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Getting back on track

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  • jwil
    jwil Posts: 22,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 31 December 2013 at 1:39PM
    Well I've been looking at all my finances this morning. Not pretty :eek:

    I have increased my debt over 2013 :( Not surprising really due to not having a full wage for most of the year, plus all the car repair bills and unexpected house expenses.

    So, 2014 is time to get moving again.

    My first aim is to get back on a level playing field, so no bank charges and fees which will save some money each month.

    That I hope to do this month, maybe into next month, now that I am back on a full wage again hurrah :T

    However, my calculations for next year as they stand, suggest that I am still going to be around £600 short a month :eek:

    The reality is, that this should be a little less once I'm back on track, as my minimums will be lower, and I will sign up for Childcare vouchers when I get back to work so that will save a few ££s too.

    So, I still need to ensure that I can keep things going and carry on with the clearing out to keep raising the funds.

    Sadly though, I'm back to work in a few more days so will have less time at home (though actually maybe more time for myself!). I can use my lunchtimes at work to keep up with the surveys, so should be able to get more vouchers than I have been this year. I can also use this time to keep up with any paperwork (and this diary!) so I should be posting more soon.

    I will be doing compressed hours so will have a couple of afternoons where I can still get listing. Evenings and weekends will be packing and I can drop off postage on the way to work so that's not a problem.

    So in my few days left, I want to really crack on with preparing listings, getting photos done etc, so when I have my time off, I have a huge stack of bits ready to get on and don't have to waste time photo-ing and hunting for stuff.

    In the days coming up to Christmas, I did spend a lot of time cleaning and reorganising around the house. This has made a difference and helps a lot. I hope to keep this maintained.

    Although I haven't made any progress financially this year, all the ebaying will have helped it from being a lot worse, and I can actually see a result now :T. That doesn't mean that the house is anywhere near clear, but I can see that progress has been made. There is still a LONG way to go yet though :o

    I've calculated that with minimums that I can't re-spend :o I will reduce my debt by £3800 this year :T

    So, with regards to how much I can reduce my debt by otherwise, there is little room for manoeuvre so I am not setting a huge target - it will simply be - I want to reduce my debt by £2014 in 2014 :D

    I am also going to try and raise my nursery fees each month - £620 :eek: through ebay and surveys etc. The reality is I'm unlikely to get anywhere near that, but I shall give it a darned good shot! It's enough to keep me focussed on clearing the house, and ebaying.

    So that's my plans :D Better get on. I'm trying to use the whole 100 free listings on ebay between Christmas and 5th. I've done 29 so far, so have 71 left. I've already sorted a few more bits, so probably am not that far away from the 100.

    Have a good evening everyone, I expect I shall be asleep long before midnight!
    "Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee
  • LAM2011
    LAM2011 Posts: 1,432 Forumite
    PPI Party Pooper Debt-free and Proud!
    Hi Jwil
    gosh back at work in a few days - bet that flew. but like you a bit of time you can use to your advantage at lunch times.

    Good luck - at least its not all new to you - you have managed so well over the past few years with the ebaying and plugging away at it.
  • jwil
    jwil Posts: 22,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks LAM. I thought I was ready to go back, but I'm dreading it now :(

    My lightbulb is very flickery so I need to make sure I focus and send the money where it's meant to be.

    (Unlike spending today's ebay sales on pizza for tonight :o:naughty: )

    I have managed to get a few bits on ebay today though so I've managed something.
    "Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee
  • HAPPY NEW YEAR jwil, I hope 2014 will be a good one for you.

    I can't believe how quickly it has come round to you going back to work, you seem to be very organised and I'm sure you will get back into the swing of things in no time.
  • DedicatedDFW
    DedicatedDFW Posts: 4,234 Forumite
    Happy New Year jwil :D Lovely to read that you will be back posting more regularly once you are back to work - i really enjoy hearing your news and find your posts inspiring and motivating - although i do of course wich you could stay off work if you want to.

    Its understandable being a bit undecided about going back to work as you have been off for such a long time and got a different routine but it does sound like you have a good routine planned for when you go back and i am please to hear you will have some time for yourself as well :T

    As you are posting more is there any chance of some monthly mini-challenges ? I am pondering some things for myself too so would be good to have company / a target :)

    I checked my finances today too :eek: i am £90 higher on my credit card bill than where i should ideally be - BUT i don't this is too bad as i paid my gas and electric bill on there (my half was about £90) and i spent more on food than i should over xmas :( BUT some of that was ingredients that will last ages - such as herbs and stock etc. And i had my small spending spree :whistle: £55 on several needs/wants/loved items so to be over by £90 isn't so bad. I bet if you looked back over 2014 thinking of the house jobs you've had done, kept car going (cheaper than getting a new one) etc. then increasing the debt whilst on reduced income was unavoidable but the spends you've done haven't been frivolous and have been a good investment for you x

    Hope you have a lovely few days before you start back to work xx
    CC1:T £[STRIKE]2531[/STRIKE] £1460
    MORTGAGE OVERPAYMENTS: £10575.20 Target £12,100
    MF Date: [STRIKE]August 2042[/STRIKE] May 2035
    Declutter 1000 things by Xmas 2015! 53/1000
  • jwil
    jwil Posts: 22,441 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    HAPPY NEW YEAR jwil, I hope 2014 will be a good one for you.

