Tintingirl's "become debt free" adventure!

Giraffeseeker

Hi Kelly :wave:

Read your diary, looks like good progress for you too! I see you have just got a Kindle, I recommend the "free" book list, I've read some GREAT books from that, and even the medoicre ones are better than spending money. Be aware that some of the freebies are "christian" fiction, although I've read several and the religious content has been small and does not tend to be the theme of the book.

I too am going to be using Music Magpie and selling off some of my books - I still have 3 bookcases full despite having a massive charity shop give away last year and having had a kindle for 12 months!

Good Luck!

Giraffeseeker

I seem to have spent most of my day on these forums, on and off!

I've joined the crazy clothes challenge and pledged to only spend £120 on clothes this year (not including the children). I'd like to be brave and say less than that, but I I'll need a few bits along the way.

I've completed lots and lots of competitions and I think I'll try and do a few each day from now on.

I've also joined the sealed pot challenge and bought a pot (in the sales) with the intention of saving £500 for next Christmas to be opened at the end of November. I'm "hosting" next year so will have 8-10 people to feed, although they'll all contribute it's still expensive. Also, I want to be able to walk around the shops next December with money in my pocket to spend on my childrens and BF's presents, instead of ordering it all online so it is not embarrassing if my credit card is declined

With a stress-free christmas in mind I emailed the members of the two family secret santa's I am in to say "thanks" for the presents this year. The thing is, we have a limit of £50 per present and everyone does a wish list, so it's all a bit silly and commits me to £100 spend. SO in my email I suggested we drop to £20 but BAN wish lists, so presents are surprises and we all pay out a bit less. Everyone so far has emailed back loving that idea - so that's £60 off next years Christmas bill :T I also picked up 2 x £15 boxes of luxury christmas crackers for £3.50 per box, and 3 x packs of luxury gift wrap for £2.40 (total) I am DETERMINED that next Christmas will be PAID FOR in advance and STRESS FREE, as this year I dreaded it throughout November and December.

So, with next Christmas under control (a small summer holiday is do-able as I do exam marking at that time of year, and I think I might also check out the Sun holiday vouchers from tomorrow), I set about seeing what could come off my budget. Some figures cannot be set yet really, for example I have allocated £350 for food shopping (my + 2 DS's) but without knowing what I actually DO spend, I don't know if I can lower this. Currently this month I have spent £112 which seems alot a week after payday BUT that includes £25 on New Years Eve which was my contribution to a party my BF and I threw for the kids, so not a regular expenditure. Also have BF + 3 children for dinner this weekend and shopped for that - this means feeding 7 people, but is only a monthly occurance (we have all 5 kids alternate weekends and so only 2 saturday nights per month, so one sat is at mine and the other at BF's iyswim). Also I've had to leave some cigarette money in this month's budget as I can't see the nurse until Monday and if I go on Champix or whatever I'll need another week for it to kick in before I quit.

I did seem to have alot of small insurances etc though, so I set about sorting them. As I posted earlier, I found a hidden pension pot and dealt with transferring that, and also cancelled my £21 payment to my private pension. I considered my income protection policy, but it seems it is a good one and as a single parent I think probably that is £20 a month well spent, so I'm going to keep that, but I did discover they didn't have a correct address for me so at least that came to light and is now sorted.

I registered to administer my teachers pension online and nominated my children each as 50% beneficiaries of the death in service payment, something I should have done years ago. I also contacted my life insurance company and asked them to send me forms for putting my plan into trust for the boys so my creditors couldn't touch it. I'm still not 100% sure that I need this policy. It's £11.50 a month and is £100,000, decreasing in line with the mortgage. From my TPS the boys would get a big lump sum, and they wouldn't need the house as would go and live with their Dad if anything happened to me. So I need to think about this one.

I also, while I had all the details to hand, wrote a list of ALL relevant accounts, ie bank and savings account numbers, mortgage, life insurance, income protection, pensions, CCCS number and all creditors. I haven't included figures or whatever, just the relevant companies and policy/account numbers. And I have put it in an envelope inside a picture frame in my house. I've told the boys where is is and will tell their Dad, my BF and also my Mum. So, just in case anything happens to me, they will have access to the info they need to claim what is owing to them, and to deal with my estate. A bit morbid, I know, but something that has worried me in the past, that noone would know where to start in sorting out my estate as I am a single Mum, and things might go unclaimed.

I have British Gas cover for my boiler (essential and frequently used) and also Protectyourbubble insurance on my iPhone (before anyone says I don't need this, my iPhone is my luxury which has made itself essential, it basically runs my life, it contains my calendar, my timetable, my lesson plans, my email, a new budgetting app that I have fallen in love with and that is makeing everything easier, and if I lost it I would be devastated, so I'm prepared to starve rather than cancel the insurance ) However, does anyone think that £7.99 for washing machine cover is necessary? I took it out when my machine died (electrical fault) and I called out hotpoint who put me on a plan, I've done more than the minimum term now, so I can cancel. Any thoughts?

