£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

LiveLifeFull · 21 February 2018 at 3:01PM

Hello!

Just wanted to say thank you for telling us all your journey. I've kept up with your diary since you first started it, and could never comment as I didn't have my own account. But I have finally started my own diary and I just wanted you to know that you have inspired many people!

I think its great that you haven't sacrificed EVERYTHING, and still managed to pay off debt. You've kept up certain appearances, your children haven't gone without and you still managed to pay off debt last year. There were times throughout the past year, where I wanted to make an account just so I could defend you against some of the comments you have received and show some support.

Your method suits me down to a tea - so cheers

Treadingonplaymobil · 21 February 2018 at 6:29PM

Enthusiasticsaver the decision to keep the car rests entirely on how much it's going to cost on Friday! I will get them to call me once they have taken a look but before they start the work and make a decision.

LiveLifeFull thank you so much for your kind words! It's not always been the most straightforward journey and I know we have made 'wrong' decisions, but we're making progress which at the moment is the most important thing.

Exciting news: DH's tiny pay rise (1%? 2%? Something like that) has been confirmed and is back dated to January, so he should have around £100-125 extra in his payslip this month, which will be nice - combined with no council tax bill in March it will give us a good extra chunk of dosh in.

Cherryfudge · 21 February 2018 at 7:03PM

Super news on the extra money, TOPM!

Welcome to the boards LiveLifeFull

What a nice post

Treadingonplaymobil · 21 February 2018 at 8:31PM

Just checking in while I get a moment at my friend's house, where I'm staying before working in London tomorrow. Managed to bring plenty of snacks so hoping for a cheap day - have avoided spending today, which is good.

So pleased about DH's extra money for next month. Still no confirmation on this hypothetical bonus so I won't count that, but even the extra £100ish back pay and £140 not going on the council tax will make a difference. At least if the car goes horrendously over budget we can afford to pay back any savings pots we raid! Although would rather not have to raid them at all.

Three things to do today
1. Pack lunches, snacks etc for going away. Done.
2. Pack actual clothes etc for going away! Done.
3. Contract work for next week. Done.

Savings/Spends:
- £12.17 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Treadingonplaymobil · 22 February 2018 at 6:01AM

Week 54: Day 4

Woohoo, DH got paid (for some reason I thought next thurs was still feb and was payday, hadn't realised it would be today) and it was a whopping £142 extra. I'm not doing anything ambitious with the money thanks to The Car Of Doom. I've used £70 of the extra to rebalance DH's expenses pot (which sits in the negative until his expenses get paid, which is annoying if it happens after the end of the month because of the way YNAB deals with end of month shortfalls, so I've just balanced it up and will add the £70 of expenses as ordinary income when it comes in) and the remainder of the extra is in the car pot for tomorrow's Service Of Doom.

As well as the £70 from DH's salary, I've also had another £40 of income which has gone into the pot, so it now stands at £360, plus another £52 of emergency fund. Surely that has to be enough?! I really hope so, will be on tenterhooks tomorrow until I know.

I've got up early to do yoga after a somewhat late night (all of 10:30pm, but struggled to sleep thanks to too much caffeinated tea - I'm normally asleep by 9:30!) so I'd better go and actually do it now!

Three things to do today
1. Yoga.
2. Keep spends low/nonexistent while in London and travelling home today.
3. Keep on top of emails etc today so I don't have lots to do tomorrow.

Savings/Spends:
- £13.22 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Suffolk_lass · 22 February 2018 at 8:49AM

I was thinking about your car - It does sound as though you use the same garage each time you get your car looked at. One possibility is to discuss with them whether your anticipated expensive repair is going to fix it once and for all, or is it (in their opinion) the first of many potential expensive spends that are coming (due to the age and condition of certain parts, etc). Then you will understand better the context you are in. If you would then go ahead but are struggling with cash-flow - be cheeky, ask if you can split it by paying £350 now and the remainder next month. They can only say no and it could be the difference between having a car and not.

It is really impressive the way you have positively boosted that pot in anticipation this month. Maybe your car gets repaired and you supercharge a pot to put together a replacement car pot, and ask your garage to keep their eyes open for you (they would get a small margin) - there are often elderly people who are giving up a little-used car with a good service history and maybe that should be your next car. Our local garage gets a small number of these where the person asks them to help them sell it. Basically I am saying start planning for your vehicle's replacement a bit more actively.

