oh my life...... Light Bulb moment.

shaz1963

Morning Mimi66,
Well I havent been on this site for a long time but a notification came through for your diary posts!!
Well done to you for facing this again and taking control!
Its so hard, trying to bring credit card debt down...theres always something cropping up unexpectedley!!!!
Anyhow just wanted to stop and say hi and hope you have a lovely weekend.
Shaz x

Verbatim

Aah you sound more positive already! So is your son nearly 16?18? Perhaps he could get a part time job and a summer job to pay for his own phone? That's another £30.
It all helps.
Have a lovely weekend.

MiMi66

Verbatim wrote: »

Aah you sound more positive already! So is your son nearly 16?18? Perhaps he could get a part time job and a summer job to pay for his own phone? That's another £30.
It all helps.
Have a lovely weekend.

Hi there Verbatim
The phone costs for children are both kids phones and a silly contract that I took out for a mini tablet (what was I thinking, got hooked by the sales patter in EE) so each phone contract for the kids is 12 and 13 £ respectively and 10 for the tablet which comes to the end of contract in Nov off memory.
My daughter has offered to pay for her phone - she's at uni but is absolutely brilliant with money!! My son has a part time Saturday job and I will keep paying his for a bit longer as I want him saving for uni. But like his sister I will hand it over to him at some point to pay.
So - costs that will reduce over the next 6 months include phone and tablet at 22, sons savings plan 25, = 47 which is good. Sadly the child benefit and child Maintenance will go as well, though I am hoping to negotiate something with ex as I understand that child maintenance should be paid until children are 21 now. I didn't enforce it in my daughters case but I will try with my son.

My son is 17 and a half, and sadly not to thrilled about having students to stay in the summer😕 I think it would be good for us, not just the money but also the company and busyness it would bring. A distraction from feeling very blue at present.

And a hello to Shaz1963 too. I'm still here, awful lapse but still breathing!!!

Have a good and inexpensive weekend everyone!

Verbatim

We had students for the first time in my dd's lower 6th year. It was brilliant for her social development and meant she was able to talk to someone one on any subject! She went from someone who was tongue tied to socially adept in one summer. She also swapped some English conversation with French conversation with one lovely Swiss student which helped A level French too.

MiMi66

I'm really hoping that is the case for my son too, he is socially ok in his comfort zone which is gaming. Sigh. He's in his AS year and is a maths, computer science and English student. It's be great if we got matched with a student with similar interests. Our house is a little on the small side and a bit tatty but homely. Hoping a foreign student will find it ok.
It's something I've thought about doing for years now and in a way I think it will be good for perhaps dealing with empty nest syndrome when my son goes off to uni in a year or two's time. It will be so weird being a single person living alone rather than having the kids at home. ��

Sazzie23

Hi Mimi

Just skipped through some of your thread, saw you will be reaching the semi-centurions club (like me) sometime soon and wanted to say I understand your gloom, but you're not just letting it go, you're making plans, and great plans. It will come good, keep at it, keep posting on here it helps focus our minds on what's real and what's important.

Saz,

MiMi66

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Hi Mimi

Just skipped through some of your thread, saw you will be reaching the semi-centurions club (like me) sometime soon and wanted to say I understand your gloom, but you're not just letting it go, you're making plans, and great plans. It will come good, keep at it, keep posting on here it helps focus our minds on what's real and what's important.

Saz,

Hi Saz

Yes that 50 thing has a very abrupt way of grounding one doesn't it. :rotfl: I had once hoped to be sorted by 50, finances, work and someone to love (other than my growing nearly grown up chicks) - so finances and love object not forthcoming but work is good ( just too much of it!). Sounds like I'm in good company though.

