Time to sort it once and for all!

LittleMissKitty

I've been on and off MSE for the best part of 4 years now and it's getting silly! I'm getting too old to be messing this up any more!

This is diary number 3, I'm crap at keeping diaries but I'm thinking third time lucky - I may actually manage with this one, I have no good reason not to.

Back story:

Diary 1: LittleMissKitty's DFW adventure

Diary 2: Back in the black before baby

So, where we are at the moment:

We have five kids (ranging from 'just-turned-8' to 8 months) I'm running (when I manage to get clients) my photography business at the weekends and rapidly approaching my 30th birthday, DH has a decent job and is rapidly approaching OU graduation. We're planning to start looking at a big move next year and I want to have paid off our debts by that time.

So why, after years of forum reading and 'knowing' all the tricks is it that we went on holiday last week (to CenterParcs, with my parents, we know how to have fun :rotfl:) and I spent the morning we left clearing out the overdrafts on all of our 6 accounts so we could pay for petrol to get there?! Because I'm a prat! It shouldn't take that kind of wake-up call to realise we're over spending but it did, so I'm back. And I'm on a mission!

Debts:

• We have an overdraft that we've lived in for so long we just don't seem to be able to get out of it and stay out of it. It's a mental block and we need to address it. We bounce in and out of it and can go as low as -£2k or be a couple of quid in the black depending on how lazy we are in a month.

• We owe FIL £5500. We had this down to £4500 at the beginning of the year and then took the £1k back out to pay off the OD *facepalm*

• We owe my parents £9000. They say we don't, it was a gift, they've given the same to my brother. But I really REALLY want to save it up and offer it to them as they're hardly wealthy themselves. This one doesn't stress me out all that much but I still count it in the 'debt' pile.

• Mortgage: £118000. We over pay by literally a few quid each month - just to round it up. When I get all enthusiastic I tend to want to overpay by every spare penny we have but this hasn't done us any good in the past so I'm trying to ignore it this time and concentrate on the shorter term debts. The mortgage can come later.

Since getting back off holiday I have written up a spreadsheet categorizing every (non-bill) payment/purchase we've made this year. So far we've spent:

£2827.96 on food,
£1175.52 on petrol,
£441.19 on the car,
£800.08 on hobbies,
£94.16 on random craft stuff (!!!)
£1245.35 on our cheap (!!!) holiday - and that doesn't include the food.
£1344.31 on misc 'stuff' (birthdays etc)
£2722.96 on start-up business bits

The plan now is to ebay everything we've not got nailed down and to stop wasting money! My spreadsheet will be my spending diary and I'm going for NSD's as they help me focus. We can easily afford to sort this so we need to get it together otherwise we'll never get our big house in the country! Wish me luck

indebtinsussex

Good luck with becoming debt free

LittleMissKitty

Thanks Indebt

DH has just had his pay review and got a 3.3% payrise. It doesn't seem to affect tax credits (but I shall keep my fingers crossed tightly at annual renewal time) so we should be £80 a month better off from now on!

clippy_girl

good luck on your journey

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary

indebtinsussex

hows it all going? I need to do a shiny debt diary as we really need some savings as it looks like the car is going to blow up

LittleMissKitty

Oooo, I'm back to update, must have turned over that new leaf properly I'm trying to not be too strict this time round as I've always cut back too much previously and, subsequently fallen off the wagon in spectacular fashion. So firstly I shall do the 'confessions':

• We bought a dress waistcoat for DH as we have a black tie do to go to on Saturday and everything's being paid for by his company. On the plus side it was less than £25 including express delivery.
• Paid £25 for a stall at a local baby boutique show. I'm annoyed that I couldn't afford it from business costs but still think it was a good idea in the long run.
  
• I bought a crown - this is for the business and should, technically, come out of business money but as there isn't any yet and I've been promising myself this particular prop for 2 years AND the shop only updates stock a couple of times a year I bought it - and I don't feel at all guilty :P
• I bought cake with the food shopping. And I forgot toilet roll.

I think that's all the 'bad' bits this week!


So, good bits:

• We've not 'popped out' to the shop for anything. Didn't go near Tesco all weekend. Instead of 'just going out for some bread' for the kids sandwiches on Monday we made pasta from the cupboard and waiting for the food to come on Monday morning :j
• I finished off the cider so I don't have to buy any more alcohol to feed the habit, once we've bottled the cider we have a wine kit AND a beer kit so we should be sorted for ages.
• Food shop down to £78 :T
• Although the washing machine has bust again I bought a spare belt during our last splurge so it won't cost anything to fix.
• DH called the insurance people to push his claim a bit more (not that I think it makes any difference but it feels productive.)
• Called the car insurance to see what it would cost should we get a second car. The answer sucked but at least we know now.
  

Non money-related good things:

• Took DD1 to the Doctors so should have her ear and toe fixed soon.
• DD2 has started saying 'Dada' :heartpuls
• I announced the opening of my new studio!

I think that's all to report for now, had a lovely morning helping InDebt plan her gorgeous mini-lady's Christening (budget-style of course ) and she's also been kind enough to link me to an excellent blog of budget recipes so next weeks shop should be more interesting. Just off to update my spreadsheet now.

catriona79

Hi LMK,

Good luck with the challenge ahead! I will be watching your progress

castlelough

Hi LittleMissKaty! Just popping by to say hi and to subscribe! :-)

LittleMissKitty

Today I'm horribly ill Unimpressed! But I have updated my spreadsheet with this weeks purchases and food shopping. I get a bit weak-willed when I'm not feeling well and am very proud of myself for not letting DH talk me into letting him go to the shop to buy me things of the treat variety. I could KILL for a milkshake right now but I shall be strong! lol.

Todays mantra shall be:

'I do not need a McDonalds.'

Julie67

Good morning
LMK good luck, you remind me a little bit of myself at your age, although I stopped at four kids. Good luck Hun, I've subscribed x