Is it time?

StrugglingYouth

Just read the last three pages. How good are you guys going to feel with the debt sorted with a new baby! Congratulations to you both!


Inspiring stuff!

Maybe_its_because

Cheers Struggling Youth. Cant believe any of my diary actually makes sense.
Cant wait for this debt to go - settle things down financially with a baby and then jump back on the mortgage free mission i started on at the beginning of this thread.

Anyways, I am struggling being so close to reaching the £13,000 mark for savings so I have bit the bullet and topped up the 13/14 ISA savings.

A bit naughty as its inaccessible so no emergency funding for the rest of the month but if that's what it takes to get back into the £13s then so be it.

Also just got a letter informing me the interest in my fixed rate 12/13 ISA has been added to the account.

Feel MUCH better starting 2014 with a healthier balance.

£2,762 vs £13,041 (phew!)

Maybe_its_because

February update already! January wasn't too difficult financially as we didn't spend as much as I thought we would. I think its because our entertainment spend was pretty much zero - no going out for us (a combo of heavily pregnant and rubbish weather!) We even ended up with £20 left over in the joint account

Couple of factors in this month's budget;
- my HSBC account matured so a nice £51 interest
- the saga of the surprise £270+ ancient power bill has been wiped from our account as the power company's system was unable to fix the mistake they'd made. The money we'd set aside for that has gone into savings :j
- we put a 10% deposit down for a staycation over the summer when the baby is here with our inlaws. So that's money that would've gone into savings.

So savings this month hasn't been as big as it could've but we've still increased it to £13,412 !!!!!!:j V happy with that.

Also, debt payments wise, we've paid £950 off the last lonely 0% credit card. reducing the balance to £1,812

Well on track with 3 payments left to make before the 0% period finishes.

New 0% debt numbers.
[STRIKE]Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Sept 13 = £3,957. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Jun 13 = £1,741. 0% period up Jul 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up Jun 2013[/STRIKE]
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Feb 14 = £1,812. 0% period up May 2014
[STRIKE]Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Sept 13 =£0. 0% period up Sep 2013[/STRIKE]

So new totals for Feb
1,812 vs £13,412

Maybe_its_because

A very exciting March so far.... our beautiful daughter was born and she is absolutely amazing. We are totally in love with her.

We're home and getting ourselves into a routine, which also means getting back on track of finances having been missing in action for a few weeks.

Nevertheless not a lot of damage done to the bank accounts whilst OH was "caretaking" them in my absence He's a keeper.

We've also not gone overboard with baby purchases (yet!) after generous family & friends and also using local FB groups to source a lot of what we would have bought.
Expecting a larger than normal supermarket budget this month based on a) nappies and b) I'm constantly ravenous as I'm feeding baby myself.
I did kind of anticipate this so should be all-OK.

So to the numbers then......

Direct debits for savings have all gone through and we have made an £815 payment on the Fluid Credit card bringing our total debt total to LESS THAN £1000!!!!!!!!!!:T:T:T:T

[STRIKE]Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Sept 13 = £3,957. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Jun 13 = £1,741. 0% period up Jul 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up Jun 2013[/STRIKE]
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Mar 14 = £997. 0% period up May 2014
[STRIKE]Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Sept 13 =£0. 0% period up Sep 2013[/STRIKE]

So new totals for March
£997 vs £13,918

Pleased to be on track for a debt free world in May :j

Maybe_its_because

In the wee small hours of the morning ..... Got to get used to this with a newborn. While she's been feeding/settling I have gone through the budgets for the next couple of months.
I still have no idea how to calculate my maternity pay but have erred on the side of caution with my estimates. I also added in anticipated child benefits into the spreadsheet. The plan is to put this into savings for our little girl. It appears Halifax has a decent account which pays 6% interest on children's savings. Will go into town later this week to open that account up.

I was hoping, according to my October diary entry, to achieve a £15,000 savings target by May to coincide with all our credit card debt being paid off.

Just on joint savings and individual ISAs etc, we'd be in with a slim but possible chance of achieving this.... If we add DDs child benefit savings account into the equation we *should* collectively reach then£15k as a family.
When I said this throwaway £15k savings comment back in Oct, I didn't think it was feasible...but perhaps it is. Food for thought

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

A nice early start to this month's financial housekeeping as I'm on maternity leave. Found a little bit of time in between feeding/changing etc to get all April's money moving sorted out.

Have paid £750 from the final debt, leaving a minutiae of a total .... £247 of debt remaining on 0% credit cards. Cant believe it started out at over 12k - amazing feeling to get this far.
That leaves one final payment left to clear next month. so close to that dfd......