In your context this might be much lower cost than going for an approved used car from a dealer, and if the garage knows they will get your ongoing business they won't sell you a pup.

September before last DH wrote our car off (and another one) when he dozed off on a major trunk road in Friday night rush-hour traffic (too-tired-teacher syndrome) - sorry to the thousands whose journey home was miserable! We had to get another car immediately - quite literally two days later and it was unplanned. I used some mortgage overpayment savings, and a 0% cash advance for nine months deal on my existing CC to bridge the rest. Replacement car finance is never a happy place but we managed this with just the 1.9% CC fee with a further impact on how long I work.

You do have a chance to explore your options if you think the end is near for your car.

JoJoC · 22 February 2018 at 10:44AM

Well done on boosting your car repair pot in advance of the potentially nasty bill, and it's risen considerably over a short period of time. Hope the damage isn't too bad tomorrow...

Treadingonplaymobil · 22 February 2018 at 11:01AM

It's interesting - what I have used to boost the car savings is the sort of money (extra income from me, unexpected money from DH's work etc) I had in some months last year and was using to prop up our regular spending, and still wasn't managing to keep savings pots topped up. I've been lucky in that it has been a good month, with no council tax and a good few work bookings, but I'm amazed that I've managed to pull over £300 together in only a couple of weeks. Shows what you can do when you focus!

The garage we are using tomorrow is a new to us one, recommended by a friend - the previous one wasn't great and was very expensive. If they say the car is going to be £600+ then DH and I will have a serious discussion about going carless for a while (we could manage for at least a couple of months) and figure out a longer term solution. Would be a total nightmare financially though - we would need to use some money to hire cars occasionally for work etc, so wouldn't be able to save hundreds each month, so would possibly end up needing a loan to finance a new car, which would actually make me cry after all our efforts to bring our outgoings under control.

Suffolk_lass · 22 February 2018 at 6:37PM

I am so impressed with your active and focussed attention on all areas of your outgoings, especially over the last four/five months and extra-especially this month. Be very proud of yourself and reflect that although you are finding it hard, your progress is remarkable and take a moment to bask in that little ray of sunshine.

I did not want to upset you with the car post, it was intended to suggest you are not without options and maybe ask around to see if anyone in your circle has any insight into good value low cost alternatives if it comes to it - sometimes people with company cars get the option to buy them at low cost at the end of the lease - they may be fairly new, high mileage but regularly serviced, reliable spacious models. Or maybe someone's grandparent is giving up driving and has a nice little runner, a bit older but cherished.

Please don't cry. You really do have it in you to fix this.

Treadingonplaymobil · 23 February 2018 at 6:07AM

Week 54: Day 5

Morning! Tried to check in on the way home yesterday but my phone kept logging me out as I went to post, so I gave up.

Suffolk lass I'm OK really about the car, it's just frustrating that every time I feel like I'm making progress it seems like we take another huge step backwards. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed today and hoping it all comes in at a sensible sum.

Will drop off the car at 9am after the school run, then be on tenterhooks until they call!

I have my sister and her partner staying this weekend, so it's going to be a challenge to keep things on budget. I'll make a big pot of bean soup for tonight so if they're hungry when they arrive that will be available (and I'll serve it or something from the freezer for Saturday lunch), then stew tomorrow night with beef skirt, which is always cheap. On Sunday I'm planning a big brunch then an easy late lunch of veggie quiche, potatoes etc. There's £31 left in the food budget for the rest of the month, and we need a few things like milk and porridge oats for next week to limp us through until the end of the month, so I've got £15-20 to play with for the weekend, which will need to cover the beef skirt.

The reason they are coming is to try out wedding cake ideas, so I also need to make a sample cake today (I have made a couple of cakes before, including my own). The cake will be fairly expensive but I agreed to do it in exchange for some expensive work that my sister's partner did for me about 18 months ago. I've started a little savings pot in YNAB (love YNAB :T ) where I will try to scrape a few quid each month until Cake Time so I don't have to use up much of our food budget for that month baking the cake.

Three things to do today
1. Drop off car, weep at price.
2. Bake cake.
3.Order some stock for work.

Savings/Spends:
- £14.62 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.[/QUOTE]

£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

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