Debtdawg says enough is enough debt diary

debtdawg

Yesterday I went over budget by.... $7.88 so my total spend last week was $57.88. This was because I didn't account for having to spend money on more bread, milk, squash, apples, bananas and there being a glitch on lurpak (6 packs snuggled in my fridge freezer, thanks Mr T!) . I took the kids into town (nice Mr Bus Driver who doesn't charge me for DS5 and instead tells me 'HE'S 4') which saved me his bus fare.

I bought a few bits from a charity shop (dress for DD, hat for me, toy for baby DS), disgusting sausage rolls for lunch *shudder* and paid entrance to soft play and a coffee (I needed about 16 of them by that point!). Then we called past Lidls/Tesco and said overspend occured.

I haven't included DS's school shoes in my budget for the week as they were a whopping $40 and would have swallowed nearly my entire spending allowance for the week.

The budget starts again today, I'm going to try again for $50, I think I am getting closer to it! This $50 has to cover extra groceries (though I haven't got a grocery order in yet for this weekend/next week), entertainment, bus fares and any small spends that crop up.

Swagbucks has been annoying me the past couple of days, the surveys in particular. I'm fed up of getting stuck into a survey, literally near the end of some lengthy ones and getting kicked out. It's sooooooo annoying!

debtdawg

Just working out my weekly spend compared to budgets so far
Week one $64.29/50
Week two $57.88/50

So I have been overspending but to show for my two weeks spending I have a fisher price garage and v tech ball for baby DS, some trousers for baby DS, a hat for me, two dresses for DD, the children's car boot spending (two games, a recorder and another toy thing), a table for DD's room, a mirror to refurnish for the bathroom, entertaining the children during the holidays and extra grocery spends. All in all pretty good I think, hopefully when the children are back at school I can fine tune the budget!!

BlueCrayon

You're doing well, think of how much you'd have spent pre-budget :eek:. Bus fares are silly expensive aren't they? The worst thing about living in the country is the time they take as they stop everywhere, a journey I can do in 20mins takes over an hour and I don't have the patience.

You're lucky to have good charity shops, my local ones are full of Primark rubbish and videos of Tom Selleck films, not really my cup of tea.

BC xx

debtdawg

What's wrong with Tom Selleck? He totally rocks that mo

Finances feel a bit blurgh at the moment. I took out the usual $50 for the week but then bought a couple of paintbrushes for the new project, a stamp and some bits we needed from the local shop and then spent a whopping $38 out last night on the hen night, so only have $2 ish left to last until next Friday which is going to be unlikely!

I also bought our car tax this weekend and went for 12, not 6 months, so that was $195. We picked up the dressing table as well which was $44, so I have taken $150 back out of the savings pot to cover some of this cost and we will have to keep things tight between now and the month end due to all the bills etc coming up. I hate the end of the month, it always seems like a more financially stretched time, even though most of our money comes in weekly so we should be prepared for this point!

I sorted out the car insurance and have got it cheaper than our renewal plus $40 cashback which will come in handy when it comes through. I've been doing a few surveys on Swagbucks and have over $15 worth of amazon vouchers again (should have $20 in a couple of days) but I can't change them up until next month. So my Amazon vouchers are really starting to add up to help towards Xmas

Waitrose came today, that was more expensive than usual so when the children are back at school we are going to try a Lidls or Aldi shop combined with a trip to a local well priced butchers to see how much that comes in at.

I have an opportunity to go back to Uni and finish my degree next month, I have my final year left. But I know the student loan will affect our housing benefit/ctb of which we get quite a decent sum due to DH's low wage. In fact I think the student loan is around the same as the housing benefit when working it out over a 40 week period. Because we have so little in the pot, if HB take every penny of the student loan into consideration I won't be able to finish my degree as I won't be able to afford the commuting costs as well as the course costs plus we'd need a new computer at home as DH is also doing a degree with the OU (he signed up when his hours were cut to give him something positive to focus on and to help open up doors) and we currently share a pc. We're going to go and speak to the HB office next week to see what they say about it all. I was quite surprised that we weren't eligible for a parents learning allowance grant, which would have really helped because it's not taken into consideration. I have written to the student loan company for clarification over this as DH has a low wage and we have a high level of commitments. If I complete my degree I can then do a PGCE in the evenings next year and look at going into primary school teaching, which I would quite enjoy and would fit in well with having children.

I am worried about leaving baby DS though DH would look after him for the one or two days that I have to go to lectures (he just had his hours cut and work will be flexible around my commitments apparently) DH is capable, but baby DS is still breastfed and I don't really want to stop just yet. There are options (expressing for example) but it's the snuggles that I think we'll both miss!

Tired and a bit confuddled today about everything!

BlueCrayon

I'll pick you up a quality Tom Selleck boxset for your amusement, you can have a quiet night in with DH admiring his tache.

I don't think HB take the whole amount into consideration as I think you need to be left with money for books and things so it is worth checking. Your Council Tax liability will also be lower as you'd be exempt. Can you also check if you get any money from the Uni? I'm getting an extra grand this year as Bobs wage is no longer counted. Have a chat with the welfare department at the University as they should be able to find out what you're entitled too and maybe help with the Parents Learning Allowance application.

