Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

I was using my phone to post last night, which was incredibly frustrating, so I didn't expand on our "plan" but I've got a few minutes of peace and quiet on the laptop so I'll explain.

Financially, things came to a head between DH and I a few days before Christmas, bizarrely over mince pies (long story) but the upshot is that for the next few months at least I will be holding on to all the money, leaving DH only enough in his account to pay for the one or two direct debits he has. He will get £10 cash a week, for any work spends but otherwise there will be no online spending, no take-aways or trips to the pub, and no shopping for pleasure (this applies to both of us, it's just I have more willpower and will be less likely to give in and buy something, so I'll be the banker). At the end of each month, we'll tally up what's left and probably pay it off the credit card.

I've set up standing orders from DHs account to save for some big events he's got coming up in the next few months and I've bought presents for the birthdays we've got coming up between now an April, so we should have no excuses to spend. I've even set aside some money from our Christmas present money, to get the children some new shoes (which they will no doubt need before too long, the rate their feet grow).

I've checked the credit card balance, and with the car repairs, new tyres and fuel we've had to buy with it, the balance is now £1580. Depressingly, this is almost the figure it was before I used our savings pay off a big chunk of it. Never mind, at least it wasn't frivolous spending. I've already budgeted £100 a month to pay off it and if I can pay off another £100 at the end of each month, we should have it cleared by the summer.

sweetpea26

Happy New Year WI

Hope its a good one for us all.

White_Iris

Well things haven't gone quite to plan - because of all the bank holidays recently, I haven't been able to keep a firm track on what's coming out of our personal accounts and as a result we've spent much more than I would like and my idea of having a spend-free month has completely gone to pot. However, I am determined not to use the credit card ever again and I'm equally determined to keep the £250 in our savings account. DH has started back to work today and the children start pre-school tomorrow, so things should be just about back to normal by the end of the week.

I do need to double check our bills account though, as I seem to only have £50 left to pay off the credit card and not the £100 that I had planned.

I've done an inventory of fridge, freezer and cupboards and done a menu plan for the week from that, so when I go food shopping later I shouldn't need to spend much - hoping for around £30.

I've also had a wardrobe clear out and have sorted out about half a dozen things to eBay now and about the same for when the weather warms up. I also need to go through all the childrens clothes from last year and decide what can be sold and what's going to charity. Most of it is summer stuff though, so I won't be eBaying any of it yet but at least I'll be organised for later.

White_Iris

So the plan for today was to go grocery shopping this afternoon but after two weeks of sitting on the driveway, my car won't start. I'm assuming the battery is flat from lack of use rather than something more sinister - positive mental attitude (as Kriss Akabusi said! Wow, that shows my age doesn't it - who remembers that TV ad?).

So I need to review the menu plan and see what we can have for tea that doesn't involve anything I was due to buy today - who knows, I might be able to cross a few things off altogether and save some money!

I'm at a bit of loose end now and instead of enjoying the time off, I'm feeling very unsettled. There are a few things going on at home at the moment which are making me feel very anxious - nothing serious and I know that I'm blowing it out of proportion but I keep thinking that a recent decision we made may have been a bad one and now we're stuck with the consequences. It wasn't anything financial, although it will ultimately cost us some money, which I'll need to work in to the budget. In the interests of anonymity I won't go in to too much more detail here but it is making me feel a bit sick thinking about worse case scenarios (my positive mental attitude has gone out the window!).

I've just realised that DH has a check-up at the dentist next week and I haven't factored in any money for that. At best he'll need about £20 and at worse £50 depending on how good his teeth are (can't remember the exact figure but I think that's fairly close for an NHS check-up or filling). So, in the next few weeks I need to pay my phone bill (£14), dentist (£50 max), eBay fees (£6.07), coffee & snacks for 7 at the weekend (£30 - we take it in turns to pay when we go out for a family walk on Sundays), other spends relating to issue above (£60 guesstimate) = £160! :eek: Plus I'm sure there will be more I've forgotten!

Without touching the £250 of saving or using the cash that I've stashed away for future expenses, DH and I have £78.73 of discretionary spending money to last the month. My phone bill isn't due until the end of the month, so with a bit of savvy grocery shopping I should be able to save enough to cover that. eBay fees aren't taken until the 15th, so if I get my items listed this evening for 5 days, I should hopefully make enough to cover those. If I can cut down the food shopping this week, I should have about £30 left for the weekend. So we just have to hope DH has good teeth and the other costs are less than I expected!

Off to streamline the grocery list!

debtfreewannabe321

Hi WI, I hope you manage to save some money from the grocery budget. Did you get the car up and running? Cars are so expensive, the car we had before this one now was a money pit a lot of our debt spiralled out of control because we had to keep fixing that one.

I hope the problems you're having are not too serious do you have a friend at home to talk to about them, a problem shared and all that xx

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Hi WI, I hope you manage to save some money from the grocery budget. Did you get the car up and running? Cars are so expensive, the car we had before this one now was a money pit a lot of our debt spiralled out of control because we had to keep fixing that one.

