LBM!!! Pinkys NS Diary

Pinky15

Well had a lovely day today and spent my xmas money at shops for £50 I got - dressing gown, slippers, 2x oils for my burner, body shop stretch mark cream (worth a go lol), leggings and a new top. I didnt use my card at all and stuck to my budget so was really pleased. Popped into M&S and got some reduce wrap and bows so wont need any at all for next year. Didnt go through budget with DH last night so will have a crack tonight. Couldnt post my parcels either as forgot it was a bank hol and therefore post office shut - oops. Tomorrow going to take kids to locak play centre and let them run off some steam. It is sooo cold and icy here they havent been able to play out much so thought this would do us all good. I will take our own drinks and own sandwiches for after. Havent told them yet as thought it would be nice surprise.

katieclampet

Well done with your bargains pinky. I've been shopping today, and there were some nice bits & pieces around, but also a lot of tat. What kind of storage boxes did you get in wilcos? I'm after some with lids.

katie

Pinky15

They were in the sale KC I think £2.79 each and had lids already on inside of boxes I thought they were a good bargain and they helped me organise some the the toys!
Me and DH sat down and have sorted our finanaces together for next few months. At the end of Jan if we follow our budget we will have both overdrafts cleared which will be fab infact one will be cleared next week - yey!
Got really cross this pm with BT they changed our phoneline payment from £14 per month to £26 !!!!!! was not impressed DH on the case looking for a new deal! I told them they should have contacted me first before helping themselves to extra money from my account without telling me - was soooo cross:mad: - anyway as soon as we have a new deal they can get stuffed they have given me nowt but hassle so will try again with a new company!
Anyway our new budget fro new Jan 4th 2010 consists of a weekly spend of £100. From this comes diesal (should be about £40 per month if I am careful) food and any extra spends. In our new budget I have not accounted at all for any overtime as this will immediately go towards the CCard or any other bills which come in,. Once the debt is cleared this money will be our own so we will certainly feel the benefit over the year DH usually earns around £4500 in overtime so this would easily help pay the ccard off however he is due a payrise in april so that will help sort the debt quicker. We also have a £110 direct debit set up so we dont miss any payments - its a 0% card also. Any money I have left over I will give to mum to hang onto for DS Bd which is in May and our camping trip which is in Feb. Anything over that (hmmm wishful thinking) can help towards the PAD! Loads to ebay in Feb I am going to put any money raised towards Next bill and then when it is paid off I will close this account and go instore should I need anything! So I feel reallty orgainsed now and feel like DH is on board. I am going to use my diary to update from my £100 what I spent during the week and feel free to tell me off if needed lol!

mummy2mygirls

I'm all ready to tell you off :D - no really you sound very organised and like you have it all under control i bet it wont be long before you see the debt going down :j
Glad you got some lovely bits from your xmas money and well done on not going over your budget!! I find it sooo easy to get dragged into the sales and spend because its reduced etc Well i need to go this week and will be good and not buy things i dont need.......

x

Pinky15

Well had a bit of a rubbish day today and didnt get much done:mad:
Kids are being horrid at moment and running round being noisy and generally squabbling --- aahhhhh!
Have just sorted my budget but feel like giving up already. I have not a penny till mon and have nearly ran out of coal and oil!!! Will have to just try and sub oil out of weekly spend till DH gets more overtime - I really wonder if we will ever get a break! Car is leaking oil too and DH reckons it oculd possibly cost £1000 too fix:mad: If it does cost this then think we may have to get rid or ask OH parents if we can borrow the money and pay them back. Feel really down now I feel we just got our money and budget sorted and already need to pay out for things we cant afford!! Right rant over going to find a large hole to crawl into now .

Pinky15

Well had a better day today - DH was overestimating cost of car and thinks if it needs fixing could be bout half that (guess he thought saying the orginal cost was funny - not:mad:).
Anyway only money spent today was £5.00 on rabbit food which should last till the end of the month. Going to have a NSD tomorrow and take the kids to the woods to let off steam - with the weather being awful havent been playing out much and they could really do with getting out! Will take drinks and snacks with us! Have almost done meal planning for next ten days am getting DH to look over and add anything else he thinks. We have checked what we have in the cupboards to help us with the plans. DH mum was very kind and sent a pasta dish over for our tea. I think they know we are skint so both sets of parents are very kind at helping us out. I know they always say they remember what it was like to be skint with little ones. i know we will do the same too when our little ones grow up and have children of their own.
Today DH paid some of our xmas money into the bank and one of the overdrafts has been completely cleared yehhh!! The other we reduced by £40 and will be cleared completely at end of Jan.
DH has some overtime next weekend so should be able to pay extra off ccard! Will update sig as debt should have gone down by bout £200. In March I have a savings account which matures. So I have been playing about with what to use it for
- £200 towards new bathroom (trust me we are desperate) but.. we have to save for tiles ourself, DH and FIL will fit and tile and hopefully we can rope someone into putting floor tiles down for us.
- £150 off ccard
and the rest will go into our online savings account as a back up. I will continue to pay £20 per month into this to keep it ticking over. One day when we are debt free we may actually be able to add to this. Once this has matured it will release a direct debit payment of £100 per month which will come staight off credit card also. My main aim of 2010 is too try and pay off my Next bill and Credit card before September. Once these are paid off and I have left work I can then make small overpayments to my other loan which I can increase when I find something better to fit around the children therefore not incurring huge childcare costs and general holiday/sick children problems that many of us face eg - a night shift perhaps. Or DH boss may give him a payrise - hhhmm wishful thinking! Hope everyone is well!! x

