New School, New Start

notyet

Okay, so the daughter is off to a new school in a few weeks. Having added up the cost of the uniform (:eek:) I decided to have a real good look at the family finances.

I'll be honest, we have been plodding along and thinking ''we arent that bad'' but truly, I think i am an Ostrich. I have a credit card im paying off, its down to the hundreds rather than thousands. No store cards, no loans.:D
Then theres the husband. Car finance. an absolute must, but less than a year left on it. his loan.... hmmm. well, that will be gone in 6 months. one storecard, almost clear. Not too bad methinks. But alas, this is not so.

Delving deeper, i have discovered long forgotted Standing Orders to a couple of companies to clear old outstanding debts. Not ones to panic about, but swallowing a good chunk of my not-so-great salary every month. Then theres the bank fees. OMG.
Going through the online bank statements, its become obvious that things are not good. Taking out all bills, Direct Debits and Standing Orders, I am left with £246 for groceries, petrol, vets bills and car tax! EEEEK!

So here i am, in full clown outfit, about to start my monthly juggling act.

1. Start buying veg from local farm shop. (5kg bag of spuds cost same as 2kg of cheapest spuds in supermarket)
2. Rescue some chickens (trust me.... 3 fresh eggs per day are saving some cash here, plus we sell the extras)
3. buying bulk packs of frozen meats from the 'cheapie' supermarkets. This mum does go to Iceland...... and farmfoods.... and Aldi...... Netto...... Lidl......
4. Cut out luxuries, but allow a few treats from shops basic ranges!
5. Satellite Tv..... this was going to go, until the aerial started leaking water through the cable! Have reduced it to basic package until i can afford a new aerial.
6. Call the people I owe......

Step 6 was scary. But, bracing myself, realised that these people were human, they were probably hundreds of miles away, and there is no way they can get down the phone line to hold me to ransom. So, called company number 1. An energy company. After spending 10 mins negotiating my way around their automated call service, i got a real person who understood my need for a budget, confessing that her own was pretty dire too. Payment plan reviewed, new date set, new amount. Everybody happy.
Company 2. A bank. How exactly was I going to word this? Sorry, but im stupid! or maybe forgive my ignorance but i thought youd be busy counting your profits and forget me..... no. that wasnt going to work. Got through to their call centre and told the truth. I cancelled the SO coz i didnt know what it was for. Repaying an old overdraft. Aha..... gotcha..... Ive NEVER had an overdraft!!
Plan falls down at this point, as it turns out, the account in question was a joint account previously in the other halfs sole name. HE had the overdraft and agreed a loan to clear it off before adding me to it. Sneaky.

So.... here I am. Juggling money and bills like a pro, wishing for that elusive lotto win that means i wont have to juggle anymore and hoping that one day, i may just have the chance to clear them out.