Living life, loving life.......hypno's having a ball!

boredofbeingathome

Happy New Diary Hypno x

hypno06

Keggie, in the early days I was self employed so everything was hit and miss - there was no such thing as a budget as every month was different in terms of income - so we just adopted a "fly by the seat of our pants" attitude, and somehow managed to get through, paying down debt at the same time. Car insurance and the like were occasionally put on credit cards, but we did try and do them out of income in the same way as we were paying other debts and bills. There were a couple of years I think when we were able to do them monthly for no extra cost which helped.

For the last couple of years I have put £50 a month into a car expenses account which generally has covered most things, plus my car insurance comes at the same time as council tax free months so that helps too, because I can allocate the CT money if I need to.

As for the envelopes - I get paid on 23rd month, so on that day I sit down with my diary and make a list of everything we have planned for the next month, together with how much it will cost, or how much I wish to allocate to it. Then I write out the envelopes, and fill them with the appropriate amount of cash and put them in the cupboard.

I can't pretend that we don't dib in from time to time, but the envelopes are generally for "fun" or lifestyle things, such as drinks before/after the football, my cleaner, haircuts, gigs or meals out with the girls/guys.....so if we dib into one, in order that we can have, say, a takeaway one day, I just know that I have £x less to spend at the match (or whatever), so I adjust.

Basically, I get paid on 23rd, and list my household bills, mortgage etc, and put that exact amount in the bills bank account, which then just runs itself - no need to ever mess around with it, although obviously I check it every day just to make sure nothing is awry. This now includes my savings element so that I cannot make excuses for not saving.

then I do the envelopes......

Then whatever is left goes into the housekeeping account for food and petrol.

Any extras that I get, such as teaching work, or money from the download site, go into savings to go towards paying for holidays etc.

Any bonuses I have had from work so far have gone towards the debt in years gone by......but from now on they will go towards saving for the bigger expenses, such as uni, new car, holidays.....with a little being taken out for shopping :cool:

keggie

Thanks Hypno. That's given me something to think about. We tend to stick everything on a card then pay it off at payday, take all monthly expense off then pay remainder of wages off the debt. This works ok but all too often the CC is too high because it was probably just a bit too easy to say yes to a meal out and stick it on the card!

Staying focussed is hard as it's easy to justify treating yourself and hey ho what's another £20 here and there! Better at mo though as DH is quite keen to be mortgage free and he's impressed that I have been overpaying it. My grand plan is to be debt free in 3 years and mortgage free in 5. This will mean that we can help DD and DS through UNI if they choose to go.

The difficulty will be sticking at it for 3 years!

hypno06

I do try to only use the CC when I need to, otherwise as you say, it is easy to add another little bit to it, and then when you come to pay it off at the end of the month it can be a shocker.

I did go through a stage of using the 0% card for all groceries and petrol and then clearing it on payday each month, but I much prefer to know what cash I have left, and to then try and work within it.

Like I say, it doesn't always go according to plan, but is infinitely more workable than it has been in the past!

beanielou

Happy new shiney new diary for your lovely new life
Your first post made me have a wee sniff!

LAM2011

Happy New Diary Hypno - not known you long but love reading your diary and like I have said more than once before you truly are an inspiration.

hypno06

Beanie, it is indeed a lovely new life And I intend for it to stay lovely too

Lam, I am not really an inspiration, I just seem to post more than most. I just keep on plodding, chipping away, and nicking the ideas of others on the boards. It is everyone collectively who is the inspiration.

:money:

dangers

Happy new diary Hypno. Nearly missed it as I don't often pop on to the diary section - just tend to read the threads I have subscribed to.
Loving the new life - keep it up.

youareallhelpingme

Another new chapter. Life on here wouldn't be the same without you and the sprouts

cococoladebt

Just came across this thread. Well done on reducing your debt from £100k to £0k.. well done!!!