Mrs Toast's Journey to DFD

Mrs_Toast · 22 March 2013 at 9:07PM

Just written my shopping list online through Tesco and it should come £18.19. Hopefully I can find some bargains while I'm there to save a bit more :money:Hopefully eating out next week won't cost too much lol.

Mrs_Toast · 23 March 2013 at 8:02AM

Morning diary,

More snow this morning so DH can drive the car so we can do shopping

I've had to edit my signature as I'd realised last night that I have 2 other debts that I had completely forgotten. I owe £140 to my sister for my bridesmaid dress for her wedding last October. She offered to pay for the alterations but I said I would pay for the dress.

I also owe my dad £200 which was for estate agency fees. They were a waste of money as we haven't sold and my dad hasn't asked for it back but I hate owing my family money.

DH has asked for some new trousers and a belt this morning. He has lost 3 stone since November and his trousers swamp him so he really needs them. I have a 10% off at Matalan card that came through the post so I'll hopefully be able to use that. I also need hat, gloves and scarf for both me and DS. Also a trip to the library needed so busy morning. Hopefully will have some money left in joint account by the end of the day

Mrs_Toast · 23 March 2013 at 11:43AM

Ok, so spends this morning weren't that bad.

Matalan £27.60 (managed to use the 10% card :money:)
Tesco £18.44 (the only thing I need is milk which we will buy on our way up)

Couldn't find any gloves that fit DS so that was a bust but saved us some money. Am determined to find my gloves so I don't need to buy anymore.

I have decided to write down my budget for our holiday into sections as follows.

£110 for petrol. I am hoping this will be enough.
£70 for rest of hotel bill at the weekend.
£28.50 for the animal park
£40 for whisky experience/whisky for DH
£15 for spends in Castle Douglas (clothes/toys for DS & baby)
£30 for lunches while we are up there
£20 for food already bought
£20 for dinner on the way home
£10 for DH's lunches while at the archery competition

That leaves £91.76 out of the holiday fund. This should probably cover impulse things and any spare will go into savings when we get home. I will write this list onto my memo app on my phone so I have it with me.

Joint account is currently at £120.41 and I think the money for DH's clothes has already come out just not written down as a transaction I think.

Mrs_Toast · 24 March 2013 at 8:26AM

Well our plans for Scotland are slightly ruined by the snow :eek: Had a message on fb this morning to say that the Scottish Field Archery Champs that DH was going to that weekend has been cancelled. I feel really sorry for the hotels as they were all booked out as usual with 450 archers and we're all gonna have to cancel

. We only paid £40 deposit for the hotel which came out last year so that's not too bad.

It's still snowing at home as well. I'm going to ring the caravan site later today to make sure we can still go there. I'm really hoping we can as we won't get out £96 back if we can't

.

DH is in a miserable mood now but luckily he's been able to go to his archery competition today as it's local one.

I'm going to try and keep warm today and make some cakes for holiday. Have some bananas that need using up so will do that first then maybe some cookies. Fingers and toes crossed our holiday isn't completely ruined

Mrs_Toast · 24 March 2013 at 8:32PM

Well we are still going on holiday :jso all packed up ready to go in the morning. Will be able to hopefully save the £70 that would have been spent during Easter weekend.

I have joined the 'extra payment a week' challenge so I am hoping I can save enough to pay my target cc payments each month.

DH has decided he would like to go to Alton Towers for his 30th birthday in June. His parents were going to pay us back for his latest set off arrows by paying for the Scottish hotel as his birthday present but they're gonna save it for Alton Towers.

Will keep all my receipts from our hols & keep an eye on my budget but still have a great time

lurvlyloz · 25 March 2013 at 9:44AM

hi mrs toast. sorry the snow ruined some plans but gla dyou still get to go n holiday!

i love how you power through your lists!

hope Baby toast is doing ok

x

Mrs_Toast · 28 March 2013 at 1:00PM

Thanks Lurvyloz. Baby Toast is doing great thanks. Had a few kicks this week which is exciting.

We are having lots of fun on holiday. I am very impressed with our caravan & will definitely book again next year.

Budget wise, we have eaten out more than I planned but still have some money left. Car is full of petrol anyway so we don't have to worry about not having any money to get home with.

Had a nice surprise yesterday. MBNA have done the money transfer into my overdraft account. I officially have no interest payments. I have already transfered the £80 for Barclaycard & £130 for MBNA. Unfortunately a couple of our bills came out before we got paid so there wasn't as much left in the joint account as I hoped but never mind.

Mrs_Toast · 29 March 2013 at 5:39PM

Managed my first 'extra payment' today of £5.69

. I will hopefully have some more payments to make over this weekend once all my holiday transactions have come out.

I have already put aside grocery money, child benefit, barclaycard and MBNA new payments. I have also updated my spreadsheet for April so I know what bills/savings will be coming out this month. I just need to re-register with barclays online banking and then I can see a bit clearer a few things.

Once I have sorted the online banking out, I should be able to write another SOA with new debt repayments, savings and any extra payments I hadn't considered previously.

I will update my signature and initial goals now :T

Mrs_Toast · 29 March 2013 at 8:06PM

* [STRIKE]Switch gas and electricity suppliers.[/STRIKE] Gonna try again at this. It's a minefield.
*[STRIKE] Reset energy monitor & try and reduce consumption.[/STRIKE]It's behind the desk & planning on having a clear out tomorrow.
* [STRIKE]Confirm renewal dates for Sky, home insurance and car insurance. Cancel Sky when
renewal date comes round & get freeview.[/STRIKE]Sky now on month by month contract. Haven't confirmed the others yet.
* [STRIKE]Cancel Lovefilm contract ASAP.[/STRIKE]Still not done it:eek:
* [STRIKE]Research Freeview boxes.[/STRIKE] Still have Sky
*[STRIKE] Use money from February & March's council tax to pay off overdraft.[/STRIKE] Had to be used for other things unfortunately:(
*[STRIKE] Rearrange mortgage in February.[/STRIKE]Will visit our mortgage adviser next week.
* Cut food budget to £120 a month.
* Try and save/earn £100 a month to pay off overdraft.
*[STRIKE] Close overdraft account by July 2013.[/STRIKE]Off to the bank tomorrowto check there aren't any SOs etc then close:D

Well I haven't reached all my short term goals but I'm getting there which is the main thing.

Hopefully my holiday transactions will come out tomorrow and I can start afresh. I'm getting slightly obsessed with this now but that's not a bad thing is it? I still have money to enjoy life which is the main thing.