Mighty Titan Overdraft will crumble!

NoOneAround

Keep plodding onwards Hohum, remember it was the slow and steady plodding tortoise who won the race not the race ahead hare who thought he'd already bagged a win!


xx

liltdiddylilt

Hey Hohum...

Days like your last post, you need to count your way back to the beginning. You're doing this to make sure that you have enough money all year around to cover the bills. Ideally a month in advance. What you do with the rest and how fast you get to that goal is up to you!! You have already managed to pay off the NI, and cut your OD charges down to almost nothing, but better yet, you are in the know about just how much money you have on a day to day basis. The decisions you make may seem a bit reckless at the time, and maybe that is the fun in making them, but in reality, you are being guinded by those red markers on your YNAB all of the time, just like me. You've got a rudder and you're steering in the right direction all of the time...

Keep at it, you are doing great, even OH :rotfl: xx

liltdiddylilt

Just reading NOA's thread from start to finish...

You're a wise owl for one so young!! x

NoOneAround

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Just reading NOA's thread from start to finish...

You're a wise owl for one so young!! x

Isn't she just!
Been a bit quiet Hohum, hope all well x

hohum

Hello! I've been on me hols. Absolutely beautiful. First time in 7 years I've gone for a trip outside the UK, and more than a few years since the boyfriend and I took a week off together. It has rather fanned the flames for nice warm holidays. Which is alarming because thanks to YNAB I can see that the cost for two of us for a week (including travel, accommodation and spends) was £823.59 ....ay ay ay ay. OTH, that's £411 each which is less painful to look at. Plus all fully funded thanks to YNAB, even the £80 overspend. Going on holiday properly budgeted is a very nice thing to do. We ate a lot of meals out, did trips and excursions and generally enjoyed ourselves.

I then arrived back in the UK and because I let my colleague book train tickets and plane was delayed, had 15 mins to repack before heading down to London for a conference. Conference was v useful but info heavy and then have developed delightful cold. So holiday benefits feel rather distant! Plus whole stack of logistics issues to sort this afternoon. Oh. Good.

Just received my wage for this month and have budgeted all to November bills and living..however we are now looking at much less lucrative period for boyfriend so might have to wave goodbye to that buffer at some point. I'll miss it.

I also got my statement through from my bank including annual interest paid. Something heinous like £330 paid from sep 13 to sep 14 but HAH in their faces because guess what I paid last month in interest and charges? NOT.ONE.PENNY.

Having stayed in some nice (and cheap) places last week I am looking round our house and feeling really tired of grubby rented chic. I tell you, when we move I will END bloody pine effect cheap MDF kitchens with chrome effect narrow handles. Also our house is so cheap that they didn't install a splashback on the sole work surface counter so the (matt) painted wall is filthy and can't be wiped down without removing the paint. It appears that entire house was decorated by worlds worst decorators TM so we have a gloss grinning through the (matt) magnolia they used in the bathroom too. Plus either the seal around the bath is screwed or they have installed the shower badly or quite possibly not put proper damp membrane between wall and tiles on bath/shower. Our bedroom smells mouldy.

I want a house that we own! And new furniture! And lord do we ever need a new bed. And a freezer where the hinges haven't sheared and fallen off.....I have tried to assuage my consumer desires by creating a category in YNAB for new bed and new white goods saving pots. Fortunately I am actually physically incapable of spending a bed size amount of money (even a freezer size amount of money) on credit so we will wait...

Oh and I got another barclaycard balance transfer offer through the post ...I'm taking this as a sign I'm making progress. And tearing them up :P

NoOneAround

Lovely to see you back Hohum and so glad you had a lovely holiday ...:j
I have just started getting the Vanquis and other high interest CC cards for "credit" rebuilding coming through the post!!! can you rebuild credit whilst on a DMP??!!


xx

liltdiddylilt

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS on the bank charges being zero!! I was waiting for you to say that! I thought you had managed it *jumps* :j:j

Holiday sounds lovely and I am glad that you splashed out and still didn't go too overbudget. We have all been living in recession depression for so long it is lovely to see you manage something nice for you without dramatic consequences.

I know what you mean about grubby rented chic. I at least have tiles in the kitchen, bar the ones that were ripped out to install my new boiler (must not complain, will save me heaps) - I am dreading yet another winter in this place. Each year it comes around and I realise the promise I made to myself to escape the freezing cold draughty single paned, mould-prone flat has once again failed. I have decorated 3 rooms, but the bathroom and kitchen, plus living room are still boring, either glossy 'white' aka grubby yellow and grey, or magnoliatastic.

Next year. Remind me next year please...

hohum

With your new boiler lilt, I bet will make a difference. We've relented and put central heating on. Now does feel like winter.

I am stressing out this morning because what I expected - a lower income for boyfriend - is definitely on the cards this month.

Oth, I need to remind myself that a) we have substantially less debt than we had b) we have all the bills and essential spends covered in November. And our emergency fund is now £250, plus Christmas fund is £250 too. I knew this would be coming so I need to let go of the attachment I have to the buffer and even not being in overdraft. On paper my overdraft is down to -£1090 so I may end up actually using that.

