Enough is Enough!

njk1012

Here goes nothing!

We are a family of four myself, OH and two boys we also have a few pets a hollow legged hyper German shedder, parrot, aquarium and a canary that lodges with us 3-4 months a year (long story). My OH unfortunately due to ill health cannot work so we rely on a mixture of benefits and my 2 part time jobs income.

In theory we have enough to live on with a little left over each month however it never works out this way. It finally really hit me this week when the payments had gone in and we were still in the overdraft with no way of paying upcoming bills. So major overhaul is needed!

I have trawled through the bank statements which is a complicated business as we get paid weekly, fortnightly and monthly and it all comes in in dribs and drabs. I've made a new monthly budget which leaves a contingency of £100 per month, however it's useless to us this month as we started with a £300 overdraft to pay off before we get charged through the roof and the cycle begins again.

Before i forget to mention we on top of the overdraft owe credit cards just under £2000 which we have slowly been paying off slightly above the minimum payment.

So challenge is to spend as little as very possible until the overdraft is paid off then start making bigger payments to clear the debts that i am well and truly getting fed up of.
sorted out a fair few items for ebay which if sell should tide us over direct debit wise until we get paid again. Listed 44 so far today, probably have the same to do again tomorrow. The bulk of these are low value i.e clothes, toys books etc...

I feel so stupid getting us in this situation but determined to start making big holes in those figures.

Flee_2

Good luck with your money saving. Make sure that you have a SOA to see where you money is going and how much you actually have spare. It also helps to read the diaries on here to give you ideas. Try the Old-style Money saving forum on here to help with meal planning.

njk1012

Thank you Flee.

SOA is done however don't really want to share it. I know we have been spending a lot more than i'd like on groceries and we have had extra expenses such as the schools changing the uniform completely to a more expensive one which is strictly only available in one shop.
I love the oldstyle board and have been a lurker on the site for a while. however life slips by and batch cooking, home baking etc falls by the wayside but is now well and truly back on track.

I'm hoping having this diary will keep me motivated, Two challenges i would like to set myself is to clear the overdraft this month and stay out of it (may consider cancelling it altogether) and to spend no more than £100 on groceries/cleaning/household stuff till the end of the month.
Have some food in the freezer and can raid dads allotment so should be just about doable.

Flee_2

No need to post your SOA on here, it is just for you to view. I use a spreadsheet to keep a track of what I spend day by day. This helped me to cut back and plan my spending. Try and set yourself achieveable targets like getting out of your overdraft.

Good luck njk.

njk1012

right plan of attack today: (trying to keep it simple and not making a massive list i can't do!)

check online banking
list the rest of ebay stuff (think there is more than i originally thought)
make 2 phone calls to my 2 volunteer jobs (i do these on top of the paid jobs)
get the store cupboard meal of fish potatoes veg with parsly sauce cooked before 6
check fridge if we need milk if we do go at whoopsy time for that from Mr A (walking to save money)

right off to make a start on these, little steps at a time.

njk1012

So far so good.
Online banking checked (gone up a lil bit but still a bit carp)
Now 76 items listed on ebay so far and there is still loads to do. Arrggh!
phoned two voluntary jobs and organised tasks for the next few weeks.
Fine for milk so not even thinking about going to the shops today

Think i'm gonna allow myself an hour of so off before starting again, think it's going to be a late one tonight to get all ebay done.

njk1012

I came to the realization yesterday that beating myself up constantly is not getting me anywhere if I work lots I feel guilty for not spending enough time with the OH/ kids and if I spend more time with the kids I feel guilty for not working hard enough!

I'm doing my best so time to drop the guilt and get on with it. The hour and a half i gave myself yesterday to just chill made a huge difference, I'm going to try and factor that in each day around this little list:
2 paid jobs (working from home)
2 voluntary jobs (outside the home)
Challenging college course (online, so also from home)
University applications
spending quality time with OH & kids
All cooking some cleaning and all financials for the home

Wish me luck!

Today is made a little easier as the kids go to friends for tea so HM ready meals (leftovers) just need microwaving for myself and the OH.

To do today:

- check online banking
- Finish ebay by lunch time
- hour off
- work on job 1 till kids get home around 6
- do homework & reading with boys
- goto supermarket for milk & whoopsies
- put washing away
- Do college work till bedtime
- FLOP!

njk1012

phew! that's me done for the day, this writing out a list of must do's seems to be working better than having them wizzing around in my head.

Didn't get quite as much college work done as i'd hoped but otherwise a really productive day.

Nipped to Mr T for milk and hopefully some whoopsies and i feel like i have hit the jackpot. 7 very full bags of shopping all for the grand total of £16.94!:j It seems that I turned up at just the right time loads of stuff under 20p each including a big tub of king prawns, a dressed crab, big boxes of croissants, pizzas, bread rolls, potatoes and loads more.

The majority of the above is now in the freezer for future meal plans.

Aiming_High

WOW your shopping makes me green - well done!...I wish I lived nearer to a supermarket so I could daily shop instead of 2 week shop for fear of running out of money. LOL

I'm also eBaying like mad at the moment, I just love how the money adds up in that little place called pocket paypal. Then when it's a nice chunk it comes out and onto the CC.. Plus I love updating my sig line. It shows i'm making progress.

njk1012

It is great living within walking distance of 2 supermarkets though the temptation is to go all the time this results in a freezer full of miss matched things that you don't need and an empty bank account if your not careful. So I'm trying to concentrate on only buying what we use all the time reduced or not.

Great idea on building ebay up to pay off your CC may try this next month as this months ebay we need in the bank to cover the overdraft.

Today's to do list:
Spend this morning at volunteer job 1
Make sure downstairs and bathrooms are clean and tidy
make spag bol from freezer/cupboards (on menu plan)
work on paid job 1
homework & reading with the boys
check online banking
check ebay and answer questions (current bids are about £5 )

njk1012

oops forgot to add;
Phone SIL back re recent message
Phone royal mail to sort out lost parcel