On the up (Hopefully)

sugarcube84

We had our lightbulb moment at the beginning of the week when hubby had to extend his overdraft (not as dire as it seems as he is due to get paid for a big job hes just finished) Anyway it prompted us to have a proper sit down and go through our finances, ive been aware that we needed to do something radical to stop it getting any worse but hubby was doing the head in sand thing and thinking it would go away.

Anyway i already had a spreadsheet going (basically a SOA) and we have identifed areas we can cut back or cancel.- reduced mobile tariffs
- Cancel phone insurance
- ebay items we dont use, including new phone upgrade (got £330!!! ebay total around £360 after fees)
- Joined the library
- switched off all the appliances i can at the wall
- changed energy providers (saved £90 a year)
- looked at changing the 4x4 but we need something that can tow for the business and insurance/tax/mot/diesel compared with a estate it still worked out cheaper
- looking at forecasting hubbys wage better, i have given hubby some basic cashflow forecasting lessons.
- made all meals from the cupboard this week we have had some interesting meals!! Involving lots of tinned sweetcorn bizzarely!!:rotfl:
- had packed lunches everyday
- sat down and made a meal planner so i dont overshop and waste food
- got new house rules such as branded stuff to be avoided, no coke have squash or water, no bottle of wine a week.No lunches from shops or fast food during . No takeaways or meals out. Only go to cinema with a 2 for 1. No buying magazines/newspapers/treats etc from shop.
- Try and use my car as much as possible (company car & 50mpg)
- Charge phone in work
- walk to shop

Think thats it i will add anything else i think of

Debts wise we have got

Natwest Loan £1898
MBNA Credit Card £2485 0%
Halifax £4800ish (which was for the car 0%)
Barcalycard £100 (should pay off next month)

Hubby also has an overdraft which looks worse than it is (£2474) as he hasnt been paid.

We have a long way to go but i feel really positive that now hubby has woken up to how bad things are that will be the kick up the bum he needs to Stop spending!!

Another thing i found useful was printing out his statement and highlight and adding up all those little just popping to the shop items he was really shocked that he was spending £8 a day on nothing!!

Hopefully this will keep me on track and remind me where i started from.

sugarcube84

Only just posted the start and im doing an update already!!

- [STRIKE]Cancel phone insurance
[/STRIKE]- ebay items we dont use, including new phone upgrade (got £330!!! ebay total around £360 after fees)
- [STRIKE]Joined the library
[/STRIKE]- switched off all the appliances i can at the wall
-[STRIKE] changed energy providers (saved £90 a year)
[/STRIKE]- looking at forecasting hubbys wage better, i have given hubby some basic cashflow forecasting lessons.
- made all meals from the cupboard this week we have had some interesting meals!! Involving lots of tinned sweetcorn bizzarely!!:rotfl:
- had packed lunches everyday
- sat down and made a meal planner so i dont overshop and waste food
- got new house rules such as branded stuff to be avoided, no coke have squash or water, no bottle of wine a week.No lunches from shops or fast food during . No takeaways or meals out. Only go to cinema with a 2 for 1. No buying magazines/newspapers/treats etc from shop.
- Try and use my car as much as possible (company car & 50mpg)
- Charge phone in work
- walk to shop

So we have already done a few things plus i checked the council tax banding and ive done my first shop with a meal planner £70 for 10 days worth of meals plus extra cupboard stuff as there were some offers on (Not bad!) and hubby got paid :T .At the end of the month after all the directs debits have gone out hubbys overdraft should be around £1700 and that doesnt include any money he makes between now and then but it does include all the bills going out.

Looking much better than it did at the start of the week!!:)

Aiming_High

Well done - it's all about starting. You have to start to finish. (oh I like that, might have to put that in my sig line. LOL)

LianneH

Well done Sugarcube! Looks like you are really focused just now and feeling positive. Your list looks really full. Have you thought about including a few treats? I know you have said no wine, however once you have been doing this for a while, you don't want to deprive yourself!

good luck!

sugarcube84

LianneH aww thanks, people worrying about me depriving myself!! I have got a treat today its my birthday and hubby has bought me a bottle of champagne!! and some chocolate!!! i got some vouchers off mum and dad as well so im feeling very spoilt.oh and flowers as well.

Well i wasnt going to spend anything at the weekend but then forgot that i hadnt bought any bread for sandwiches so i went to lidl (dont go very often but when i do i stock up on a few things) so i ended up buying some tinned tomatoes, passata, jar of dried herbs, baby toothbrush and some chocolate (19p a bar) so i spent £8.45 but have enough tomatoes to last til christmas!!

This weeks list

-check internet banking, mine and hubbys
-bank hubbys cheque
-packed lunches everyday
- dinners from meal planner
- only spend on bread and milk towards the end of the week
- check freebies daily
- re arrange delivery of portable dvd player, that i won
-get hubby to do a cashflow forecast for business
- get hubby to ebay some stuff
-clean bathroom and re seal the bath
- oh and cancel orange contract that runs out in Nov

Think thats about it.

sugarcube84

Feeling really spoilt:) champagne, chocolates,flowers,wine, vouchers an money plus a home made cake. All in all a very good birthday.

