Taking Care of My Pennies

Claree__x

I am so raging about the nail varnish lol! It chipped off within a day of putting it on. I swear it took me longer to apply than it actually lasted. £3 down the drain there lol - maybe that'll teach me!

Way to go on the overdraft, I nearly died last night when our acc was -£20 but it turns out that a payment that I thought had gone out (OH's earphones) hadn't so I'd just transfered the "savings" too quickly. I got paid today though so no harm done

Days out with the kids sound awesome - where do you live? (I'm in Glasgow, so just curious when you mentioned Edinburgh ) x

MrsNotAPenny

Not much to say today, had my night out and spent only what I had budgeted for. I really didn't think I'd manage it, even left a spare £10 at home in case I drank my taxi money :rotfl:(I didnt!)

Had to go to supermarket, stocked up on fruit and veg. Only spend £5.24 in money, £9 ish in Healthy Start Vouchers (they are a lifesaver, I'm going to miss them when they stop)

My washing machine has stopped spinning today, I'll have to dig out the manual. I hope I can fix it! It's only a few years old. I've been thinking that if I have to replace it, I might apply for a budgeting loan from DWP rather than using my CC. If not, I might have to ask my parents (really don't want to do that) There is no way I would manage without a machine.

I am trying so hard not to eat all the Easter Eggs that are sitting around. My will power is stretched to the limits with the debt busting, I don't know how long I can resist the chocolate :EasterBun

ETA: I went window shopping round a few car garages today, gave my lightbulb a little boost!

Chemical_Thundra

Just had a wee read of your Diary and it gave me a real boost. I am somewhat lacking in debt busting motivation at present so thank you and I will be cheering you on

Oh and I have two little ones so I know how challenging that can be in itself, but lets both get debt free before they become teenagers and start asking for £60 trainers :eek:

*subscribes*

MrsNotAPenny

Hi CT Glad I've given you a wee boost! Had to visit MSE tonight for a little motivation myself this afternoon, see I am bored. (oh what a surprise!!)

I also weighed myself today and I've gained a couple of lbs this week, I knew I had because my jeans were uncomfortable but I have totally lost the dieting plot recently, gained 1 stone over the past 10 months. I know it's not a huge amount but I'm short and I don't feel good. I want to comfort eat, then comfort spend. Seems I can only focus on one thing at a time, either debt busting or weight loss! Suppose it gives me even more incentive to shift this debt! I'm thinking about giving up SW and maybe using the money to go swimming a couple of times a week instead. Hmm. I just need to stop eating rubbish!!

Anyway, had a play with the snowball calculator, only put my CC debt in, and if I keep up with my £400 repayment plan, It looks like I might well have these CC's paid off in 14 months. So near and yet so far!

After I pay off the CCs, I will have £400 'spare' each month. My loan balance should be down to about £2,900 by then. If I threw all my spare money at it (ontop of the reguar loan repayment) I could also be loan free within another 6 months. So 16 months I could be completely DF (except sudent loan, that'll get delt with eventually) Then I'd have £500 'spare' each month! £500!! What would I even do with all that money?! :rotfl:(be very sensible and save it is the correct answer to that question!) Would mean my plans to own a car would be put back another year.

I know I'm getting carried away, but it's kept me occupied for at least 30 minutes thinking about it!!

Also decided next month, I am having a hair cut. It's been 3 months since my last cut and it badly needs it! AND I'm going to the hair dressers, damn the expence!

flanno_2

Hi Mrs NAP I was just wondering if you got your washing machine sorted - only reason I ask is because you mentioned it stopped spinning - my OH is a jack of all trades sort of guy and works for himself and does lots of jobs in apartments, houses, etc as well as here at home and when a machine stops spinning or emptying it sometimes is because the filter is blocked - so if you check the bottom of the machine there is usually a little place where there is a filter - it can be difficult to open so you might need a diet coke kinda guy to open it - you could find hair clips, money, pieces of wood, etc. anything that has been in pockets etc. of stuff being washed. anyway its worth a look/try and could save you 100s in buying a new machine especially as you say its not a very old machine. Good luck.

Flanno

MrsNotAPenny

Thank you Flanno After I posted, I found the filter bit - it had 3 kirbies and the remains of a Peppa Pig Sticker in it (was hoping for a few pound coins, alas there was none!) Cleaned it out but it's still not spinning It's either the belt, burshes or motor that need seeing to. Google tells me the brushes and belts are easy to DIY but I sort of live by a 'don't mess with electrics and water' rule, so I think I have to call a repair guy in. To buy the same machine new is *only* £250 ish.

