Jo_R's debt-free diary, slow and steady progress!

Jo_R_2

Well didn't manage to get bathrooms cleaned but have done online shop for Friday (need to finalise meal plan and edit list tomorrow) and gone through receipts and running totals.

Pretty much spent up for the month - having totted up receipts it is scary remembering how easy it is to hand over the debit card for the 'odd' couple of pounds here and there and how it adds up over the month.

I did say previously that with the situation with Mum being poorly I was going to go easy on myself, have come in even so can't complain.

Provisional SOA done for February, have promised DD1 as it's her birthday she could have "two or three" friends to go to the cinema one Saturday morning then for a pizza after. After trying to work out ticket prices and pizza, I am wondering if it's actually the cheaper option as compared to a small party:eek: Cinema is definite, luckily DD1 really likes the idea, so thinking DD1+DD2+3 friends+2 adults coming in just under £40, then maybe a couple of pizzas and desserts plus drinks which is the bit I need to work out! The food bit is negotiable so could potentially save there. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Keeping_Positive

How about pizza and ice cream at home? Buy some sweets and hundreds and thousands for them to decorate the icecream just like they can do at pizza hut?

Or look out for coupons on here and deals such as all you can eat.

Jo_R_2

That's an idea with the pizza and ice-cream at home - the only thing there would be getting them from cinema in town to ours which isn't a massive task really... Going to check out the local Pizza Hut re: deals as like that idea dependent on price.

Okay so have a few things to get down so bear with me as I ramble...!

First... We have called it a day with the car. £450 down (to be paid to OH's stepdad to cover parts that he's already paid on our behalf) and we figure enough is enough. I won't go into it or I'll be here all day but when it eventually came back we found more things wrong with it:mad: and it's just not financially viable.

The provisional plan is to save up for another car, me and OH need to sit down and discuss what we're prepared to pay and how we can go about saving... Which brings me to...

...The wedding. What I have left from my PPI money has been put aside as a joint rainy day and wedding fund, but silly old me can't decide what I want to do. I cancelled the appointment to give notice of marriage at the register office today and we're left with nothing concrete - this again we need to go through and work out what we actually want to do and how much we're prepared to spend.

My thoughts at this point are to put off the wedding until 2011 (or even 2012!) and concentrate on getting a car, the rest of the stuff I want for the house, and paying off at least the Tesco cc. What I REALLY need to do here is work out some longer-term overview, map it out so I can see what is happening and what is manageable. Of course to some degree it depends on what we do decide we want to do for the wedding - if we do decide to go for something simple then it will hopefully be manageable sooner.

Other smaller things but still need to remember...

Dad's birthday next week, then DD1's the week after. No thoughts on what to get either - Dad as helpful as ever then!:D Will run it by DD1 tomorrow but feel that's dangerous territory LOL - I won't like (the price of) what I hear!

Valentine's Day not long after... Thinking that one through - I'd like to do something nice and thoughtful but relatively inexpensive (does that sound bad?:D) I was thinking cosy night in, make dinner for us two, but not sure how to make it special - by that I mean I can think of *things* but not meaning in a pervy sense;) I'd like to get him a small gift but not sure what yet...

Still need calendar, and also randomly a new handbag after mine wore out with a big hole at the bottom - probably the weight of all the random just-in-case bits and bobs I kept in there! Just off to check ebay in a min

Also want to get a new timer to use with the washing machine - still not got to grips with the one I bought not long ago.

And on a completely unrelated note... DD1 (and DD2 mostly too) have taken to waking up rather early this last week... Anytime between 5.15am and 6am:eek: OH sleeps on oblivious but I get up as don't want them to wake baby whose room is next to theirs, and needless to say after a few days of that I'm knackered - and rather bad-tempered:o

Luckily ex has agreed to have them tomorrow afternoon for a couple of hours so just have some time to recharge - don't know about other parents but sometimes just having that little bit of respite really helps so can put my feet up - not sure baby will let us have a rest but hey, can but hope!

Jo_R_2

Knackered... Haven't been sleeping well which is most disturbing since I'm the type that usually sleeps solidly from when my head hits the pillow...

Anyway have decided I'm going to take it easy on myself this week - I think I expect too much sometimes and then feel disappointed that I haven't gotten it done. Going to make the most of the mornings when baby asleep to get housework done which is what I'm off to do in a min:D

Made a list yesterday which I'll post later of things to do. Starting to get myself organised - once February hits I should have everything in place to get things rolling smoothly each week.

Might pop into town in a bit if I'm feeling brave! Need to get dad a present (for Thursday) but still not sure what yet so going to carry on having a think for a bit!:o

[Deleted User]

Hi Jo,

Sounds like you are doing really well and getting organised.

Make sure that you do have some time to yourself, it can be rather tiring being woken up at odd hours.

