Mind change to debt thanks to MSE forums!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Hi hun,

Sounds like the two of you have had a good weekend!

Re your trip plans.. it is quite the dilemma. I think the first thing to consider is how much it will cost you, and if you can afford it without adding to your debt. Family is important, and whilst others may not agree, if I was in your situation I'd be inclined to prioritise the trip whilst you can. You don't know what the future holds, you've already had the awful news about your uncle and you don't know what other obstacles you're going to come up against if you keep putting it off for x amount of years.

Now, if you were in crippling amounts of debt that you couldn't manage then it'd be different, but from what I've read, you're coping very well. Pushing your debt free date back a year or so isn't the end of the world, and as this trip means so much to you and your daughter, it may just be worth prioritising. I know debts are important to pay off, but we only live once right?

Perhaps if you can still afford to pay a bit extra to the debts just so you're not paying the minimum on each, but throw any extra at the holiday fund?

How much are you looking at saving? Will you be staying with family once you're over there, so your main spends are flights and a bit of spending money over there? Or do you need accommodation too?

xx

sassychick2014

Hi Emma

Thanks for stopping by. Although my debts aren't on 0% interest (I can't get any atm) they are on a very low deal and so are manageable. I think I know what my decision is, I just don't want to get told off for it!!

x

sassychick2014

FinanciallyUnsavvy - what do I call you as FU seems rude!!

You're right, my debts are manageable. If I concentrate and throw everything at them I will probably be debt free by the time Littley goes to high school & then have to save up for the trip. If I do it the other way I'll be debt free about a year-18months later (hopefully!!).

Theoretically I need to save around £3000. We're going to Perth & Sydney and have family and friends in both so don't have to pay for accommodation - although I've decided to treat ourselves to a night in a nice hotel overlooking the harbour in Sydney.

The travel will cost around £2k altogether, although I remembered yesterday that our passports are out of date so that's another cost to add on. I would like to have a large spending budget over there so that I can say yes to a trip, or an exhibition or that extra ice cream. I can't think of anything worse than going all that way and not being able to do something. There's a lot of things we can do cheaper too as having friends and family there means they know a lot of places that aren't on the tourist trail and so cost way less.

The other cost I need to work out is whether I will get charged for taking Littley out of school. I've decided that whenever we do go it will be over Easter as there's less school to miss & the weather is still hot enough to enjoy it. Littley has already said she would be happy to take homework with her to do as she doesn't want to fall behind. Although personally I think a trip like this is extremely educational - just not gcse passable! Hence why I'm thinking best to do this before high school and all those pressures the kiddies get then.

With regards to the repayments of the debts. I always pay slightly higher than the minimum anyway and then add an over payment. If I put the over payment into the holiday fund that's not taking too much away from the debts. I already have £800 saved plus a sealed tin so it's not like I'm starting from scratch. And I so desperately want Littley to meet my aunt.

Oh who the heck am I kidding! We all know I'm going to prioritise the holiday over the debt as my main aim in life is to create memories for Littley. If it gets to the point that I can't afford to pay what I need to each month I just won't put anything into the pot.

And I do so need a holiday!! x

FinanciallyUnsavvy

I personally think you're making the right decision. Some things are more important in life, and whilst you're in a position to manage it - do it!

Nobody will tell you off for it. Everyone's opinions and priorities are different - and I can 100% understand why you are doing it.

HOPEFULLY you won't get charged for taking littley out of school. I think the new ways schools are managing holidays is horrendous actually, don't even get me started! I don't have children yet but when I do I wouldn't think twice about taking them out of school during term time. My parents always took me and my brother away for 2 weeks in term time, we still managed to be top of the class! haha. It's not fair to punish parents who genuinely want to do the best thing for their kids by not letting them holiday just because of the few parents who don't give a *** if their kids turn up for school or not. As you say, that kind of trip is 1000x more educational in so many different ways than a couple of weeks in a classroom is.

