Too much month at the end of the money!

kahunababy

Well guys, this is the first time I have ever posted so I guess I should tell you a little about my situation.

My husband and I both work full time and have 2 lovely sons. We are in a fair bit of debt (32k in total) but we are managing to meet all our monthly payments. The problem is that even though we have a little bit to spare each month we always end up spending it even though we know it should be going off our debt. I was sitting here thinking about it last week and it hit me, we will never be comfortable if we carry on like this (guess thats what you call your LBM!). I have been thinking about ways to sort this mess out and have been checking out MSE for the last week. As it is the end of the month (payday tomorrow) I have decided that OCT is going to be the month that we change our lives so here goes!

I have booked an appointment for tomorrow with the Dr to speak to her about smoking cessation (I'm the smoker). I have been gearing up to this for a couple of months and really want to stop but I think the money factor could be a real motivator for me.

I am also going to start a spending diary. This should help us see where our money is really going and stop us spending on trival things we really don't need.

I already meal plan anyway (I can be a bit anal about what we eat, I hate processed food) so I'm not sure I can shave that much on our grocery shopping but I am planning on branding down. I do however seem to have a stock of toliettres cluttering up my bathroom so I am planning on using them before I go buying any more (a little habbit of mine).

The really sad thing is that I know we wont end up paying anything we save off any of our debts as Christmas is coming and we still need to get the boys presents in (we don't bother buying for each other). I know people will probably roll their eyes at that but my plan is if we get used to living that way over the next couple of months it wont hurt so much in the new year. Once Christmas is out the way all the money we save will be going off our debts.

And to top all this off I am starting to sort my diet out tomorrow also. I have about 21lb to lose, (doesn't sound that much but when your only 5'1" it is an awful lot). So I really am pushing the boat out this month. Fingers crossed my plan will work.

What I would like to know is if any of you could suggest some challenges you think we might benefit from? Infact any help would be appreciated. Thank you and I will keep you updated on my little adventure to being a debt free, non smoker skinny minny:)

kahunababy

Well today has been a good day. I did have to pay £12 for DS1's school trip but I managed to get this weeks shopping down to £47 which means I am well within my budget for this week (I find it easier to go Fri to Fri as that is when we do our weekly shop). Got nothing major planned for this weekend. I have asked the kids to come up with some (cheap) ideas for days out/things to do. So far they have come up with a nature trail and a trip to the beach to fly their kites. Makes a change as their usual requests include bowling/cinema/swimming/theme parks.

I have decided to give the No Spend Days a go. I am aiming for 12 this month which will be a record for me. I am unable to start just yet as all my DD's come out at the start of the month. I am hoping my first NSD will be Monday.

The diet has gone out the window already! Both DH and I have been having a real craving for cheese of late. We ended up buying 5 different types of cheeses and a biscuit selection and have had a lovely evening in. I did console myself in the fact that a night in with the cheese board was a lot cheaper than a night out on the pop (not sure my waistline would agree though).

Well time to go and make sure I write all of today's spends in my spending diary. Have a good weekend everyone x

honeybun16

welcome to diary land, our situations are similar, I had our LBM in may and we have tried very hard to stop spending on the extra bits each week,

I found keeping a spending diary very helpful and by budgeting we have managed to get monday to thursday into NSD's just about every week.

Making our own lunches helps as i don't buy extra bits when I pop in for lunch, and simple things like not walking round the shops at the weekend , really seems to be making a difference for us,

Good luck in your journey i have subscribed

kahunababy

Hey, thanks for joining me, was starting to feel a little lonely!

I think making our own lunches to take to work would help us alot, the crazy thing is that both boys have a packed lunch for school each day so it really shouldn't be any hassle to do 2 extra for ourselves.

I am aiming for the majority of my NSD to be through the week so fingers crossed I will be a spending virgin of a weekday also. The weekend have been our major stumbling block. We never really plan what to do and just go with it which usually end with us stopping for a bite to eat at the pub resulting in £40-£50 spend. I promised myself this weekend will be different though, we had to pop out, (our Bissell broke down but is still under warranty so we needed to take it to the repair shop), I stayed in the car whilst DH dropped it off. This ment that I wasn't tempted to just have a wee wander round the shops and end up spending a bomb on stuff we don't really want or need. Then we just came home! I really cant remember the last time we spent a sat afternoon in the house. The kids are playing, DH is watching Top Gear & I am surfing. Makes a refreshing change and it also means that we have spent the grand total of zero (up till now anyway).
We are round at a friends tonight for a couple of drinks, we already have some beers lurking in the back of the cupboard so we shouldn't have to spend anything again and the boys are off out with a friend tomorrow so might even squeeze in a little run with the hubster tomorrow (might help shift some of that cheese from last night).
Right off to get tea started and might even have a quick look at some of the survey sites I've been reading so much about!

honeybun16

feels great to have a NSD with the whole family doesn't it.