Hope you had a good day

Tea
x

Jo_R_2

This last bit of the month is proving to be rather testing - usually I get through okay but I have been having to 'borrow' from February's money. Not a huge amount but I slipped up with the online shop and forgot some of the most important things:o So have had to top up to the tune of £7 on bread, potatoes, cheese and porridge oats (and something else I forget!)

However we're there now. January has been a hard month but mum seems to be better, finances are looking healthy and I'm feeling more optimistic and in control than I was a couple of weeks ago.

I have my calendar and diary now to help me along, February's SOA is provisionally completed, just want to tweak it a bit.

Have transferred £500 from PPI money over to my Tesco cc, the balance is now at 1485.65. I need to withdraw (still:o) £450 to pay to OH's stepdad for the car parts, then I have £1006 left. Out of that I am planning to buy my stereo (have a budget of £100 tops in mind and can get something reasonably decent for that) then the plan is to stash the rest away.

beanielou

Looking good

EssexHebridean

I'm not surprised you've been having trouble sleeping to be honest - what with worrying about money, the stress over the car, and worst of all your Mum being ill (glad to hear she's on the mend) you've had one heck of a lot on your mind.

I think re the wedding thing you two need to sit down with a sheet of paper and make a pros and cons list - work out where your priorities lie, exactly how you want the wedding to pan out (and work out the compromises now relating to the stuff you don't agree on at first) - only then are you going to be able to decide whether it's more important to be married sooner, or have the wedding you want but later on, and, more importantly, just how important some of the trimming that tend to go with weddings are. Ours was relatively inexpensive (as an example my dress, veil, wrap, bag and shoes came in at under £250!) and we had an absolutely wonderful day. Analyse whether some of the stuff you're thinking of is vital to the two of you, or whether you're getting sucked into the thing of "that's what people do at weddings". One tip though - don't economise too much on the photos - pro wedding photographers make a living at it because they are mighty good at what they do - the last thing you want is to be disappointed with the album you end up with as that is the thing that you and your kids will look at in years to come remember. Someone once said to me that a wedding dress gets worn once, the wedding photos get looked at 100's of times and become part of your family's history.

Jo_R_2

I was thinking that quite possibly I *have* got sucked in a bit with the wedding malarkey... It's very easy though!:o The list is a good idea EH, I think doing that will help 'shape' what we want - and when.

We're planning to save for a car. Have been searching to see what we want, what sort of age, size engine, and price so we have something to aim for. We're looking for a people carrier but open to which kind, and going to set a target, the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned! I'm going to continue putting aside money for car tax each month, and also hope to add to this a small amount for the MOT, plus a repair fund - not sure how much on this though but it makes sense given our luck with cars!:eek::D

We're also hoping to book a holiday for me and OH after the summer holidays. Ex has kindly agreed to have DDs and OH's mum should be having baby so we can have some 'grown-up' time, nothing fancy, just a caravan holiday for a week in Cornwall. Also want to take the kids away, probably a long weekend maybe to the seaside so need to research that some more.

Jo_R_2

I have been working on a list since Sunday evening, I won't repeat myself by typing it all out, but this is what I have left from then with a couple of new things added on:

• cancel car insurance - QUERY WITH OH
• birthday present for DD1
• transfer money for holiday to savings (two amounts - will explain below)
• transfer car savings
• withdraw money for OH's stepdad for car parts
• book online shopping slot
• do load of washing
• look for digital timer for washing machine

Was going to get OH to cancel car insurance but (sighs MASSIVELY) he keeps telling me his stepdad has been working on our car (the one we decided to call it a day with after paying for the parts) and replaced the dodgy water pipes (that were supposed to have been fixed anyway:mad:)

Bit peeved as been looking for something else - I think it's a false economy as we can save far more being carless and throwing our money into saving for another than running one and saving for another, which need to s-p-e-l-l-o-u-t to OH We've managed for a couple of months so I think we can stretch to a couple more *shrugs* I'm continuing to put aside money for car tax.

I have done February's SOA and factored in paying back the holiday to my PPI money, plus saving for spends when we go. I am also putting aside some towards saving for the car - I have worked this as thus...

My loan payment reduced from 154.22 to 98.02 last month. I am taking the difference and topping up my Tesco cc monthly payment based on what the minimum payment is this month (39.00) plus the difference. This gives me a zero balance in 24 months, which is an improvement on 100 years or whatever it would be if I continued with minimum payments:eek:

I have allocated a monthly amount for car savings, which is just under £30. Not much, but ensures a fixed amount, THEN any other spare money (council-tax-free month in March of 134.00, water-rate-free months of Jan, Feb and Mar of 56.69 each month, and any other savings/ebaying/etc) will go towards the car.

Seems a good plan for now, need to get going on my list!