Time to 'grow up' - the slippery slope to 30.

brummiebabe

Have to say IA that I had a Vauxhall......every single job that ever needed doing had to go to a main dealer (as other garages don't have their computer system) and cost a fortune!! Around £1000 of my debt is money paid for such car repairs!! Needless to say, I traded it in & am much better off for it!!

Admire your planning.....good luck with it all!

immoral_angeluk

Totally agree Z. I think in the real world paying off debt with savings is a receipe for disaster.

As for the vauxhall, from speaking the AA he said that in general they're very good runners. I suppose it's just one of those things and he said the EGR valve blocking up is common on newer cars mainly because of cheap petrol, or people running it into the red before filling it up as it dregs up all the crap from the tank which clogs stuff up.
I've known this for a while but have to admit to it normally being in the red by the time I'm fuelled up. Maybe that's contributed to it!

immoral_angeluk

Happy sunday all!
Feeling much happier and more confident about my finances now.
Yesterday I went holiday shopping. Spent £66.50 on stuff we needed. Today I also had to spent £18 just on locks for the suitcases :eek: My god!
Anyway, I've had enough of holiday shopping now, plus I've now spent what I'd planned budget wise anyway. I'm going to make do with what we've got if there's anything missing unless it's absolutely essential. Going to start packing up the suitcases properly tonight and working out exactly what we have now.

Today I also filled the car up with petrol which cost £47.16 for a full tank. Reckon that should last me two weeks if I'm careful with it. I've set the trip clock so I can see exactly how many miles I'll get for that too,

It's payday on tuesday too, so I'll see exactly what my new wage is with the tax change.The next couple of week's budget will be making up the holiday fund so we've got the money to go away with. Estimate I'll have £400, as I'd rather take too much and come back with change. Any change I do come back with will be paid off the very account.

immoral_angeluk

Good evening! Well..night.. it is half eleven! :eek:
Payday today. :T I also got more from the tax allowance increase than I expected and I'm £60 better off compared to last payday. Hurrah!
Because of this I was naughty and did have a bit of a splurge today seeing as I could afford to relax a little.

Spending diary update:
dance 4.00 (They didn't charge us for the extra street class today)
dance outfit 2.00 (they had some items going dirt cheap so couldn't resist. Proper dance leotard for Ash for £2! Bargain!
Birthday present for my dad 10.00
girls' plane bags 33.28 (to take their activities etc on the plane as hand luggage)
ash purse 5.00 (To go with Ash's hand luggage bag seeing as K's came with a purse but hers didn't...)
lunch 2.00 (Damn you Greggs and your tandoori baguettes..)
charity shop clothes 7.60 (Bought a top and a skirt for holiday. Sadly the skirt doesn't fit but I never take things back to the charity shop if they're not right. I wouldn't feel right doing them out of money! Will give it to a skinnier colleague..)

Have updated my budgets after paying for my nursery fees. Have paid £20 off the barclaycard but from next week the £20pw will be going off Very.

After all that I have £239.31 in the holiday fund, plus another £95 due next Friday and the week after I'll be topping it up to £400 to take away with us.

Think I'm going to get £300 out and get it exchanged to Euros, as then it stops me being tempted to spend it. The other £100 I can keep as £ for the airports etc and to be exchanged IF needed.
I very much doubt we're going to need anywhere near the £300 let alone £400, but it's nice to have a buffer and extra contingency!

Not long now! 13 sleeps!

immoral_angeluk

Evening all! It's Thursday already apparently it's official IA food shop and budget daaaay. That sounds more exciting than it is...

Here's my spending diary update:

Food shop 67.53 (£52.39 at Aldi, £15.14 in Asda)
Girls' holiday books for the plane £10.55 (pocket money from their grandad)
Euros 302.52 (£300 worth via thomas cook who had one of the best rates according to Martin's comparison deely.)

Didn't need to get petrol as I still have just over 2/3 of a tank left after filling it up on sunday. By the looks of what I've spent so far it averages about 300mile per tank which is about 30mpg using an online calculator thing as apparently the tank is 45litres to the top. Not to bad considering the majority of my driving is either urban, or rural 60mph bendy roads. :T

My dad also gave me some money which is for the deposit fund, so will be putting that in extra which is nice. He knows I'm trying to save for a deposit so wants to help.

Right, I've had a manic day and I'm knackered. Didn't sleep last night either due to a random fever so I'm off to play scrabble and wind down before bed. Night all!

beanielou

Who did you get the travel insurance from?

immoral_angeluk

beanielou wrote: »

Who did you get the travel insurance from?

Holiday extras. They came up cheapest but still good value. Covered 4 of us for £17.

immoral_angeluk

Quick update while I procrastinate from doing the housework... :rotfl:

Have checked my benefit entitlement now my tax credits and wages have been confirmed, but I'm not entitled to any housing/council tax benefit. Not surprised at all, but thought it was worth a check

Today we've spent £5 at dance, £4 on the lesson and £1 on a drink for the girls. It's our exams tomorrow... eeeeeeeeeeek!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! We're mostly relaxing and doing nowt but housework (Well.. I am.. *sigh*). This time next week we'll be in a panic getting everything ready for Majorca! Eeeek!

immoral_angeluk

Happy monday all!
What a manic weekend! :eek: We had our dance exams on Sunday (Which I think went well! Get results tomorrow, fingers crossed! Ash did us proud as well.

My dad has a mini stroke over the weekend, so it's also been a bit crazy. He's feeling better now but I had to have half day off work at short notice today to take him to the hospital for more tests. Thankfully I have a very understanding employer who understands that family comes first!

Other than that all is well with us in IA land.

Here's my spending diary update for today..

Hospital parking £3
Milk/food bits £3.59 (I managed to leave the fridge door partly open overnight, so the milk etc went off! :wall:)

Have done my budget for the week, although it's a bit of an odd one! lol

Food £20.00
Petrol £10.00
Bills £460.07
Dance £0.00 (already got the money out!)
Very £20.00
holiday cash £100.00 (if needed for airports etc)

Total out £610.07
Total £548.18

Shortfall to make up next week £61.89


A week today we'll be in Majorca and enjoying a much needed break. I can't wait!

beanielou

Sorry to hear about your dad

Happy hols indeed