The £8500 Journey

yukkibear

I used to be so good with money when I posted on here regularly. This site has seen me banish debt, over pay the mortgage and get some savings.

As each year has gone past, like many other families, benefits have been cut, wages haven't increased and bills have gone up.

Recently I went off the rails slightly after a bereavement, thankfully it didn't incur any debt but it's time to refocus and channel energy into the finances.

So the £8500 is coming from some targets I want to achieve by 31st December 2013.

£1800 owed for new sofas but these are on 0% at £150 per month for 12 months.
£5000 in savings for emergencies
remainder of the target for a nice all inclusive holiday next year.

I'll be back with an SOA and ideas soon.

lurvlyloz

good luck

yukkibear

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 714
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1400
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2195.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 454
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 146 - over 10 months
Electricity............................. 43
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 39.61
Telephone (land line)................... 40 includes landline, tv and broadband
Mobile phone............................ 48 2 x contract and one PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 12.54
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 always seem to go over this
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 an average
Road tax................................ 33 never put this aside, really should
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25 same as tax
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 121
Other child related expenses............ 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 22
Life assurance ......................... 23
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 200
Total monthly expenses.................. 2002.15


Assets
Cash.................................... 1300
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 186300


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 74500....(454)......3.29
Total secured & HP debts...... 74500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
sofas..........................1800......150.......0
Total unsecured debts..........1800......150.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,195.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,002.15
Available for debt repayments........... 193.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount left after debt repayments....... 43.05

yukkibear

£4.50 into the pot today from a FB sale and expecting two more collections later, tho I suspect one wont turn up.

Did the shopping this morning, resisted the clothes, toys and anything other than food. Stayed away from the alcohol aisle and spent £64 so happy with that today.

Entered quite a few competitions this morning so fingers crossed

beanielou

Great news on only debt being sofas at 0%

yukkibear

Thanks for popping in Beanielou

I've counted all the small change in my pot this afternoon and I have £7 in change to bank on monday. Also found £1 coin in a drawer and added that to my little stash of FB sale coins which will be banked when they make a whole bag.

Another FB sale of £1 yesterday afternoon, not a lot but all adds up and helps to declutter my house. Few more bits and pieces being collected over the next few days.

As it's so cold today I've been looking at holidays and getting some prices for next year. The plan is to book something on Jan 1st so we have something to look forward to and aim for during the year.

I've found a price for somewhere we want to go all inclusive so now I am going to look around and try to get the same holiday cheaper.

The plan for December is to put aside the deposit for a holiday and squirrel away the first months payment for the sofa ready for when it's delivered.

yukkibear

£12 into the bank today and then I also requested £6.57 from TCB. Slowly slowly....

I will need to find some ways to up my income a bit and am reading the threads for inspiration. I have a slight bit of overtime due to me at the end of the month which will help a little bit.

yukkibear

£20 FB sale collected today. Also had a nice surprise competition win through the post which I'll be able to wrap for dd for xmas.

Bad news is the car tax reminder arrived and I had forgotten it was due so £118 to find for that.

yukkibear

£6 in fb sales today and two/three more being collected tomorrow which should be another £7 ish.

It was definitely time for a big clear out and declutter in the house, but despite bits and pieces being collected, and the for sale stuff being put in one place, the house still doesn't look any less cluttered. i'll keep plodding.

We're off out to see the big red man himself after school today and then I think out for dinner but MIL will be paying so potentially a NSD but I do have to buy a birthday present so will see what I can find when out.

yukkibear

I cleared out a bank account that wasn't used this morning and transferred £90 to my current acc. I thought there was only £60 or so in there so that was a nice surprise and will go to the car tax to ease the pressure there slightly.

I have taken £8 in FB sales today and maybe another £5 later. Working a couple of hours tonight as extra so that will help. Must set up a signature for the whole savings amount to keep me on track

yukkibear

Not a lot of money making over the weekend and a fair bit of spending! Going to attempt another clear out tomorrow and go through the bank account to see what is left after bills / xmas has been paid for.

I have just signed up to the pay as much as you can in 2013 thread for the remaining balance. hopefully it'll keep me motivated along with this diary.