs on the side of STAN with a cup of coffee. He thinks I'm barking mad doing this and should have just gone bankrupt.
So in another week we'll be into month 5...wow...5 months of living in STAN. I'm surprised I've stuck it out, I honestly didn't think I could. I thought I would miss the material things too much. Guess I was wrong :)
So plans for the rest of the month? One of the things I regret is not going more places so determined to take STAN on another trip this weekend, maybe to Sandsend.
I might draw up an agenda of places to go...
Booked the Chrimbo break away, so I'll park STAN up at the airport and depart for 10 days in the sun. Ten days for £400 seems worth it, I've converted some non taken holiday into pay so its really cost me nothing....Another week and we can cross off some more debt :)
That's about it this week...catch you all in a week or so
Tuesday 23 August 2016
Saturday 13 August 2016
August 2016 Week One
Happy August everyone! Well I suppose the most important news are what are the scores on the Stealth Van Man and Stan the Van doors for debt this month? Well...you know I had a lapse and blew a load of money last month on a weekend away so I was sort of dreading adding up the figures this month. I'd spent far less on food etc this month for some reason...for those of you thinking I skimp on food I actually eat far more than I did previousily, and far nicer too...but buying just what I need means I don't have any waste at all. I remember before this that I would think nothing of £150 on a weekly shop....wow...lets see what I spent this month....ummm...its a magical £54.00
That's not £54.000 for the week...that's £54.00 for a month. So what do I actually eat? Someone emailed me in so I'm going to list my menu's for the week and the cost - I mainly shop at Aldi and Lidl...and car boot sales too :)
So lets deal with the carboot Stuff!
Kellogg's Breakfast Bar Cereal Things - I get 25 Bars for a £1 £0.25
Tins of Marks and Spencer Lamb Curry (70% Lamb) £4.20 at M&S, I pay £1 each £2.00
Tins of Marks and Spencer Chilli con Carne (70% Lamb) £4.20 at M&S, I pay £1 each £2.00
Air Freshener cans for STAN, the auto spray ones £1.00
Banana's, enough for 2 a day £1.00
Pink Lady Apples, 2 a day £1.00
I ALWAYS buy these, the cereal bars last a month so I'll split it into 4 as I'll do this as a weekly spend...
Aldi Time!
Brooklea Authentic Greek Yogurt
(Not the crap stuff) x2 £1.40
Cottage Cheese and Chive tubs x 3 £1.50
Lettuce £0.50
Tomataoes £0.50
Beetroot £0.40
Continental Meat Selection
Cooked Ham Bits £1.60
Fresh ravoli/Tortelli pasta £1.00
Proper Feta Cheese £1.00
Mixed Granola Tropical Fruits £1.20
Sea Salt/Black Pepper Biscuit Thins x 2 £1.20
Peanuts £0.40
80% Dark Chocolate Bar £1.30
Eggs £0.60
Tuna Tins £0.60
Bread Thins £0.60
Mackerel in Spicy Tomato Sauce £0.60
Long Grain Brown Rice Microwave x 2 £1.20
Now I can add up the same as you guys and I know that comes to around £20.00, but some of those things last for the whole month and are one of purchases...I always have food over each week, so it does average at around £15 a week or so.
I do have the occasional extra such as shampoo, etc but it tends to merge into the £15 and not affect it. The only major expense apart from that is Aftershave but I use a website called Fragrance direct and get a large aftershave I use for £22...that's a third of the high street store...and yes its genuine....they have like a billion reviews. I'm not trying to fudge the figures, this is my life...pointless lying to myself :)
So what do I eat, lets list it :
Apple, Banana and Cereal Bar for Breakfast before Gym
10.30am Greek Yogurt and Granola for Brunch...the authentic stuff tastes amazing!
1.00pm Salad with Ham, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Mixed continental meat. Beetroot, sometimes Feta Cheese
5.30pm Rice or Pasta with either the Marks and Spencer stuff or tuna or something from above, I can vary it how I want. The above list contains enough for 7 evening meals
After Gym - I try and eat Mackerel on bread thin toast or something, but sometimes I'm just too tired. Sometimes I'll also split the evening meal and have half before and half after Gym.
Evenings : A piece of the 80% chocolate, the Biscuits with the cottage cheese...yummm...or just snack on some peanuts.
I may trade a Cottage cheese for a Pate every now and again...
Everything above just needs a microwave, so I use the one at work upto 5.30pm. The rest is fairly easy and makes NO mess...in STAN...that's what I like....