Pinky15

Well have just checked online banking and both our pay's have gone in. DH must have had some overtime he had forgot about (if future he will be reminded to write in MY diary so I can check!) and the extra £150 + xmas money has cleared both overdrafts. I still have another £18 to go into one also as I am due a refund on an xmas pressie which was the wrong size - am just waiting for email confirmation of this. DS also wants a NDS for his bd they are reduced in Argos so Mam very kindly offered to get it on her CCard and I can pay her back - this is fab as it's about £30 off original price. I am going to ask family and friends to buy him some games now as they will get more for their money in the sales. The kids also need new bikes I will have a look at the carboots at easter but if not I may have to fork out for one. I will clean the old ones up tho and stick them on ebay on a local pick up may get £20 for both.
Keep checking on how ebay stuff is selling as I am still not sure if it is the right time to start listing items - I will see. I have loads to sell and reckin I may make about £60 which can come off my Next bill.
So am feeling more positive and am now living off the budget I will need to if I want to leave work and stay at home with last baby just till she goes to school. I will use my diary to keep on track and use any overtime and extra funds to pay credit card. If I can pay this car off then this will mean there is an extra £100 in the pot per month - so going to try sooo hard.
Today I will - check quidco tracking
- get childcare money for nursery for monday
- find tax stamp and stick on card
- fill in forms for post office xmas savings account
- check the house incase I can find a tin knocking about already - since I have been using the tin I can't stand loose change hanging around the house lol!
- Have a bit of housework to do yet but should nt take too long
- Take little ones for a walk so they can run around and make loads of noise!
Anyone have any plans for new year? x

katieclampet

Hi pinky,

pleased to see you are on an "up", as i've read through your diary, I can see how much progress you have made, in paying off your debts, and planning sensibley for the future AND still having a life. :A

You also seem to have good family support. I know whta its like to be young, skint and have a family to look after.

Best wishes for the new year, I am planning a quiet night in with a few friends & a xtakeaway,

katiex

Pinky15

Hi KC thanks for your reply - hope you have a lovely new year- takeaway and a few friends sounds lovely. We will probably open a bottle and finish off yesterdays tea rounded off with a selection box lol!
Started sorting out and adding to my new 79p diary today - added dates for fam all and tax credits so can keep track of them and wil also use this for my meal planning. Anyway cheated today and took £100 for weekly spend and spent £20. thought I should get some shopping in as I am back at work and find it so tricky to get to shops so this is what £20 got me
- Greggs (sausage rolls & gingerbread men) for all kids
- milk, cheese spread, crisps, cheddars, pancakes (1 too freeze), bananas & 2 loaves of bread
- Farm shop - chicken breasts and mince for freezer (part of meal plan)
So hopefully only other bits I will need are milk and fruit at end of week.
Total left for next week £80
My next £100 will be taken out a week on monday. thought this would be the best way of doing it as if we have the money at the weekend we tend to blow it at least if there is some left on a fri we won't feel guilty lol!

Hope everyone has a fab new year and here too a debt busting 2010!!!:j

Pinky15

Hi Everyone - have had a lovely new year been very busy and day has flown by we
- enjoyed some sledging/snowball fights
- had a lovely lunch at mums
- watched wizard of oz as we dozed on sofas eating choccies
- took tree and cards down and had a good tidy around
Tonight I need to
- sort out a pile of 'stuff' in kitchen
- load car for work stuff ready for mon
- check kids reading is up to date
On a money saver note had a NSD!
Checked online banking
I also wanted a Nintendo DS for DS or his bd and saw them on the grabbit thread. My mum kindly got it for me and then her and SIL said they would pay for it for his bd pressie! Fab - so I will look for some games to go with it and I am going to ask for money off relatives to out towards a bike for him - he will be so chuffed
I am going to get DH to set up our credit card online also so I can make overpayments straight from our bank and this way I can also keep an eye on it! Hope everyone is having a nice new years day too!