Enjoying the journey - budgeting, saving and remaining credit card free

fedupandskint

Thanks guys and I've come across another job I can tick off my list. Have heard back from the loan company that I can make overpayments on the loan with no charges and no limits which is good news and I can start to see the amount come down soon. I just need to work out the correct payment details as once the payment has gone, its gone! Plus I want to know if its better to keep making regular payments or lump sums and what kind of amounts will make the biggest difference.

Also am going on holibobs at the end of March which I am looking forward to massively as its at one of my favourite places - should be good! So I need to work out some budgets for this soon.

Happily it is a No Spend Day today as my beautiful friend treated me to a coffee this time around and he got one free off the loyalty card so we are both winners today!

Also dropped off the rest of the items to the antique shop today and will go in tomorrow to see if they are interested in any more.

Soup made - vegetable with pasta and chickpeas today using up the never ending supply of dried chickpeas I cooked yesterday. Tea tonight is chilli beef using up the dried kidney beans I also cooked yesterday. Washing is attempting to dry outside while it is fine and bright. In fact that reminds me, better get those floors swept and mopped while it is dry and bright and finish off the last bit of cleaning later - bathroom, ironing and clean a kitchen cupboard out and leek and potato soup making. Soup this weekend is from what I have in the fridge and cupboards of course!

fedupandskint

That was one nice tea of chilli beef rice and veg. Also got 4 portions out of half the beef bought yesterday which cost £4.80. Meaning today's cost £2.40 then per portion cost. £0.60 plus spices, beans and onions already in the cupboard. Feel better now the cost per portion has come to that and there's enough to freeze for an each tea over the next few weeks. Should be able to do the same with tomorrow's stew which will be packed with veg and potatoes to bulk the meet out.

Did sweep and mop the doors and also half cleaned this week's kitchen cupboard which I'm about to finish off as there's not much on tv I fancy watching tonight. So I reckon it will be an early night before a pretty leisurely day tomorrow.

fedupandskint

Check me put, kitchen cupboard cleaned out wiped down and everything put back tidily. Then washed a lot of make up brushes clean, mainly for the reason I'm going to give some away to a friend of mine as they've hardly been used I have so many along with some mineral make up we both use. I have so much from my previous make up addiction buying days I would like to pass some on as it's taking a very long time to get through it all and I haven't bought any for at least 3 years. It's a good job there's nothing in it to go off!

When I see her next week I'll take in little bundle for her and hope she likes it.

Either way it's time for some of that to go now as one of the final reminders of that phase of my life.

fedupandskint

Have just double checked the budgets for the new salary arrangements now I've started the new job. Have rejigged one to now save monthly for TV license instead of paying it every quarter and I can manage on a lower annual salary, all budgets and savings plans and paying into 2 pensions instead of one.

If my calculations are correct I can do it and still have a very tiny buffer before the overdraft kicks in which I don't want to use at all. I didn't spend all summer paying it off to use it again so I've worked everything out to try and avoid that. Will be tough to avoid it this month but I'm trying to and devising some cheap meals to cut back on food costs as much as I can not sure if the travel to work costs are going to make it either this month and I've budgeted for an increase for next month to try and over come this.

Have also included the increase in boiler cover and virgin which will hopefully come down again once I've saved up the line saver next month to free up a little bit more each month.

Overall it's going to be tight but hey it'll be worth it in the end once this loan is paid off I will be over £350 per month better off - feels a long way off at the moment but I'll get there with this in mind. If I take into consideration the credit card payments I paid off this year it will be a total of just under £600 per month better off in total. If I miss having money for clothes and a social life then so be it, its just how it has to be for now and I'll try and scrape a tenner for a bit of a social life each month if possible. Just reminding myself of how much I can gain from sticking to the plan. A figure of £35,861 paid off in total. An unbelievable figure that I would never have believed I could repay in under 5 years but it looks like I will and I've repaid over £14,000, saved over £1000 towards the final repayment plan and am clear about my savings plan to pay the loan off.

