LBM!!! Pinkys NS Diary

brummiebabe

Just found your diary (don't get chance to get on her very often anymore...:rolleyes: ) - wanted to say to keep up the good work!! We're really trying not to use our credit card aswell - but haven't actually cut it up - but I so want to be in the position of being able to pay cash/have the cash to buy what we need!!!

Our big sacrifice this year is that we've decided we're not going to have a holiday - even a holiday here, with spending money, can cost a lot...so we've decided against it. DH's firm are making big changes & job situation is unclear - we also want to move house later this year (if poss..) - so have got lots to save for!!

Best of luck....I'll keep reading (when I get chance!)

Pinky15

Aww guys thankyou so much for your kind words!!
I must admit though I feel gulity today. Its my bd next week 30th woo hoo and to celebrate I cracked into my savings to pay for a nice hotel. My DH and I though hardly get any time together as we have 3 bambinos. The hotel was also 50% off and brekkie included. Having said that once upon a time I would have bunged it on the CC card and not worried but now I have paid outright! I am really looking forward to some time away - we all need a break sometimes and we have both been working so hard lately!!
Anyway I am back at work after maternity leave so I will get me first pay on Friday - yeah - unfortunately though I have
- a £250 oil bill
- £55 coal bill
- DD Riding lessons due £150 ( this is for 10 lessons though!)
I reckon if I have done my maths correctly though and we cut back we will manage.
My aim for next month though is to continue to pay off the CC and try and make some overpayments on our loan. I got really upset the other day about this when I realised what the interest rate was. So the plan is Pay this CC Card off which should be done in July. Then transfer as much of the loan to 0% credit card as poss to save on the interest whilst continuing to make the overpayments! Then we have 2 years left on our car loan to crack on with. Once these are paid we should have an extra £320 per month in the pot. Gosh all that money LOL!!!
Then my next plan will be (yes have big dreams!) In 2 years our fixed rate mortgage ends so we will go onto a tracker rate (if they are still low) and throw everything we can at out mortgage. We have 12 years left on this and my big dreams would be to pay it off in 6!! This would leave us then with an extra £920 in our account every month. Enough to have some great hols and put some away for my gorgeous babies!!
Well there you go my like plan for the next few years.
So every time I feel a bit fed up I try and remind myself of the long term goal!!
So tomorrow I need to
- go to work (obviously!)
- sort DD passport (am sure that was on last weeks list to do??)
- post some stuff for work
- post a couple of birthday invites
- try and talk ds into having a cheaper bd party (have already managed with dd1 and dd2 will only be 2 so that's an easy one!)
- also find some travel insurance (sure that was on last weeks too - hmmm havent made much progress on that one)
- We also need to start saving for a tow bar for the caravan. DH mum gave us their old one so we can start having some hols in this country as we find going abroad so expensive for 5 of us.
Anyway must get on washing to do telly to watch lol!! xx

alibob30

Hello Pinky,

You're doing so well, keep up the good work.
Enjoy your birthday, a night in a hotel sounds fantastic, i'm very jealous.

Pinky15

Aww thanks alibob. I know it seems extravegant but me and my DH have only had 1 night away from the kids in 7 years. So it really is a treat for us. Though my sis is staying at mine cos my DS likes his own bed whereas my gorgeous girlies will stay anywhere lol!!
I am already having a really hectic week have loads to do and as usual simply no time to do it! I have however sorted out the oil bill, and done an online asda order which will save me dragging baby out tomorrow after work. I also have courses for 2 nights some of my assignment to do. I need to sort out the bl**dy passport arrggghh. God will I ever get a break!!! Sorry fed up already now. xx

Pinky15

Well just a quick update today as I am supposed to be studying:mad:.
Had another hectic day. Spend £65 on my shopping delivered from asda today. I seemed to stock up on lots so didn't think that was too bad. I managed to do 5 hours overtime this week so a bit more to add to the pot. My main aim for the end of feb is too not be in my overdraft. If I can achieve this I will be really chuffed cause it means I will have more to pay off bills and the cc next month. feb is generally a short month which should help. And only one birthday lol! x

Pinky15

Well have just got back from my weekend away and am pleased to say I had a lovely relaxing time!!
On another note I feel soooo guilty at spending £200 on a posh hotel!
My DH said this was a one off though and we deserve it. He has put in for loads of overtime in March so we will be able to make an overpayment this month. Unfortunately we have a whopping Next bill this month. My DH has just got a free interest CC and are going to move the balance to here which will relieve us of the 27% interest rate. I will also close my account on this so we no longer spend on it. I never get a VIP invite anyway so won't make any difference. I will attempt to give my mum £20 a month and not let her give it back till sale shopping after christmas! At least that way I will have something to spend! Anyway going of track here. This month as I mentioned in an earlier post my main aim is not to be in the overdraft! If we can manage that then we will be able to overpay on the CC cards!!! Here goes..

Pinky15

Well having a quiet day today so far i have
- hoovered
- sorted tea out for tonight
- put washing on
- Sorted shopping out
On a happy note we got our credit card bill and for the first time ever we paid some money off!!!! We cut it up last month and therefore no money has gone on it. I also have £170 put aside as an extra payment towards it in a couple of weeks. We are being really careful with the bank accounts also. I am determined not too go into those overdrafts still!!! The extra money will go towards overpaying on one of the loans. I have used the snowball caluculator and worked out if I overpay by £100 per month we could pay it off in 2 and a half years. At the rate we are paying at the moment we will be paying for 8 years yet!! Also thought I would snowball the mortgage to see what would happen once all the debts were paid and I could afford to overpay. If I use just the money we are paying from the loans and credit cards we could complete the mortgage in 8 years time wow!! That would give me some real security and peace of mind no to mention all the fab hols and trips away we could have!! LOL. x

Pinky15

PS can anyone tell me how to add on the little sigs at the bottom where I can see my debt coming down?? x

ElizabethJH

On the User CP Tab if you go to edit Signature on the left hand side you can update signature there

Pinky15

Did it work?