Get Tink out of trouble 2011!!

BEAT_THE_DEBT

You can and will do it you are making steps everyday to solve this,come on look at all the changes u have made.xx Hope u feel better soonx

Tink_04

Thanks BTD the hyperventilating has eased and ive been over to the OS board which always fills me with inspiration think i just need to sleep now and start again tomorrow - its a new day and should be a better one

Tink

Tink_04

Not much to report today, just going to log my spends:

Thurs: £25.90!!!! :eek: birthday present for friends DD shirt for work car parking and sandwich!!!!
Fri: £9.30 (post office :mad:)
Sat: NSD
Today: £2.60 bread and milk from farm foods

well thats all i have to report so far

Tink

Tink_04

Ok ive missed a couple if days so erm not sure where to start!

Me and DH have decided to organise the accounts and try to budget for a few months and see how things go before we start throwing money we dont have at debts we would more than likely just run up again after failing to pay everything. I know this sounds like a backwards thing to do but hear me out - we had very good look at our books and realised we are living beyond our means so we need to get on track and budget properly - so far we have opened seperate accounts for shopping, bills and xmas and are going to set a budget (this is currently waiting for the final nursery fee's tbc and the tax credits to be sorted out) so i feel like a bit of a failure and have come back to earth with a huge bump!!! i kept saying - things are not that bad - when actually there pretty messy.

Pay day was 28th and im officially poor! everything has been paid and we have shopping money in our pot but nothing else - have about £20 petrol money to last the month and im not sure how ill manage but ill give it a go im hoping that we can get ourself s sorted in a few months so its not that bad but with the nursery going up im not holding much hope out.

Just wish i could find a tiny light at the end of the tunnel as everything seems so much harder now im actually paying attention to the money!

Oh forgot to add ive joined in some challenges to try and help me out too - the shopping challenge - NSD's & work lunches!!! hoping they pick me up a bit

Tink

choogirl

Hi Tink

I'm glad that you've decided to go down the budgetting for everything route, theres absolutely no point throwing all your money at the debts to then find that you have no money left to buy food etc and stick it back on a credit card. Its demotivating and a vicious circle and you do have to be realistic with what you have.

I worked out our budget and have then had to tweak it several times since to take the vat increase into account, things had been missed off. I need to tweak it again this month as I've forgotten to add the window cleaner budget on, its only £7 a month but it still needs including to make it realistic. I'll also need another tweak for the water bill and council tax bills that will be arriving in the next week or so.

Believe me budgeting really does help the situation x

I can't stress enough about the thrill that I get when I have enough money to pay for something in full and not have to resort to a credit card to pay for it. I've cut my credit cards up now and all accounts are cancelled so I couldn't use them even if I wanted to.

I also take cash with me when I go grocery shopping and then theres no temptation to buy anything extra as I would have done when I used credit cards.

Good luck x

Tink_04

Thanks choogirl - think im getting there in small ways but others im way behind - going to do another SOA over the weekend and then set the budget next week - just waiting to hear back from DD's nursery to see what the damage is :mad: the tax credits look like there going down by about £80 next tax year too but again will just have to see what happens in April and plan from there!!!

I would have never even thought of adding the WC to the budget - might hunt out a jar to put a month's worth of £££ in for him so i have it ready now!

Tink

choogirl

It needs everything including Tink, you'll think you've included everything and then something else will crop up but the key is to include it in your next months budget.

It will take a few months to get it right and I've realised this morning that I should really include something for school trips as well!

Tink_04

Hi and happy Saturday night! well i have started meal planning - still finding it hard as cannot think of enough meals to plan so doing it 3 days at a time kind of thing so i dont end up with nothing and then going to keep the list of meals we made for this month and hopefully have a plan for next month etc - i really need to keep updating my spends on here but i forget so erm.

Thurs - £58.54 asda shop (hense the meal planning)
Friday - 55p can of pop at work - £1 loaned a girl at work as she forgot her lunch
Saturday - £4.50 (duvet for DD's cot bed for the summer - ive been looking for ages for one!) reduced from £15 £10.00 petrol £5 DD hair cut

So thats me up to date i have £5 in my purse still so going to cling to that or dear life!

Me and DH had another great talk last night and discussed birthdays and easter and we have planned birthdays till June (hopfully) i just need to get the cards in (must write a list!) and sort the presents out!

I know what you mean choogirl im finding im adding stuff everyday to this budget and im still struggling with a format i can cope with - im a pen and paper kind of girl so might have to get the notepad out and do it the OS way and keep it in my bag to check on rather than having to go on the computer!

Well tomorrow is hopfully going to be a chill out day going to cook a chicken and have sunday lunch at home and maybe a walk to the park and a DVD with DD if the weather is not to bad - going to try and plan 7 days worth of spends and 7 days worth of food too as trying to do a month at a time is stressing me out lol!!

Tink

Tink_04

Ok back already - i had been putting off checking my bank balance and decided i should just do it so (SHOCK HORROR) it contains £24.55 + £5 i have in my purse - which i know sounds very little but im pleased in a way - everything has been paid and there is food in the cupboard, freezer etc so all i need is petrol for work and nappies - ok the nappies are the biggie but it only has to last 17 days and if i can do it this will be the first month in a long time i havnt borrowed to live and had to pay back money as soon as i get it ie taking money out the DD account and praying i can put it back before it bounced or borrowing off mum! last month i had to put £50 back and i just think i could have paid that £50 off a debt so this is a big first step for me! so 17 days can it be done???? i bl**dy well hope so as i need a boost!!!! thinking £10 on nappy's leaving £14.55 for petrol - just put £10 in so hoping this lasts then my £5 in my purse for if cash is needed!!!! might look around for nappy's as i always buy pampers and always at asda in a big box mostly on offer when they have the big boxes for £12 or something in the baby event but wonder is i could get them cheaper??? hmmm ....

Well this has just inspired me to plan next week so here we go!!! will hopefully smash my NSD target this month if i can pull this off

Tink

Tink_04

Meal plans done

Week 1
Sunday - [STRIKE]Chicken dinner[/STRIKE]
Monday - [STRIKE]Chicken - rice & veg[/STRIKE]
Tuesday - [STRIKE]Fish fingers chips & peas[/STRIKE]
Wednsay - [STRIKE]Sausage & mash[/STRIKE]
Thursday - [STRIKE]carbanara pasta bake & garlic bread[/STRIKE]
Friday - [STRIKE]Fish chips[/STRIKE]
Saturday - [STRIKE]Sausage chips & beans[/STRIKE]

Week 2
Sunday - [STRIKE]Dinner at mam's[/STRIKE]
Monday - [STRIKE]Cheesy Chips[/STRIKE]
Tuesday - [STRIKE]Chilli & rice[/STRIKE]
Wednsday - [STRIKE]Fish Jacket pot & veg[/STRIKE]
Thursday - [STRIKE]Chip Butty[/STRIKE]
Friday - [STRIKE]Tomato pasta bake & garlic bread[/STRIKE]
Saturday - [STRIKE]Sausage & mash[/STRIKE]

Week 3
Sunday - Dinner at mam's
Monday - Chicken tonight
Tuesday - Sausage & noodles
Wednsday - Meat balls
Thursday - Chicken curry & nan
Friday - Chilli & rice
Saturday - Pasta bake & garlic bread

nothing flash but its what we have in S-T-R-E-A-C-H-E-D out over 3 weeks

Tink