Determined to move.

Tink_04

I thought I'd start a diary .....

I've used these boards for a long time and they have helped me clear a lot of debt, however I've never been debt free.

My personal debt was almost cleared, then I met my husband and we bought a house, the debt increased but became joint household debt.

Fast forward a few years, 2 written off cars, a leaky roof, and a few other mishaps, then we had our children. We worked hard, shopped well, budgeted and meal planned and we cleared 2 loans, a credit card and 2 overdrafts.

We still have Some debt to clear but now I'm working part time it seems so hard and such à long way to go so I thought a diary will keep me focused and give me somewhere to ramble.

So I have:

£1000 card - it's our last little debt and 0% so although it's the cheapest one I'd like it gone so doing 1 debt vs 100 days and hoping to take £500 off this from any extra change or selling bit's and I've paid £102 off this so far.

Next is the big loan, £10,846 we are trying to bring this down as much as we can.

Last is the little loan it's £5000, this is the loan we are looking to tackle over the next 12 months.

Now the problem we have is i'm now part time (still on maternity leave) and we are squeezed so tight for money. We had budgeted for maternity and have managed very well as our mse ways have taught us, but with now two children, a part time wage, and im about to add nursery fees to this over stretched budget soon , i'm wondering how we will clear this debt off at all.

The payments are manageable, I just don't like the timescale as we want to sell our house and buy a bigger one. So our plan is,

* overpay as much as we can ( this will be better when I go back to work)
* stick to grocery challenge
* clear little debt and close
* sell as much as I can ( de clutter and money making)
* try to have lots of NSD

Well it seems so little to clear such a lot but at least I'm doing something, even a little bit before I get back to work is better than nothing.

Thanks if you have listened to my rambling and i'll check back in soon.

Tink_04

Ok another day so will fill you in:

Today was supposed to be a NSD but I decided to fill the car up with petrol (£50) that should last the month, that's all I got tho, didn't even go in the supermarket or a shop so pleased with that!

All the bill money is in the bill account and the rest is in the savings account, i'm saving up to pay bills that are due (car insurance, TV licence & holiday spends) these are due in the next couple of months and I've put more away than needed so after these have gone out the rest will go off the loan.

Dinner is planned and u have all we need so the GC is going well, it's the first time I've done it properly and we have a budget of £200, this goes into a separate cash card account so it's not mixed with the bill money but I'd been topping it up for months by about £80 - £100 as I'd just not been planning/shopping well. So now I have £200 and im going to budget properly so this lasts. It's for me DH, DD4 & DS7m (i'm not including nappies or baby milk in this as I take it out for my cb)

Going to plan some half term things for dd, the library has some craft things on and the cinema has cheap tickets on a Tuesday as she wants to go see a film. She also has 2 new films from her uncle for easter so will let her have them at the beginning of the holidays as easter is at the end.

Need to get some more things sold so I can clear some space and make a little cash for my 1 debt vs 100 days. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere really as I can't pay anything huge but I think if I can chip away and not spend extra then there will be extra money in the savings account at the end of my leave.

Tink_04

Well today didn't go as planned I knew it wouldn't be a NSD but I did get things that were needed.

* spent £7.20 on top up shopping, was hoping to do Mon - Fri ns on shopping but ran out of some things need to plan better next week.
* I then spent £27.98 on easter clothes for dd, a birthday card and present for a school party At the weekend and some nappies for ds.

I need to plan a little better for next week. I'll plan my shopping for the week again as the meal plan is going really well, but I need to maybe make a top up list fresh stuff and any other things such as partys/days out tho so I can plan for these better and budget them into my week.

I'm glad I started this diary as I didn't think I was as unorganised with my money and thought I didn't need to improve much but hey, there is always room for improvement! I thought it was the shopping budget I'd struggle with but actually this week it was all the little extras instead.

Tonight's tea is sausage & mash, have everything in so dinner is at least organised.

Tink_04

Foggy and damp here this morning, hoping to have a NSD & get some house stuff done today. Cant remember what tea is, will have to check my list! Last day of term for us so easter holidays to plan for! That should curb the shopping as not taking 2 kids out shopping in the holidays!

Tink_04

Well its been a crazy few weeks but we are managing best we can. I'm now on my 12 weeks unpaid at leave so that's why things are tighter than normal.

Last month's GC I went £4 over but we ate out/ had Takeaway with it being easter, school holidays and DH birthday. This month I'm sticking with £200, we are on holiday for a week so should balance things out (Hopefully) trying to stick to aldi this month and avoid the big supermarkets (hard to do as need baby milk still) but I've made a start!

I'm going to use this diary to set my goals for the month, mostly just to keep my head in order but to also feel like I'm doing something as there is not much getting paid off until I go back to work

Anyway enough moping, my goals this month are:

● write our new budget for the next 4 months while I have no wages
● meal plan every week
●shop mostly out of aldi
●scrimp and pay at least £50 off the CC (it's at 0% but not for much longer so it needs gone asap)
●make a holiday plan so we spend as little as possible but still have a good time with the kids

Well that enough for this month - - going to see if I can do my meal plan for this week.

Tink

Tink_04

Ok meal plan time! Going to do a week at a time and go from there!

Breakfasts are cereal or toast, lunch is sandwiches or pasta & we have a lot of snack and supper things for the kids.

● Monday - Gammon egg & chips
● Tuesday - Meatballs & spaghetti
● Wednesday - HM chicken curry & rice
● Thursday - HM burger & chips
● Friday - Pasta carbonara
● Saturday - Chicken stir fry
● Sunday - Sunday dinner

May switch things round a bit but I have most of this in so hopefully a low spend this week for shopping.

Tink_04

It's weirdly foggy today but still warm, I've managed to get a wash done and dry so that's a bonus! Had a NSD today as got the shopping in yesterday and had our Gammon egg & chips from the meal planner last night, so far so good! Paid the TV licence yesterday too so that's another yearly bill gone until next year! I hate paying this as think the BBC is rubbish and it's all a con but hey that's a whole other story!

Going into town tomorrow as need to pay some money in to the bank and get some birthday cards. Still working on the budget but it's looking ok, tight but manageable I hope, will know more next week when I have some accurate bill costs.

I'm finding the hardest thing to do is find the money for the cc to overpay, but I can only pay what I have so will stick with my little payments as they do add up and try to find some more stuff to sell.

Tink

Tink_04

Well did listed a few baby things on a selling page last night, they were collected this morning so when I went to town I paid the £20 off the cc so I've paid £173 off my £500 target, it's slow going but it's adding up I suppose. I did however forget the birthday cards

The meal plan is going great so far, I've got £16 left out of this week's £50 shopping money but going to asda tomorrow so that will probably get spent as still need a few bits - i'm going to make a list and try to come in under budget but need cat food and washing powder so it will be hard!

The budget has been done for all the dd's but need to work out the "spends" budget for kids/days out/clothes etc. I've set up separate savings accounts and im putting money away for yearly bills & kids clothes eg uniform & shoes. We should be fine as long as I don't overspend on days out/meals/treats as a family as this is our biggest expense, hubby works long hard days and we like to 'treat' ourselves and the kids by having family days out which are too expensive and we can no longer afford. I'm going to work hard on cheap and free options as hopefully with the weather improving we can do picnics in the park and find some other cheap ideas.

Well tomorrow I've got to:
●go to asda
●get birthday cards
●ring car insurance
●work out spends budget

Tink

Tink_04

Well nearly the end of the week and the shopping money (£5.74 left) is doing well, the meal plan is working brilliant I'm trying to make my In other money last for the next 2 weeks but my phone bill dd is due, I need petrol & have Dd's swimming lessons to pay for so not sure I have enough without dipping into another pot - will have to check the banking when the kids are In bed.
Must make a proper budget for the spends money as I have activities and clubs to pay for and it's all over the place!

Tink_04

Ok banking checked and I need to make the £££ last 10 days, this should be doable. I'm going to get started on next weeks meal plan as I've managed ok on £50 this week that's what I'll aim for next week too. Going on holiday in 2 weeks (all paid & spends saved) so need to organise what we will take, it's sc So will take our own food and snacks for the kids and plan our meals in/out to balance the spends.

Had a mini triumph today, got some bad news so decided to get a take away tonight to make it easier for me n hubby as to be honest this is what we always do when faced with a hard night, but thought the meal plan option can be prepped in advance and won't take too long to make (about the same time as a take away delivery) so I'm sticking to plan! Normally I'd have a just said scrap everything we need to deal with this and spent £30 but there is no need to make this choice! We don't have the money and this sort of living needs to stop, the night will be hard regardless and would rather save the money.

Well having a quiet bank holiday weekend so hopefully not much spending going on - if the weather is nice we may get to the park and are seeing some family for lunch but that's about it.

DawnW

Good luck Tink, you are doing well. Sorry to hear about the bad news
Hope things improve for you soon