To be debt free by 30 I need to start now! - Gingernutbizkit's 2010 diary

gingernutbizkit

Feeling a bit more on top of things today. Spent some time yesterday doing a bit of clearing (plenty more to do today ). I'm off to the gym in a bit and then have to go to Homebase to see if they have any more flooring for the new step being done in the conservatory.
Asda delivery this afternoon so my main goal for today is to clear my kitchen PROPERLY!!!
I think for the time being I will make a menu plan 1 day ahead as that is more likely to get stuck to then a big week/month plan. For the past few weeks I have organised my evenings as follows:
Monday = Traditional Night (shepherd pie, liver and bacon, sausage and mash etc)
Tuesday = Pasta Night (lasagne, spag bol, carbonara etc)
Wednesday = Soup and Pudding Night (last night was spicy parsnip soup with fresh bread and rice pudding to follow)
Thursday = Easy Night (anything easy to cook as I often have friends over on this night)
Friday = Date Night (Me and Mrs Ging eat dinner separately to the kids to give us a bit of quality time. The kids love it because they get some typically childlike meals - although I won't go as far as nuggets or turkey twizzlers :eek:)
Saturday = Fake Away Night (Indian, Chinese, Pizza, mexican etc but all home cooked)
Sunday = Roast Dinner (leftover often used for Monday's meal)

Just having a plan for each night does really help me and this isn't so ridgid that I get bored and give up .
Just remembered that I need to do some baking today or they'll be no bread. Got a recipe from here on making healthy cereal bars for their packed lunches so going to try that and will also make some muffins as we have tonnesof choc chips in the cupboard.

Catch you later, ging x

gingernutbizkit

Hi all,

Today I opened a new thread on the OS board and wanted to post my OP here so you can all see where I am at at the moment. Sorry if it's full of info you already know......

Gingernutbizkit's quest to fina a menu plan that eases her conscience!!
Hi all,

Many of you will know me from other boards on the forums as I am trying really hard to reduce my debt/mortgage and am committed to paying it off my the time I'm 30 . I have made a lot of head way with my fiannces over the past year or so and am (just about) on track to reach my goal however grocery shopping and menu planning is still a big issue for me.

Two years ago there was just me and Mrs Ging. We cooked some nights, ate out regularly and (I'm ashamned to say) our local indian was listed as one of our 'friends and family' numbers on our phone bill :o:o. In total I wouls say that we were spending £400pcm. In our bid to shift the debt (and some lbs:p) we cut down on spending, eating out and take away became a rareity (our indian actually rang us to see if we had moved house :rotfl:).

18 months ago we became foster carers and are very lucky to now have 3 gorgeous, fantastic kids living with us on a long term basis. This obviously meant an increase in budget again with us spending between £200-300. At times I have managed to get that down to £150pcm but this was really pushing it.

So, after my long ramble (apologies) here's my issue. Saving money is not something we have to do, it is something we choose to do so that we can have a money-stress free life as quickly as possible. However, Mrs Ging and I are both Christians at time we feel that some of the low budget food choices we are making may be compromising our ethics and values. This is stressing me out!! My major stresses at the moment are as follows:

Health - This is the major one. We obviously want the boys to have a really healthy diet. I'm not opposed to the odd hm muffin or bit of chocolate but I'm not convinced that some of the cheap foods we give them are really in their best interests. Due to their pasts the boys have had some health and development problems and we don't want to compound the issue. Two were diagnosed ADHD (not sure if that was a true diagnosis) and we have recently had them off medication in order to control their behaviour in other ways, partlydown to diet.
Do cheap foods have the same nutritional value, I'm not sure?

Food Miles - I'm not sure I want a cupboard full of things that come from all over the world. Why do I buy meat from europe when I have a local butcher selling local meat down the road? Obviously there are some items that have to travel (exotic fruit for instance) but for those that don't I know I should be supporting local producers.

Treatment - I'm sure that somewhere down the line there are people being treated bad in order for me to eat the meals I eat. People in other countries poorly paid, bad working conditions. Supporting this is not consistent with my ethics and yet I do ever time I visit the supermarket.

Animal Welfare - Similar to the above. I can not confidently say that animals I eat are treated well. It's becoming more important to me that I can.

Taste - This is becoming a bigger issue for me. I happen to be quite a good cook but I'm sure that cooking with inferior products means the tast is not so good. I usually shop at Mr T's (for the reward points) but this week I ended up buying a meal from a local farmshop and the difference in taste was unbelieveable.

So, all in all I am thinking of increasing my budget for the five of us to try to tackle some of these issues. I think this will be a long process and I'd be grateful for any input from anyone.

