Minty's incredible disappearing £700 thread...

keelni

Yes it just seems to disappear though I know it's not it's me spending it. I'm thinking about doing a SOA to see exactly how we are financially. How about you have you done one?

mintymoneysaver

Not for this money, no. I do use online banking though, so once it's gone I can see exactly where it went!
I keep our bill paying money totally seperate and that really does run like clockwork, know exactly how much everything costs, have the best deals for everything that I can. Martin has, thankfully, taught me a few things over the years....he just doesn't warn you how much of a drain teenage children are on your finances!!:rotfl:

Still feeling positive today, as just realised I get a pay rise this month. Only about £30 but if I can automatically pay that off the big bill it should be gone a bit quicker.
At the moment my debt free date will be 60 months from now, as I can only pay £50 off it each month, for definite. That's as long as I can keep it at 0%, and not counting any balance transfer fees I'll have to make to keep it lie that. However I'm going to set a realistic aim of 3 years instead, and anything quicker than that will be a bonus!

So;
£57 in my account
£42 in the savings account
£208.83 to pay on 'family'credit card
£1390 on joint credit card ( but gone soon!)
£3000 on BIG credit card ( 0% for 16 months)
£0 in holiday fund

and payday in a week!

keelni

congrats on the payrise. I'm getting mine on the 1st oct but on my basic wage it works out at just over £1 a week YIPEEE. On a more positive note payday friday should be a good one as I did loads of overtime this month. No creditcards to pay this month either so should be able to put some away for christmas.

Choc-addict

Hi Minty :wave:

Just read your thread and already enjoying the read, it's very 'real' and your focus is straighforward. I like that!

Just a thought but perhaps you could set up a standing order (forgive me if you already do this!) of maybe £200 per month straight into savings so that you know the £200 is safe and tucked away and then if there is anything left over then transfer it. It may stop you 'dipping' in as you say and hopefully it'll be nice to see the balance build up.

You sound like a lovely mum who treats her children etc, sadly sometimes it has a habit of building up that debt over time. I don't have children but know my mum was (still is and i'm 31!!!) the same.

Wish you lots of luck in clearing the debts and managing the money,

Choc x

mintymoneysaver

Choc-addict wrote: »

Hi Minty :wave:

Just read your thread and already enjoying the read, it's very 'real' and your focus is straighforward. I like that!

Just a thought but perhaps you could set up a standing order (forgive me if you already do this!) of maybe £200 per month straight into savings so that you know the £200 is safe and tucked away and then if there is anything left over then transfer it. It may stop you 'dipping' in as you say and hopefully it'll be nice to see the balance build up.

You sound like a lovely mum who treats her children etc, sadly sometimes it has a habit of building up that debt over time. I don't have children but know my mum was (still is and i'm 31!!!) the same.

Wish you lots of luck in clearing the debts and managing the money,

Choc x

Thanks for your lovely comments. You're absolutely right, we should set up a standing order, that's what the £700 was meant to be originally ( though obviously it wasn't that much years ago!) and then the children came along, and the house needed work and....and....and...!
I need to get back into the habit of setting aside at least some of it as proper savings. And my mum still always treats me, and I'm 42! If you asked my children though they'd say I didn't treat them enough...!

mintymoneysaver

Just tidying and cleaning before Centerparcs. Off to the hygienist in an hour, hate that more than the dentist! The DD comes out of our bill account for dental bills so no big shocks there thankfully.

Have just treated myself to a couple of magazine subscriptions, but there is a method in my madness, 12 for £12 Easy living with free Garnier stuff so it actually works out cheaper than a moisturiser would be and I don't have to buy a magazine for a year (in theory!), plus Radio Times 12 for £1, which will include the Xmas issue so is actually cheaper than buying just the one!:rotfl:

Had the car serviced today, £130 but that can thankfully come straight out of the bonus now, then see how much is left for the driving lessons and skiing...

mintymoneysaver

Lovely weekend at Centerparcs, and not too much spent! A little bit out my own account on Starbucks and some fudge, £54 on the family credit card for bikes but that was about all really!

The bonus has arrived so OH will be sending a cheque off to clear that, probably tomorrow. I'll be so glad when that happens, as it means only I will know about the other debt. It'll still be there, but then it's all my problem, and I don't need to worry that anyone else knows about it. I never thought I'd be like this about money with him, but I'm sure some of you will understand. I wouldn't mind if I'd spent it on stuff for me, I'd have a right to feel guilty then, but none of it was on me! There's also enough in the bonus to pay for the service, and to put enough aside for the driving lessons and clear the skiing trip, so very thankful about that. It eases the pressure a lot!

So the accounts are looking slightly different now:
About £20 in my account
£482 in the savings account but £150 not gone out of this yet for cheques already written, as OHs money has gone in.
£208.83 to pay on 'family'credit card
£1390 on joint credit card ( but gone very soon!)
£3000 on BIG credit card ( 0% for 16 months)
£0 in holiday fund ( will probably have to stay this way till next month as need to pay for my treatment at Centerparcs)

mintymoneysaver

Morning all, my favourite day of the month, Payday! Got my pay rise and have done all the moving around that needs to be done, and paid off all the things that need paying!
My account's looking healthy at the moment, but probably won't stay that way for too long, you know how life tends to get in the way of that! I am being a bit of a lady who lunches on my days off this week, so will have to allow for that, and will hopefully still be able to transfer some to my holiday fund, but seeing how it goes first.
The £700 account is also looking good with £600 in it, and the family credit card has been paid! There's still a £50 cheque to clear though, and daughter's allowance to go out, so I'm not kidding myself that there's really that much in it!

Extra good news is that I won a tenner on a competition yesterday, so when that comes I can start my "trying to clear that credit card as soon as possible" challenge, along with any money I make from Amazon, e bay etc. Once I know how much the direct debit is going to be on that, I'm going to set up a standing order for slightly more, so that I can then pay any extra off nice and easily too ( otherwise they just don't take as much direct debit if you pay any extra off)

So currently:
My account- healthy
Savings account £500 (realistically)
'family' credit card- cleared, but £56 on for Center parcs bikes to be paid next month.
£1390 on joint credit card ( but gone very soon!)
£3000 on BIG credit card ( 0% for 16 months)
£0 in holiday fund

Off to my last day at work, for the week now, and loads to do today so I need to get myself off here, and get sorted! Have a good day, everyone:)

mintymoneysaver

It's been paid! The credit card has been cleared, well the small one anyway, and it feels really good! The rest of the money from the shares is going into my ISA for the driving lessons/ skiing trip as they occur.
On the down side went to the opticians this morning for my contact lens check and ended up getting two new pairs of glasses. I have needed new ones for ages, and they were two for one in Boots. They did cost me £109, so rather than pay it all at once and end up leaving myself short I've put them on my individual credit card, and will try to pay as much of it off as possible this month. It will be nice to wear a pair of glasses and see again properly though! People with good eye sight don't realise how much money they save.....
Making a big batch of cakes tonight, as we have a cake sale at church tomorrow, making Mars Bar cake, chocolate loaf,and coconut and white chocolate cake. Just have to make sure I don't eat too much of it myself!

So update....

My account- healthy
My credit card-£109
Savings account £485 and nothing still to come out at the moment.
'family' credit card- £48
[STRIKE]£1390 on joint credit card ( but gone very soon!)[/STRIKE] cleared!
£3000 on BIG credit card ( 0% for 16 months)
£0 in holiday fund

beanielou

Just thought I would pop in & say hi.
Good to see you are getting on top of things.
Take care x