That's quite enough of that now.

Ironing done, washing on line, coffee drunk at home, time to make some soup and get the bathroom cleaned then its off to the antiques shop, stick a casserole on to cook and I think that's about it bar a face mask and paint my nails for the week ahead.

debtfreewannabe321

fedupandskint wrote: »

Overall it's going to be tight but hey it'll be worth it in the end once this loan is paid off I will be over £350 per month better off - feels a long way off at the moment but I'll get there with this in mind. If I take into consideration the credit card payments I paid off this year it will be a total of just under £600 per month better off in total. If I miss having money for clothes and a social life then so be it, its just how it has to be for now and I'll try and scrape a tenner for a bit of a social life each month if possible. Just reminding myself of how much I can gain from sticking to the plan. A figure of £35,861 paid off in total. An unbelievable figure that I would never have believed I could repay in under 5 years but it looks like I will and I've repaid over £14,000, saved over £1000 towards the final repayment plan and am clear about my savings plan to pay the loan off.

I think this is huge achievement as well as a lesson learned (which I suspect everyone on here has learned :rotfl:) A plan is great and works for me and now that i've cleared the debt it works even better as I've finally started and kept up with putting money into an emergency fund. Keep going you'll get there

urg123

You have done brilliantly! enjoy the pampering tonight!

fedupandskint

A lesson has been learnt that is for sure!

Well I got all the jobs ticked off for today including registering my new coat;s guarantee, washing half dried and finished off inside. Tea made which was lovely with plenty of leftovers for easy teas this week and puds using up jam which I made and went as hard as nails in jam sponge and custard.

Pampering done of face mask and hair pack and nails painted as they are peeling big style at the moment.

The antiques shop bought the remainder of the sets I took in for £20 for incomplete sets leaving one more item which is off to another shop and then another box can go. Also got the large parcel box ready to parcel up an eBay sale this week when it finishes later on this week and discovered a long forgotten light fitting which will go nicely in the spare room when its done.I had forgotten completely what it looked like when as I bought it back in 2008! Well at least it will have a home this year at long last now I'm on top of the finances and the lesson has been learnt.

Work stuff all ready to go for the morning including the train tickets I bought while en route to the shop this afternoon. Also bought 2 Christmas presents on sale using money from the presents account which went down well this year and are slightly different this time around but equally nice and good for holidays.

Meaning I can declare today as NSD 12 and no clothes spend day 12

fedupandskint

Well I managed a good day at work and another NSD making it NSD 13

Came home to find the tree removal had gone well and very tidily removed. Looking forward to seeing if more light can get into the kitchen now as a result. Certainly looks much better now its gone. Always sad to remove a tree or a plant but it should never have been planted where it was and it was the size of the house so it was time to go and let some more light in.

Plenty of eBay sales rolling in today which I'm very pleased about too - more items off to new homes to get used and more space for me along with loan settlement funds.

fedupandskint

Starting tonight off with another NSD making it 14 now - no surprise as no spare pennies to spend on anything apart from the weekly shop and hoping to have enough petrol to last next week too.

One more item sold on ebay tonight with the rest finishing tomorrow. Tonight's job is to parcel up the sales ready to post on Thursday.

Job ticked off for today - I rang the pension company to get a letter of a transfer figure ready for a transfer in next month.

fedupandskint

Work going ok so far this week and getting to know new office mates better, feel like I'm settling in some more which is a good feeling, then of course, it's back to old place tomorrow. Left my purse at home today meaning I stuck to my plan of using up the individual portion of marmite into marmite pasta instead of calling in for a ready made sauce on the way home. Temptation called but luckily as my purse was at home I could not give into it!

Parcelled up all eBay sales and have made £50 this week minus fees and postage costs so not too bad there after some bids rolled in today. Just waiting for 3 buyers to pay up.

Not much else to report today so I'll finish watching Bake off and then off for an early night as usual.