Finances. Groan. I made a decision to raid the emergency fund today in order to buy paint, wood stain and brushes/roller and filler stiff. My garage is very very tatty. One of the expenditures I've had the last few months is a odd jobs Nan fixing up the doors for me. However, the job took him a lot longer and the original quote blossomed from 250 to 450. I stopped his work at that point and decided I will finish the prep and painting myself. Not my greatest skill set I have to say. Essentially rubbishy at DIY but needs must. I did manage to use some points vouchers on my nectar card Snd boosted that by £5 but the cost of the kit ...... Good god stuff like that costs a small ransome!
Hoping the weather stays good so I can get it done in the evenings this week.

Another cost albeit mainly cover by insurance is that one of my cats was hit by a car a month ago. She came in days later in a poor state, jaw broken in two places - she's been amazing though. Has had to have the wiring surgery twice (it came loose after the sweeping went down) and she's had two infections in the wire around her nose and jaw. It would be up around £1800 by now but I am now very very glad I keep the insurance going. £75 excess. Whew. Especially after one of the other cats had a run in last year with a fall,much smaller bill but the insurance kicked in too. Did you know that the wire that goes around their nose and jaw to stop them from opening their mouths so the bones can heal is called a 'beard suture' and is like fishing line. Poor cat is suffering with that though as it keep getting infected. She also has a really stern bit of wire holder her lower jaw together where it split down the middle septum. Poor little love. Another of those lives gone!!

Anyway rambling here. Isn't life expensive!

Just remembered today that my ex agreed to pay towards my sons college term train pass. Must remind him. That will be £85 😊 So I can put that straight to the dread CC. Actually just thinking- I might be able to get the dread CC down to just under £33K next month. Psychologically that would be fab:-)

One way of looking at things is that my worst debt has been £35036 and its down to £33787 - need calculator........ Is 1249 paid off which is just over 3.5% - it's a start. And if I pay off another 788 in June that will be 5.8% of the debt gone. 10% definitely in sight. Hmmm. Mustn't count my chickens but that would be fab. I've realised I've no idea how to use a calculator to work out percentages. Must google it!

Right, am going to get an earlier night than usual! Sleep well night owls!

zenshi

Work on your total debt. 1% = £350 ergo 10% = £3,503
But for the in between calculations, my calculator is my best friend :rotfl:

MiMi66

Well another day. My cat needs to go back to the vets this morning, infection on that wire needs checking. Sooooooooo glad it's covered by insurance!!
She's lying here being a cat blanket and purring away. Good little cat. Funny how animals weave there way into your heart and help you keep focus. Very soothing little beasties.

Debt - hmmmmm. It's still there! With all the energy it's has had thrown at it the lat few days it should be gone!:rotfl:

Still on track to make that increased payment in 19 days time!!

foxgloves

Hello MiMi66,
Just spotted that you found my last post reassuring. That's good to know. You & I are a similar age (I'm a couple of years older than you) & that kind of means we entered adulthood in the 1980s when 'Having stuff' just exploded as a concept, followed by the 1990s, which brought easy credit to facilitate this. I freely admit that my debt arose because I never bothered to budget & from the age of 19 to my 40s, I spent more than I earned. Looking back at some of my old journals from that time, I don't know whether to laugh or wince......There are regular entries which say things like 'I have no money. I must have a really careful month'. The next day"s entry will see me auditing my food cupboards & batch-cooking. Then the next day will be 'Bought some shoes & a top in town, treated myself at the Clinique counter, met up with X, got in late so got a takeaway'. Oh dear......my spendy decades. But I did change eventually because we now have no debt except our mortgage despite our income having halved. We used to spend £80 a week minimum on groceries (in reality it was often nearer or over £100), not.including takeaways & eating out. We now spend £200 or £250 a month (depending on if I need the extra £50 to pay the fish man for our bulk order every 2 months). That's for 2 foodies (inc big hungry husband), cat food, all cleaning/household stuff & basic toiletries such as deodorant, bath bubbles, etc. Meal planning has been key to this & growing what food I can helps too. We all slip off the wagon now & again. Sounds like you're ready to climb back up! Best wishes for the journey!
F x