The only issue is that it can get repetitive...you see no fizzy drinks etc...I drink Coffee at work black and water the rest of the time. I've sort of giving up on eating in pubs now...I did that at the very start and tbh, I find the stuff I cook nicer.
So that's the shopping and meal list done. It may not be for everyone but it works for me
So, back to where all this started...I was hoping to pay off another credit agreement and realised I had not met that target due to the wasting the £200 at the weekend. I also realised that hitting these targets was very important to me mentally. Yes, I could have paid off £912 from the £1231 but it was nagging me that I had wasted the chance to get rid of another creditor. So I decided to dip into the emergency fund and pay the creditor in full. I can top the fund slowly backup, but knowing next month I don't have to pay out another £33 to that company makes me smile!
So here we are in August Total debt starting this was around £43K
I've paid off more than I thought, although the emergency fund is down to £700 now
so total debt now stands at £38.5K or so, so that's 4.5K and £700 emergency fund, £140 in Stan the Vans Maintenance fund, £45 in treat fund, that averages out at crazy repayments every month!
The snowball payments (when you pay of a debt in total and put it towards the next debt) now totals £177. That's £177 guaranteed towards another debt as well as the payments I can make normally. I have a debt at £798 that the target for next month, that would allow me to top up the emergency fund back to 1K...and I pay £55 a month towards that £798....get rid of that baby next month!
Anything else....prepping for winter started...I've become a ebay stalker for camper van heaters...
Gym is still fine...I want that under 13 magical figure this month, issue is I think I'm putting on muscle as fast as I take off weight...
I would LOVE a trainer for a few days...I'm doing everything self taught...not so good...anyone with any gym advice just let me know.
Okays...I'll catch up in a few days with more news of the Life of a Stealth Van Man
Happy August everyone! Well I suppose the most important news are what are the scores on the Stealth Van Man and Stan the Van doors for debt this month? Well...you know I had a lapse and blew a load of money last month on a weekend away so I was sort of dreading adding up the figures this month. I'd spent far less on food etc this month for some reason...for those of you thinking I skimp on food I actually eat far more than I did previousily, and far nicer too...but buying just what I need means I don't have any waste at all. I remember before this that I would think nothing of £150 on a weekly shop....wow...lets see what I spent this month....ummm...its a magical £54.00
That's not £54.000 for the week...that's £54.00 for a month. So what do I actually eat? Someone emailed me in so I'm going to list my menu's for the week and the cost - I mainly shop at Aldi and Lidl...and car boot sales too :)
So lets deal with the carboot Stuff!
Kellogg's Breakfast Bar Cereal Things - I get 25 Bars for a £1 £0.25
Tins of Marks and Spencer Lamb Curry (70% Lamb) £4.20 at M&S, I pay £1 each £2.00
Tins of Marks and Spencer Chilli con Carne (70% Lamb) £4.20 at M&S, I pay £1 each £2.00
Air Freshener cans for STAN, the auto spray ones £1.00
Banana's, enough for 2 a day £1.00
Pink Lady Apples, 2 a day £1.00
I ALWAYS buy these, the cereal bars last a month so I'll split it into 4 as I'll do this as a weekly spend...
Aldi Time!
Brooklea Authentic Greek Yogurt
(Not the crap stuff) x2 £1.40
Cottage Cheese and Chive tubs x 3 £1.50
Lettuce £0.50
Tomataoes £0.50
Beetroot £0.40
Continental Meat Selection
Cooked Ham Bits £1.60
Fresh ravoli/Tortelli pasta £1.00
Proper Feta Cheese £1.00
Mixed Granola Tropical Fruits £1.20
Sea Salt/Black Pepper Biscuit Thins x 2 £1.20
Peanuts £0.40
80% Dark Chocolate Bar £1.30
Eggs £0.60
Tuna Tins £0.60
Bread Thins £0.60
Mackerel in Spicy Tomato Sauce £0.60
Long Grain Brown Rice Microwave x 2 £1.20
Now I can add up the same as you guys and I know that comes to around £20.00, but some of those things last for the whole month and are one of purchases...I always have food over each week, so it does average at around £15 a week or so.