I hope the problems you're having are not too serious do you have a friend at home to talk to about them, a problem shared and all that xx

Thank you for the concern dfw321, it's very welcome (tries to find appropriate smilie but can only find dodgy group hug one!). Unfortunately the car isn't fixed as DH couldn't position his car in the right place to jump start it this morning, so it may need to wait until the weekend when he can fettle in the daylight. I'm 99% sure it's just a flat battery, so hopefully once I'm using it again it should fix itself.

I had a totally irrational sobbing session to DH last night, about things and also had a little cry to MIL this morning, but I'm actually feeling much better today. A few things have happened to make me think that it actually won't be as bad as I think. I partly blame my hormones as it's that time of the month but I also need to do something to get a handle on my anxiety levels as recently, even little things turn me in to a nervous wreck.

I've also had an epiphany about our finances and it boils down to "!!!!!! it"! As long as the bills are paid and we're not defaulting on any debts , then we need to enjoy life a bit at the moment and not sulk or panic when we need to spend money. I'm sure my mindset will change again before too long but for the time being I'm going to concentrate on being thrifty and making the most of what we have - the debts will be paid off eventually, I just need to chill out about it! :cool:

debtfreewannabe321

White_Iris wrote: »

I had a totally irrational sobbing session to DH last night, about things and also had a little cry to MIL this morning, but I'm actually feeling much better today. A few things have happened to make me think that it actually won't be as bad as I think. I partly blame my hormones as it's that time of the month but I also need to do something to get a handle on my anxiety levels as recently, even little things turn me in to a nervous wreck.

I've also had an epiphany about our finances and it boils down to "!!!!!! it"! As long as the bills are paid and we're not defaulting on any debts , then we need to enjoy life a bit at the moment and not sulk or panic when we need to spend money. I'm sure my mindset will change again before too long but for the time being I'm going to concentrate on being thrifty and making the most of what we have - the debts will be paid off eventually, I just need to chill out about it! :cool:

Oh no you sound like me atm. I ended up crying to DH today about where we live. I absolutely loathe it and feel like 18 months is just so long before we can move felt so down. After a little cry and a chat though i'm feeling slightly more upbeat . And DH believes I was feeling so down also because of hormones

Before we paid off the last chunk of debt I also said the same as you, we were trying in every corner of the budget to tighten it and in the end I just caved. I upped budgets on food (more treats and nicer foods) and petrol ( so we could visit family more) and I did feel so much better for it. And just as we loosened the belts we had a windfall. Almost like it was meant to be.

If you ever want a chat and an objective viewpoint i'm always here at the end of a PM as i'm sure many of your other friends on here would be There's always someone willing to listen to our problems and once shared they usually dissipate pretty quickly I've noticed :)

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Oh no you sound like me atm. I ended up crying to DH today about where we live. I absolutely loathe it and feel like 18 months is just so long before we can move felt so down. After a little cry and a chat though i'm feeling slightly more upbeat . And DH believes I was feeling so down also because of hormones

I really feel for you about your housing problems. After living with our horrible neighbours last year, I can totally understand how it makes you feel. I was constantly on the verge of tears, it took every ounce of confidence to go out in to the garden with the children and everytime I heard them or their ridiculously loud music/TV I felt sick. However, as soon as I knew we had an 'out', that we would be moving, I began to feel much better and I'm sure you will too.

I'm sorry I don't comment on your diary very much, I read the updates everyday on my phone but by the time I manage to find a few minutes to comment online things have moved on, but I really do appreciate every comment on here.

I'm feeling better emotionally today but physically feel a bit rough - fingers crossed the children are in a good mood this afternoon, when I pick them up from pre-school. Really can't be dealing with grouchy children today.

debtfreewannabe321

Do you know when I fell out with the neighbours I remembered your situation with yours and thought you've done it, moved, and are happier and so will I be. I just can't imagine ever being happy again I hate this place, area and seemingly most of the people in it not on purpose either Everyone here is in each other's pockets as we all live in such small houses, gardens aren't enclosed (as you may remember from the dog issue I had!) and you have neighbours on either side, houses 100 yards in front of your house and houses 100 yards behind your garden. Having been brought up in the country with only 4 houses on a road I find it extremely difficult to cope with the noise, amount of people that are around and the feeling like someone is always watching . I reaaaaaaaally wanna move!

I'm glad you're feeling a little brighter in yourself today, I think feeling emotionally down is worse than physically ailments, for me anyway. I suffer so badly with depression at times that everything just becomes too much whereas if you're feeling physically ill you can take a tablet, eat better, sleep more etc to make you feel better for that. Emotionally wise sometimes you just feel nothing will ever get better. Saying that, obviously I hope you are feeling better very soon! Grouchy kids, I won't start on that one I have 5 of them by 5pm every night at the moment :eek: and cannot wait until I only have 2 (plus one teenager) again

xx

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Do you know when I fell out with the neighbours I remembered your situation with yours and thought you've done it, moved, and are happier and so will I be.

You will be happier and the next 18 months will fly by - there is light (and a new house) at the end of the tunnel. You've decided you're going and you've set a date - keep that in mind, the countdown has started. It won't be long before you can really get started - looking for new houses, de-cluttering prior to packing, little things that really make it seem real. Once we had made the decision to go it was like a weight had lifted - what had once reduced me to tears suddenly became just a mild annoyance.