One thing today that REALLY annoyed me, and I am marching straight back to Tesco in the morning to sort out, is that I bought a lovely Rachel Allen bake set in the sales as a birthday present for a friend in February (trying to plan ahead!!). It was reduced from £15 to £7.50, and the further reductions to £4.50. Bargain. Except, when I looked at the receipt to put the things I had bought into the right categories on my iPhone app, I noticed they had charged me £7.50!!! :mad: In the past I wouldn't have even noticed. And then I though, oh well, who cares, it's still half price. And then I thought NO, that is £3 I could have put into my sealed pot! Added to the £2 I put in earlier that would have been £5 which is 1% of my target! SO, first thing tomorrow I am going back and getting my £3 back, which can then go straight in the pot as, in the "old days" that is money I wouldn't have ever seen again, but thanks to my new DFW self, I can get it back! :money:

Giraffeseeker

Soo, had my first call today, although I missed it as phone was on silent. Message left was from one of my biggest creditors. I'm surprised at this, as I only send DMP letters by last post yesterday (so I doubt they got it yet), and my due date is yesterday (but Standing order, not DD payment) so I am suprised they've noticed the missing payment. Anyway, debating on whether to ring back....

Cancelled my washing maching insurance today, and also noticed my Union subscription hasn't come out since November. A quick google tells me I only pay over 10 months and Dec/Jan are "free". How did I not know that? It just shows how little grip I have on my finances....:o Anyway, that's £18 more in the budget this month, which balances out with the extra I have spent on birthday presents this month (£20 in budget, £38 spent). On the plus side, I have bought all presents for Jan and Feb, but March is a BIG month with 4 important birthdays (thank goodness for Council Tax free months in Feb & March).... after that, 1 in May, 2 in June, 1 in September, 3 in October and 1 in December. I've put them in a list in my purse so I can pick up bargains as and when I see them, instead of waiting for the week before and dashing out to get something full price :money:I do think that £120 per year for 15 presents including the children is not realistic, so it looks like I'll need to up that budget anyway to £30.

DS1 has been going on and on about the skiing trip this time next year at school. He hasn't been on a school trip for 3 years as he was waiting for this one to come up. It's about £900 I think, but hopefully his Dad would pay half and he would have token presents only for his birthday this year and next Christmas. Still alot of money though. So currenltly juggling the budget to see if I can save for it. I think I could put in £200 of my "marking" money in the summer so £250 to find over about 10 months. SHOULD be possible. I really don't want the kids to suffer.

Anyway - today:
- Coursework Marking :mad:
- Get money back in Tesco :money:
- Tidy and clean house :A

[Deleted User]

£7.99 for washing machine cover? If it's per year probably, but if it's per month in a couple of years you'll have paid for a new machine. Really depends on how old your machine is and how much you trust it.

bat_girl

Hi tintinsgirl just wanted to mention tescos dtd policy, if they overchargfe you on an item, they will give you double the difference back so your £3 will turn to £6 back!! Woop woop! They don't always offer without you telling them you know about the policy but there should be a blue board behind customer service and it states it on that if you were unsure! Hope you don't mind me dropping in, these diaries are really inspiring me had my true lbm in dec!! Ahh shock! Good luck!!I've subscribed

Giraffeseeker

bat_girl wrote: »

Hi tintinsgirl just wanted to mention tescos dtd policy, if they overchargfe you on an item, they will give you double the difference back so your £3 will turn to £6 back!! Woop woop! They don't always offer without you telling them you know about the policy but there should be a blue board behind customer service and it states it on that if you were unsure! Hope you don't mind me dropping in, these diaries are really inspiring me had my true lbm in dec!! Ahh shock! Good luck!!I've subscribed

Hi Batgirl! Thanks for that, I'm off there in a minute so I'll try that and the £6 can go in my sealed pot! I like reading the diaries too, and I'm writing mine as a record for me and also so that *maybe* I can show my kids one day as a warning before I let them out into the big wide world

Giraffeseeker

Sleazy wrote: »

£7.99 for washing machine cover? If it's per year probably, but if it's per month in a couple of years you'll have paid for a new machine. Really depends on how old your machine is and how much you trust it.

You are right, and I have cancelled the policy (it was per month). The last time my BF called "a man" out to his he paid £40, well that is 4 1/2 months payments. Assuming I won't need a man more than once a year, I will be saving. Besides, I am quite good at DIY and have used forums to fix many problems myself - I fixed my dishwasher recently for a £11 part off ebay instead of the £60 I was quoted from a local repair company :T. I won't touch anything electrical, obviously, which was why I ended up in the hotpoint plan in the first place (electrical fault about 18 months ago), but most things are surprisingly easy to repair.