I do have the occasional extra such as shampoo, etc but it tends to merge into the £15 and not affect it. The only major expense apart from that is Aftershave but I use a website called Fragrance direct and get a large aftershave I use for £22...that's a third of the high street store...and yes its genuine....they have like a billion reviews. I'm not trying to fudge the figures, this is my life...pointless lying to myself :)
So what do I eat, lets list it :
Apple, Banana and Cereal Bar for Breakfast before Gym
10.30am Greek Yogurt and Granola for Brunch...the authentic stuff tastes amazing!
1.00pm Salad with Ham, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Mixed continental meat. Beetroot, sometimes Feta Cheese
5.30pm Rice or Pasta with either the Marks and Spencer stuff or tuna or something from above, I can vary it how I want. The above list contains enough for 7 evening meals
After Gym - I try and eat Mackerel on bread thin toast or something, but sometimes I'm just too tired. Sometimes I'll also split the evening meal and have half before and half after Gym.
Evenings : A piece of the 80% chocolate, the Biscuits with the cottage cheese...yummm...or just snack on some peanuts.
I may trade a Cottage cheese for a Pate every now and again...
Everything above just needs a microwave, so I use the one at work upto 5.30pm. The rest is fairly easy and makes NO mess...in STAN...that's what I like....
The only issue is that it can get repetitive...you see no fizzy drinks etc...I drink Coffee at work black and water the rest of the time. I've sort of giving up on eating in pubs now...I did that at the very start and tbh, I find the stuff I cook nicer.
So that's the shopping and meal list done. It may not be for everyone but it works for me
So, back to where all this started...I was hoping to pay off another credit agreement and realised I had not met that target due to the wasting the £200 at the weekend. I also realised that hitting these targets was very important to me mentally. Yes, I could have paid off £912 from the £1231 but it was nagging me that I had wasted the chance to get rid of another creditor. So I decided to dip into the emergency fund and pay the creditor in full. I can top the fund slowly backup, but knowing next month I don't have to pay out another £33 to that company makes me smile!
So here we are in August Total debt starting this was around £43K
I've paid off more than I thought, although the emergency fund is down to £700 now
so total debt now stands at £38.5K or so, so that's 4.5K and £700 emergency fund, £140 in Stan the Vans Maintenance fund, £45 in treat fund, that averages out at crazy repayments every month!
The snowball payments (when you pay of a debt in total and put it towards the next debt) now totals £177. That's £177 guaranteed towards another debt as well as the payments I can make normally. I have a debt at £798 that the target for next month, that would allow me to top up the emergency fund back to 1K...and I pay £55 a month towards that £798....get rid of that baby next month!
Anything else....prepping for winter started...I've become a ebay stalker for camper van heaters...
Gym is still fine...I want that under 13 magical figure this month, issue is I think I'm putting on muscle as fast as I take off weight...
I would LOVE a trainer for a few days...I'm doing everything self taught...not so good...anyone with any gym advice just let me know.
Okays...I'll catch up in a few days with more news of the Life of a Stealth Van Man
Monday 1 August 2016
July 2016 Week 4
Bit late with the post this week, been a bit of a busy one :) So lets get the basics out of the way, was it a good week or a bad week.....I guess a sort of in the middle week would best describe it. Stan the VAN started to get claustrophobic a few days into this week, it sort of felt like "what has my life come too" days.
Bit hard to describe what it feels like, its not like a depression, you just look around and think "why has life come to this?" Managed to kick myself out of it by remembering what an old boss told me once. I was feeling down and he took me around the local supermarket and pointed out I was not stacking shelves, collecting trolleys, etc...that actually my work life was fairly good. That's not to say I have anything against those jobs, his point was to take things in perspective...so that's what I did...went for a walk around town, looked around etc.
I'm not homeless...I have STAN the VAN, most homeless people would kill for that. I have a 20K car sat next to it, food in the cupboards, money in the bank. If I wanted too I could go buy a meal, or go to the cinema...time to see things in reality!
So after that I sort of picked myself up and cracked on with things.
Had a few unexpected bills this month :(
Just life I guess...but at least this time I did not pile it onto a credit card, I paid cash. I've worked out I've paid around 4K of debt off in 4 months, still leaves 40K or so but I can see that this WILL work, just going to take time. Someone asked me if I would move back into a house with manageable debt level if I could...so if I could afford the rent and bills and move into a house and still have 15K or so debt would I?
Ummm..to say I'm tempted is an understatement. But the answer would be no. I just want this gone. I can't imagine anything worse than having to do this again. Yes its a long time living in a Van, but you know what? I'm 4 months in already...lets just tick those months off :)
What else? Had another weekend away and bumped into another issue and I'm really annoyed with myself. A problem cropped up that I never expected and I need to guard against it. Having money in the bank rather than living on credit cards sort of changed my mindset and while I was away I slipped back into old habits with friends, buying rounds, etc and before I knew it I had spent close to £200 for the weekend.
