Post wedding debt plan

Pengwern

So my amazing self control was no where to be seen yesterday. I went to Dunelm to buy a plastic box to keep all our wonderful wedding bits in. They had 20% off the price so that was even better. However I also came out with 2 new cushions. Cannot explain it away other than that was £12 of non essential item spending.

So keeping out of shops is just the way it is going to have to go from now on. I logged on to my boots advantage card to change my name and saw I had £28 of points. That is really going to help when I need more toiletries. However I have also set myself another challenge to use up everything I already have before more is purchased. Therefore I have a feeling I will not be going into boots for some time! Ended up buying much more than I normally do on the run up to the wedding as I was trying out some new products in the hope it would stop my skin from being so shiny. Some worked some did not, but as long as I do not have to put make up on those products that did not work are still ok to use. This will hopefully lengthen the timespan of the good stuff.

Off to look at my lovely new cushions and decide if I should take them back. Also need to figure out if husband is likely to notice them when he returns on Sunday. Highly doubtful as I once painted a wall from magnolia to dark green it took him 3 hours and some not so subtle hints from guests for him to notice!

Laura2014

Congratulations on your wedding

I am getting married next year so will follow your journey with interest!

Hope you got your wedding photos sorted. What was you unhappy about/wrong decision?

The only reason i ask is the photographer we have booked was explaning about all the different ways the photos can be edited. They might just need to be re-edited in a style that works better for you. Just a thought!

Best wishes Laura x

Pengwern

I think I have got over my issue with the photos. but still a little frustrated. The little flower girls would not let go of my dress, they kept wanting to carry it. on the day I had no issue with it but there is hardly a photo without them in! They do look lovely but having them as permenant background scenery is a little frustrating.

We have had lots of lovely JL vouchers and have decided to get a BBQ. I have never owned one and my husband has been after one since we moved in together 5 years ago. So as JL do a price match I have just found somewhere that does the same model we want but substantially cheaper. I have just put in the form to see if they will let us have it at the lower price. fingers crossed. I cannot say anything bad about JL, just took an unwanted gift back to them and a bra I had brought hoping it would go with my dress. It did not but I brought it about 4 months ago. As I had my reciept they did not take another look and just gave me a refund and gift vouchers for the unwanted gift.

Went to London on Sat but including railfare and lunch I spent £28. I do not think that was too bad, I had free tickets to a sporting event so that helped alot. The reduction in communting this week also meant my fuel to and from the station was covered.

Still not had the final bill for our wedding, this means we will have had another pay day before it arrives hopefully. Once this has come in then we will really know where we are. So far all my extra money I have earnt from selling things has gone into a separate account just in case. Once this bill is paid then I will put the money straight onto the cc. Still not decided what to do with the wedding money so it is safely locked away.

Finally had our gift delivery on Friday, but I had to wait until Sunday to open them as husband was not back until then. spent the day reorganising things and getting rid of quite a bit. Feel quite good about that as I think we got rid of more items that we gained. I always try to keep a one in one out policy but it does not always work. Also pulled all our CDs from the roof with the plan to send them to music magpie. Even if we did have the song/album, being in the loft makes them inacessable so therefore pointless to keep. Hopefully a little extra cash will be good.

1 item did not sell last week, so relisted it again. If no sale then off to the charity shop it goes. Off season starts this week but husband had a course to attend on a BH! So he will be around more for the next month or so. looking forward to that but it makes pre season hard.

Pengwern

Well jl have been true to their word and matched the BBQ price. We have saved £80! I will finally believe it when we collect on Sunday. Still not had my driving licience returned and with it my marriage certificate. Getting a little worried now. Just had a few guests request details of items left on our wedding list, it closed two weeks ago but they have not got round to sorting it out yet! We thought present deliveries were over but not quite yet it seems.

No further progress on money saving but I have not brought any non essential items since the cushions! Off to see how to win the lottery!

Had a really bizarre conversation at work today. Still cannot believe how some people expect to be paid full time hours but not actually do them. The realisation on the face of this person was amazing and also heartbreaking. If you cannot do the hours of full time then you need to do part time hours. We are a really flexible place to work but even we will not pay for more hours than actually done. Some people are just not brought up right.

Pengwern

No non essential purchases so far this week. In fact the only money I have spent is on fuel, at £60 it is a big part of my weekly budget. Booked to pick up our BBQ on Sunday, so for all those reading this I apologise for the rain! Off to post the thank you cards so that will be a dent in my savings this week. They will all go 2nd class but even then I think the price is crazy. Also need to look into getting an oil delivery, we have managed to stretch it an extra 3 weeks this year so doing well. We do not use too much so only need one delivery a year and find May June usually are the cheaper months. 4 years ago a full tank cost us £300 now it is £600!

