5 years to be debt free... Choppys diary

choppy34

Hello PLMBL! Dont I know it, Its not so much the toys that cost the earth its the activities and boy do they eat!!? Now im not nipping to the shop every day the food is rapidly going down!

I suspect I am going to have to put an extra £5 into the weekly food budget as we ran out of fresh fruit yesterday and yogurts and bread, I suspect one mid week mini shop is needed altho an extra loaf of bread can be frozen (I already freeze 1 per week at the mo) and maybe by raisins for the end of week?? hmmmm. Its cus its half term as well so they are at home and eating more.

My trial at the bar last night went brilliantly!! :cool::cool: I was so so nervous, but when I got there and started pulling pints it kinda slipped back into place. Ive done lots of bar work before. The other staff seem nice enough as do the locals! So I got the job of one night per week plus if there are any functions on a fri or sat night I can work them too. So this week im working weds (my regular shift) and saturday as there is a function on. Then for the rest of november its just wednesdays. Hopefully there will be extra shifts in december too especially new year as i dont go out then anyway!

Today Ive woke up with a really bad sore throat :(:( . My mum is coming round at 10am for a visit and tea, we have a kids party at 2pm and fireworks this evening (rip off @ £4 per person)

choppy34

Too tired to post much this evening but had a lovely day at my nephews birthday party followed by a soggy evening at a firework display. Got to see my lovely grandparents as well so a happy family day and altho hot dogs and candy floss were brought at the fireworks we r still in budget!

Goodnight x

choppy34

Today's been a very busy day with 2 party's!! These kids have an amazing social life! Today was a NSD woooppppppp!

Half term is officially over so it's back to school for the little ones and back to work for me so better get on with lunch boxes and uniform ironing x

choppy34

Hello.. im feeling a bit rubbish today and i felt the same yesterday!! Clearing over 10 years of debt is a massive challenge obviously and im starting to feel the effects of it!!

Yesterday was monday and therefore shopping day... budget £60 and I came in well below budget at £50 but it felt awful buying the cheaper (but just as good) brands and watching every penny. This is such a massive lifestyle change and on paper it looks simple enough, just stick to the weekly allowance, the reality is very different. It seems everything costs so much!! Fuel for both our vehicles is costing so much... the children keep being invited to social events- karate, parties, ballet! Also it was my father in laws birthday and hubby and i totally forgot! So we had to break into the xmas budget to buy his present. But at least we used OUR money instead of using the credit cards. Credit cards have been an option for us for years. I feel so annoyed at myself that i was so reckless!!

Anyway onto more positive news... I passed my first NVQ assignment!! My assessor is coming to my place of work to assess me for 2 HOURS tomorrow! 2 HOURS???!!! I cant imagine being watched for that amount of time!

choppy34

So have checked bank and there have been £110 worth of bank fees which have come out today :eek::eek::eek:

OMG!!

These were from pre LBM and they are made up of 2 £25 direct debit paid charges and a £60 unarrange overdraft fee... I knew we had gone over my overdraft but these charges have put a bit of a kybosh on paying extra to our debts this month. Must remain positive...

So on a positive note despite the above charges we are still in the black this month, normally we are using credit cards for our day to day spends (petrol, food etc) so the budget is working and this is the last time I will pay bank charges.

We have £353 to last until payday (27th) so £120 childminder and the rest is for 2 weeks food and petrol... more than enough.

Good week at work, kids being angels and have started my 2nd job. Things will get better.

beanielou

Keep plodding!

choppy34

Thanks beanielou - really appreciate your message x

Im still plodding on. Been really busy with assignments due and mid term reports for my key children at work. This is a double bonus as I love studying and im far to busy to go out and spend money! My 2nd job in the bar was a bit of a disaster! Some customers got abso wrecked and got abusive and i was left to deal with them on my own so I decided its not worth the hassle so wont be going back. i sound a right failure but I was scared for my own safety and its not worth it!

I made £100 on ebay on old tat from our wardrobes!! I made my husband post the 12 parcels at the post office though! He said there were loads of people in the queue tutting behind him haha!

2 weeks till payday when I can pay another lump off of our debts but I also want to sort xmas shopping out too. Hubby is off to Ireland for 3 days to go to a family wedding (we couldnt afford us both to go) and he has a very strict allowance to take. We both got us into this debt and we both need face the concequences.

feel a bit down cus my granny has cancer I found out this evening...

choppy34

Its been 3 weeks and 1 day since we last used a credit card....

beanielou

Sorry to hear about your granny.
Good news on the 3 weeks and 1 day though.

rising_from_the_ashes

choppy34 wrote: »

So have checked bank and there have been £110 worth of bank fees which have come out today :eek::eek::eek:

OMG!!

These were from pre LBM and they are made up of 2 £25 direct debit paid charges and a £60 unarrange overdraft fee... I knew we had gone over my overdraft but these charges have put a bit of a kybosh on paying extra to our debts this month. Must remain positive..

Awwww I hate it when that happens ..... I ended up with a charging circle for around 3 or 4 months (charged so over OD & then charged again etc)

It's happened ..... try to forget it and move on with the "they'll be the last charges we have" thought!

choppy34 wrote: »

Anyway onto more positive news... I passed my first NVQ assignment!! My assessor is coming to my place of work to assess me for 2 HOURS tomorrow! 2 HOURS???!!! I cant imagine being watched for that amount of time!

Whoop Whoop :j:j Well done - hope you survived the 2 hours OK?


So sorry to read the news about your granny ((((hugs)))) xx

Re a change of lifestyle - yes, it's a huge change and the first few months can be really tough as you adjust to buying different things / only things that you need etc - but it does get easier and you do get used to it without every single shopping trip etc being difficult. As beanielou says ..... keep plodding