We are about to pull the purse strings soooo tight!

Alice_in_Poorland

Thank you EE, mummy, brizzle and CP. Yes it's easy to forget how far we've come. It's funny I can't wait for pay days and to get started now.

Happy New Year to you all too.

Today we had a family meal. Spent £95 inc drinks for 5 of us. Not very MSE but this is our last splurge now.

Came back, felt very full....again!! so have done the ironing tonight. I get really upset when I iron DS1s clothes. I really need to pull myself together.

Talking of DS, I should really add the money we owe for flights and other bits to our debt balance. I will pay £200 per month toward that, so as long as I keep taking that into consideration with regards to the budget we should be OK.

Xx

Alice_in_Poorland

Today was a NSD :T first one of many more.

DS1 looking after DS3 tomorrow so that will save some pennies.

Spending diary/budget all ready, just waiting for banking to update. Want to get it right from day one!!

Xx

Verbatim

HNY Alice
Great that you've got your mojo back! Well done on the new totals. Indeed you have come a long way. You haven't updated your signature yet I think?
Do you mean that you're budgeting £200 a month for flights going forward or repaying that amount because it's spent already or maybe a mixture of the two?

bertiewhite

Hi Alice, I've followed your thread for a while and although my situation isn't quite the same as yours, I did have lots of credit card debt over 4 cards which I am tackling via a mix of 0% balance transfers and a debt consolidation loan (3.6%). From what I can deduce, you are now self managing your DMP, so would balance transfers/loan be possible ideas for you as well? Sorry if I've missed an obvious reason why it wouldn't.

Alice_in_Poorland

Verbatim wrote: »

HNY Alice
Great that you've got your mojo back! Well done on the new totals. Indeed you have come a long way. You haven't updated your signature yet I think?
Do you mean that you're budgeting £200 a month for flights going forward or repaying that amount because it's spent already or maybe a mixture of the two?

Hi V, lovely to hear from you. I really must update my signature!

The £200 is currently going towards paying off the flights already paid for. Also need to save for his next flight this summer. There are some other fees that his sponsor used to pay but my parents have paid so need to pay them back too.

Xx

bertiewhite wrote: »

Hi Alice, I've followed your thread for a while and although my situation isn't quite the same as yours, I did have lots of credit card debt over 4 cards which I am tackling via a mix of 0% balance transfers and a debt consolidation loan (3.6%). From what I can deduce, you are now self managing your DMP, so would balance transfers/loan be possible ideas for you as well? Sorry if I've missed an obvious reason why it wouldn't.

Hi Bertie, thank you for you post. I am self managing now. I don't believe I can take out any more credit ie a loan, due to our very very poor credit rating. Just have to keep plodding on. When I see the amounts broken down it does seem much more manageable.

Good luck with your journey to be coming DF. Do you have a diary?

Xx

Alice_in_Poorland

3 NSDs so far. Today was a bit spendy. Paid works lottery (both of us), and spent £38 in supermarket. Paid this weeks childcare £24 (I'm going to pay weekly to try and budget better).

We have £187 left in the bank. Will have to get petrol over the next few days - both cars, need to pay mobile phone bills but that's it. OH didn't get paid this week as he'd been paid in advance for this week before Christmas.

I don't know about anybody else but when we have money in the account I always feel strange, sort of nervous. I can't explain it really, quite bizarre.

Friday tomorrow, already.:D

Xx

rockey100

Anything Is possible, don't give up hope! It can and will be done.

brizzledfw

Not sure about nervous exactly, but yes I do then wonder whether I have made a mistake sometimes.

Glad you're feeling more in control

Verbatim

Worried it might get spent too soon! What has been forgotten.
Great and kind of your parents to help ds.

bertiewhite

Alice_in_Poorland wrote: »

Good luck with your journey to be coming DF. Do you have a diary?

Xx

Not a diary as such, just a couple of updates on my situation over a couple of years. I don't really manage my finances in the same way as everybody else here, just in a way that is seeming to work for me.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4914651