2014 - keep crunching away

DebtFree2012

Hi LAM - we're counting the days down! I am so relieved about not moving yard now that I know we made the right decision. Thankfully.

DebtFree2012

Morning diary land.


Well I've had to put the airport parking on the CC and this week's grocery and fuel will have to too as I want to make sure I have cash available for the holiday just in case and then if I don't use it I will pay the CC off by the same amount as will still be in the 56 days interest free.


I've not been spending though which is good ! Had a lovely weekend involving country walks and pubs (I didn't buy the drinks!), happy dogs and horses and content owners and family. All in all a good time. Back to work this week tho still not in the office full time until June.


I am dreading going back in FT.


The Tesco delivery project is going well, it's more expensive than Aldi of course but I expected that. I'm happy to pay the slight increase as I don't have to go to the shops and can use that time elsewhere.


Still staying on top with the menu plan so that's going well.


Not much else to report other than starting to get ready for the holiday and thinking about packing. I want to keep it as light as possible.

DebtFree2012

Quite a productive day so far work wise. I've loads to get done but seem to be getting through at a steady speed even with a grumpy internet connection (that's what I rely on to get onto the work's network).
Tea's planned and I'm looking forward to it - paellla which I've never made before.
Hoping to get kids to bed early, back on work til 10 (booo) then straight to bed myself.
T£sco coming tomorrow and I've got £7.50 ish off with vouchers this week so that's good.
Starting to day dream (again) about being out of debt and buying some land.....

DebtFree2012

Morning diary

Another productive day so far. Up at 5:20, slow cooker on (I'd bought prunes that weren't pitted and that took an AGE to do), sorted kitchen inc pots and empty DW, made lunches inc mine , sorted clothes, got ready - got kids ready, collected MIL at 7:30 and then had breakfast and took DD to school while MIL looks after DS. Worked non stop until now when having 2 mins for coffee and to update diary. Getting plenty done so feeling good.

Holiday 26 days and counting

T£sco coming tonight - I have 6 weeks worth of vouchers to use with £4 off a week so that's the delivery paid for £1 and £3 off the normal bill. Definitely not going back to going in store for everything.

Money wise it's not so good - had £500 worth of extras this month which saw the budget quake in horror and run in the other direction - now it's a case of damage limitiation. I'll get through it and go on holibobs then have a good relax and think (hopefully) when I'm there and come back refreshed and full of ideas.

I'm still hoping for a 0% BT offer on my remaining credit but they aren't throwing them at me like they normally do!

Knitting coming along slowly but I'm still enjoying it. It will be winter before I get the scarves done so good timing

DebtFree2012

I'm back into wanting the debt gone yesterday type of mood. Playing with different scenarios inc paying the Student Loan off first which is a bad idea given it's such a good rate. If I can put £50 a month extra to CC then it means the overdraft doesn't get paid as quickly (would have been Dec but now would be March time frame) and it only brings the CC end date forward a couple of months.

DebtFree2012

August 2017 is, in theory, do-able. However we all know life has a funny habit of not agreeing with our theories! I've put my food budget to a more realistic £200 a month so I can try and stick to that using the online deliveries.

DebtFree2012

Morning diary

T£sco came last night with shopping at a very reasonable price after vouchers so I was pleased. I'll start next weeks order soon and will buy a couple of holiday items too. Eeek.

I was however, not pleased that my SC beef wasn't done (I'd left it on low during day however should have left it on high) so it stayed on until 10pm last night and will be for tonights tea instead. We had chicken and pasta last night as a stand in, a trusty plan b which we enjoyed. The menu planning is fantastic still - best thing ever.

Money wise I was paid £12 I'd forgotten about last night I will probably put that into my sealed pot that I got for mothers day. You have to smash it open to get everything out - it's too pretty for that :rotfl:Apart from that I am still skint and still doing damage limitation until next pay day which is 2 weeks tomorrow.

I have a payment due in on 20th actually which will ease things a touch but I know about it coming so it's not a bonus.

Everything else is ticking over so just waiting until the holiday now. It's needed!!!

DebtFree2012

Morning diary
I've decided I need to start keeping a closer eye on figures. I check my accounts every day but only to make sure nothing's happened I'm not aware of. So now I'm going to start keeping a weekly log starting today as it will keep me motivated. I'll continue to post my monthly updates showing where I've come from but each week I'll post a comparison to last week with an explanation of why it's gone up or not.
SLC £2725.47 / £2725.47 no change - payment not due until 25th
CCV £11675.29 / £11711.17 increased by £35.88 due to fuel, groceries and airport parking (bear in mind I've paid a £300 payment to this too :S)
CCT £5331.33 / £5277.73 reduced by £53.60
CCR £3801.69 / 3763.67 reduced by £38.02
NTW £13468.85 / £13224.41 reduced by £243.44
OD £929.69 / £932.58 increased - this should start going down gradually from this month's pay, but not until then. OD limit is 1k :S
£37932.32/ £36702.45 reduced by £1229.87
These figures aren't exactly a week, nor do I pay that much a week, more like a month! however from next week they will be a true reading and shouldn't have changed much. The groceries and fuel, when not going on cc, don't come out of the OD account and that's the only outgoings I should have until payday from that account. From the OD account there's a CC payment of ~£53 to come out then that's it. Let's hope there's no disasters until then.
Out of interest the amounts I pay to each item are as follows:
SLC - £146 (DD)
CCV - £300 (SO)
CCT - £54 (variable DD based on min payment)
CCR - £40 (variable as above)
NTW - £335.20 (DD)
OD - whatever's left.
So in theory when I am DF I will have min 875 plus OD payments spare a month.....I could pay to keep a new horse for that.......lol. Seriously though, it's so depressing that I am spending that much to debt every month but it also keeps me aware that I don't want to be in this situation any more or ever again - hence the weekly & monthly updates.

DebtFree2012

Morning diary land


I am feeling on top of the world today after a full night's sleep. Unheard of!
Wonderful night at the yard last night. Trying the big girl in a new bit given her new found lease of life trial and error. She had a bit of head flinging but to be expected as she doesn't like things being changed unless she wants them to
Pony is being good and from today will be living out - this is a big deal to me as it means there's no hay or bedding for him once I make that decision, tho I still have my stable and can obviously feed own hard feed, just nothing from yard. Also the thought of him being out in a field and open to the elements is scary but I know I am being soft.
Any tips on living out well received. ie look more for foot issues etc maybe?
Right money wise there's little to report. The final payment of the month's out as expected. The groceries are going on the CC as it's up a bit as I need suncream for the hols (bought offers but need to make sure we're properly protected) and other bits and pieces. Trying to keep fuel use down to a minimum.
I'll do my weekly update on Friday. Long day today - started at 8:20 and finish at 10 with couple hours break in between. Pays the bills though.
Had a brief look at what is for sale locally with acres/stable potential and there's one that's just outside the "to be" price range so it keeps me on track for clearing what I can as soon as I can.

DebtFree2012

Tesco was over £100, now £96 as have coupons so better than it was :S