It's now or never

ragstoricheswannabe

Good luck to your mum, and well done for not googling!! The internet always gives the worse case scenario of what it could be.

How was the take away??

there_is_a_light_2

Hi rags, thanks - had a good talk to my mum today and she is OK, just not looking forward to the test itself - she's just turned 70 and the last time she was in hospital was to give birth to me!

Takeaway was delicious thank you - thoroughly enjoyed by me and the kids.

My day hasn't gone quite to plan - had to venture into DS room to retrieve a remote control. This turned into a mass scale clear out, 2 hours later I emerged with a pile of washing the height of Ben Nevis but one very happy daughter as I did find the missing remote control.

Brother called round to have a look at what I was hoping was a blown fuse in the garage - DS has friends in there to 'chill' from time to time and they decided to plug every appliance known to man in there on Friday night which promptly blew the electrics. Unfortunately it looks like a bigger job than brother can do, so it looks like I might be adding 'electrician' to my list of things to be paid out after pay day, boo.

Happy Sunday night all, Bridesmaids on tonight - I must be the only female left on the planet not to have seen it yet so planning to be in bed nice and early to watch it in peace.
xx

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Morning! Hope you had a good weekend & enjoyed watching Bridesmaids... I love that film, so silly but entertaining!

I hope the electrics job in the garage isn't as bad as you hope, hopefully the bill won't be too grand :S

Hope you have a great day x

StepChange_Private_Messages

Thisgirlneedshelp wrote: »

I have £818 debt with HSBC and Central debt recovery unit are contacting my parents address to collect the repayment. Should I phone CDRU and make a payment plan? I've never had debt and am really scared someone please help it's ruining my life and can't eat or sleep. Xx

Hi,

Hope you don't mind me jumping in - I noticed you were particularly worried about your situation and I thought I'd offer some help.

We can advise you on the best way to deal with your debts and how much to offer CDRU based on what you can afford. We can provide you with a tailored budget and reference number to send to CDRU to show them you are getting the advice you need to clear your debt as quickly as possible within what you can manage.

You can either use our online Debt Remedy advice tool or contact us to speak to an advisor in confidence.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jess

there_is_a_light_2

Good morning all - really should be getting ready for work right now, but the wicked witch (aka one of our clients) is paying us a visit today and if I time my arrival well, I should be able to avoid making shallow pleasantries with her before she heads into her meeting with people who are far better at that sort of thing than I am.
Thanks FU, really enjoyed the film the other night, made me giggle, and its very rare I see a film through to the end - short attention span and always twitching to do something else.
Not much to report on the money front - kind of a limbo week as I get paid on Friday.
OH in good books the moment, he came home from weekend away with some euros to spare - not a huge amount, but enough to kick start our summer holiday fund (not really a holiday as such, more a trip around France to visit lots of OH family, so no accommodation to be paid for). OH also told yesterday that he will be getting a small pay rise shortly so double YAY to him this week.
Oh dear, just seen the time, nothing like cutting it fine in the morning!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Fab news about OH getting a payrise :j

So jealous you have relatives in France to go stay with - sounds like a wonderful trip!

Hope you've managed to avoid the "wicked witch" today...!
Have a good day x

there_is_a_light_2

Good evening. Not been too good at updating my diary this week, I did start off with good intentions but its just been one of those weeks.
Well payday arrived and once usual DDs (including stepchange payment) have gone out, I have managed to:
- pay £50 for DS holiday (long story but he is going all inclusive for a week with a friend's family and £50 + spends is all it is costing so could hardly say no)
- paid £150 to a friend for something I felt morally obliged to pay for
- put money aside for kids school dinners/travel/petrol for the month
- money aside for car fund (MOT due in June and it is due a new part which I guess will be pricey)
- money aside for some spends for DS holiday
- money aside for school trip that DD may be going on
This leaves me with £205 for the month for food shopping and sundries. Conveniently OH got paid the day before me so he did the big shop, and cupboards, freezer, fridge are full so I'm confident that £205 will be more than enough.


To keep me motivated, I looked back at my pre-lightbulb spreadsheet which told me that after DDs and minimum payments had been made, I was £200 down each month, before any food shopping etc had been made. I was paying an eye-watering £900+ on loan repayment and minimum CC repayments each month. So to be at a stage, just 6 months later, where I am able to have money in my account to pay for essentials without relying on credit is absolutely amazing!


My aims for the month:
- Keep to £205 food/sundries budget
- DO NOT dip into car/holiday/trip savings
- reach minimum payout on at least 2 survey sites which should bring in £70 and put straight into 2nd account towards car fund
- update my signature
- blitz the house for anything saleable to put towards car fund


Am still ignoring the fact that the garage has no electrics, think that will have to wait till next month.
Take care all x

there_is_a_light_2

Thanks FU, yes we are lucky to have lots of relatives to stay with, all spread around as well so it will be a bit of a road (well rail) trip. We've not been for I think 3 years so some well overdue visits to make. It all depends on us having money aside when the time comes to book the flights so fingers crossed no big emergencies before then.
Wicked witch was in full glory, she is so stuck up its unbelievable - our office is in a small northern town in a converted terrace house - she travels up from the big smoke like the b&&&&y queen and treats us like we are some yokels to be humoured! it brings out the worst in me I'm afraid!
Have a good evening.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Ha ha, oh I know plenty of people like the "wicked witch" you describe! Terrible fact of life that there'll always be people like that to deal with...

You sound like you are doing fantastically. Well done! It's so good you are able to see your own progress too - keep focused on that

Good luck with your targets for the month - I've no doubt you'll be able to do it! x

there_is_a_light_2

So far so good this month. I'm not a great diary poster but I do read the forum most days, and it really helps to keep my focus.
Still got £44 left in shopping budget till next payday (9 days) - I've been down to zero at this point for the last few months and living off loose change / cash4clothes, etc, so really pleased about that
Still have money aside for kids school meals/travel for next week plus £15 in petrol account which should be plenty
Still have money put aside (£190) for car fund/school trip/DS hol - this is a massive achievement for me, I could probably go so far as to say it will be a first if I manage to get to payday without dipping into this - I am so determined not to
Reached payout in a survey website (£30) so have put this straight towards car fund - well chuffed and has given me the motivation to keep at the surveys
So like I said, all in all not a bad month so far.... so why do I feel strangely anxious at the moment, like something is looming around the corner that will blow all my progress, will serve me right for being so smug! Or maybe it's the full moon that's looming, lol.
ps. Still ignoring the garage electric situation, and trying to ignore that my car is attention seeking at the moment