Back filling the big hole I dug with my credit card

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

I know it's been a while since I've posted here but I thought I would put in a guest appearance

The main reasons that I haven't been posting are (a) I've had a job which has made me nice and busy and (b) as a response to that, I've been feeling good about our financial situation. PBS would say I've taken my eye off the ball, and I've perhaps not kept the purse strings as tight recently, but we're still a million miles from where we used to be.

The big news this week is that on Monday our car died She may be repairable but even if so her recent form means she can only really be relied upon for short journeys now.
So yesterday, me and PBS bought a new car. It's really really nice and it's a good size and we're very happy. Plus it turns out that if you try to buy a car the week before Christmas when no one else does you can get a pretty good deal (I've no doubt PBS will go in to that in more detail).

The reason I am posting all this is because I'm so proud of how far we've come, and especially the phenomenal work PBS has done in 2012 to get our savings so high that needing a new care wasn't a crisis. Sure, it was the most money we've spent in one go since we bought the house, but we were actually able to do it.

We're borrowing half the money for 12 months on a 0% deal and paid the rest from savings. No desperate loans. No horrible finance deals

Sure, December is going to be a lot tighter that we would have liked, but we haven't got the looming inevitability of getting a new car hanging over our shoulders.

I know this puts us back in terms of how much we owe in total (back over 6k now) but I still feel very happy about our position. I'm sure we will get back to being uber super scrimpers in the new year and we can build the savings back up in now time

Thanks to everyone on here for all your support. Happy Christmas and a good 2013 to you all

Aesop

Nice to hear from you ATS.

Congrats on new job, pah to old car and yay to deal on new car.

Just to let you know free listing on ebay from 26 december to 1 jan 2013.

Merry xmas and happy new year to you all too. Xx

PiggyBankShaker

Oh gosh, where to begin? As ATS said, above, our car died and we needed a new one quickly. We bought a secondhand diesel one for £4300, its got 91,000 miles on the clock and loads of lovely extras. The insurance and car tax are more expensive, but we knew we needed a bigger one as we got our old one when there were kids or a dog to ferry around. We have borrowed £2000 at a cost of £80 until November 2013.

This has impacted our savings as the other £2300 came out of there. We also committed to a 12 month DD of £50 for a two year warranty.

This will undoubtedly impact on our ability to overpay the mortgage / save extra money. And I feel a bit funny about it especially as we have wokred so hard to get out of debt and now we owe £6000 again! :eek:

PiggyBankShaker

Hello 2013! Going to start off by doing a review of 2012, highs, lows etc etc. ATS is going to do one too hopefully and we'll compare how similar or dissimilar they are.

Money = GOOD
Paid off the last £1595 of credit card debt and became debt free (excluding mortgage) for first time in 12 years. Concentrated on building up some savings, some of which went towards ATS debt and some towards our new car. As of 31st Dec have £1400 in a 4.25% ISA.

Also made an extra £1300 income from mystery shopping, ebay, surveys etc.

Work = BAD
Dreadful year frankly. Had my hours reduced from 5 days a week to 4 days a week and spent the year getting more and more depressed due to oppressive working conditions.

Home = FAIR
I'd say this was a FAIR area. Made some GOOD progress. Finished the back yard Installed french doors and new window in the kitchen
However, there is still so much to do, kitchen needs 'gutting'; hallway needs finishing, tiles, skirting, wallpaper, plaster etc; back room needs ceiling and carpet; our room wallpaper and ceiling; hallway and stairs needs painting and flooring.

Family = GREAT
Our kids are simply amazing

Other
Had a return of the dreaded depression, back on meds and counselling

So I'd give 2013 a score of 4 out of 10.

PiggyBankShaker

Pay day is four days away, I can't wait. Of course, all the money is already allocated but doing the 'financial hokey cokey' soothes me and takes me a small step closer to our goals.

To that end also, I'm going to spend as much time in January as I can decluttering and I'm going to be ruthless. I'll ebay what I can, but I'm really more interested in the sense of freedom it will bring rather than the extra cash.

The extra cash generation is going 'ok'. I'm owed £10 from surveys, £13 from MS'ing, ATS is owed £27 from MS'ing, and I'm on the verge of cashing out £25 from SBs. We also have over £100 to come from TCB but I don't know when that'll be.

I've signed up with a third mystery shop company and I'm going to make a real effort to check all three sites daily for new local jobs.

Not much else to report. ATS is waiting for his new tax code and resultant tax rebate and I'm deciding the best time to hand my notice in in work.

PiggyBankShaker

Pay day has been and gone and I've spent ALL my money Some of has been allocated for outgoings in February and March and some has gone into savings and toward a mortgage overpayment. Spent a fair bit on diesel and bought some half price fabric to make curtains for the kids new playroom. This latter is exciting because we have also FINALLY had the ceiling replaced and plastered! They renewed the insulation too and it came to £340 altogether. We also bought a new carpet and underlay for £150.

We're waiting for the plaster to dry and then we'll paint the whole room and move the kids toys in there. They're excited, we're excited - yippee! The room hasn't been usable for over 18 months so it'll be a real treat and a major step forward for the house as a whole. We can make some space in the kids bedroom and also in the living room too.

The other major news is that I have handed my notice in in work. It'll mean that things are tight for us again, but the job was making me so depressed that it was doing more harm than good. I've got about £400 left to come and my last day will be 23rd Jan. Roll on!