That was £200 I could have paid of debts. Really mad with myself, the issue was I started thinking "If I pay £800 instead of £1000 this month would it really matter?" Yeah, it matters
I worked out that's probably another week in the STAN
So, I've made a compromise. I'm going to put some money away each money as a "treat" kitty.
Luckily STANs diesel costs are covered under expenses, so with the money for maintenance I put aside each month he doesn't cost me that much. I just have to remember that I'm doing this for a very specific reason.
Anyways, what else? Gym is really paying off, people are really starting to notice. I'm down to around 13st now, could do with another stone but starting to tone up a lot more. I actually got into a shirt I haven't been able to in 7 years....downside is I think I'm going to have to buy some more cloths...Ebay time :)
STAN....hit a problem I had not expected. He's starting to smell a bit damp. No idea why, just over the past week. I've laundered all the cushions, etc but I can still smell it. Its got me a bit worried for winter, I think I wilkl need a heating system so I'm out hunting for something suitable now.
Payday in 4 days, be interesting what I can pay off this month....I have one credit agreement at £1231.00, If I could pay that off I would be Happy Bunny, another one to cross out :)
Cya all next week for an update
Bit late with the post this week, been a bit of a busy one :) So lets get the basics out of the way, was it a good week or a bad week.....I guess a sort of in the middle week would best describe it. Stan the VAN started to get claustrophobic a few days into this week, it sort of felt like "what has my life come too" days.
Bit hard to describe what it feels like, its not like a depression, you just look around and think "why has life come to this?" Managed to kick myself out of it by remembering what an old boss told me once. I was feeling down and he took me around the local supermarket and pointed out I was not stacking shelves, collecting trolleys, etc...that actually my work life was fairly good. That's not to say I have anything against those jobs, his point was to take things in perspective...so that's what I did...went for a walk around town, looked around etc.
I'm not homeless...I have STAN the VAN, most homeless people would kill for that. I have a 20K car sat next to it, food in the cupboards, money in the bank. If I wanted too I could go buy a meal, or go to the cinema...time to see things in reality!
So after that I sort of picked myself up and cracked on with things.
Had a few unexpected bills this month :(
Just life I guess...but at least this time I did not pile it onto a credit card, I paid cash. I've worked out I've paid around 4K of debt off in 4 months, still leaves 40K or so but I can see that this WILL work, just going to take time. Someone asked me if I would move back into a house with manageable debt level if I could...so if I could afford the rent and bills and move into a house and still have 15K or so debt would I?
Ummm..to say I'm tempted is an understatement. But the answer would be no. I just want this gone. I can't imagine anything worse than having to do this again. Yes its a long time living in a Van, but you know what? I'm 4 months in already...lets just tick those months off :)
What else? Had another weekend away and bumped into another issue and I'm really annoyed with myself. A problem cropped up that I never expected and I need to guard against it. Having money in the bank rather than living on credit cards sort of changed my mindset and while I was away I slipped back into old habits with friends, buying rounds, etc and before I knew it I had spent close to £200 for the weekend.
That was £200 I could have paid of debts. Really mad with myself, the issue was I started thinking "If I pay £800 instead of £1000 this month would it really matter?" Yeah, it matters
I worked out that's probably another week in the STAN
So, I've made a compromise. I'm going to put some money away each money as a "treat" kitty.
Luckily STANs diesel costs are covered under expenses, so with the money for maintenance I put aside each month he doesn't cost me that much. I just have to remember that I'm doing this for a very specific reason.
Anyways, what else? Gym is really paying off, people are really starting to notice. I'm down to around 13st now, could do with another stone but starting to tone up a lot more. I actually got into a shirt I haven't been able to in 7 years....downside is I think I'm going to have to buy some more cloths...Ebay time :)
STAN....hit a problem I had not expected. He's starting to smell a bit damp. No idea why, just over the past week. I've laundered all the cushions, etc but I can still smell it. Its got me a bit worried for winter, I think I wilkl need a heating system so I'm out hunting for something suitable now.
Payday in 4 days, be interesting what I can pay off this month....I have one credit agreement at £1231.00, If I could pay that off I would be Happy Bunny, another one to cross out :)
Cya all next week for an update
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)