I've moved the savings into ISAs etc and I've also opened up a very nice savings for our daughter (start how she means to go on I hope!) 6% from halifax - nice.
I need to start looking into the next batch of ISAs doe the new tax year.
So a decent amount put into savings - but not sure we'll sustain that next month (or ever!) as my salary drastically reduces to SMP-only.
Some of April's savings might have to be dipped back into next month, but hopefully, we'll try and pull the belt a little tight instead.....let's see.
I'd still like to hit that target of £15,000 in savings for next month to coincide with our £0 debt target

So April's numbers.....

[STRIKE]Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Sept 13 = £3,957. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Jun 13 = £1,741. 0% period up Jul 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up Jun 2013[/STRIKE]
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 Apr 14 = £247. 0% period up May 2014
[STRIKE]Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Sept 13 =£0. 0% period up Sep 2013[/STRIKE]


£247 debt vs £14,688 savings

So very close.....:j

MIB x
.

Maybe_its_because

Was reading the article regarding ISAs and i thought I'd pull out all the stops to fill this years full ISA allowance.

Its proper skinted me by doing this (but i wont be spending anyway, as all I seem to do is push the pram around the park at the mo which is free). Also my mum owed me some cash and she has come up trumps in time for the ISA closing deadline.
So our new savings total is £15,061 - VERY chuffed with that as we've reached our savings goal a month early.

£247 debt vs £15,061 savings
:j:j:j

Maybe_its_because

Just checked my Hal online account and spotted a new balance in the 12/13 ISA. Because it babysat the virgin CC money for a few months there's been interest accrued.
That's £76 unexpectedly popped up. What a bonus

£247 vs £15,137

Was going to pay it off the debt but the £247 final payment is all set to be paid in 25 days time. So will add it onto the savings spreadsheet instead and revel in kicking the savings target's backside!!

:j

Maybe_its_because

Stroke of luck yesterday - my CPP claim was processed and a cheque for £83 came through the post :j
Wasn't sure how much it was going to be, I just followed :money: advice. Chuffed with that though.

I went to pay the cheque into my account but annoyingly it's in my maiden name and the bank refused to accept it - grr!

So for now I can't really count it towards the debt or savings total until that's resolved.

I'm not sure what we'll decide to do with it. I suspect it will go towards the purchase of baby stuff- we've barely bought any baby paraphernalia in an attempt to be MSE but we can't avoid some necessities any longer. Especially now there's £83 available to us.
Is this our life now? any spare or bonus ££ is going straight on our daughter? Ah, she's worth every penny

21 days til debt freedom!!!

Maybe_its_because

The big day has finally arrive..... debt freedom!!!!!:j:j:j:j

Have sent off the last credit card payment of £247 and can't believe we're down to zero on our debt. Its been a long time coming.

Numbers for May
[STRIKE]Virgin. Apr 12 = £4,742, Sept 13 = £3,957. 0% period up in Oct 2013
M&S. May 12 = £2,920, Jun 13 = £1,741. 0% period up Jul 2013
JL. Nov 12 = £802, Apr 13 = £688. 0% period up Jun 2013
Fluid. Mar 13 = £5,024 May 14 = £247. 0% period up May 2014
Argos. Oct 12 = £1,102. Sept 13 =£0. 0% period up Sep 2013[/STRIKE]

Our DFD couldnt have come any sooner IMO, my payslip will never be the same again..... SMP kicks in tomorrow and when I do return to work it'll be part time. Cant decide on .8 FTE or .6 FTE but either way, we'll be living off OH's salary and mine will top up our income. At least there'll be no debt to pay off so we have a fighting chance of succeeding on the new financial arrangement.
Meeting with my boss next month to start agreeing my new working arrangements and have started the childcare conversations with our folks.

In other financial news, we've received all but one of the interest on our accounts and that couple with this month's savings we've a grand total of £16,030. That smashes my £15K target and means we can be ready for any emergency which life throws at us.

I was hoping to go back to the MFW path but not sure we'll be able to until things settle with my job after I return from mat leave.
I called the mortgage company for an update on LTV and our balance and we can rethink our mortgage in September when our current fixed rate finishes. OH and I need to sit down with the spreadhseet and work out what is and isnt possible with our remortgage.

But for now, I'll revel in the knowledge that we no longer have any debt - just the pesky, but necessary mortgage.:T:T:T:T

May figures stand at

£0 debt vs £16,030 savings