HUGE challenge for you all!

Beki

we booked a holiday to disneyland a few weeks ago, to leave on 4th january staying for 6 days, 5 nights - half board.

this was gonna cost us £1007 + insurance. so we paid the deposit of £107 plus insurance and have to find the balance by 5th november.

now i've just gone and done something REALLY stupid :rotfl:

i looked online at their website and saw that we could almost double the length of our stay - go for 11 days, 10 nights - for only another £580 - so i was like OMG yeaaahhhh!!! we HAVE to do it! :T

al got off the phone to them a few minutes ago after us having a look at our finances, and extended our holiday :T

i've just had another look at our finances, and omg... we are gonna scrape through by the skin of our teeth paying for this holiday by 5th november :eek: i must've read it wrong, cos i looked at it before he phoned and thought we'd be able to pay it off EASILY. but it seems that my teeny little brain got a bit confused :rotfl:

IF we can pay it off, it's gonna mean REALLY budgeting for the next 2 months. even my 'shopping challenge' i've given myself of £30 food a week - i think we're gonna have to cut that down even more :eek:

omg i'm SUCH a t**t :rotfl:

we have to find £1316.75 by 5th november.

ANYWAY - the HUGE challenge is this I'm going to put my SOA here - and i'd like you to have a look through them and see if there's anything i can cut down on ie; if we could do our weekly shop for less etc?

Here goes *deep breath* :rotfl:

(the karate for DD really isn't negotiable, as she really doesn't do ANYTHING else, and i'd feel awful for taking away the one thing that she does do, and is really good at)

************************************************
SEPTEMBER 2008 BUDGET
OH’S INCOME -
12 – 4th
334 – 5th
12 – 11th
153 – 12th
12 – 18th
334 – 19th
12 – 25th
153 – 26th
TOTAL - 1022
MY INCOME –
92 – 6th
92 – 13th
217 – 20th
92 – 27th
TOTAL – 493
TOTAL COMBINED INCOME FOR SEPTEMBER – 1515

OUTGOINGS FOR SEPTEMBER –
21 – 1st - my car insurance
51 – 1st – BT
586 – 1st – mortgage
18 – 7th – AOL
47 – 7th – house & contents insurance
38 – 26th – oh’s car insurance
TOTAL OUTGOINGS – 761
ESSENTIALS FOR SEPTEMBER
18 – chook & dog food
120 – food shopping
30 – nappies & wipes
40 – karate
20 – petrol for rare breeds centre on 2nd
150 – petrol for oh’s work and picking up DD
TOTAL ESSENTIALS – 378
TOTAL OUTGOING FOR SEPTEMBER – 1139
MONEY TO PUT IN SAVINGS - 376

OCTOBER 2008 BUDGET
OH’S INCOME –
12 – 2nd
334 – 3rd
12 – 9th
153 – 10th
12 – 16th
334 – 17th
12 – 23rd
153 – 24th
12 – 30th
334 – 31st
TOTAL - 1368
MY INCOME –
92 – 4th
92 – 11th
217 – 18th
92 – 25th
TOTAL – 493
TOTAL COMBINED INCOME FOR OCTOBER – 1849
OUTGOINGS FOR OCTOBER –
21 – 1st - my car insurance
51 – 1st – BT
586 – 1st – mortgage
18 – 7th – AOL
47 – 7th – house & contents insurance
38 – 26th – oh’s car insurance

TOTAL OUTGOINGS – 761
ESSENTIALS FOR OCTOBER
18 – chook & dog food
120 – food shopping
30 – nappies & wipes
40 – karate
150 – petrol for oh’s work and picking up DD
TOTAL ESSENTIALS – 358
TOTAL OUTGOINGS FOR OCTOBER – 1119
MONEY TO PUT IN SAVINGS - 730

HEEELLPPPPPPPPPPP
Oh, and we *should* get about £275 between us on our birthdays at the end of october (we share the same birthday).

whatatwit

If you usually get money for Christmas....could you ask for it early....I know my mum would go for that.
Otherwise get hunting round the house and sell everything that's not nailed down on E-bay.

whatatwit

A more constructive suggestion now......what have you got in the kitchen cupboards & freezer....if you can make the most of that and scour the boards for any supermarket offers and boots offers for nappies then that will help.

PS...have you factored in the tax refund that may be due in September.....Gordon Brown's massive U-turn on hammering the low paid

lauren_1

Dont worry, a shiney silver car caught my eye one day.....
Firstly sell sell sell EVERYTHING you dont need, wear or can do without.
Join the shopping budget challenge, can you DD not try brownies or rainbows depending on her age (just until after the holiday) we only pay £2 or so a week and they dont need a uniform until they take their promise 6-7 weeks after joining.

lucysmam

Instead of buying baby wipes get some old towels cut up into squares and use them in the house maybe? I do and it saves us a fortune on wipes, we only use 1 packet a month. Dip in weak chammomile tea(sp?) and a tiny drop of baby oil before using to help them glide & I soak mine until I'm washing towels in napisan.

food wise, I've been reading a thread on here about feeding a family of 4 for £20 a month (not got the hang of links yet sorry) which may be of some use to you.

Other than that, meal plan around what you already have in until you can't physically make anything else out of what you have. Don't randomly wander to the shop for a pint of milk - I ALWAYS send oh so I don't get sidetracked by offers or munchies while there

gunsandbanjos

Maybe a bit drastic, but if you are up to date with your mortgage payments, some lenders will let you take a 'payment holiday' for 1 or 2 months. They will only let you do this if you havent missed any payments etc. HTH

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

(Looks disapprovingly at OP for booking holiday when signature says 'only just scraping by' but thinking sales staff are paid to get people in this situation - tut, tut )

cut out the baby wipes and replace with pack of cotton wool/warm water/dab of soap? At a packet a week, that's about £40 towards the total.

Try to not use your car at all. Am assuming that BT costs can be reduced by not using the phone as much. Have no idea if there is a penalty for bumping the DD - if there isn't, perhaps a request to the bank to hold it? By the time BT get shirty, you may have made another £100.

Bust food down to basics ranges. Bust dogs down to cheap stuff - it's only for a couple of months.

Swear to yourself and your kids that you will NEVER, NEVER get caught out like that again.

lauren_1

Reusable wipes are one of those things you dont really think about trying but wish you did earlier when you do use them, along with washable nappies, using a steamer/SC and Stardrops.

Once you pay off the holiday i doubt you will leave the OS board, its an addiction you know:rotfl:

lauren_1

Check out the stardrops thread to see what you can substitue around the home.

MUMOF4_2

Great deal on the holiday, i can see why you got carried away!!! electric/gas isnt on your outgoings, or council tax. I have my fingers and toes crossed that those were missed off as you have already paid for them??as this could affect your budget dramatically. Best of luck!

Miss_Cinnabon

hmm might be doable, or might not:D

cut back where you can, budget for your shopping etc
sell sell and sell again, ebay, amazon, carboots etc
enter some comps, there is a comp finishing tomorrow to win 25k;)
use the car less, walk or cycle if you can

susie