TIA, Ging

gingernutbizkit

hi all, Thought I had better post something before this thread drops off the bottom of my subscribes list . It's been a busy few weeks in the Ging house with one thing or another and I thought I should update on each of my goals.....

Finances
Pay Off £50K from Debts This Year: Target for start of march was £8333.33 paid off. Actual was £9290.29 so I'm ahead
MFiT2: Needed to have total debt on 12/03/10 at £153,656 so I'm £8572.05 ahead :D. Next update date is 12/06/10 when I need my debts total to be £139,691.91. I would like ideally to be £10,000 ahead at this point as things may change in the future and I want a nice cushion for us.
Cash Isa: I want to pay £3600 into Mrs Ging's ISA by the end of the month before we lose it for the year. I have £500 saved so far but am being paid tomorrow so will increase that then.
Lose 5 Stone
Doing more exercise now than I have done for years. Still eating the same. Still weighing the same. Go figure! Good job I'm feeling better for it too otherwise I'd have given up by now for sure.
Clean Decluttered House
:o:o

Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Hi diary followers (if there's anyone out there still reading my drivvel!)

I've not been very focused recently and so thought I better update on here and get myself back on track again.

Finances.
I got paid last wednesday so I have some more money to add to Mrs Ging's ISA although for some reason they haven't sent me any details for how to pay into the account :mad:. Anyway, when I get that sorted I will have £2000 to transfer in.

Lose 5 Stone
Aqua this morning and booked in for another class on thursday. Mrs Ging has set a challenge.... at the end of the month the person who's lost the least percentage of weight will have to fulfil a request from the winner. I've got a few ideas :rotfl:.


Clean Decluttered Home
This has really not been going so well. The skips company came and collected the skip when it was just half full (second one ) so I'm in dispute with them about bringing it back or refunding the money.
I must admit I do find cleaning SSSSOOOOOO BOOOOOORRRRRRRRIINNNGGG :(:(. Mrs Ging has suggested getting a cleaner but I feel guilty as surely being at home so much I should be able to get it all done. I have decided to go back to writing my list up here and crossing it off as it gets done as that does help to motivate me.... feel free to give me the odd kick up the backside when you think I need it!
So, here goes the list......

Kitchen:
Clean surfaces, microwave, oven, floor, fridge * Wash linens *Empty bins
Lounge, Playroom, Conservatory:
Clean surfaces, floors, sofas * Empty bins *Ebay sofa * sort photo frames
Shower Room and Bathroom:
Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors * Empty bins
Porch, Hall and Landing:
Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors * Sort recycling * Declutter porch *
Kids Room:
Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors * Empty bins * Change beds
Our Bedroom:
Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors * Empty bins * Change beds
Other Tasks:
* Do filing * Water plants * Check fire alarm * Send logs * 5 Washing loads * Make red bag

Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Afternoon all,

Sorry I have been a bit AWOL recently. We've had a difficult time with the kids after contact with their birth family didn't go too well. So frustrating that a couple of hours with them can put the boys behaviour back so much. I totally understand why, it's just exhausting!

Anyway, house is a bit tidier, finances are on track and clothes are fitting better, so that's something positive .

Ging x

Kitchen:
Clean [STRIKE]surfaces[/STRIKE], microwave, oven, [STRIKE]floor[/STRIKE], fridge * Wash linens *[STRIKE]Empty bins [/STRIKE]
Lounge, Playroom, Conservatory:
Clean surfaces, [STRIKE]floors,[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]sofas[/STRIKE] * [STRIKE]Empty bins[/STRIKE] *Ebay sofa * sort photo frames
Shower Room and Bathroom:
Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors * [STRIKE]Empty bins
[/STRIKE]Porch, Hall and Landing:
[STRIKE]Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors[/STRIKE] * Sort recycling * [STRIKE]Declutter porch [/STRIKE]*
Kids Room:
[STRIKE]Clean surfaces, floors, mirrors[/STRIKE] * [STRIKE]Empty bins[/STRIKE] * [STRIKE]Change beds
[/STRIKE]Our Bedroom:
[STRIKE]Clean surfaces[/STRIKE], [STRIKE]floors,[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]mirrors[/STRIKE] * [STRIKE]Empty bins[/STRIKE] * Change beds
Other Tasks:
* Do filing * Water plants * [STRIKE]Check fire alarm[/STRIKE] * [STRIKE]Send logs [/STRIKE]* [STRIKE]5 Washing loads[/STRIKE] * Make red bag

tootsieroll_2

Hi Ging-

I'm fairly new to MSE, but have found your diary very inspiring. My oh and I are very similar to yourself. In a heap of debt, but I will be 30 in 1 1/2 years, so probably won't clear it all by then, but might make it my goal as well. And we are foster carers (Started 15 months ago). We have two brothers who we've had the sheer pleasure of caring for, but had anticipated permanency panel but looks as if things might not go that way after all....don't get me started!!!!