Not made an payments to my cc this month but I have been putting any extra funds into a separate account. If I can be strong I think I will continue to do this as the account pays 3% interest and the cc is 0%. Not much interest to be gained but every penny counts. I can then hopefully pay the lump sum off just before the 0% deal ends.

Pengwern

BBQ purchased and installed, first tryout will be Friday when we have our bestman and bridesmaid over to what our wedding dvd. it was taken by a friend so not intended to be a professional one just capturing some of the moments of the day. I ran out of books on my kindle so purchased some more, made sure I stuck to items under £2 but it still adds up. I think I will have to slow my reading down. Husband was supposed to come home on wed but is now having to go into surgery (not for him) so that trip home is cancelled. Really disappointed but it is 200 miles saved in fuel. just had a refund for some of the alterations to a bridesmade dress. long story but my mum ended up sorting it out the night before the wedding so we were not please. Added that money £45 to the cc fund which is now totalling £200, really making some headway but still feel I could do better. Another nsd today which was a bonus as I was supposed to be going for a works leaving meal but it got cancelled.

Pengwern

Still fighting with myself and trying not to spend more than I need. Sold another 3 items so that should be £39 extra to my savings account. Also sorted our CDs for sale so that is another £39 not a lot when you consider the actual cost but it is money all the same and our loft has less stuff in it! I think I am winning the battle of clearing out items, this sunny weather has helped and so some more of my summer dresses are up for sale.

BBQ was lovely but true to word it rained on Friday when we had it. We surprised the weather today and had an impromptu BBQ so no rain in sight! Need to make some more chutney though, and our tomatoes are so far behind I may have to buy some.

Rounded the joint account up and put £5.74 on to the cc, thought it better to do that than add to the savings account. Not sure why but then I can see the balance going down a little and the savings goin up (hopefully). Balance is now £4511.91, if you take the £278 that is in my savings account it looks better.

Nearly finished all the thank you cards. Last few to write today.

castlelough

Pengwern I am so envious of your BBQ!!!! Especially in this fantastic weather we are having! You are doing really well on the savings and ebaying!
If it makes you feel any better we didn't like our wedding photos at first - we were both so critical of ourselves in the photos. But two years down the line we are looking at them, and thinking that they are actually very nice! I am posting the cheque for the balance due to our photographer tomorrow and hoping to have our wedding album by our 2nd anniversary in July! We still haven't chosen the photos yet!
Subscribing to your diary and wishing you lots of luck!
Castle xx

Pengwern

not much to report I am afraid, sold some more items, so another £100 to add to the savings pot. however had a few birthdays and family events over the weekend so did a lot of driving. presents were very modest but it all adds up. BBQ is great as husband keeps on wanting to use it so no cooking for me! not made anymore payments to my credit card, will do so at the end of the month when hopefully there will be some money left. need to chase our caterer as they have yet to send us the final bill. we are quite happy having this extra time to pay but I feel very guilty. making lots of use of my new coffee machine and milk frother. I also managed to get £40 credit for buying the coffee, on my current rate of consmption that will last 2 years! I am even happier now.

currently have 2 weeks off work, we were planning on going away. however sensible us are staying at home. trying to do stuff that we do not do normally. so off to the cinema we go tonight, the last time we went was last year. We are hoping that a few outings will cost a lot less than going abroad or renting a cottage in the UK. however, reading a book under a blanket in the garden (yes it is that cold) is not as relaxing as in the sun by the pool!! I hope the money karma notices our good intentions and helps us out a little!

Pengwern

the final wedding bill has arrived and will be paid on Monday. this will leave us in a position of having no emergency fund and some debt, it has been a long time since I have been like this. It is making me nervous but having been through Martins tools we know why we are like this (the wedding) and we do have a surplus each month. We will just have to make sure we carry on like this and reduce any spending where possible. it is going to take sometime to get an emergency fund back.

Unfortunatly this bill has coinsided with our annual oil order so that is to be paid this month as well. one more item is up for sale so we will see how that goes. husband goes back to work next week so we are back to seeing each other at weekends only. It does mean the food bill reduces but the fuel one goes up.

revamped the garden over the last few days which has made a huge difference. all funded through wedding garden vouchers. Now we can make the most of the sun and hopefully have another BBQ to celebrate the end of a lovely 2 weeks off work.

£72 paid off the CC this month which is good. just need to keep on with the small payments.