Five years till I'm 50 - 60 months to get debt free!

LESLAMP

I'm on my lunch break at work and trying to get my head around being frugal again!!!!

Freezer/cupboard inventory being done tomorrow so that I can menu plan and limit my food shopping to help the car fund.

I have just signed up for the January Grocery challenge so hoping that will help keep me motivated to.

Have also just listed some bits on preloved (prompted my your mention of ebay) in the hope of getting 2015 of to a good start.

Tonight will be me the dog and a cup of mint tea as Hubby is working tonight (he's a recovery driver, think he's down to work every bank holiday going :mad:).

Who cares about the self-pitying anyway, we all do it and if we are writing it down on here then it means we are still sort of in control :T

newpennypincher

This is the third time I've tried to reply to your post now Leslamp, I've lost the first two!

You're quite right, at least we're facing it and keeping track.

Preloved is a good idea, I've got a couple of bits I can try and list there, stuff too big to Eb*y.

I promise you I am never going to be in this position again. I have no money in my emergency fund and that's scary.

Rather than make a list of what we don't have, here's a list of what we do have:-

Pros

1. A healthy family (mum has Parkinsons but its under control so she counts as healthy too!).
2. Freezer full of food.
3. All household bills paid for the month.
4. We live in a lovely home.
5. The car is ok (at the moment).
6. My job is secure (as secure as anyone can be at the moment).
7. I have a lovely fiance who I'd marry tomorrow if we had the money.

Cons:-

1. No money.
2. BF's job is in doubt and he will definitely be facing a wage cut next year.
3. I need to pay my Ne*t bill.

I'm coming to realise that I need to do some serious thinking this year. I'm very wary of putting too much personal information out there, but my situation is that I have a nice house (for where we live) and I have enough equity in the house to sell up and buy a much smaller house mortgage free. I should also be able to clear all my card debts and start again.

BUT

I love my house and selling up feels like giving up and admitting defeat plus BF and I have 6 children between us aged from 16 to 25 and we need the space.

If I can get through January without falling apart I'm going to try and clear my smallest debt by the 31st March. If I can do this I can then move onto the next debt, if I can't then I'll be on the phone to the EA, it'll be Spring by then and people will be thinking about moving house.

Right, next job - list on Preloved, wish me luck.

Got my oomph back again! BF just got home, I'm off to make him a cup of tea, he looks frozen, poor thing

newpennypincher

Just signing in for the last update of 2014.

I've done nothing but worry about money all day today and that's one day I won't see again.

I haven't made any sales today which is a worry, but at least the sale I made last night means that the mortgage is covered. Its a start but not enough.

I've spent most of this evening looking at consolidation loans. Its an option, but not one I intend to take if I can find any other way. Tonight however I'm feeling like all the fight's been drained out of me. BF has gone to bed because he's tired of sitting in silence and I've sat through two films with no idea what either was about. I wish my dad was here

Things have to change or I'm going to make myself ill and then we'll really be in trouble. I'm not going to take a loan, I'm going to give myself until the 12th and if the sales haven't come in by then I'm going to have to swallow my pride and ask my mum to loan me £300. Quite telling really that I'd rather take out a bank loan than ask family for help.

Two things are for sure - number 1 - I don't think I've ever felt this low and number 2 - my finances have never been this bad - which both mean that from now on, the only way is up, or down where the debts are concerned.

One good thing about being a miserable madam is that today's been a NSD and I hope that tomorrow will be the first NSD of 2015 - start as you mean to go on

I'm going to sit down tomorrow and work out all my balances, so I've got them in black and white.

Life is all work, worry and no fun at the moment and enough is enough so New Year, new start and all that so watch this space!

I've lurked enough on other people's diaries to know that the ones who succeed are the ones who post regularly and who list every single spend so that's what I'm going to do too.

Happy New Year - and sorry for going on a bit

newpennypincher

:starmod: Happy New year!! :starmod:

Here's to 2015 - onwards and upwards :T

Today is going to be a NSD....yayy! I have to come clean though and tell you I didn't get up till 11 - not spending is easy when you're still asleep.

I've got my gammon joint on the go this morning. I've got it boiling in a pan full of cider, my kitchen smells like a brewery but it should make a lovely dinner and several lunchboxes :rotfl:

I was woken up at 1am this morning by DS1 wishing me a Happy New Year which made me very happy. I think the "chat" we had last week must've hit home.

No sales yet today......come on Eb*y!!

newpennypincher

Ok, here we go....deep breaths!

I've been busy this afternoon, I've registered for online banking with all but one of my debts and so, here are the totals as of today:-

Halif*x CC - £3,168.61

Nationw*de CC - £4,816.38

Aqu* CC - £784.00

Cap On* CC - £1,466.45

Ne*t - £1,545.31

De*enhams - £1,262.43

Littlew**ds - £2,162.95

Total - £15,206.13 :eek::eek::eek::eek:

I'm really glad I'm sitting down - perhaps I should rename my diary - 2015 - in debt by 15k!!

At least now I know what I'm facing. The first one to go will be the Aqua card.

No spends yet today, but no bids either. Where are all the Eb*yers hiding today??

Hope everyone else is having a good day x

beanielou

here is to 2015 & onwards & upwards

newpennypincher

The gammon was lovely, but don't see it lasting very long somehow. We had it with leftover cauliflower cheese yummy!

I've been reading a lot about budgeting software and a lot of people mention YNAB, but I've checked and this one isn't free. I'd be very grateful if someone could recommend a free version of this software or something similar.

newpennypincher

I've just rediscovered Excel - I've worked out two different spreadsheets, one for my account and another for the joint account.

BF and I both transfer a fixed amount into the joint to cover all household bills.

We have a grand total of £180 left over for groceries which should be more than enough for two of us, but if I can get it down to £150 even better. I won't be able to start till payday, but we're already penny pinching, so we can get some practice in!

The debts are my problem. BF had nothing to do with accruing them so its not fair to expect him to pay any of it back.

I've no doubt he would, if asked, because, he's like that, but I'm not asking

LESLAMP

Been a low day here to, am struggling with spending so much time alone. Hubby started shift work 3 months ago, monies better but lately has gone out quicker than it comes in so no spare cash to do anything.

Anyway I use excel for my budgeting. I use it to track against the bank and so I can see the forward effect of any spending. I normally forward plan for about 4 months. I also have a sheet that shows my debts and how they reduce each month. This page makes you realise exactly how much you've achieved especially over a year. This year I am also going to try and keep a running total for expenses like food and car. Am hoping these will show Hubby exactly where we overspend.

Chin up, get a good night's sleep and fingers crossed somebody bids on ebay for your goodies.

in_need_of_direction

I use a hard back notebook. It works for me.