No More Procrastination..DFW is my Destination!

nellis10

Hi everyone, I posted in the wrong section yesterday so I am starting my Diary afresh in the correct place.

I'm using this as a place to collect my thoughts, keep to a disciplined record and stay on track!

I was in denial about being "in debt" recently. To me, being "in debt" was debt that you couldn't afford to pay back, but having read so many diaries and posts on here recently, I had my lightbulb moment once again (I'm a long term returner to this site) and am here to get rid of "affordable debt"!!

I've spent the past few days getting on top of all my current incomings and outgoings and rang up my creditors to get settlement statements, sort codes/account numbers for overpayments.

As I said, to me it's currently "affordable debt" because I can make the payments, BUT I want to be rid of it much sooner than the original completion dates. So this is an opportunity for me to plan ahead, make some changes in my lifestyle and start to play the game of overpayments.

My eventual goal is to show that I have "affordability" when I go to remortgage my little house in my own name. I am currently tied into the title with my mum and only have 2 years left on the mortgage because of her age, not because we have paid it off!!!

Eventually I want to pay mum back for her contribution to the mortgage payments over 5 years (12,000) which were not a loan, but we invested in the property together, and whilst doing so, my dad did a lot of the childcare whilst I went back to work part-time.

Anyway...suffice to say, I want mum to get her money back, that is my decision and not her pushing for it. This is my house and I see it as paying her back for free childcare!

I have a little spreadsheet I set up, which I am forever tinkering with, as it gives me pleasure just to play about with numbers!! I need to add some additional colours to it...Hey! The more I tinker with it, the less I spend and the less I eat due to being bored!! It's a win/win!!

Current Affordable Debt:

Amazon CC - £300 Monthly min £25 (I overpay too) APR 16.9%

Divorce Loan - £7500 taken out 02/12 to pay in advance for solicitors fees for divorce (still waiting for decree absolute)
Settlement £4,302.18 Monthly £146.76 APR 7.5% Completes 02/17

Car Loan - Needed a good car due to now travelling from next town over to school with son.
Incl Interest £7,663.08 Monthly £155.96 APR 8.5% Completes 06/18

So I am on a huge budget drive to get rid of the Divorce Loan as soon as possible so that I only retain the Mortgage and Car loan, which I can then get to work on!!

Mortgage is £73148.32 Interest Only Monthly £248.48 3.99%

nellis10

So today is a spreadsheet revamp day! I'm a tinkerer I know!!

Plus I am going to look at some ISAs that allow deposits whenever I want at any amount...I also want it at a separate bank than my current account to try and spread the risk - yes my millions are at risk ...NOT! But it's nice not to be so dependant on one bank...I've found loyalty counts for nothing these days!

I'm going to use any bagged change to fill up my ISA (slowly) Never had an ISA before and really want to get one underway!

Plus I need to add £500 to my DS Child trust Fund, I closed one of his little savings accounts with £500 and had to use it when my Ex and I split up as I had to take on ALL the bills. So need to repay that amount, plus interest...so £550.

I also need to get 6 months of Emergency funds as a medium term goal, and a short term goal is I desperately need a new Freezer, and my son's TV is now on the blink!!

nellis10

OK, feeling positive! Have accomplished a few tasks today whcih get me on my way:

• Handed in form to take my name off Joint Account. Ex signed it without hassle thankfully.
• Opened new basic bank account with internet options in my own name.
• Loan will be linked to new account which means I can easily make small overpayments from this account when I add money to it.
• Added £17 of bagged change to new account...Woohoo!
• Collected my £40 weekly budget money out of main account.
• Didn't spend a penny down the town as I normally would do...on foodie treats!!
• Found 6p Roadkill...Woohooo!

All in all a productive morning... :cool:

nellis10

So...

Had a NSD yesterday which is great, but going to Garden Center today for essentials tools for my new allotment and won't scrimp on quality. I've had that before where I've bought cheap and bought twice! I'm going with the same make as my trusty Spade and Fork! I need Rake and a Hoe, and Dad will be getting the trowel and mini fork...we only have a dibbler (sp?) for planting and it's not really good enough.

I'm bringing down my potted onions today to plant them out but need to dig the new patch first.

Also I am becoming a eagle eyed Roadkill enthusiast and feel disappointed if I don't find at least a penny on my walks into town! I go past the pub next door so am expecting a fortune to be amongst the tarmac :rotfl:

I've also been doing lots more walking recently and I think it's starting to pay dividends. I've lost 4lbs in the last couple of weeks, just by cutting down and a bit more walking! Feeling really positive about that, no gym fees, no faddy diets (although I do astill have plenty of Cambridge Shake packets which I will use on frugal days to pad me out a bit!)

Also - Spreadsheet News - I need to find a way to budget for yearly and one off costs for things like Car MOT/Tax/Service, School Uniforms/Trips/Shoes, Allotment Fees/Tools/Seeds, Household replacements/Maintenance - So that will be this evening's Spreadsheet Entertainment...then I can factor a monthly budget going forward for 2015 whilst putting off a few spends for now.

nellis10

Well, so good news!

Mum is currently unable to drive due to an operation on her foot putting her out of action for 6 months, so I've been helping where I can with lifts to hospital, shops etc.

When I picked Dad up today to take him to the allotment, he insisted I fill up my car with petrol that he would pay for!!!

£48.02 of FREE PETROL! I offered to pay at least half but he wouldn't here of it!

So off we went to the Garden Center as planned with a view to getting trowel/fork and rake/hoe.

Dad spent £26 on the trowel, fork and 3for2 deal on 60L compost soil which we needed.

I spent £30 on the Hoe and Rake combo (interchangeable and more extras can be added later) and some needed seeds!

I had budgeted £50 but only spent £30.

So a £100 potential spend today (£50 petrol £50 garden center) only came to £30 for me!

And I got filled up on Lentil Soup before I left Mum's house, so only need a light tea!!

Plus we managed to plant out the Strawberries that a fellow allotmenteer gave us free, some geraniums for bee attraction, and my onions that needed bigger pots!

An excellent day!!

Divingmad

Hey Nelly,


I have just started the debt free journey, so fully understand where you're starting from.
Good luck with the journey and I've subscribed to keep up with your exploits (if that's OK).


Hope everything goes swimmingly and we're all behind you
DM

nellis10

Divingmad wrote: »

Hey Nelly,


I have just started the debt free journey, so fully understand where you're starting from.
Good luck with the journey and I've subscribed to keep up with your exploits (if that's OK).


Hope everything goes swimmingly and we're all behind you
DM

thanks DM!

I'm a relapser...from being really crap with money in my younger days, I'm now in the fortunate position that I can afford my two loans, but my budgeting is still atrocious...so I am back for a little more discipline and see where I can really make savings.

Whilst I have those two loans (car and divorce...both ESSENTIAL lmao) I will be here in DFW, then hopefully soon I shall migrate to MFW :cool:

nellis10

So today was a spend day...BUT, the spends came out of my Budget savings from last week.

I took £20 from last week's savings and took DS to the 50th Anniversary of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum this morning.

Apart from the Entrance Fees - £14.50 between us, we each got one Hot Chocolate each after walking round the site for 2 hours straight...That came to £4.50, so out of my original £20 I have £1 left for the tin!

I have no problem taking DS on monthly trips like this as we both need time together and doing fun/educational things together.

Next month, I have prepaid £10 to take DS to the Lego Brick City event at TitanicBelfast, so will save another £10-£15 for that event too.

Off to update the budget for the spends.
I still have £40 out of my Weekly Food Budget and I have Curry and Rice for both of us for tea tonight.

nellis10

A lot of people who keep spreadsheets seem to find a way to have all these columns for their bits and pieces so they know how much of their account is divided into various "pots"

I used to have an ING account that I used for my "pots" and I used to really enjoy sending money across and then distributing to the pots.

Anyone show me a good way of doing that on the Spreadsheet or can they think of an Online Savings Account that has Pots?

Even better...is there an ISA I can do this with?

nellis10

Today had a few spends...BUT less than I would normally spend because I am so conscious of trying to eek every penny out of my wages!

Dentist Check Up, Clean and Polish - £16.96
I have dental insurance and will probably get the forms filled out so I can claim this back, but for now it is a spend.

Lidl £11.96 - A few essentials like milk and pasta, but basically my lunches for the rest of the week. I even went around Lidl with my phone calculator on, so I would know the cost before I got to the till. Certainly makes you think twice before you add something silly to the basket that you don't really need!

I'm also going to go on Mysupermarket.com for a bit of fun and see what it would have cost for my basket in Tesco/Asda/Sainsburys and even M&S!!

I'm still trying to revamp my spreadsheets and am thinking of just doing one spreadsheet per month and just carrying the savings across as I get them.

nellis10

OK, So I did a comparison on MySupermaket for the items I bought from Lidl...Here are the results:

Items:
4 x Panini Rolls
Sundried Tomatoes
2L Milk
Mature Cheddar
Stilton
Mozzarella
Gnocchi
Proscuitto Ham
2 x Organic Spaghetti
2 x Sugar Doughnuts

Lidl 11.96
Tesco 15.54
Asda 17.02
Sainsbury's 17.54

Just goes to show how much you can save!