I'm tackling my debts in 2010

emmie26

Well discovered that the extra £300 in the joint account was in actual fact money that had been given to us at xmas by hubbys nan so that has promptly got paid off biggest debt, bringing our grand total for january £1168, now at this point I am feeling very smug and :A however when I think about that sum £439 was tax rebate £250 xmas pressie from nan, £250 present for hubby's birthday meaning only £239 has actually come out of our wages which is pretty dismal considering. It still keeps us on target to be debt free by May though so I am not complaining.

In other news I went in work today to be told that it should have been my day off (hate it when that happens) but as it happens they were short staffed so I stayed and will be paid overtime :j

I can't wait for payday I really want to pay some more debts off so that I can adjust my spreadsheet accordingly - I am such a geek:o

emmie26

gutted today its somebodies leaving do at work next weekend and I feel obliged to go even though at the moment I am really in the mood for money saving, also got a hen party the weekend after, so next friday when I get paid most of the cash I allocate myself for the month will go straight away. I am going have to be very inventive over the next couple of months I've worked out that to be debt free by the end of May I need to pay off £1150 a month which is not going to be easy I don't think.

First off I'm going to go upstairs and count out the copper bottle that may pay for next weekend at the very least.

I also have £84.50 in clubcard vouchers, just wondering if this would pay for us to go to London for a couple of nights in half term at the end of feb so also need to look on the rewards page at what hotels are aviailable and which are the cheapest. If there is a cheaper way of us going to London I am tempted to get two Merlin passes with the clubcard vouchers and sell them on ebay, they sell for around £100 in about May time so that would be a way of boosting the cash.

emmie26

well first of all have decided against going to london in half term, although I could get the hotel paid for with clubcard vouchers the train fare for the four of us would be about £100 return, and then we would be buying food and things when we were there so it would still work out expensive so I think I will do what I was originally going to do and just buy some alton towers vouchers and sell them on ebay in the spring.

Can't wait for pay day only three days to go, I am just at work at the moment (on a break) doing a days overtime again. I'm hoping for a good pay packet because my tax code was changed at the beginning of the year because they thought that I had underpaid tax, obviously I had overpaid so they have just changed it back so I'm hoping that this will make a big difference in this months, which I need with all these nights out.

Right back to the grindstone speak soon x

Radish72

How I miss working overtime just for the money...................not. But it did come in handy when I first got my house, bed, hoover, heating etc

Well done on making the decision to not go to London, you will have to do some research for free/cheap days out to do instead

emmie26

Well just came on to update my signature, as you can see the debt is slowly reducing I can definately see light at the end of the tunnel now, can't wait to go on holiday and have new windows!

InaPickle

Wow Emmie, you are doing really well - well done!

Best of luck with paying off the rest: it should seem like a doddle after paying off the vast majority of it! x

emmie26

Well been on again to update the old signature the figures are getting really low now, I cannot wait until we are debt free it is so exciting, I have counted up the copper jar today there is £45 there I'm undecided where that should go I need to have my hair coloured and I also need to get birthday presents for my mum and dad, so I think I will end up getting the presents and waiting until pay day to get my hair coloured that is not until the 26th May though which seems ages away. I have been really good this month with the shopping budget for the first time in ages I have been meal planning and making things in advance which makes a massive difference to how far our £200 food budget goes.
I have been to boots today as I need some foundation but got lured into 3 for 2 offers and ended up spending £30 (which would have paid for my hair to be coloured) on make-up and hair products!!!
To be honest moneysaving has been brought into sharp focus recently because the extension we had thought was unattainable my brother has offered to finance. Its a long story but when we brought the house it was always our intention to extend when the five years was up on our fixed rate, we thought that at this point we would have finished renovating the house and the equity we would have built up would pay for the extension - unfortunately a lot has changed since then and the equity that we have built up does not go anywhere near the cost of the extension, the bank have said that they are quite happy to lend us the money but only when the extension is built so that they have security. My lovely brother found out about this through my parents and has offered to lend us the money to pay for the extension and then when the bank releases the money we can pay him back (He has got an offset mortgage and owes very little - we will pay him the difference in the interest he is paying). All this is brilliant you would think but lending from my brother makes me more nervous than lending from the bank and I want to make sure that we have got some of the money saved to minimise the amount we need to borrow.
The heat is really on the be debt free asap so that the saving can begin - although to be honest I am definately taking the children abroad before any of the saving starts we have lived very a very basic life for far to long now and need a modest holiday before we can start to knuckle down again.
You may see me around these parts a lot more often now I have something to focus on again.

Radish72

Hello Stranger

So close now can you smell it

What a lovely brother you have, so its debt, holiday, extension, should be sorted by the end of the year :T

InaPickle

It's nice to see you back, Emmie!

You are really close now. Here's hoping that it will sort it all out soon and finally get that holiday you've been wanting for so long! :T

emmie26

well today had a very money saving day, made cards for my mum with the children and spent the afternoon at the gym with the children swimming, so very frugal all in all. However, tomorrow will not be quite so money saving as for my mums birthday she has asked to have a new top, so I have said that I will take her in to town and we can have a girly day, but I think I may run away with myself when I am actuallt there and we will almost certainly have a coffee and have to pay for parking as well, so will probably spend more than I budgetted for, but we only have one mum and she hasn't been well recently so I would like to treat her. Although my lovely hubby will be cooking a lovely sunday lunch for us all on our return so at least we won't have to pay for a lunch out.

Have been looking at holidays today with the children and I think my frugal ways are rubbing off on my son and he said 'can we really afford to go on holiday when we should be saving for an extension?' bless him. We have decided to go all inclusive, although it will be more expensive, it will be well worth it because for one week only we can all have a break from moneysaving and just relax, I reall y don't want to think about meal planning and doing packed lunches for days out etc.

It is unbelievable how much work it takes to be frugal. Not only do we both do overtime whenever it comes our way we also spend our spare time doing lots of extra work at home to save money like batch cooking and the dreaded packed lunches and making presents and cards and cakes it is much easier to be frivolous.

I'll update you tomorrow on the events that unfold from the shopping trip.