71p and Three Nappies

Memory_Girl

DAY 005

Time to knuckle down and create my SOA for you guys to look at – also to work out how to manage the little we have so that we can pay the bank off as soon as we can. Next logical step on my DFW journey and the one that lets us save our house.

I’m lucky in that I don’t have any consumer debt – just stuff carried forward from the loss of my business – even so the numbers make my eyes water!!!!

Hey ho!!!! Today I owe!!!!!!!!

Clydesdale Bank Personal Guarantee £10,000
My BF House deposit £1400
Bank of Mum £25000 (her contribution to business start-up that I feel duty bound to pay her back at some future point)
Clydesdale Bank Mortgage £125,500

Here’s my SOA.

I’ve printed out a weekly budget sheet / cashflow forecast and blu-tacked it to the inside of my kitchen cabinet where I can see it every day. Think I might pin my meal planner on the inside of the other door so that it doesn’t get lost too.

I’ve decided that I am going to operate on a “cash only” basis over the next while. I am going to withdraw £30 for food, £10 for petrol and £5 clothing allowance in cash every Monday and leave everything else in the bank. As benefits are paid weekly and bi-weekly I am not even going to attempt to do a monthly budget – when the weekly money is gone – its gone!!!


Memorygirl

Your Income

Income Support £278
Child Benefit £148
Child Tax Credit £395

Total income £821

Additional information

No of adults 1
Dependants 2
Totals Amount
Total income £821
Total expenses £653
Surplus (Deficit) £168
Housing
Rent
Amount Comment
Mortgage (paid by IS at moment)
Secured loans/2nd mortgage
Mortgage endowment premium
Service charge/ground rent
Water
Council tax £75 £50 towards arrears of £398
Gas £23
Electricity £41
Other household fuel
Household services
Building and contents insurance £26
Telephone, mobile & internet £15
TV licence £12
Satellite
Repairs and maintenance £10
Household appliance rental
Child maintenance
Childcare
Fines, CCJs, Decrees
Life insurance/pensions £7
Medical/accident insurance
Hire purchase
Transport
Vehicle spares and servicing £10
Road tax £15
Motor insurance £21
Vehicle breakdown cover
Fuel & parking £43
Public Transport
Food & housekeeping
Food, toiletries, cleaning £205
School meals/meals at work £65
Pets, pet food/insurance
Tobacco
Misc. goods & services
School trips/activities
Medicines/prescriptions exempt Dentist/opticians exempt
Hairdressing £5
Union/professional fees
Laundry/dry cleaning
Education fees £
Personal & leisure
Clothing & footwear £40
Newspapers/magazines
Sports, hobbies, entertainment £20
Children's pocket money
Church/charity donations
Sundries/emergencies/other costs
Sundries/emergencies £20
Loan from family/friend
Total expenses £653


Sorry about the formatting - can't get this to look really pretty for you all

Memorygirl

Verbatim

Looks good Memory Girl. Are you getting your benefits paid into a new account now?

scrooge2008

Looks tight but doable to me Memorygirl.

Have you applied for Healthy Start Vouchers for your little one. If not it should give you another £14.00 a month.

http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/en/qualifier/Default.aspx

Memory_Girl

Verbatim wrote: »

Looks good Memory Girl. Are you getting your benefits paid into a new account now?

OMG! Yes!!!!!!:rotfl:

Thankfully everything except Tax Credits go into new Account. Tax Credits still going into a savings account I have with RBS cos I am terrified if I phone them up to change the account that I will be left two weeks without money again (soooooooooo don't want that just before Christmas)

Trying to get the kids fed and off to bed early so as I can spend some time reflecting on 2010 Q1 goals - but I don't know where today has gone to - LOL.

Someone give me a kick and tell me that setting some decent goals will do more towards gettong us out of debt than cleaning into all the corners and finishing the ironing will - Yup!!!! thats how bad its got - I've scaled the mountain of ironing in my room and survived:rotfl:

Time to get scary

memorygirl

Memory_Girl

scrooge2008 wrote: »

Looks tight but doable to me Memorygirl.

Have you applied for Healthy Start Vouchers for your little one. If not it should give you another £14.00 a month.

http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/en/qualifier/Default.aspx

I have hon - butonly about 3 weeks ago. Still £3.10 per week is 10% of our real food budget so not to be sniffed at.

Budget is way tight - but compared to "71p and three nappies" I am rolling in it.

Thanks for your support guys - it's nice to know I'm not just waffling to cyberspace

Memorygirl

Memory_Girl

DAY 006

My son is off school now for the holidays – decided we are going to have an “Energy Saving Day”

Tesco’s are having an offer of 5-for-a-pound on low energy light-bulbs. Today we “invested £3.00 of this weeks food budget on 15 bulbs and changed as many as we could reach in the house.

I’ve got a light fitting in the kitchen that has 5 halogen bulbs – I assume that this eats electric as it seems to warm up the kitchen quite well – LOL. I need to keep an eye open for a cheap light fitting to replace this one as it is the room I spend most of my time in, and as its north facing I tend to like having an a light on.

As we have most of this week’s food budget left I also bought my DS an electric blanket as it’s getting quite chilly at night. I figure that if he has a cosy bed to get into then I won’t need to have the heating on in the evening other than to take the chill off –saving me more money to put towards paying off the Bank.

We went into the library when we were out and about. The local council is running an Free offer on one of those energy meter thingies – the one that tells you how much electricity you are using in money when things are on. So seeing as we were on an energy saving day we filed in the form and popped to the post office to apply.

Might be nice to receive something in the post that’s not brown envelopes and bad news - LOL

Went into the attic and found the box of blankets – they have now all been washed (on cold wash naturally) and dried outside. Folded up and stacked next to the sofas ready to keep me cosy when the kids are in bed at night. Popped the hot water bottle there too – just in case it gets too cold.

Think I might ask Santa to bring me an electric blanket for my bed this Christmas – then I could snuggle up in a cosy bed at night and not have to bother about running the Central Heating much.

Looked in the A***s catalogue - £19.99 to find from my food budget over the next few weeks. Mind you I am bound to save more than that on heating over the winter so its got to be a good plan.

Memorygirl

dfw844

Memory girl, why have I not found your threads before?! I love your tales. Am now catching up on the old diary.
Just wanted to say that I found one unexpected advantage from living in a house with no heating - I am eating the same as usual (perhaps even a bit more), and I am losing weight! Totally unintentional, I guess it takes a lot of calories to keep a body warm. Thought that might cheer you up when the nights are cold!
Best of luck with everything xx

brighterdayz

Memorygirl, I LOVE this diary!! I just started my own and have just read your WHOLE diary and am off to subscribe. You're so positive, and I've already started picking up tips. Keep it up. You're brilliant!!

Brighterdayz.

dawnybabes

Have you seen the slanket things, sort of a huge fleece blanket but with armholes in. The idea is you sling it over your clothes as you slob on the sofa,

pepe2008

dawnybabes wrote: »

Have you seen the slanket things, sort of a huge fleece blanket but with armholes in. The idea is you sling it over your clothes as you slob on the sofa,

So get two of the old ones you found in the loft.....and make your own. Shouldn't take long and it'll save £19.99:D