I know it'll be hard leaving the baby but it could be great for you and your whole families future, you'd graduate the same time as me too. The cuddles will be extra nice when you get home too.

Hope you've got some rest and are less confuddled!

BC xx

debtdawg

Hi BC, good advice there re funds from the uni. They have an access to learning fund but literally want the ins and outs of a cats posterior i.e. 3 months bank statements, CC and loan statements, wage slips, benefit notifications etc etc so I am going to have to get organised and start getting it all together!

Debt is very nearly under 26k this morning, next target will be to get under the 25k landmark and the one after that will be the lengthy journey to get it under 20k.

We painted the new dressing table yesterday, I really like it I need to get some pretties for on the top though so will be sourcing charity shops for cheap decorations/tea cups etc. I posted a pic on the OS board but here are the before and after pics again...(before is a screen pic which is why it's so rubbish!)



I am going to give HB a quick call this morning to see if they can help with figures, fingers crossed! I checked out train times and costs and it would be cheaper for me to drive to a local town, free park somewhere and catch the train in, but this is going to mean a loooong commute which I am not looking forward to!

BlueCrayon

The dressing table looks lovely! I must clear the clutter off mine and see what it looks like underneath.

Hope today went well and you're getting it all sorted.

BC x

debtdawg

I'm feeling stressed tbh, nothing in particular just lots of little things. We have to cancel down our HB claim and reapply in DH's name, I hate applying for HB and was pleased when it all got sorted out the last time so the thought of having to dig out everything they need is just annoying. I don't know why they can't accept my student finance letter and just deal with it as an income instead of making more work for everyone. Then again I should just be thankful that we get help, I still can't believe we do. I thought HB was for people on JSA/IS and was completely shocked when I did an online benefit check-up thing and it threw up that we would be entitled to it!

I have no start date, no module choices, no uni card etc etc for my return to uni which means a good 2/3 hour round trip of driving, parking, walking to train station, train, walking to uni to try and get it sorted out as the admin department seem completely inept and unable to reply to emails.

Plus I spoke to student finance, put in different income/outgoing details (they were wrong) and it's thrown up different finance but it will take approx 4 weeks to sort so I am still not sure what I am entitled to.

Just tiiiiiired and fed up. If we weren't so much in debt then we wouldn't be so reliant on student finance and HB. It's self inflicted, I am completely aware of that, I'm just annoyed that our overspending in the past makes things so much harder now and how they will be harder for the considerable future!

*debtdawg is having a pity party for one*

BlueCrayon

I'm sorry you're feeling so stressed, the benefits world is murky and confusing but you will get there, and really what are the alternatives? You can't keep going on the way you have done.

I'd imagine the £6075 for your final year would be the minimum you get considering your income and family size. That's what I'm getting this year and I didn't get much less when Bobs income was counted even though he was over the threshold earnings.

Hope you're feeling brighter and stop that pity party! We can't change what we did and letting it get us down does no good. Sometimes you've just got to yank yourself up and tell yourself to get on with it, you don't really feel it inside at the beginning but eventually it starts to make a difference and you do feel more positive.

Sending you a big hug.

BC x

debtdawg

Thanks BC for the hug, I was feeling a tad out of control last night! Anyway things improved vastly as finally someone emailed me back, it was a lovely ex tutor, I found out timetables for potential modules and now know what days I will be in though it does mean my first choice of modules weren't suitable (unfortunately they clashed ).

I sold a load of my text books *silly girl* so I need to get down to the library asap to grab the odd copies that are there that I will need, before all the other students try to get their grubby mits on them lol.

DH told me to stop stressing as we will have some finance coming in so even if HB take ages to sort out the new claim we will still have the September payment of student finance to help us out. I think a lot of the stressing comes from the thought of leaving baby DS for two days, but now I know my timetable it won't be too bad.

Now I need to control my urges to rush out for pretty stationary and things that I don't really need. Though I can't promise not to invest in a pretty notebook for my lectures, I just need to find an MSE priced one!

I spent 1.15 on an envelope and postage yesterday for DH's OU student finance form so have a whopping 1.95 cash left until Friday, but judging by the weather we won't be going anywhere. I have spent some money on the debit card this week as I bought some books to go back for Christmas from the Book People offer (8.99 for squinkie book set, hungry caterpillar 4 books for baby DS and horrid henry book) and also a dress and tights to go back for DD's birthday and a pair of trousers for my eldest DS from the H&M offer (11ish).

Swagbucking is still going well! I have nearly 6000 swagbucks so far plus the 25.00 I already converted, so they will definitely be handy for christmas.

Baby DS was very non MSE this morning...he made a phonecall when he was with DH early this morning (must have been 6.30am ish). DH clearly took the phone off of him and put it on the side but didn't check if he'd rung anyone. I found the phone at 10am when I was tidying and noticed that it was connected to a local number and was on hold (HB office!). Which means it had been connected for a good 3 hours and we are with BT, so goodness knows how much that just cost! Naughty baby and silly DH