We used to spend the weekend just popping around town can come back with loads of stuff that we did not really want or need but thought we did at the time.

Our weekend spending was getting out of hand, I checked our spending diary against the bank statements and scaryily in May we made a purchase 197 times but in September our total spend times was 42, so just goes to show what we were doing.

Makes a difference to the time aswell, I used to think that wandering around the shops with the kids was quality time, now I know that blackberrying ( for example ) is real quality time and they all seem so much more comfortable which is great, even the teenager and she was the worst for shopping lol.

Hope you had a good time at your friends tonight and heres to a good day tomorrow.:D

Oh yeah on Surveys we are lucky enough to be in pinecone ( if you spot a link to join do it's worth it ) but both me and the elder kids do onepoll and youngpoll, not to bad though it is taking abit of time to reach cash out point

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Hi and welcome the weekends were like that for me puds £50 spend etc before our lbm! I couldnt part with that now! keep up the good work!x

kahunababy

Hey,

Sorry I've not been around for a day or two, Saturday was a late night (or early morning depending on which way you look at it!).

Sunday was a NSD for us (YAY!) and we even ventured out the house! After a few hours recovery and the kids badgering us to do something I decided to have a look at geocaching as I've heard a few of our friends mention it. How sorry was I that we hadn't done it sooner. We had a great afternoon out in the local park trying to find a little box of treasure. The kids thought it was a great adventure and can't wait to go again. Whats more, it doesnt cost a penny, is family friendly and gets you out and about in the fresh air. If you have never heard of it then give it a google. It's basically a treasure hunt using a GPS (although you don't necessarily need a GPS, some phones work fine). I was amazed by the amount hidden in my local area and these are places I have walked past every day! I think my DH and I are both hooked too as we already have another search planned for this weekend.

Monday was a pretty uneventful day, work, home, kids, doctors (got the wrong day, appoint wasn't friday but Monday), chemist, home, tea, homework, bath, bed time stories.......you get the jist. I didn't manage a NSD as it was my turn to bring in the milk for work but I am planing on spending nothing for the rest of the week. I also was given some tablets off the Dr to help me stop smoking. I know a few people who have tried them and they have never looked back so I started taking them today. I will still be smoking for a week or two but this time next week I should be on my way to a smoke free life!

Today my DH went away for a week on a work course so just me and the boys. Bed all to myself, is it wrong that I am so happy about this lol. I have just had my (homemade) lunch and to save me from the lure of the dreaded coffee shop I have decided to update my diary whilst in work. I do feel very happy with myself! Looking forward to getting home tonight and having full and complete control of the remote (well once the kids are in bed anyway).

Right best go before my boss catches me;)

romylou_2

Hi Kahunababy

Im a lot like yourself (the "must buy toiletries" so I have a stash in case we go to war and I don't have shampoo/soap/showergel in house!) Go onto the No Buying Toiletries in October thread and meet the other addicts such as myself. It a real eye opener and very sobering/shameful if your post your "stash" on the board!!!

Trying to get as many NSD's as you can is also a fun challenge. I reward myself £5 in my pot for every NSD that goes towards my CC debt! Try the PAD thread as wel, its very addictive.

Good luck with the debtbusting.

xx

scotdebs

Hi there welcome to the wonderful world of DFW :j You sound as though you are in v similar situation to me - we had racked up a load of debt but due to having good jobs were managing the monthly payments and not even attempting to pay any extra. My LBM came when I had been off on mat leave for a year (of which I only got paid for 6) had I saved for this extra 6 months :rotfl:noooooooooooooooo so the credit cards took and even bigger hit and we fell behind with utilities, council tax etc :eek:- like you things are going to be tight for us until the end of the year -paying off the arrears we have built up and trying to save for christmas - but after that we will be able to start make over payments - keep the faith load of people on here have managed to do it so and you will find loads of advice ad inspiration from all the lovely DFW's

RumPunch_2

Hello, just wanted to wish you good luck with your debt busting. Our friends do geocashing and love it, I'm sure you'll find now you are focused the debt will come down.

pennywisepoundstupid

HI, just wanted to say goodluck with the debt busting, off to google Geocaching, it might be something my 2 kiddies would enjoy.