Giraffeseeker

So, my last day off work today and also got my children back after a few days with their Dad. Went to my Mum's for dinner which was nice, petrol costs worth it for a slap up roast dinner and one happy DS1 with a full tummy (my god, that boy can EAT!).

Came home and remembered the ebay free listings weekend so ran around the house with my iPhone listing lots of items that I've had in my head to do, suits from weddings that the boys wore once and outgrew, and various sales "bargains" that I never really wore, plus three pairs of curtains and a few other bits. Listed the last item at 11.58pm so got it all in on the free listings offer. Figured if anything doesn't sell I'll wait for the next free weekend, all profits will be taken out and put into the sealed pot for next Christmas anyway :A

On the subject of the "pot", I had a word with DS1 today about dinner money. He has £2.50 per day and I pay Mon-Weds, and his Dad pays Thurs-Fri. I nearly always give him a ten pound note on Monday morning, and invariably forget to reclaim the £2.50 from him. Anyway, I explained about the sealed pot for next Christmas and that he was basically getting extra pocket money most weeks that he wasn't really entitled to and he agreed (he is scrupulously honest and fair, bless him) so he has said on weeks that I do give him £10, he will put the £2.50 change straight into the pot. He actually will as well, bless him, he thinks its a great idea to save for next Christmas in a pot and wants to be the one who gets to smash it (haven't told him that I am going to try and empty it through the slot and reuse it next year!) :rotfl:

Had a bit of a test at Mum's. She's bought something that I've been after for a while and got it at a pretty good price. I was coveting it like mad, convinced myself that it is needed (it kind of is, but not desperate) and thought about the rebates I am getting from the utility companies, and almost justified buying it.... and then I said "Mum, that's brilliant, can you please get me the exact same thing for my birthday?" My birthday is 3 months away. I was dead proud of myself for not spending the money, and I will love it all the more because it's a birthday present and I have waited for it :A

Got over my "shopping" urge by downloading 4 Kindle books off the "FREE" list

So, back to school tomorrow and the bread is baking in the new breadmaker for DS2 and my packed lunches in the morning. I NEVER take a packed lunch so I bought some back-ups to take in tomorrow and leave in the office, cup pastas and the like, so that if I forget to make it up then I will not be tempted to spend money. I should be fine Mon-Weds when I am making DS2's, but Thurs and Fri will be more of a test, especially when I stay at my BF's house. I will miss the fish and chips on a Friday in the staff canteen though It might have to be a payday treat if I have been good! Must remember to buy milk for the office on the way in tomorrow too, or I will fall straight off the waggon by going down to the student breakfast canteen for a coffee!

Spends today include £20 petrol, £2.50 on painkillers (ridiculous headache and NOT self inflicted!), and £4 on a HUGE bottle of screenwash for the car. Boring spends

Anyway, work tomorrow so need to update my spreadsheet and get to bed. Appointment with the stop smoking nurse tomorrow too :T

sashybo

Sounds like you've been busy again!

Well done on asking your Mum to get the thing you wanted for your birthday instead of just buying it. That can be a difficult one and you do find yourself trying to justify the spend. I'll be good for ages and then start buying things again and have to reign myself in. Usually it's not even stuff I need. :eek:

We had a ridiculous spend in the supermarket yesterday, so we really need to think about what we're spending on food. Taking a packed lunch to work is my OH's nemesis - he really struggles with this and always forgets (I think he secretly hopes I'll just give in and do it for him :rotfl:).

Giraffeseeker

sashybo wrote: »

Sounds like you've been busy again!

Well done on asking your Mum to get the thing you wanted for your birthday instead of just buying it. That can be a difficult one and you do find yourself trying to justify the spend. I'll be good for ages and then start buying things again and have to reign myself in. Usually it's not even stuff I need. :eek:

We had a ridiculous spend in the supermarket yesterday, so we really need to think about what we're spending on food. Taking a packed lunch to work is my OH's nemesis - he really struggles with this and always forgets (I think he secretly hopes I'll just give in and do it for him :rotfl:).

Hi Sashybo, I managed to make my lunch this morning, and then realised I had appointment this afternoon and so I'd be at home for lunch - doh! I ate it anyway :A

I know what you mean about buying stuff you don't even need, I do that too just to buy something. Over the last week I've managed to satisfy myself with buying for presents for people, I think you consider the cost a bit more then and I get just as much satisfaction about buying for others than for myself (and I'm 6 weeks ahead on birthday present shopping!). My Mum has a list of birthdays kept in her purse in date order and she writes in what she has bought for each and how much she spent - quite a good idea really if it means you can combat the spending gremlins by buying presents which are something that you WILL need