How did we get suckered in?

russppt

Thanks guys for your comments. There are far more reasons for the children relating to my wifes health and the twins were a surprise and a blessing. A 'buy one get one free' I suppose to keep in the MSE spirit of things. We have no intention of more children.

Some great feedback and its always good to hear your opinions as working for yourself on your own, sometimes you need a sounding board.

I will continue to put away some rainy day money as I think that would help me sleep at night knowing it is there and then transfer a portion of that into some ISAs each month.

I will be paying some capital off my mortgage each month or every 2 months depending on cash flow and have a look at the snowball link DC sent.

I think the biggest thing in my case is cash flow, trying to maintain some continuity of income and the drawings I pay myself as if I was in full time employment.

Anymore feedback would be gratefully recived and appreciate the time and trouble that those have taken already.

Thank you.

Russell

SUZY_WONG

Would it be possible for me to take out a 0% credit card and take over daughters credit debits (in her name) and put them on my new card?
She is having great difficulty at the moment. I have good credit score.

se999

russppt wrote: »

I think the biggest thing in my case is cash flow, trying to maintain some continuity of income and the drawings I pay myself as if I was in full time employment.

Once you've got some savings, why not set up a buffer account. That way you pay in the earnings as and when they occur, but transfer a set amount of 'wages' out each month. That would even out your income, and make it like 'full time employment' for budgeting.

Karmacat

Hello Russ - first off, well done on keeping everything under control, you sound like you're doing brilliantly!

Just a thought on the extra repayments you're making to debts, as well as the savings. Beyond the minimums, Martin advises people to take account of the interest rate - so, if you have one debt at a net of 3% and one at a net of10% (taking into account penalties for early repayment, which is what I mean by 'net') then you throw all the extra debt repayment money at the debt with the highest rate.

Another thing - what about expenses? Obviously, there's only so far you can go, but even in relation to petrol, do you use that https://www.petrolprices.co.uk website to find the cheapest garage within a certain area?

Have you checked your fuel bills to see if you're on the cheapest tariff? Phone bills? Do you have a tv package? Do you use all of it, or are there some channels you can lose and not miss them? Do you use cashback sites like quidco for ordinary purchases (even M&S is on there)? No one does this stuff all at once, but going through each element of your expenditure gradually can make a huge difference.

Good luck!

euronorris

SUZY_WONG wrote: »

Would it be possible for me to take out a 0% credit card and take over daughters credit debits (in her name) and put them on my new card?
She is having great difficulty at the moment. I have good credit score.

Suzy, it would be best for you to start a new thread, otherwise it will get confusing as to who's replying to what.

That said, I would not recommend that you bail your daughter out. She will not learn, and you will become solely responsible for the debts in the eyes of the law and debt collection. ie, if she fell into difficulty again and couldn't afford the repayments to you, you would still have to pay.

Karmacat

The other thing I forgot, which can be really important, is a spending diary - just a couple of little notebooks you and your wife take round with you, and write down *every*thing you spend - you only need to do it for a couple of weeks. It answers the question "when I take £50 out of the bank, where does it go?" and its very empowering to have that knowledge!

russppt

Karmacat wrote: »

The other thing I forgot, which can be really important, is a spending diary - just a couple of little notebooks you and your wife take round with you, and write down *every*thing you spend - you only need to do it for a couple of weeks. It answers the question "when I take £50 out of the bank, where does it go?" and its very empowering to have that knowledge!

Have started. Thank you