Pinky's Happy ever after diary! 2010

Pinky15

Feeling really fed up today - sick of trying to complete my tax credits renewal on the phone - they give me a massive long speial and then say sorry we are busy and hang up on me!!:mad::mad: Why waste my time instead they should say - we are busy ring back!!! They make me sooo mad what a carry on!!
Having a pants time with the budgetting and have come to the conclusion that we are unable to live on the budget we have set. So have relooked at this again today. I have realised that it us upsetting me every month when I havent set the targets I wanted as something else always crops up!!
So have set up a dd for the moment to pay £200 off c card which will give me some breathing space within my budget. I know it will take longer to pay off but will make me less stressed and I will up payments once this is doable. I wouldnt mind but DH said "Should we get a loan":mad::mad::mad: This is what we did last time - could have killed him - It was a NO of course - we need to learn our lesson now and pay everything back!
Anyway we have £100 to last till the end of the month which is a bit depressing but hey ho!:)

Pinky15

Tax credits renewal now done so have to wait for the letter next week to tell us what we are entitled to. We also have to wait for the letter which will be done 2nd week in june telling us what our new electric payment is - I am really hoping it will be about £65 - fingers crossed eh. Have spend £3 today and will try and have a frugal weekend.

katieclampet

Hi pinky

it does sound like you maybe need to cut back on your cc payments. If you are struggling every month, and getting stressed maybe you should reduce your payment, and pay minimum payment, plus a realistic amount. I know you are desperate to pay it off, but reading through your last posts, it does seem like you are trying to pay off too much, and ending up being broke before the next pay day. I know you are doing this for all the right reasons, but you are setting yourself up to fail, and being miserable in the process.

Why not pay half the amount you planned? There will always be something unexpected, especially when you have kids. Maybe put half your cc payment into an "unexpected/diaster fund" and if you dont need to use it this month, put it towards Next months cc bill.

I hope you dont think I am having a go at you. I admire your efforts as a struggling mum (been there, done that!!) to keep your families head above water, pay the bills and try to have enough to have the odd treat.

katiex

Jo_R_2

Agree with katie. Rather than paying a fixed overpayment each month, I do my month-specific SOA, I can account for anything particular to the month and work things around it. Then I know how much I can afford to realistically overpay and make that payment at the start of the month.

I find what works for me is to always leave a surplus in the SOA for unexpected things, for me that's when we run out of milk/bread/etc, treat for DDs if we pop in the shop, stamps, bit of extra diesel if we get low, etc etc. Then the idea is I tot up as I go and at the end of the month, any spare surplus can again go to overpaying.

Hope you're okay xxx

Pinky15

Thanks Katie and Jo - I appreciate your comments and think you are right. I feel like I fail before I have started. Sooo I have redone my SOA still making slight overpayments and have upped our monthly spending by £100 per month which should help. This way if a bill comes in I can;t afford to overpay I can put it away knowing the Direct Debit payment will have covered it. If I have anything over I can then add to my payment - meaning I wont get as frustrated! Does this feel like a good plan?
Feeling much better today have applied for a couple of new jobs which would up my money by £100 per month. I have had to knock the SAHM idea on the head as it is simply not doable but I will only be doing 2 days instead which is a compromise - 1 will be at the weekend so my brother and SIL will have kids for me:) This will save a bit of money.
I have 3 items selling on ebay and have 3 more to put on asap. I am hoping the money I make will keep the overdraft monster at bay lol! Hope everyone is ok!:):):):)

Pinky15

Well no tax credits renewal still but some extra money has appeared in the account so will wait before I spend it. If it is ours it will pay for a few little half term treats, a bit to mum off what I owe her and hopefully have maybe £100 left to pay off the credit card - well heres hoping!
Still no electric bill either - I have to ring them 2nd week in June as they are doing our bill on a new tarrif so cant budget for this as yet:mad:.
Have partly done SOA for June - its looking ok - need a new car seat for DD so will need to start looking for some deals. I also need to do my meal planner for the month as we have ran out of food again - so am thinking of upping the food budget.
I have posted 3 items on ebay and have another 4 items nearly ready to go on. i will then transfer the £50 which should clear my overdraft!
Have had a cheapie day today and the kids are loving the paddling pool and warm weather so happy, happy all round - hope everyone had a good weekend too x

Jo_R_2

Sounds like the extra cash in your account will be for Tax Credits, this happens to me fairly often, but still wise to hold on just to double check.

Am also thinking of upping the grocery budget, although in my case I'll have to convince OH it's a good idea as he pays for grocery shopping (even though I plan it and do it.) I do account for the week, but OH made a comment earlier about how we do pop out most weekends and end up buying stuff for tea/snacks that we wouldn't otherwise buy, I had noticed and effectively it could amount to up to an extra £20 a week for the grocery shopping which would be fabulous...:D So you do yours over the month then I take it?

Lovely the kids enjoying the nice weather - I find it's great to keep them amused when they can get out and play in the garden in the nice weather, can enjoy trips to the park, walks, picnics etc, none of which have to cost much at all, if anything. Of course the more determined of us can still do walks and playing out when it's not so nice but it's just so much better isn't it?:)

mummy2mygirls

I also got a extra payment last week of £7....not going to go far but every little helps and also got a payment on friday after telling them about ds. so i think its because of the new tax year or something...... Hope you enjoy the extra and have fun in half term.
I am having a move around with the shopping money etc at the moe - to try and get it to work out a bit better. Do you just do a big shop once a mth?? I dont think i could do that as the girls would just eat it all in the first week lol (and my DH would aswell!!!)
Hope your ok x

Pinky15

Hi there Mummy & Jo - good to hear from you and pleased too hear your little ones are enjoying the weather too!
With regards to the shopping I do a meal planner like-
Monday 5th - Chicken casserole
Tuesday 6th - Spag bol
and so on..
Then I do a big shop for all the meat and basics for my freezer. We then have £20 per weekn for fruit, veg, bread and milk which are bought as and when. We keep £9 per week for a takeaway - as this is our real treat.
When I do the big order I also get lots of healthy snacks, raisins, breadsticks, yogs etc and top up later in the month as we need. Iwas finding £200 per month wasnt doable for 5 of us especially as mine never stop eating so have upped to £240 to see if this is any better and if we come under then fab - if not will try again lol.
On the tax credits front not heard anything so am hanging fire on the money. I have set up a direct debit for credit cards so if we can afford to pay any over then at least I wont have to look at the bills and be demoralised by them.
Am hoping to make a decent payment off Credit card this month as DH has done some overtime - none for me tho boohoo.
Had a lovely afternoon today DD helped me do some cleaning and had a good tidy and sort out upstairs. She is potty trained through the day now so that is saving me loads on nappies!:) Tomorrow after work we are going swimming so looking forward to that.
I have also opened and e-saver so I can transfer a monthly amount to help with big bills eg insurance, oil throughout the year. Its like having a back up fund really.
Hope everyone is well and the weather stays nice! x

Pinky15

Well had a NS day today but feeling a bit yucky - hope I'm not coming down with anything?
Weather pretty miserable so have just caught up on a few jobs today so not much on the money saver front - hope everyone is well! x