High Hopes for 2012

Hope2008

I've been dipping in and out of the MSE site for years but I think 2012 will have to be the year I take the bull by the horns. There is no point me aimlessly going through life hoping the elusive Lotto win is going be around the corner.

I always feel better when I have things written down and lists of what I need to do. This diary will hopefully be an incentive to keep on track.

A bit about me. I live with Mr Hope, Little Hope and Baby Hope. We bought our house when the house prices were almost at their peak (& when we had 2 full time wages) so our mortgage is quite high & savings non-existent. I was working up until Baby Hope came along. With the cost of childcare (& possibilty a New Baby Hope might come along in the next year or so) the plan is I'll get a regular job once the mini Hopes are all at school. Thankfully Mr Hope has a decent job but it does mean lots of belt tightening.

I registered as self employed so try to bring in extra money through Ebay, Mystery Shopping, selling hand made items and selling cakes to friends. I went through a little mad patch at the end of last year where I was fitting in all of this, comping whenever I had a spare second, trying to declutter the house, look after the kids, deal with the house and generally trying to save as much money as I could. While I did bring in enough to cover the whole of Christmas I was also running on empty - up at 6am, bed by 2am and then up inbetween seeing to Baby Hope!!

I have to be more sensible about things so need a plan.

I've not had a chance to do a full SOA yet but here are my household debts:

Total Debts
Mortgage 231,500 - 25years left
Loan 1 381
Loan 2 16,500
Barclaycard 2218 18.9%
MBNA 2492 0% until Sept 2012

Plan

1. I need to get the house clear so continue selling household items on Ebay.
2. Keep selling handmade items & come up with some new ranges
3. Keep using cash back sites for essentials.
4. Make meal plans and stick to them as I need to cut down on groceries/household - Aim for £75 a week (still have nappies & formula so might be a bit tight)

All the money I make and that is saved on bills will be used to pay off our debts.

Money Saving so far in 2012:

1. Cancelled Satalite TV
2. Swapped Home phone line and Broadband (got cashback)
3. Joined MSE's Sealed Pot Challenge!!

On top of that I want to lose 3 stone this year so hopefully me writing it down here will give me more of an incentive!!

Hope2008

Update on debts

Money In
£20 from Focus Group

Debts Paid
£10 for MBNA
£10 set aside for Loan 2

Have a couple fo items on Ebay so hopefully more will be paid off soon.

Small steps but heading in the right direction. Better get on and get some meal plans ready if I want to stick to the grocery budget.

Hope2008

AAARRRGGGHHHH I hate planning meals and I really hate planning meals on a budget. I think it's because I've tried so many different ways of planning meals - batch cooking & freezing, planning and buying for a month, planning week by week and I always start off well but after a few days the meal plan has been abandoned.

I have to plan a weeks worth of meals that:

1. Costs less that £75 (£75 is my aimed for weekly supermarket spend inc nappies, household products, groceries, etc.),

2. Meals that are quick to prepare Mon-Thur,

3. Everyone in the house will eat,

4. Covers breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks

5. To try and stop temptation at the weekend plan Friday & Saturday dinners that are bit of a treat. I have Kenny McGovern's The Takeaway Secret so maybe try some recipes. I also have 101 different cookery books so try a recipe on a Sunday.

I have to be honest the idea of having a nice takeaway tonight is so tempting but I will resist.

I've had a good order for some handmade items & I also have 2 Ebay items ending tomorrow so I'll have some more money to pay off my debts next week which is great.

I'm feeling quite positive but I just need to buckle down & get this bloomin meal plan done.

Hope2008

Meal plan - done, Shop - done - with £12 to spare .

Ideally I'd like to get the total weekly shop (groceries/household/baby) down to £50/£60 but I'll start with £75 and if after a couple of weeks I'm consistently under then I'll drop the aimed for amount.

My ebay items sold well and combined with the sales from my handmade items I'm waiting for £153.48 to credit my account. Once it does I'll split between my debts and update my signature. I'm also expecting £15 from Quidco.

Aims for this week:

1. Get some more items listed on Ebay
2. Go through all my old survey accounts to see if there is any money/vouchers I can request
3. Start checking the MS sites again.
4. Apply for a Small Earnings Exception certificate
5. Tidy and declutter the dining room (aiming to tackle one room a week)
6. Book baby jabs
7. Avoid top up shopping

We'll see how I go!

Hope2008

I opened the post yesterday to find a £5 cheque for a survey I did a while back.

I've made dinner for today and enough lunch bars to do the week. Need to make some bread once little H and mini H are in bed.

Was up until late last night reading some of the Mortgage Free Diaries. I would so love to start getting my mortgage down (esp as I'm benefitting from the low interest rates) but until I get rid of the credit card and loan debts I don't have any spare money.

I'm due to make my last payment on Loan 1 at the end of February so that money can then be directed towards the credit cards. The money that I save during the 2 months I don't have to pay council tax will be put towards the CC as well.

Up until the end of last year I had less than £100 on my MBNA card so to benefit from the 0% until Sept 2012 offer I moved some of Mr H's Barclaycard debt onto my card to save us the iterest. MBNA card is now maxed and his Barclaycard is starting to creep up.

I know that we should really be trying to clear his Barclaycard 1st as his interest rate is high but Mr H hasn't quite got to the money saving stage I'm at & I know it sound awful but I don't trust that if we pay a chunk off his card that he wouldn't keep using it and then we're no further forward.

The plan is to clear my MBNA card by September. I'm feeling really motivated.

Hope2008

Must have slept awkwardly as woke with a sore neck & mini H just wants to be carried everywhere so not been able to do much:

Done so far today:
Booked Mini H's jabs
Bulk cooked a months worth of tomato sauce
Made bread
Made pudding

Need to pick up Little H from school and hoping for a quiet evening and early night.

Hope2008

I stopped our LoveFilm account today so that's 5.99 saved a month (SKY TV got the boot earlier in the month).

Seen a trailer for Superscrimpers which looks quite good. I'll have to remember to watch that on Monday.

I'm doing an online course and I really have to get on and do it. I've had the deadline extended until Sept 2012 but I have to get motivated. I'll aim to get one assignment submitted this week as well.

Diet not going so well. I attacked one of Little H's Christmas selection boxes today - must do better.

beanielou

AS you say you really need to blitz the barclay card first as the interest rate is quite high.
Great news that one loan is nearly done :j

Hope2008

Thanks Beanielou. I've been dipping in and out of MSE for years but feeling very motivated at the moment and I'm determined to get rid of our household debt and move onto getting the mortgage down :j

I'm finding keeping a diary really theraputic - I should have started it years ago!!

Hope2008

Update on debts

Money In
£16 from Quidco
£76.74 from EBay
£100 from Handmade items

Debts Paid
£84.74 for MBNA
£84.74 set aside for Loan 2

Hope2008

Didn't manage to get everything I wanted to get done this week but still managed lots of small jobs.

I listed 30 items on Ebay and it took hours but hopefully I'll make a bit of money on them. Sold a couple of handmade items but I'll wait until the money clears before updating my signature.

Plans for this week:
1. Get assignment sent off for course
2. Expand on handmade items
3. Lose 2lbs
4. Get more items ready for Ebay
5. No top up shopping
6. Book Dentist apps for the family