Lots to do before that though. We need to:

- sell the clothes we have bagged up
- get back on eBay with some small items
- get in contact with mortgage broker now boyfriend has done taxes
- I need to underspend at upcoming hen weekend (we're in a cottage so v possible)
- get back on surveys to stockpile vouchers
- get decided on any gifts I'm making and get made!

hohum

Progress is slow.. we went to do the clothes but the place appeared to be for let..hmm. Need to get on to broker now. Our contact had fizzled out rather so I have weird guilt about that. Get over it, self. Is fine. And that 6 month delay actually put us rather in better stead. We now have a small emergency fund, my account is in credit, plus I can say down to the penny what our monthly running costs are! Which reminds me, need to do a scores on the doors for Aug and Sep I think...

I was looking at budget categories for this month and noticed I've socked £200 to the overdraft reduction when I got paid.Must have been feeling gung ho! But it's fine, we can weather it. In fact I've been slightly amazed at how much we've done this month. Holiday AND a hen do and I've only had to move money around categories today.

I have got very spendy head on at the moment. I am virtually shopping for houses, cars and woodburning stoves. Bathroom suites, new beds and freezers. Fortunately I'm not actually buying any of the aforementioned but is the consumer spending drive ever strong with me at the moment! Maybe it's because we're feeling a little more secure, I can allow myself to think about these things. I am really good at not shopping if I need to not shop but if I allow myself I get rather fixated. Basically I want new house. Helped friends move stuff round their new place yesterday, it's very like the place I grew up in and I enjoyed living vicariously.

I did however allow myself one purchase (out of my budgeted spending money). Years ago I saw this range at a gallery and loved it, but couldn't quite bring myself to buy any. I was reminded of it for some reason the other night and to my surprise it was on mega sale, from £10 an item to £10 for four items! kinda had to buy it..It's ceramics that look like old fashioned tupperware. i think I'm going to use it on my dressing table to store my jewellery.. http://www.theo-theo.com/product/12/is-that-plastic/?bc=sells&category_id=20

hohum

The pots arrived, they are delightful. Now on my dresser, filled with my jewellery!

I emailed the mortgage broker but haven't heard anything. Will chase him up.

Had a very interesting experience today, trialling doing some hypnotherapy to help shift my bloody procrastination. Believe me, I've tried so many other techniques. I reasoned it's like a habit, and I feel I could do with some help shifting it. Anyway, we were talking about various things and I listed out all the extra curricular stuff I do, plus my part time job. I was talking about how I like feeling like I have time to spend unmetered so to speak...then *bing* light goes on...Am I tarting about during my working day to reclaim the time I resent losing to various commitments outside of working day? Hmmmm.

I have already thought of one solution. it involves me getting up earlier, so I can waft around in the morning and feel unhurrried. The other is get rid of the stuff I'm not enjoying but that's going to take a bit longer. The biggy is getting rid of second job, which is a pain and yet also a safety blanket. But if it's taking away from my potentially much more lucrative main job....I mean really!

I also thought about an article I read which is about looking at what we actually spend our time doing, and what we value. I decided 'playing around on my phone' isn't actually that valuable so I finished off the blouse I've been making. I am super chuffed with it. It's beyootiful fabric, plus a pattern I've made before but this time I adjusted the bust. Apparently most dressmaking patterns, no matter what size, are made with a B cup measurement. I've a tad more than that. Anyway, I'm delighted with the result and particularly how it fits. It hangs properly, plus it's in a drapy viscose so finally I've got that cool, loose vintage looking blouse that I thought only worked on the more gamine frame. The fabric was about a fiver, and the fixings were £1 odd. In that way it's terribly economical, if you don't count the hours I spent on it. I'm a perfectionist and I don't cut corners! Lot of unpicking, particularly because was the first time I've set sleeves and it's a vintage pattern which means the instructions are sometimes even more incomprehensible than normal...

In money news, the overdraftaccordingtoYNAB is now BELOW £1000! (£994.10 to be exact). I am really, really pleased. My actual bank balance continues in the positive.No charges at all to pay. It is now interest free, effectively (and exists in my budget but not in my bank account).

Boyfriend is doing a 'no carb diet' because he apparently needs to 'shock his body' into losing weight. Can you feel my lip curling? I'll set out my stall: the reason no/ low carb works for many people is because it means eating less energy dense foods. I am not a big fan of excluding anything food wise. But he is determined, and the idea is budget wise we'll top up groceries with some of his spending money if we go massively over. Because of course his idea of 'no carb' is 'lots of meat'

Actually, it's been going better than I expected. I am not preparing anything but my own meals, it's up to him to manage his diet and he's having fun concocting meals. He's also made beef jerky, which he's been on about for years because I made it once then decided life is TOO SHORT to do that with beef. And besides I'd rather eat the beef properly than dehydrate it. Happy he's decided to do it himself! And it gives him more agency, plus I get to eat all the things I like (ironically, more veg than I eat with him!) so as an experiment it's tolerable. Couldn't live with it long term though, so no idea what we're going to do when we come to that...