-freebies checked
- banking checked
- lunches done from stores
- dinner planned from meal planner/left overs plus we have pudding homemade fruit jelly and birthday cake
- both of us havent spent anything today and as ive worked from home hubby has used my car which is cheaper (better mpg) to do his running around in
- bathroom cleaned and a load of washing done and dried on the line
-made a effort to not have any lights on

Going to start the christmas list some time this week, i have a load of prezzies in the cupboard, bought in last years sales and i need to work out how many more i need so i can budget for them. I love christmas just need to find a way to cut down the cost of it this year (hubby has a huge family) but im quietly confident that a good chunk of the presents have already been bought (im staying optimistic anyway!!)

We have also just found out that one of hubbys friends is getting married which means stag do, which is being planned for next May in somewhere like Prague or Berlin so we are going to have to start putting money aside for that. We also have a holiday (£9.50 sun holiday) booked at the beginning of May so hopefully that plus busy season for work will mean hubby can get away with only going for 2 nights. I would hate to be the position where he couldnt afford to go


We should be hearing back from uni soon if hubby has got on his course i really hope he has it would give him a massive boost. (Its a part time course (couple of hours a week) and its free and it guarantees him a place on a degree course its perfect for him i just hope they give him a interview so he can win them over.

sugarcube84

Todays little update, hubbys auntie bought me a birthday cake so ive brought it into work to share with the men (im the only female in the office, the joys of working in construction!!) lovely pink butterfly cake which im sure they will enjoy!! so ive saved a few quid on cakes that i would have bought (tradition you buy the cakes if its your birthday).

Both of us have got packed lunches
phone currently charging (in work)
hubby going to ring orange to cancel contract that is due for renewal in Nov
dinner done from stores
no milk/bread needed so should be be a no spend day for me, not sure about hubby depends if he needs to fill up
Must check freebies and banking during lunch
and must send hubby to bank the big cheque and send my birthday cheque with him as well.

I keep wanting update my sig to take into account the cheque but im going to wait untill the end of the month and update all of them together, that way all of this months direct debits will have gone out and i will have an accurate idea of where the overdraft stands. In the meantime i going to get hubby to sit down and estimate his cash flow next month so i will then have a better idea of overdraft, outgoings, incomings and estimate when the overdraft will be gone so we can start paying off the rest.

Sounds almost like a plan doesnt it??

sugarcube84

just checked the banks and big cheque has gone in so i have updated my budget sheets with todays figures and updated the cash out as some direct debits have been taken since i last updated the sheet. Overall not looking too bad especially if my dad gives me the swimming lesson money, that plus the change in energy company will pay for the water bill due at the beginning of Oct.

Also we have decided to go in my car (going to Devon) which is cheaper on fuel and i have a fuel card for work so the cost of diesel for our holiday will only go out of my December pay. A bad month due to Christmas but we should be in a better position by then.


Mustn't get complacent though as we havent overpaid any bills or cleared any debts or even cleared the overdraft and next month we are going on holiday plus the water bill is due.

I have also started keeping track of the food spend, i estimate that we spend about £200 but i want to cut this back so i need a better idea of what is achievable. Need to do this with hubbys petrol as well.Mmmm i feel another spreadsheet coming.....

sugarcube84

Morning all!!

I spoke to my dad who said he will give me the money for the swimming lessons :Thalf in Oct half in Nov, so thats makes things a bit easier.

Jobs for today

- lunches done
- dinner sorted (store)
- need to buy bread and milk
- pick up drycleaning
- read gas and elec
- check freebies and banks

Its cold and miserable and for once im glad im in work as i can have the heating on!!Going to start my christmas list as well, may as well print it out in work!!:rotfl:

Hope everyone has a good day.

sugarcube84

:TWoohoo hubby got an interview for uni, so pleased!!!!

sugarcube84

not the best day money wise but certainly not the worst.

Realised i had underestimated one of our outgoings (read missed) so thats another £80, and before i knew this i bought 3 Christmas presents for £40. But good news because its halfway through the month, ive only spent half the food budget and ive got enough in the freezer/store (excluding milk.bread) to last another week.

I am forcing myself to keep looking at the positive side then it will keep me going and not let things slip and i keep setting myself small, achievable and realistic goals. I sound like some sort of motivational speaker dont i???!! Yes ive just lost £80 (not inc presents as i have started budgeting for crimbo) but i should be able to reduce that by some clever food shopping.

Some other small things

- phone on charge in work
- used work envelope for post
- sent a confirmation email to uni that hubby will be attending interview
- both got packed lunches
- sausage stew in the slow cooker (saved the tin of butter beans as i found some lentils and didnt need potatoes as have some leftover crusty bread) plus enough to freeze
- sorted through the prezzie cupboard and started christmas list
- found gas & elec meter readings that i did the other day and then lost so will update those when i get in

Off to check the bank and freebies!!