Just another DFW diary - Mizmir's progress

mizmir

Great ideas! :T Must definitely make some treats! Decided to check if I can claim anything from the banks/credit cards for charges. Nothing doing there - have been badly overdrawn for much of the past 6 years but always with an authorised overdraft - and when I got anywhere close to the limit they just seemed to up it a bit. There are a couple of late charges on an old Barclaycard but I think it is probably not worth doing for £40.

But I have managed to sell some of my eBay stuff! So should clear over £80 after postage/charges. :j So feeling cheered up and back on track.

mizmir

I've just totted up the figures in our spending diary for the past 10 days. It comes to over £1100!! :eek: No wonder we are in debt! OK - some of that is Christmas presents but still - at this rate we are spending more than £2.5K on "stuff" a month.

I did a breakdown which is quite interesting and suggests some areas to look at - works out as follows:

Entertainment: £51.40
Lunches/coffees at work: £18.06 (includes £12 when OH had to go out with a colleague)
Sweets/chocolate: £3.97
Work expenses (claimable but takes an age to come through): £280.25
Dogs: £67.77 (don't usually spend all this on them but went to a show and got some toys, beds and stuff - first new bedding in years!)
Kennels: £130 (:eek: I think this might be our nemesis - with 4 dogs it is expensive - this was for a long w/e)
Petrol: £49
Other car: £5.99
Groceries: £58.32
Christmas presents/stuff: £268.85
Other presents (21st/wedding): £64.97
Postage: £2.82
Personal - me: £29.10 (includes haircut, prescriptions etc.)
Personal - OH: £25
House repairs: £55.97
Parking: £12.50
Old invoice in arrears: £75.25 (now cleared and closed).

A big problem here (apart from Christmas!) is work expenses. We end up being out of pocket for weeks if not months. I suspect some slip through and don't get claimed at all . Maybe we should get a 0% payment card just for this and pay it off when claims come through?

Kennels is the other one. Not sure what we can do about this. There are times we have to go away for work (as this one was) - and we can't take 4 dogs with us to visit people (will have a similar bill over Christmas as we are going to a wedding away and then to see parents. Is definitely cheaper than getting someone professional in - might see if we can find friends who would like free board and lodging - but most have their own dogs at home . Noone suggest getting rid please - not an option - but we may have to rethink our budget on this one.

Anyway - need to have a think about it some more. On the plus side food isn't too bad!

mizmir

Just got the results of the MOT - it failed with a long string of things.
I've asked for an estimate for the work (local garage very good) but right now I have no idea what to expect. It needs:

2 tyres
2 wiper blades
2 sets of brake discs and pads
4 suspension arm rubber bushes

Anyone even a vague idea what sort of figure I might be looking at? It's a Kangoo.

lynzpower

cant really help about the car thing not being a driver, butr theres a motoring forum in travel/ trips/ holidays they might know?

Maybe time to find a reliable neighbour- or someone whos dog your train to dogsit for you? Those kennel costs are mental.

Also, I did have a feelling about E-books. could you write an ebook on dogtraining and sell it on ebay?

mizmir

Thanks Lynz

Have posted on the motoring board so with luck will get an idea.
You're right about the kennel fees - they are mad. We'll have to either find someone to look after them or not go anywhere for a while! :rolleyes:

An eBook? That's an idea. Will have a think about that. Thanks.

mizmir

Letter this morning - our mortgage is going up by £70 a month! :eek:
Rate is going to be 6.49% - top priority over the next few weeks is getting a better deal. :mad: Seems like 1 step forward and 3 back at the moment - and I've hardly got going!

miggy

Well done on the ebay sales and commiserations on the car, work expenses and so on. I can't really advise there but hope someone else can.
Re: the dogs - do you have friends you could form a dog-sitting circle with? Kind of like a baby-sitting circle but canine I'm sure there are weekends when you are at home and could manage another dog in the house (if your dogs would tolerate it?)
Failing that, could you turn your love of dogs into an asset? I think Lynzpower has suggested writing an ebook. You could also do dogwalking, or possibly grooming? If your dogs are good with others could you help socialise puppies?

I'm sorry to hear it's been such an expensive month for you. I think I'm right in believing you're doing a spending diary. Could you get a friend to have a look and suggest areas to cut down that may not spring to mind for yourself?
I belong to an American group called 'Cindy's Porch' (http://www.cindysporch.net/index.shtml) which is to do with finances, and one of Cindy's sayings which helps me considerably, is 'shop at home first'. So often I already have things if I put in the effort to think about it rather than just dash to the shops.

December is bound to be difficult but remember you are putting new habits in place - you won't get them all sorted overnight but eventually you will and long before that your finances will improve.
Meanwhile, if you haven't discovered it already - have you seen the 'bit on the side' board? Some good ideas there for extra cash.

mizmir

The car will be £500 or thereabouts. Seems reasonable - after the feedback I got on the motoring board I was expecting more. But still more than I have. Cleared Mint card starts a bonus 0% till July 2007 in January so might do a BT (capped at £49 fee) onto the o/d if they will let me and use some of that on the car. Partner's car MOT and tax due in January too so expensive time - and there will be tax.... oh dear - mental note to self- for next year put money aside monthly for this!

Thanks Miggy for the suggestions on the dogs. Trouble is we have 4 biggish ones - 2 shepherds, a large collie and a greyhound. The oldest is having problems with her back end so needs help getting up. One of the shepherds is not great with strangers (but fine when she gets to know people). So we'd need understanding people! But there are a couple of possibilities who might help out. The dog sitting circle is a really good idea. I wonder if I could get this going through the club. Will have a think. No time to do other dog things with my full time job except the training which can be evenings and weekends. I have a booking next week which should bring in about £25 and a couple more after Christmas. I am thinking of doing some weekend "workshops" on particular "topics" e.g. puppies/show dogs/nervousness etc. in the new year as I can get a hall cheaply.

Will have a look at the bit on the side board - am working my way through them all for ideas! I am not sure I'd want anyone I know to look at my spending diary but I promise to share it with you guys once we have a couple of full months in! I know I want everything sorted yesterday and that I need to accept it will take time. After all it has taken me years to get into this mess so I won't get out of it overnight!

hypno06

How do I do a "snowball calculation"?

I want one, and not just because it is festive.....!!

mizmir

Go to
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx
and fill in the details of all your debts. You'll need the amount and the interest rate - plus the amount you can afford to pay (overall off your debts) each month. It'll then tell you which debts to pay off first - as well as how long it will take and (scarily!) how much interest you will pay.

Really great site. Good luck.