Blinded by the LBM...!

hillside777

Sorry to hear about your laptop giving up and your kettle. Why does everything happen to break at the same time?

Regarding debt spreadsheets, etc. I save mine on Google documents. None are saved on the laptop so prying eyes can't see them. Also it doesn't matter which if our laptops I use, I can still access them. :T

Have a great week. :beer:

Beencounting

Hi Bonnington - that's a good idea about the spreadsheets, I think I'll look into this...thanks .

Well I've just made another little overpayment to the target CC of £5.53, making my total this month so far:

CC Mini target to 24/4 - £38.53/£100.00

so we're getting there, albeit slowly .

I haven't tracked my spends this week , I'm on leave til next week and have lost track, but, I do still have some cash in my purse, so I guess that's ok. I draw my weekly cash on a Thursday, so there will be a top up tomorrow.

I have to confess now that I'm about to make a purchase or purchases on the CC . We have a family christening on the weekend, which I'm really looking forward to, but it's going to be expensive. We've had to book overnight accommodation, and we'll also need spending money. Plus tomorrow I need to get my hair cut and also buy an outfit :eek:. I've tried to borrow something suitable to wear, but it's not been possible, so tomorrow the cc will be surfaced .

I think on balance we'll just about manage to breakeven on the CC balances, but it's unlikely that the overall debt will decrease this month. In spite of this, I'm still going to make the planned overpayments to the target card, so at least some of the spend will be covered.

Phew, glad I got that off my chest .

Been

blessedlife

:wave: Hi Beencounting!

I hope you don't mind me dropping in on your diary! I've been lurking on MSE for a few years now, and just joined today, planning on posting some questions soon.

I'd been looking at your diary over the weekend, and just really wanted to say well done and thanks for the inspiration! I find it really encouraging reading about what people are doing to get their debt down!

One thing I wanted to say, and I hope you don't mind, but your kids seem to get a lot from you! Maybe I'm wrong, but you mentioned a few times paying for their phone bills, travel to work, and pocket money. When I was at school/living at home (a few years ago now - I'm 26), I did get pocket money (not so much), but I bought my payg phone, paid for credit, and my travel to work from a Saturday job, from when I was 15.

I really hope you don't mind me commenting, just thought it might be useful to think about.

Hope you enjoy the Christening!

choclover

Hi Been!

I'm now up to date with your diary and want to give you a huge pat on the back for getting your target cc down so much in such a short space of time! Well done you! :j

I know it seems as though it's a bit of a drag, but think of what life will be like at the end!

Beencounting

I haven't posted much lately as my "new" laptop turned out to have a fault and has had to go back . Our old PC just isn't up to it, so whilst I've been able to read (a bit, but it's sooooo slow), posting has been impossible!

Well, we're over half way through the month, and well over half way through the money . The Christening was lovely, really enjoyed the weekend, but had to part with cash and use the CC . At the moment, I have around £200 to last til payday, which is all fully committed either to DDs or food and petrol. I think I'm going to need to use the CC again at some point, but will try to keep it to around £50 - £80 max.

I need to get a mealplan together as the cupboards are fairly well stocked but will need a top up. I would rather get to the SM to do a 'big' shop, rather than spend in bits in the local shops which are far more expensive.

Beencounting

blessedlife wrote: »

:wave: Hi Beencounting!

I hope you don't mind me dropping in on your diary! I've been lurking on MSE for a few years now, and just joined today, planning on posting some questions soon.

I'd been looking at your diary over the weekend, and just really wanted to say well done and thanks for the inspiration! I find it really encouraging reading about what people are doing to get their debt down!

One thing I wanted to say, and I hope you don't mind, but your kids seem to get a lot from you! Maybe I'm wrong, but you mentioned a few times paying for their phone bills, travel to work, and pocket money. When I was at school/living at home (a few years ago now - I'm 26), I did get pocket money (not so much), but I bought my payg phone, paid for credit, and my travel to work from a Saturday job, from when I was 15.

I really hope you don't mind me commenting, just thought it might be useful to think about.

Hope you enjoy the Christening!

Hi Blessedlife...thanks for popping in and taking the time to post, I'm always humbled by peoples' kind words .

I was pondering your comments about the stuff we pay for for the kids. I guess it could be a further saving, but tbh, we don't buy much for them, which I and my OH find quite sad. As parents, we want to do much more, but of course, we can't, so these spends are relatively small. We allow up to £25pm on each of the mobiles, but anything above that they have to pay for themselves and their pocket money is only £5pw.

With the lifts to work (and other places), it would be far more expensive for them to get the bus, so in that sense it's more economical to drive. Also, when I was teenager, my parents wouldn't take me anywhere in the car and I promised myself I would never do the same to my kids. I missed out on loads when I was growing up and to some extent was an outsider. I want my kids to feel like they fit in/belong and this is one small way we can do that.

In the end, it's about striking a balance that we (the family) are comfortable with. The kids aren't responsible for the debt, and whilst we can't completely shield them from it, we do as much as we can.

Sorry, that's a bit of a long post! I appreciate your comments...hope I haven't bored you too much with my reply !

Been

Beencounting

choclover wrote: »

Hi Been!

I'm now up to date with your diary and want to give you a huge pat on the back for getting your target cc down so much in such a short space of time! Well done you! :j

I know it seems as though it's a bit of a drag, but think of what life will be like at the end![/QUOTE]

Hi Choclover

Oooh, I so can't wait!!!

Been

Beencounting

It's the weekend :T, but showery and windy weather, so not much chance of getting on top of the washing mountain . It's still nice to slow down a little though .

Well, looks like this:

CC Mini target to 24/4 - £38.53/£100.00

is the best I can do for this statement period, this is about £17 over minimum payment . Cash is extremely tight to the end of the month, so no chance of making any further payments to the target card before statement day. So, time to set the next mini challenge. I am once again going to aim for £100 paid before next statement date...so:

CC Mini target to 23/5 - £0.00/£100.00

So far this month we have spent £98 on the CC (not the target card, the one we use for 'emergencies'). I'm expecting more to go on between now and payday. I'll record these spends, so I know how much the balance on that particular card will increase.

Roll on payday...:cool:

Beencounting

Morning all , been up since before 6, but did snooze on the sofa for an hour of so before actually getting moving. It was fine and dry that early on, but is pouring down now . Hey ho..

Prepped a mealplan yesterday to take us up to next Sunday, which is the day before payday. I then pootled off to 4sda and promptly spent £103 :eek: it was meant to be much less than that . Just hope it lasts longer than a week. Paid on the CC, so, so far have added £98 + £103 = £201, but paid off (net) £84, so £117 added. OH will be filling up the car today too, so still a bit more to go on _pale_.

Checked my purse and I have about £35 in cash, going to try to make this last til the end of the week and then just have a small top up for the weekend.

Not much else happening at the moment, it's all a bit boring...:o.

Been

CC Mini target to 23/5 - £0.00/£100.00

debtfreewannabe321

hi been! oops on the a$da spends :eek: i have done this far too many times to tell you off though :rotfl::o

I'm sorry i've not been catching up with you i've been a bit slack with my own diary of late due to one problem or another! But hoping to keep up with everyone now ...once i get to the end of my subscriptions lol i still have about 20 diaries to catch up on :eek: do you think i could get a paid job doing this! :rotfl: