5 years to be debt free... Choppys diary 30 October 2012 at 5:52PM in Debt free diaries 32 replies 1.6K views

choppy34

Hi

After posting my SOA and getting some great responces earlier I have decided to do a diary to record my spending and keep me on track.

earlier SOA thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4259127


So we are into day 2 of half term and im having a great time with my kids. Ive given them a budget of £35 each for the whole week which is for halloween costumes, swimming, pumkins and they are £12 into it already! they want to go to soft play tomorrow and thats £8 each!!!

Need to put some more bits on ebay tonight, ive got some lovely shoes which ive worn for about 2 minutes and decided they were far to uncomfortable and theyve sat in the cupboard since.

Ive told hubby how stressed i get by the debt and suggested a dmp. He thinks we arent ready for this as we are never late paying our debts we just have a LOT and like to spend money on unnessesary junk. I think I agree with him... we just need to keep focused.

I work mornings in a nursery in the baby room, this is my dream job but its only 24 hours which actually works well as i can still do the evening school run. Plus its term time only so I get holidays off with my kids... the down side is that its an apprentiship so the pay is super low (not even minimum wage!!). Ive stumbled accross a job in a bar which is for 1 night in the week so i have a trial for this and that pays decent-ish so hopefully thatll bag me an extra £150 per month.

anyway hubbys home and is hanging around wanting attention lol

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Choppy ...... just wanting to wish you well on your DF journey.

Loads of support always available here so pop back and keep things updated regularly (it does honestly make a difference!).

Sounds like you & OH have a good plan in place - if you can make some cuts to clear the debts yourselves, that's brilliant ..... if it doesn't work, then you can have a rethink about things in a wee while. Best of luck

choppy34

So onto day 2...

I had planned a busy day with the children as its halloween, the plan was to take them to a baby/toddler cafe to meet friends and have lunch and a good old catch-up then a halloween party at the local soft play centre this evening. But we just dont have the money for both so the lunch date has been cancelled... feel terrible letting friends down but as it was a group of us going hopefully we wont be too missed!! Dont wanna cancel the soft play party (altho i begrudge £7.95 per child!!) as they love halloween and have their little costumes so they can still go to that.

So now we have a gap in our day so we can just take the dog to the park, dare i attempt to start my NVQ work?!


Anyway will update later

choppy34

Busy productive day for me

I started my NVQ work but with the kids in the living room it was so hard to concentrate so shut them in there watching toy story so I managed to crack on for a good hour or so. Still got lots more to do plus my reports before the end of half term ideally... little and often, will tackle the NVQ again tomorrow and try to do reports over the weekend.

Also I cleaned the bathroom which is a job I hate and I reckon it hasnt been done for about 3 weeks (eeew) so it felt good when it was all clean and shiny again.

Also I had a little route/rearrange in the understairs cupboard and found some unworn childrens boots and barely worn shoes so they have gone on ebay. Also found 2 brand new still in their carrier bags books, i dont even know where they came from ????? so ive put them with my xmas pressies as im sure someone will like them.

had a look at my bank balance and I estimate once all my bills are paid i should have approx £300 extra to go towards one of the credit cards....... it makes me a bit excited thinking about it!!!! how sad

Anyway dinner time for the youths then halloween party!!

choppy34

Think I might have a signature now??

choppy34

Its so cold today!! And wet and rainy urgh!!! The kids seem quite happy playing in the living room with their toys so much so that I have just submitted my first NVQ assignment! Woooop and a week early as well... lets hope it gets marked ok!!

The halloween party went well last night. I went with the best intentions not to spend any money but it was so hot in there that the children drank the drinks i brought from home so I had to buy more.. I did go for the cheap squash option though so it is a definate improvement. A good night was had and my best friend and her family was there so im happy!!

If the rains clears I will walk the dog with the kids otherwise I think a snuggly day in is the order for the rest of the day. I have a staff meeting tonight and hubby has a meeting with the search and reascue people who he volunteers for so not sure who is gonna have the kids!!! better ring my mum!

Belle208

Hello and good luck, I'll subscribe to follow you. X

choppy34

Thank you very much Belle208 altho im not sure my diary will be very entertaining!!!!

I have just done a bit of research into snowballing... OMG im amazed!!! the way forward!

choppy34

Ok so today the sun is shining so going to crack on with housework and take the kids and dog to the park. the tonight I have my trial at a bar!! Im so nervous.. ive done years of bar work before but I dont seem to remember anything like changing a barrell etc!! Im sure it will all slip back into place. The bar job is a second job as during the day I work for pitance training as a nursery nurse!!

I showed hubby the snowball calculator last night and he said he was shocked at the amount of debt we have :mad: ?? Im not sure how he didnt realise but now at least he is on aware then we are both aiming towards the same end goal and realise how serious our situation is. But I truely think the snowballing is fabulous and cant wait to get started on it.

We've got £25 of our weekly £110 budget left so will take the children to see the fireworks tomorrow night. They both have birthday partys this weekend and the presents are all brought we just need to buy a card so may walk into town with the kids later as well. I will get a card from wilko or alike - gone are the days of buying mega expensive cards from cl!ntons - I used to spend about £3 on one card :mad:

After my trial tonight I want to go thru the xmas pressies already brought and write a list of whats left and create a budget.

Last year we spent a fortune on the children (excess £300 each on credit cards!!!), we got my son a big wooden fire station (never plays with), my daughter a barbie house (she loves barbies but not in the house she just like to play with the on the carpet) and various other [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] ... right now they are playing so nicely upstairs together with a den tent made of bedsheets and a 2nd hand box of lego. I wont be making the same mistake this year.

Oh my son has just come down stairs with an old cardboard box and is now drawing on it with his felt tips!!! god the thousands of £££ we have blown on credit cards for the kids and they just dont need it!!!

will update later xxxxx

choppy34

I have just paid £280 as a seperate payment towards the HSBC CC I feel very good right now what an amazing feeling. I would like to get this below £1k before xmas!!! BIG challenge!

Also found my old Boots advantage card in a drawer upstairs so hoped for a fiver on there to buy a birthday card and when I got to the till there was £20 on it! Woooooop so treated my hubby to a can of deodrant as well.... what a wonderful wife I am.

please-let-me-be-lucky

Hi choppy, happy new diary!

I'm also trying to balance entertaining the kids with paying of debt so I know how much of a struggle it can be. Things suddenly seem so expensive post-lightbulb moment don't they?!

Good luck with the trial tonight, hope it goes well.

PLMBL Xx