Anyhoo, just wanted to say your diary is a pleasure to read and has given me the kick up the rear-end to put our plans into place as well. Onwards and upwards!

gingernutbizkit

Hi Tootsie :beer:.
It's nice to hear from you. It's lovely to hear that there's a foster carer of a similar age to me.... in my agency I'm the youngest by over 15 years (although the boys are helping me to feel older than I am :rotfl:). We were suppose to go to permanency panel this week but it's been put back to May because the SW think's that 6 months wasn't enough time to come and meet me to complete the paperwork :mad::mad::mad:. Have you had your boys for the full 15 months you've been caring? Will you be keeping them in placement now? I can't imagine my life now without the boys.... hope I will never have to.

Anyhoo, I bought a white board for the kitchen and need to stick it on the back of the dooor. I've put on it our menu plans for the week and liast of everything that needs to be done so I can rub it off as we do the chores. My motheris comign up to stay in 10 days so I have 10 days of cleaning ahead of me - I can't keep telling her that I'm preparing for a big declutter and neither can I keep pretending that she doesn't look through my heaving cupboards when she has the chance .

Pay day tomorrow. I emailed my brother at the weekend as our mortgage is due for renewal and he works for a bank so thought he might have some ideas. I need to get a move on with it though as it's up in just 3 weeks :eek:.

Right, off to sort out the hall cupboard..... I may be a while :rotfl:.
Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Hi all,

No response from my brother about our mortgage. Kinda expected it though.... he's lovely and has many great qualities but reliability is not one of them .

So.... I decided to have a good look myself, downloaded Martin's guide and even read it :rotfl:. I think we are in the unusual position of being better off sticking with Nationwide when we switch onto their Basic Mortgage Rate.

Currently our interest only fixed is at 2.43% and we have been overpaying by the max £500pcm to bring it down to £146K. The BMR is capped at 2% over the base rate meaning that even at the worst it will be 2.5% whilst the Bank of England keeps the rates as they are. So only 0.07% higher and we could always move if this went up.

The benefits of staying though are that we won't have to pay our redemption admin fee, a new fee for a new mortgage and also when you are on their BMR you can overpay by as much as you like with no fees at all :D:D. This would mean that we could really focus on overpaying. I would like us to open our ISA for next year but once we have paid as much as we can into that we will start OP on the mortgage with earnest.
So, the mortgage reverts to BMR on 30th April and my new goal (yes another one) is to have the full ISA allowance paid by then (so far have £3000 saved for it).

How lovely to think that for once I can make a good financial choice and not have to do a thing:T:T:T.

Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Having a rethink on starting a ISA next year... thinking of moving all the money currently in ISA's onto mortgage once it changes over. I've got about £11k and rates are from 1.5% to 2.25% so unless a better deal comes out for the new tax year then surely I'm better to move it to the mortgage???

Off to see if Martin has produced info on april's ISA's....

Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Hi Folks .

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this diary too well.... lots going on. Thought I had better pop on and update to show that I have been doing something even if I have been awol .

Finances.
We have definately decided to cash in our ISA's at the start of the financial year and put all the money on our mortgage when it converts to BMR on 30th April. So far we have £12,500 but I want to get to £15000 by then. I have a payment tomorrow so that will help and then all our repayment money for April will focus on the mortgage. Any day now we should be getting a letter from Nationwide to say how much interest we will pay when the mortgage converts and exactly what the amount owed will be. Sad I know, but I'm really looking forward to just having one debt to focus on and really going for it.

Weight Loss.
Really trying to get this under control. Decided to start again with following SW and will then switch to PM once I have got to where I want to be. Feeling very motivated at the moment, but did only start yesterday! I have an initial target to lose 2 1/2 stone by my birthday in July. In total I think I have about 7-8 stone to lose:eek: - but I'm trying not to think about that! I'm going to take my measurements today because I know that sometimes I lose inches and the lbs stay the same.

Organised Home.
I have finished the majority of my decluttering. The skip is full to bursting and I can finally say that nearly everything in my house has a place. The areas to concentrate on now is the shed, loft and getting my garden in shape. Overall though I am really pleased .
The white board is working out well... even enjoying rubbing things off as the jobs get done. Nice to have all meaks planned too. The home Organizer still needs a bit of work but I wish I had started it years ago - it's so handy having everything in one place.

So that's all folks, all up to date now.
Ging x