We'll see. I might have to use the money I had ear marked for paying off the remainer of the OD. That'll be better than the budgeting loan/CC/Parent options I think. :money:

MrsNotAPenny

Oops....had a bit of a spending binge! £84.22 on my CC :eek: I'm returning £8 of it this week, and can cover £60 of it on Thursday (£34 of it was on food shopping, so only really £4 over for food) The rest was clothes. New out fit for me and DS1, oh and some eyemake up remover/cotton (needed some, but could have waited until the end of the month for it)



Got someone coming to see the machine today, I've borrowed some money (£150) off my parents - which I'll pay back at the end of the month - just incase the guy needs paid there and then (which he will I imagine) Probably borrowed too much, but I didn't want to be short.

So within one day my debt is up over £200 It's so easily done. The clothes I bought were from Pr!mark (DS's jeans from Nxt, but I got the £9 pair rather than the £14, and I'd have paid that in Pr!mark for them anyway. Hopefully DS2 will get a wear out of them at some point) £44 in total on clothes, 2 jeans (one each), two tops (me), 2 t shirts (DS), hoodie (DS) and a pair of joggers (me, haha!)

It usually takes Bcard a few days to update the balance when I spend on it, hopefully I'll can get the £60 paid back onto it before it gains any interest (would probably only be pennies) I'll need to find the other £14 from somewhere this month to cover the rest. I'm sure I will manage to more some stuff for it.

Anywya, we've had a wedding invite through. A whole day one. Noone to have the boys, so it looks like they will be coming with me. I'm considering hiring kilts for them. Just considering! I need to find out how much it is going to cost compared with buying dress trousers/shirts/ties etc. Allowing £40 for both of their outfits (is that excessive?) £30 for myself (preferably less, I'll be keeping an eye out for bargain dresses) £30/£40 on gift. Haven't got a gift list, so it might just be £40 in a card. £40 on drinks for the day, including one from bride and groom. So £150 all in I don't think I can do it any cheaper than that, I don't want to be the skint single Mum whose kids are scruffy and buys a cheapo present (maybe why I have so much debt?) :rotfl:I might have to be though.

Plan is to put away £75 in May and find £75 in June, from somewhere. Wedding June time. It'll be nice to be getting dressed up and thankfully it'll be the only wedding I'll be at this year, compared to last years half dozen!x

MrsNotAPenny

Today has been terrible....

£85 to get machine fixed, £90 in Ikea :eek:

Now need to pay back £174 to my Bcard. Here's the plan to get back on track:

Return £30.50 worth of clothes I bought yesterday. We needed a few of the bits, but not it all.

I've just transfered £30 from my regular account to the CC.

Thursday I'll repay the food shopping I did, £30 and the spare £30 I had and £10 off my weekly spends (so £90 back onto card)

Leaves me with about £24 to trim off my weekly spends for the rest of the month

Then I still need to repay the £150 I borrowed. They said there was no rush, but I think I might just pay it back on Friday and see if I can reduce the overdraft by another £50 by the end of the month.

I can pull this back, I won't think I have undone all my hard work with this blip and keep spending, I will stop right now before it gets too big for me to catch up with.

There. I feel better already

MrsNotAPenny

Morning!

Days out came under budget :j By a whole £17.70 I did get a little spendy on clothes for them, £25.98. SO although I returned £30.50 of the clothes from monday, I respent! However, I've managed to pay most of the damage off from Monday/Tuesday and my Bcard is only up £21 from the start of the week. I'll get that paid easily enough.

Right, the O/D! I've decided to reduce it down to £25. Means I can change my account to the basic version (with £25 interest free O/D), no fees etc (which was why I was paying it off in the first place) and if the decide to recall my OD (been stung with that before!) I should be ok just to pay it.

Also means I have £25 to add £15 I saved from days out (change going in jars) that I can pay back to my parents, bringing that 'debt' down to £110.

New 'revisted' targets for April

O/D: £25 (£125 to pay)
Bcard: £3830 (£25 to pay)
CC2: £1640 (I think, will have to go and check balance)
Parents: £100 (£50 to pay)

CC/OD debt will be £5,595. Still a reasonable reduction considering my spending

WelshWoofer

Just read through your diary and wanted to say how well you're doing! :beer:
Keep it up!