The final countdown... and a newbie in the DFSD house!

debtfreesomeday

What a day already. Ds very unsettled today, both of us were in tears before 9am this morning! Weather is foul, so no point trying to get out of the house for long today. Ds has been napping for an hour and a half now, so have recharged my batteries, ready to cope with the rest of the day (hopefully)...

Payday tomorrow, so have updated the loan figure with this month's payment. It will soon be under 10k which will feel good. The CC will be updated once I figure out how much we can pay off this month. Although I haven't started back at work yet, it seems I've been paid about £100 more this month than last - no idea why, but not going to complain! I start back on Friday, but they've never paid me in advance before?!? Hopefully, that should mean we can pay more off the credit card.

I tried to transfer money to the ISA yesterday and today but it won't let me. I've decided I'm going to close that Isa as it's such hard work to get money in and out of it, so I've opened another this morning with the AA. We intend to put the £500 left in our savings into it with the hope that we don't have to touch it for at least 3 years. That way, it'll earn us a bit of interest and we'll have a very small pot available to us. It's too easy to overspend and top up the bank account with it whilst it's sat in an e-saver linked to our bank account, that's why there's only £500 left in there after us saving a few thousand originally!

Dfsd

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

I hope your day improved and was less stressful. I can't believe it is time for you to return to work already. Going back on a Friday is quite nice though so you can ease yourself back in.

I got a new mobile phone a few weeks ago because I found my old one hard to use (it had a rubbish touchscreen and I was forever deleting things by accident) and I wanted to be able to access my emails whilst I am out. So I have a great new phone which I am still working out how to use! I have heard about people selling their old phones for quite a lot of money so I thought I would check some websites out. The best off for my phone was £1.22 :rotfl: . Clearly no one else likes it either! I have been cheeky and used a cashback site and, if they pay out, it will be about three times what I will get for the phone! We will see.

I noticed the cashback for my new phone has moved to the confirmed column, so at some point in the dim and distant future, I should get £150 .

wantabetterlife

Hi DFSD i cant believe you have finished year one of the loan...it feels like no time since you took it out...really fab progress...getting under 10k will be such an achievement. Goodluck for starting back to work at least you only have one day to do this week. On my days off i try and batch cook DS dinners for the childminder and everynight i pop one out of the freezer. I also find things run smoother in the morning if i have the lunches for the rest of us prepared the night before and all the clothes set out.

debtfreesomeday

Evening all,

T'was the day from hell, Chocs! I think we can put today down to teething, again. I ended up going to the drop in baby clinic to see the health visitor as Ds has not been right lately. She's very good and came up with some suggestions of things to try, and has eased my concerns a little. Worryingly though, Ds has hardly put on any weight this month, so I'm really praying it's not a sign of an absorption problem which would suggest the reflux is a symptom of something more serious as it sometimes can be apparently.

I think you may have had a similar phone to one I once had not too long ago Chocs! It was a terrible little touch screen thing which I got rid of very quickly and replaced with a bog standard non-singing, non-dancing black brick. It works though and is less frustrating than the last. I also go for the cashback deals when buying a new contract. I've never had a problem with them paying yet on them, so hopefully yours will go through with no problems. £150 will help towards the move a little!

Thanks for the tips WABL. Ds is going to nursery tomorrow morning for the last of his 'settling in' periods before he starts properly on Friday. He's there for the morning, so I've got his bag packed tonight. Just need to pop his lunch in from the fridge and prep his breakfast in the morning. I totally agree about the batch cooking and, thankfully, have quite a few meals for him in the freezer already, but, he can be fussy, and what he likes one day, he won't eat the next, so I have to make sure he has alternatives readily available! It's easy at home as ican scramble an egg or make toast etc., but more difficult when planning for nursery! I've made a list of some ingredients to buy tomorrow so I can make some of his 'will definitely eat this' meals that I can pop in his nursery bag of a morning.

Yes, a year of the loan gone already. We're paying an extra £50 a month off of it, but I'm so glad we took it out. If we'd have continued with the old loan, we'd still have 4 or 5 years left on it now, the thought of which would've dragging me down greatly at present. I can cope with the thought of two years!

Today I have, quite literally, frozen any further spending on the credit card, unless it's an absolute last resort. The card has gone into the freezer, in a tupperware filled with water!!! I was nervous about cutting it up just in case the next couple of years brings a situation where we have no choice but to use it, so this is the next best thing. We have a chest freezer too, so once at the bottom of that, it's going to take a whole lot of searching to find it!
Yes. I am crazy.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I had another exciting 'Sold, dispatch now...' email from Amazon last week, so about £6 is heading to the bank account from that little sale.
I've also (finally) received a cheque from an ebayer who was a month late in paying -then sent a cheque by 2nd class post instead of using paypal...) so that's just over £7.50 going into the account tomorrow.

There's another £33 on the way from paypal too, on top of the £60+ I transferred yesterday, so when that hits it will be paid off the credit card.

Hope everyone's having a lovely evening,

Dfsd
X

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

I hope DS was more settled today. Perhaps that is too much to hope for if he is teething? It must be a worry that the reflux could be a sign of something else. No wonder you are both exhausted from it.

When people on MSE mention freezing credit cards, I kind of thought they were joking about it being an extreme solution to impulse buying. Do chip and pin cards survive the cold?! And the microwave if a quick purchase is required :rotfl:.

Yes, the £150 cashback would be great. I have never qualified for so much cashback before and I gather payment is staggered in case you try to get out of the contract. I'll be grateful whenever it arrives .

I have been trying to squirrel away as much money as possible in advance of the move. Consequently, my bank balance has never looked so sick as it did when I logged on tonight. Only a few days to survive until payday so it should be fine as long as I haven't forgotton any payments or cheques. I'll be logging in every day just in case!

debtfreesomeday

So, we won't be opening that ISA after all, just had a bill from the nursery for £425 in advance of next month! I'm a bit annoyed as I asked the manager if they charged us in advance and she said no, however, their welcome pack said otherwise so I was half expecting it.
That's pretty much wiped out all the savings we had now. Eek .

Chocforever

Blimey :eek:, that is a lot money.

I hope it goes OK tomorrow

Best wishes x

debtfreesomeday

Thanks chocs x

debtfreesomeday

Another £130 paid off the credit card tonight.

Will update soon, am tired and off to bed now!

wantabetterlife

Hi DFSD, well done on the CC payment...hows the little one settling into the nursery?