Time to stop talking about it and just do it!!

yummymummy2012

And this doesnt just apply to debt!! I satrted 2013 full of enthusiasm, started a diary on here (which didnt last long so will need some kicking along the way to keep myself motivate), decided to loose weight and get a bit fitter aka at least do some exercise. Not alot happened so i have decided not to wait until the new yr as the sooner I start the sooner i will see a difference on all fronts!

It came to a head towards the end of last month when the overdraft nearly ran out:eek: No that hasnt happened since my Uni days in the distant past:o so sat down with the budget (yes we do have one just dont really follow it) and the OH to tackle this together.

My OH was made redundant just over a yr ago and we made the decision that he would say at home with our then 6mth old DD, but we havent really changed our lifestyle until this month.

On 1st Nov away went the credit and debit cards and withdrawn from the bank was the budget for the month in CASH:rotfl:yes that is actual real money!!

We agreed on the budget and when the cash is gone it is gone.:A I will do an updated SOR later when I get a chance but this should help pay off the overdraft and credit cards, not quite worked out our DFD yet as we need to factor in a new (2nd hand) car and as we are trying for another baby and OH is not working we need some savings to cover my drop in income whilst on maternity leave for whenever this happens;)

yummymummy2012

So this month is so far going OK, and yes I know its only 1 week in but we have our cash divided up in envelopes for food, spends, petrol etc and I have even managed all week bringing in my own luch (saving £3 a day) and hopefully helping my waistline. Not going to post full weight on here but will keep you updated on what I hope will be my downward spiral to a slimmer me, next weigh in Monday night if anyone wants to join me:). Also have knocked the booze on the head a bit, which is all good in the long run, it was homebrew wine at £1.50 a bottle:money: but there was far too much being consumed. I am going to try and keep this up during the week if poss but do have a friend coming round tonight who may have her divorce papers so could be tricky. if I manage 1 glass instead of 1 bottle that will be a vast improvement from what was once fondly known as our Thursday night wine club

yummymummy2012

SOA below, only things to mention are that we pay about £200 a month total of the CC and the rest we are hping to use to reduce the overdraft. My income is my takehome pay, taken before I get it are car parking £40 a month, childcare vouchers £124 per month (maxed out) and pension £350 per month. What we are missing and need to find some income for are Life Assurance for my OH as when he was made redundant we list this, and something to go into his personal pension each month. Oh and Sky and BT are top of our list to tackle if anyone has any advice on the best approach - we live in the sticks so our options for switching are limited.

We never seem to have that amouth left at the end of the month, hense we are using cash and writing down what we spend for a month!!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2990
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 475
Total monthly income.................... 3547
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 533.3
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 50
Council tax............................. 176
Electricity............................. 53
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 112
Water rates............................. 53.57
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 69.75
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 22
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 47
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 28.6
Contents insurance...................... 12.4
Life assurance ......................... 24.78
Other insurance......................... 37.8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 250
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Lottery................................. 12
DD savings ............................. 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 2721.2

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 110500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 99769....(533.3)....4
Total secured & HP debts...... 99769.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................1770.65...0.........18
cc1............................3912.37...95........18
cc2............................603.35....25........18
Loan...........................12708.....334.......7.7
Total unsecured debts..........18994.37..454.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,547
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,721.2
Available for debt repayments........... 825.8
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 454
Amount left after debt repayments....... 371.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 110,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -99,769
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,994.37
Net Assets.............................. -8,263.37
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

yummymummy2012

Well the weekend passed without any major issues. We were at home for once which made a nice change so no travelling, no petrol expenses and no having to eat out. So it shaped up as

Friday went to the pub with our cash and stuck to our budget of 3 drinks each, then both agreed to take £7.50 out of our savings to pay for a takeaway.