From what I understand, it's usually down to the discretion of the headteacher, and, providing they're decent people, I don't think they'll chastise well-performing students with a good attendance record. I suppose something to bear in mind though is if you end up taking her in her last year of primary school it may coincide with SATs, which normally are in May, so the school may not be so keen with her taking time off just before that.

And yes - you do need a holiday, and certainly deserve it! xx

sassychick2014

Ooooh sats. Forgot about them! Another good reason to go next year then!

Littley is top of her class in all subjects & that's with a lot of time off last year through sickness so she's doing amazing. She always does extra homework and when she was off last week for the day with her ankle she was worried she wouldn't get it in on time. Needless to say she did and she also did extra - which got her extra credit at school. She just loves it. I've told her when we go away we'll take the iPad so she can do her homework, chat via skype to her bestie & grandparents as well as abling me to continue to do my work too. I have no idea if we'll be charged but I totally agree that it stinks. There's so many things that kids could be doing and penalising the good ones is rubbish. Just another of the little ways that Mr Gove is determined to ruin our education system with..... oh don't get me started on that weasel either!

Right, I really must do some work. I've not done any at all today and it really needs to be done or there'll be no money to save!

RainbowBridgeReturns

Hi Sassy,

Could you challenge yourself to keep up the same level of debt repayment, while trying to increase your income to fund the holiday, that would give you a real incentive to go after another couple of contracts.

£3,000.00 over 13 months is just over £50.00 a week! It doesn't sound like too much money if you say it quickly.

Go for it xx.

sassychick2014

Hiya

I've been saying it really quickly over and over and it's still a lot! lol I already have £800 so it's only £40 a week if you think about it.

I have been bidding on contracts to try and get more money in but as yet have failed to get any. The problem is it's such a competitive market but that you can go months without any fresh work then bam! 3 or 4 at once!

However, I have a car boot to do soon and I'm putting any mystery shopping and survey money across. I've £26 already so that's good.

Now I've thought about the £40 a week I think I'll challenge myself to try and find that anyway and see how I go. Ooh it's going to be tough but it'll be fun - I hope! lol xx

RainbowBridgeReturns

Say it backwards x. Once you get well known to the mystery shopping companies all sorts of opportunities can crop up. I have picked up a job doing four cleaning audits a month, on a regular basis, starting tomorrow and that pays £160.00 a month for about 12 hours work a month.

It will be fun and we will be cheering you on.

sassychick2014

Ok, so I had an hour to kill today which left me with good thinking time and have come up with the following:

I am definitely going to aim to go away next year and going on Rainbow's logic I need to make £6 a day either through saving or earning. I've sat down with Littley and discussed this. My reckoning being that if I've got to make sacrifices so has she. She also needs to be on board so when I say no to that chocolate in the shop or a necklace that she then won't flippin' wear grrrrr she'll understand why.

So we're going to be as frugal as possible. I already had a few ideas of things to do and we're both going to do these. I'm also going to start bidding on any work rather than stuff I think I may be interested in. Even if I only do that contract for a month it's still a month's money.

I'm going to still save for Christmas and birthdays and try and make over payments on my debts. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to be able to continue such high over payments but I will do as best as I can.

Littley has also agreed that her pocket money is getting quite high. She gets a bog standard amount for doing 3 chores a day then gets extra if she does extra or if she gets credits at school. She also has 3 chores a day that she has to do without getting paid. This way she is learning about keeping house, earning and aiming for things (I hope!!). She also has targets that if she reaches them she gets a bonus. She has decided that she is going to put any money earned on credits, bonuses and extra chores into the pot. She's keeping her own spreadsheet (with a little help obvs) and putting on it everything she is putting into the pot, the date and what it was for. Then when we go over there she will have her own money to spend too.

I was going to give her some spends out of the budget anyway so this way I'm kind of saving a bit of money and so is she - and she has her own money to spend that she's saved. Hopefully a well learnt lesson for her older self.

I'm now feeling really optimistic and am pretty sure we can do it. I'm going to go and put this target into the old signature - with a start on it already as got given a tenner for some work I did for a friend today. So already got today's & half of tomorrow's - yay!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

You're on fire girl! Good luck, I know you can do it! :j