    I can't believe how quickly it has come round to you going back to work, you seem to be very organised and I'm sure you will get back into the swing of things in no time.

    Happy New Year to you too penny :) I can't believe it either. It's going to feel like I've not been away within the first 5 minutes I'm sure.
    Happy New Year jwil :D Lovely to read that you will be back posting more regularly once you are back to work - i really enjoy hearing your news and find your posts inspiring and motivating - although i do of course wich you could stay off work if you want to.

    Its understandable being a bit undecided about going back to work as you have been off for such a long time and got a different routine but it does sound like you have a good routine planned for when you go back and i am please to hear you will have some time for yourself as well :T

    As you are posting more is there any chance of some monthly mini-challenges ? I am pondering some things for myself too so would be good to have company / a target :)

    I checked my finances today too :eek: i am £90 higher on my credit card bill than where i should ideally be - BUT i don't this is too bad as i paid my gas and electric bill on there (my half was about £90) and i spent more on food than i should over xmas :( BUT some of that was ingredients that will last ages - such as herbs and stock etc. And i had my small spending spree :whistle: £55 on several needs/wants/loved items so to be over by £90 isn't so bad. I bet if you looked back over 2014 thinking of the house jobs you've had done, kept car going (cheaper than getting a new one) etc. then increasing the debt whilst on reduced income was unavoidable but the spends you've done haven't been frivolous and have been a good investment for you x

    Hope you have a lovely few days before you start back to work xx

    Happy New Year DDFW :) I think some new mini challenges would be good. I'm definitely going to need to be focussed when I go back to work.

    As I mentioned before I'm going to be trying to cover the nursery fees through ebaying and surveys etc. So that will be the focus of my mini challenges I think, and works out to be around £20 a day per month.

    So what shall our first mini challenge be?

    I'm thinking it's still free listing for another 3 days - anyone got anything they want to get on? I've still got 64 free listings left, so am going to try and use all of these by Sunday. (This will probably include relists).

    I've finally sent off my driving licence today to be renewed, only 1 month late :eek: That's another £20 I could do without though to be honest.

    I've done a load of listing this morning for DH, so am going to try and get a bit on for me this afternoon, plus do some stuff around the house.
    "Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee
  • DedicatedDFW
    DedicatedDFW Posts: 4,234 Forumite
    Good idea for the bay of e challenge jwil :D - if only i had 100 items to list :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I think its a good idea to set an individual target for listings so was going to for 10 :o - I think i will be brave though as i need the money and will aim to list 100 this month - i'll aim for new listings - so have alot! of things to find :eek::eek::eek:

    I will aim to get 10 on this weekend but if there is no more free listing this month i'll just find the other things and have them ready photo'd and written up for the next one as i can't afford to pay the listing amount :o

    I will aim for 100 new things but if i need to i will use the re-lists ;)

    What is your target for the month ? :D
    CC1:T £[STRIKE]2531[/STRIKE] £1460
    MORTGAGE OVERPAYMENTS: £10575.20 Target £12,100
    MF Date: [STRIKE]August 2042[/STRIKE] May 2035
    Declutter 1000 things by Xmas 2015! 53/1000
  • Happy New Year jwil :D hope returning to work isn't too harsh. It's hard leaving little one for the first time. I remember my first day back after ds1 and I spent nearly the whole shift in tears :o lol he was fine though and slept the whole time nearly. I haven't got anything to ebay as I've been selling on fb and giving what doesn't sell to charity. I might have a root around though as I'm in the middle of a huge clear out! :)
    Mortgage Overpayments 2024/25 - September-December, £152.46. J- £103.27, F- £115, M- £91.50, A- £100, M- £200, J- £200. J- £200. A-£200, S- £221.34. O-£200
    Total- £1783.67
    Goal pay off 1% of current mortgage in 1 year. £1650
    EF- £642.41/500
  • LAM2011
    LAM2011 Posts: 1,432 Forumite
    PPI Party Pooper Debt-free and Proud!
    Good idea re challenges - I was just going to post on my diary that I am setting myself an ebay challenge :)
  • DedicatedDFW
    DedicatedDFW Posts: 4,234 Forumite
    Whats your target Lam? :D
    CC1:T £[STRIKE]2531[/STRIKE] £1460
    MORTGAGE OVERPAYMENTS: £10575.20 Target £12,100
    MF Date: [STRIKE]August 2042[/STRIKE] May 2035
    Declutter 1000 things by Xmas 2015! 53/1000
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