Sat went to ‘Daddy Peep’ at the local children’s centre with DD on Saturday morning (I am an honorary Daddy as I work and OH stays at home) and got covered in glitter whilst OH went with our friend to the staff shop at the chicken factory. Cant believe he got 5 whole chickens 4 big bags of breasts (about 10 in each) and 6 packs of jumbo thighs with 7 in each for £21.50!!:money:, then our first try at baking with DD in the afternoon. Washing and drying of clothes

Sunday - Washing and drying of clothes. Got the tent out to dry from our Groupon trip in October, its now dry and put away for the winter. Made leek and potatoe soup for lunch with veg we had in. Then OH took DD to her swimming lesson whist I skinned and boned 27 of the chicken thighs :eek: and made a roast.

Left over soup taken to work for lunch today and cold chicken and bubble & squeak for tea all left from yesterdays roast:A

OH’s cheque from the tax man has cleared so most has been transferred to me to pay things off so will update signature when I have worked it all out:)

yummymummy2012

1.5k done on the treadmill bought years ago and some weights feeling knackered!! Weighed in last night and 2lb off this week is an ok start :-) NSD for me today and tomorrow should be too as lunch is made and petrol should stretch until Thursday. Finding this diary useful to keep me on track loosing both types of pounds ;-) will try and update signature tomorrow

yummymummy2012

So signature updated and DFD calculated. I plan to do this each month once all payments have cleared so I can track progress. The loan is the main thing making the DFD in 3 yrs but I can pay off early with no penalty so once the CC is gone and we are living to our budget payments could increase on that:beer: Today wont be a NSD as I will need to get petrol if I want to get home but does it still count if it is petrol money my friend has given me for borrowing may car at the weekend?? Not sure:p

yummymummy2012

Well a NSD here not through a want of trying but the fact that the clothes I tried on at lunch made me look like mrs blobby!! and they are clothes for work that I desperately need but decided to wait until I have lost a stone before I buy. Feeling a bit deflated now :-(

yummymummy2012

Definately not going to be a no spend weekend. Its the Cricket Club meal tonight. OH is Vice Chairman, very grand title which means he drinks with the rest of the committee in the pub lol:beer: So we have a budget for drinks, taking cash on no cards so we can keep track, and we have a babysitter overnight for only the 3rd time in 19mths:D so we are making the most of it. The meal was paid for a while ago so no worries there.

Then Sat we are embarking on Christmas shopping:eek: We have a list and budget for that too so I will report back to let you know if we stuck to both budgets. After that apart from swimming on Sunday we are hermits until the end of the month.

I'm off up to visit my aunt and uncle on 29th with DD so thinking of going to Blackpool Zoo with txxco vouchers cant believe £2.50 gives you £10 voucher, never really looked at the boosts before:money:

StressedSteph

Hi Yummymummy

I haven't got any words of wisdom unfortunately as I am in the same situation as you, but just wanted to check in and say hi and that I have subscribed to your diary and will follow how you get on.

Best of luck
StressedSteph xx

yummymummy2012

Hi Steph, thanks for subscribing, dont feel i am going mad talking to myself now

I’m sorry to say that we went £10 over on our budget for Friday night but previously it would have been much more. Then our plans for Christmas shopping were stopped by DD being poorly all weekend, full of snot and peaked last night with her being sick on me – lovely.

So I have started with the internet element of the shopping today giving plenty of time to use free delivery from Amxxon, and I will be able to hand deliver them on family visit in a few weeks for the people I wont see at Christmas which saves postage.

Saturday I was craving a takaway but instead went and bought the ingredients for home made Thai green curry. It was delicious, froze 2 small portions for DD and a big tub of it for me OH and friend who is visiting Thursday night.

Sunday’s roast was scrummy and for the first time used the chicken carcass to make soup for my lunch today.

We have a budget for all the xmas presents we need (I hope) and for various xmas meals and spends but don’t think there will be much left to overpay anything in December but again if we can pretty much stick to our budget that helps a lot.

Weigh in night tonight so will let you know how that goes after Friday’s indulgences lol

yummymummy2012

Feeling good just got out existing sky package reduced from £69 to £45 per month for 6 mths which is a step in the right direction. I'm crap at things like that on the phone so quite proud of myself. Next one to look at is the phone and broadband but living in the sticks we are quite limited!