Minniepoos versus The Black Hole

Sun_Addict

Hi Minniepoos

I have an "other" category too! Really this is money that shouldn't be spent - it's amazing what finds it's way into this category! Was really bad this month due to sneaky holiday buys but aim to behave myself during April (famous last words!). You're doing really well at the moment. I've got to get my head around getting rid of some more stuff on Ebay and Amazon, I can't seem to get as motivated since I paid off the debt but need to save for next holiday so should really try to treat this in the same way. When I was paying off debt I used to throw every little bit I had spare at it. Seemed to have lost the plot recently.

minniepoos_2

Just got back from the post office and the two items made me £18.81 after postage had come out, so very pleased with that. And I've just transferred £500 from our account to my folks account, so that's a third of that debt paid back. :j

The Amazon money gets paid straight into our savings account, so hopefully will still be there at EOM so I can overpay with it.

And DD made £4.19, so she's quite happy too.

Loving this 'paying stuff off' feeling - just wish I could have it more often!

minniepoos_2

Sun_Addict wrote: »

Hi Minniepoos

I have an "other" category too! Really this is money that shouldn't be spent - it's amazing what finds it's way into this category!

Hiya! I know - the 'other' is just a sneaky way of being able to spend money. I know it's not right, but things do just sneak in! Gonna really try to have a tight May.....:o

I go through phases from being ridiculously motivated to being totally fed up with the whole thing! I think it's best just to go with how you feel, and not beat yourself up about it too much. As long as the good MSE days still outweigh the bad days I know we'll be making headway!

minniepoos_2

I decided tonight to do another one of the bingo Quidco deals, so signed up to Paddy Power and deposited £10. As well as my £20 cashback to look forward to, they gave me a bonus £10 to play with, so I did and won £36!:beer: I've just transferred it into my bank account. Not bad for half an hours work - profit of £46 (including the cashback)!:D

Seeing as it's money I didn't have, I'm now going to make an overpayment on the MBNA CC - if I pay £26 now I won't be out of pocket, then I can overpay the Quidco £20 when it comes in.
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Right, that's that done Take that - you evil credit card! :rotfl:


Just had another thought...I did say to myself that whenever we had any money in from selling any old mobiles, that it would all go out as an overpayment. So that's another £17.50 overpaid, total £43.50 that we NEVER have to pay interest on again!!!!

minniepoos_2

I wasn't going to come on here tonight, but I'm waiting up for OH to get in from work, and decided to bite the bullet and do a new snowball. I put all of our debt on it except the £1000 we still owe my folks. That'll be paid back this year by selling stuff etc, so we can still stick to the snowball too.

If we do what it says when it says we will be debt free in July 2017. Bit bummed out by seeing it in black and white, even though I knew it would be that long. Really wanted to get rid sooner than that - back to my feeling guilty that we're letting DD down by having been so reckless. Still, we have health and happiness (most of the time), and I heard a quote that I liked the other day...If all of your problems can be solved with money, then you are blessed. I think I might be chanting that to myself over the next 8 years or so.

We'll be paying off £850 each month for 88 months, which is a bit more than we currently pay (approx £785). We have been spending a little more than we should (back to that sneaky 'other' column ), so will have to cut back on that. By the end we will have paid a disgusting £38,036 in interest just starting from now :eek:. I dread to think what the total interest would be on all the debt from the start :mad:

My challenge is to see if we can slash a whole year off that and be debt free by July 2016. Fingers crossed!

Just noticed that the interest paid in the next 7 years is actually more than the total we owe right now. That is soooo wrong - bl***y credit card companies, and bl***y us for being so stupid!

minniepoos_2

:easter_ba Happy Easter everybody!! :icotbaske

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I've just updated my Norton antivirus which was £50, but went through Quidco so will get approx £12.50 back in a couple of months. I was a bit shocked that if I'd just clicked on the 'renew' button rather than buying the new product again it would have cost me £65! Lucky I've been re-educated by MSE, as otherwise I probably would have just done that!

I spoke to one of the directors at work last week about the Childcare Voucher scheme, and he is happy to do it as long as I am happy to do all the legwork and paperwork. Which I am! So, I might even be able to get it up and running before I have to start paying my after school club, which is great!

chivers1977

Hi, I have just read through your diary. You are doing really well - especially with a redundancy etc. We also have 1 child and redundancy date is Tuesday so in the same boat here. I really must start a diary.... Add to To-do list!

minniepoos_2

chivers1977 wrote: »

Hi, I have just read through your diary. You are doing really well - especially with a redundancy etc. We also have 1 child and redundancy date is Tuesday so in the same boat here. I really must start a diary.... Add to To-do list!

Hi Chivers, and thanks! Sorry to hear about your upcoming redundancy - it has been a very stressful time for us, but we've come out the other side reasonable smoothly all things considered. And as for the To-do list...ours is never-ending too! Always seems to me more to add to it nearly every day, and some things have been on it for months! I think we have got better at prioritising now - the more important things are getting done a bit quicker now.

Mostly

minniepoos_2

Evening all.

Took DD out for the day today. Did the early kid session at the VUE cinema for 95p each, shopped a bit (mainly window shopping) then used my Spree vouchers for a MickyDs lunch, then used our Museums pass in the afternoon. Spent less than a tenner, and got myself and DD a couple of pairs of earrings in the sales too. Was nice to get out and spend some time with DD.

I think it's going to be a bleak end to the month. Got just over £100 left to live off - have a little on the clubcard+ but not much. We have had some fun with my folks though, and with that, the bit for the car and the antivirus software - it just adds up.

We have got a fairly packed freezer though, so that should help us get through. Petrol will be an issue, but will wait and see how it goes. Unfortunately it's my birthday before EOM, so I may just have to give it a miss. Which is a shame as OH and I did that at christmas too. Although I was trying to think last week about what I might want for my birthday, and I think all the time I've spent trying not to spend money has made it nearly impossible for me to come up with anything! I suppose my present could be a set amount off the MBNA credit card :rotfl:

We do actually have a little bit of cash coming in on Friday of next week - I've done a couple of 2 hour stints training the person who's now got my old job, and OH has done a couple of shifts at his 2nd job too. Should get around £60 ish, which will be a massive help. We've still got about £120 in the savings which was going to be used on debt at EOM, so in an emergency we could dip into that, but I'd really rather not.

So I suppose the situation isn't anywhere near as bleak as it could be, but I just wish it was sticking a bit more to the plan. Which I guess it would be if we hadn't been spending more! So really I just wish we were sticking a bit more to the plan!!:rotfl:

minniepoos_2

:eek:And I almost forgot....we have got a trailer loaded up with scrap in the garden, just waiting for OH to take in. Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze that in soon.


I forgot something else too (been a long day!). DD has a school trip in October to pay for, which is £110

We got the letter at the end of term, which lets us know we can pay in installments (how kind of them), with a break in June as they have a different school trip that needs paying for then :mad:

They've put in the letter that all payments are voluntary contributions, but if you want the amount reduced because you're receiving benefits you have to bring documentary evidence to the headmistress! We aren't on benefits - just have no money, so we either just have to tell them our private financial details, of shut up and pay. I'm guessing we're gonna go for the shut up and pay option.