Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Things should be fairly good this month, I've been paid for all of the additional hours I did last month (I thought some might have missed the payroll cut-off and I'd get them in December), which has almost doubled my basic salary. I've stashed £100 in savings for some Christmas shopping later in the month and I've spent nearly £100 on the twins main Christmas present (I've already got a few bits for them but I'm not intending on buying them any more presents as I know they'll get tonnes from Grandparents). I should also replace the £70 I spent on my new coat last month but lets see how the rest of this month goes before I worry about that.

I'm starting to feel a bit down about not owning our own home. The place we're renting is not decorated to our taste but I don't want to spend money decorating it when it's not our house. The money could be better spent elsewhere and I'm still hoping we might be able to buy it one day, so I don't want to do anything that could potentially increase it's sale value!

Since I started work I've been diverting £175 a month from my wages towards paying down the credit cards. Credit card 1 is now at £200 and will be cleared next month but we do have enough money in our savings to clear it now. It would be good to clear it and then start paying off card 2 more quickly but what if we need the money for an emergency (we're not using credit cards for anything anymore)? It's going to feel really good once they're all paid off, as we've been fighting credit card debt for years with no success (pay it off-spend it-pay it off-spend it) but I think we're finally ready to live without them!

sweetpea26

WI well done to you in getting the credit card down to £200..brilliant progress.

White_Iris

Things have been getting quite Christmas-sy around here but although I'm resisting the temptation to start playing Christmas songs and putting up the decorations, a few new Christmas ornaments have crept in over the last week! I've bought almost all the Christmas presents, just need some budget-friendly stocking fillers for the children, a few bits for DH and a small present for a God-child. I've left DH to buy a present for is dad and I've even told him what to get but I think I'm going to need to nudge him a few times before he remember to actually go and buy it!


I've just refinanced our larger loan, so although it's now over a longer term our monthly costs have gone down by over £80. Hopefully we'll get the paperwork tomorrow and the money will arrive next week. It also comes with a 2 month payment holiday. It would be nice to use the "spare" money to pay off the credit card but realistically we'll keep the December money for any unexpected Christmas expenses and only put the January money towards the credit card.


So the plan is to pay off the credit card as quickly as possible - I'm aiming for April 2015. Then we'll be left with two loans, hopefully we'll be able to transfer the smaller of the two loans on to a 0% credit card and should be able to get that paid off within 18 months (instead of the 6 years remaining on the loan). By the end of 2016 I'm hoping we'll only have one loan remaining, our mortgage affordability will be much improved and we'll be in a position to buy another house by the time I'm 40 (2017) although somewhere in all that debt repayment, I also need to figure out a way to save a bigger deposit too.


Still loving my job, which is good because all of our financial plans rely on my income to go towards paying down debt. A lot of people at work have been talking about retiring next year, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to take on a few more shifts permanently, which could mean around £200 extra each month.

debtfreewannabe321

everything sounds great WI i've only caught up on this page (sorry!) but I think your new coat was well deserved. I also wish I had your will power to not buy tonnes for my kids for xmas :eek:. They don't get much from anyone else really just odds and sods which aren't really needed (usually t shirts and sweets!) not that i'm complaining but would be great if we knew someone else was going to get everything they need My friend on the school run hasn't started shopping yet but intends on buying her 2 boys 4 pressies each and her mum & dad will get the main ones and a whole sack full each for boy boys :eek: I was so shocked!

Anyway well done on the CC :T fab going especially now you've broken the cycle of NEEDING it :j xxx

White_Iris

The loan re-shuffle has all gone through, so now the old loan has been paid off and we have a two month payment break before we start paying the new one. I've put this months loan money (£400) in to our joint savings pot but the idea is this will be used for any extra expenses that crop up over the Christmas period. There may be some left in the savings by January but I'm not expecting it to be much!

The loan money in January will be sent to the credit card, as I said before, and I had a sudden realisation that there will be no council tax payment in February and March so that money can go to the credit card as well.

I've just sent the final payment to credit card #1, so that is cleared and will be cancelled by DH asap. With the extra payments I'm aiming to clear the remaining credit card by March - wow, we could finally be free of credit card debt by the new financial year!

Once that's gone I'll move on to tackle our loans and hopefully also manage to save some money too. :money:

Stripes_The_Elephant

Hello White Iris, just popped by and read your diary .... now subscribed, good luck and will look forward to popping by now and then, Stripes x

White_Iris

Hello Stripes, thank you for subscribing. :wave:

Christmas shopping is now thankfully finished, with the exception of a few sweeties for a godchild but I must try and get the food shop done next week, otherwise I'll have to hit the shops on Christmas eve :eek: as I won't have time to go any earlier. Thankfully I only need frozen bits and fruit/veg for Christmas day, as the meat has already been ordered (and the crackers already bought!). It's not going to be an elaborate meal, just a slightly posher version of a Sunday roast but I may be a bit fancy and get some goose fat for the roasties and try something fancy with the carrots and parsnips. :xmassmile

Financially, nothing major has happened, no extra payments or savings this month but we haven't blown the budget either. After Christmas I'll get back to some serious financial planning but for now things can relax a little. I probably won't be back here until after the 25th so I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, peaceful and MSE Christmas. :xmastree:

sweetpea26

You are doing well WI

I wish you and your family a Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

God bless

jwil

Have a lovely Christmas

Stripes_The_Elephant

Have a wonderful Christmas White Iris xx