A Frugal Life for Me!

nowpanicking

redofromstart wrote: »

Hi, just a thought but it might be worth getting your OH to register with some agencies for warehousing type work. They will be less hung up on recent experience, and once he has some agency work under his belt it'll hopefully be easier to find something more long term and it''ll build him up to doing longer stretches. Does it have childcare knock-ons for you?

Hi redofromstart! Thanks for your thoughts. Tbh I'd never considered agency work. That is a good idea.. I'll speak to DH to see what he thinks. DS is in high school now but we do have dogs so we had been thinking that night shift might be an ideal solution.

nowpanicking

nowpanicking wrote: »

Plan for today;

- chilli from freezer for tea
- NSD yep :T
- no chocolate digestives!!! well so far so good but the night is young
- Budget for next pay period (starts next Thursday)
- check bank yep
- sort out at least one drawer in bedroom all done

That's it I think... Have a great Friday everyone

NP x

So quite a good day MSE wise I think. Been having a think about my budget for next pay day. I have £930 after all bills etc to last 4 weeks. Payment to credit cards is within the bills and is set at £400. I would like this to be higher but don't want to leave myself short.

So here goes:

£200 groceries
£60 school dinners
£100 tobacco for DH (I know... but cannot get him to stop)
£80 petrol
£80 DH spending
£80 me spending (will try to minimise this spend)
£50 DS pocket money and days out
£40 physio*
£30 hair appointment
£100 House (living room.. Need solution for hole in wall where old gas fire was!)
£60 gifts (a couple of bday pressies this month with the bal to go to Xmas fund)
£50 emergency fund

*physio.. Waiting to be referred but am desperate so going to pay for one appointment

The house spend is not normally this high but we really need to get it sorted.

Happy Friday everyone

NP x

nowpanicking

It's the weekend!!! :j

Just chilling with a cup of tea pondering on what I'll be doing today

Heading out to visit my pal today and getting my hair done tonight. Previously made appointment and can pay for it when I get paid.

Apart from that need to get load of washing on and hung up in house as due to rain. Will try for a NSD but might fail today.

Have a great Saturday everyone

NP x

nowpanicking

Soooo... back again

With more debt than when I started. I've amended my signature to show the new "starting" debt. I have resurrected spreadshsheets for both my annual budget plus a credit card payment tracker.

As it stands I could be debt free by December 2025. That is with £400 being paid towards the cc debt every month. I'm hoping to increase that to £500 once my pay rise is confirmed. If I can increase to £500 then dfd changes to May 2024 which is an amazing difference!

I also want to pay additional amounts in if I make savings in any of my budget pots each month, eg groceries.

I will attempt to keep up with the diary as it does help me keep motivated.

Need to keep at it this time as I am well and truly utterly fed up of being in debt.

NP x

nowpanicking

Where I am at today:

It is one week until payday. Weekly shop has been bought from a!di and was under budget so I have £16.73 left in my groceries pot. Normally I would then just spend this on other items but my plan is to stick to the pots more rigidly. If I then have an underspend on a pot at the end of the 4 weeks then I will pay over to the cc's.

I also have £12.95 in my purse which I'll use some of to give DS money one day for his lunch. He is now at high school so does like to go down the street with his pals once or twice a week. He's quite happy to have packed lunches the rest of the time which is great.

If I have any money left over in my purse on payday, I'll add it to my change tub which I'm planning on filling then cashing in for holiday time for days out etc.

I'm aiming to do as many NSD's as I can, take lunches to work, meal plan etc. All the usual DFW activities!!!

Meal plan for this week:

Lamb koftas
Lasagne
Fish cakes
Pasta and garlic bread
Soap and toasties
Chicken jalfrezi

Had pizza last night which counts as day 1 of the meal plan.

NP x

nowpanicking

nowpanicking wrote: »

If I can increase to £500 then dfd changes to May 2024 which is an amazing difference!

Just realised that this is also when I turn 50!!! :eek:

So that is a definite incentive. To be debt free by the time I hit 50 would be absolutely amazing.

Moneywhizz

Welcome back. Good time to make a fresh start and to have a goal of being debt free by the time you turn 50. Obviously you have tried a few times before so do you have any plans in place to help you to stick to it this time? You obviously know how to budget and are able to plan out what you would like to do, but it seems that you find it hard to carry it through. Is this because your budget is so tight that you don't have much left for just living?
The one thing that would really help you of course is if your husband would go back to work. From what you posted back in August your husband is actually a real drain on you financially, instead of contributing fairly to the household. You actually give him tobacco money and spending money, so he gets more personal spends than you do, and yet you are the one earning the money. Does that not irritate you and make you resentful that you are out working hard and he is basically living off your money? I would find that really difficult to live with. I know it is not easy to find work these days but there have been lots of suggestions for ways that he could bring in some money if he really set his mind to it. Maybe if his pocket money and tobacco money dried up he would force himself to do something.
I hope this does not offend you but you are trying hard to get this debt paid down and are actually being hindered rather than helped by your husband. Anyway I will follow along with your journey and hope that this is the year when things turn around for you. Good luck,

nowpanicking

Moneywhizz wrote: »

Welcome back. Good time to make a fresh start and to have a goal of being debt free by the time you turn 50. Obviously you have tried a few times before so do you have any plans in place to help you to stick to it this time? You obviously know how to budget and are able to plan out what you would like to do, but it seems that you find it hard to carry it through. Is this because your budget is so tight that you don't have much left for just living?
The one thing that would really help you of course is if your husband would go back to work. From what you posted back in August your husband is actually a real drain on you financially, instead of contributing fairly to the household. You actually give him tobacco money and spending money, so he gets more personal spends than you do, and yet you are the one earning the money. Does that not irritate you and make you resentful that you are out working hard and he is basically living off your money? I would find that really difficult to live with. I know it is not easy to find work these days but there have been lots of suggestions for ways that he could bring in some money if he really set his mind to it. Maybe if his pocket money and tobacco money dried up he would force himself to do something.
I hope this does not offend you but you are trying hard to get this debt paid down and are actually being hindered rather than helped by your husband. Anyway I will follow along with your journey and hope that this is the year when things turn around for you. Good luck,

Hi Moneywhizz!! Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am not offended in the slightest it is a difficult one and I do feel a bit resentful sometimes but to be honest I don't know what the alternative is. I can't imagine not being with him. He knows how I feel and that it would help us so much if he found work. He does look for work but can never find anything "suitable". I will just have to keep prompting/nagging him to keep looking.

In terms of sticking to the budgets I find it easy for say, the first couple of months but then I struggle. I also find it really hard to say no to my OH and DS if they ask for treats. Will have to try and be stronger.

NP x

nowpanicking

:So today has started off well. I got up and went straight to the gym

It's amazing how exercise can change the way you feel. All these great endorphins :j

So plan for today:

- NSD
- meal per meal planner
- ironing for the week ahead
- check bank
- housework

Might also visit parents

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

NP x

Moneywhizz

It's good that you have a happy marriage and that is something to be thankful for. However it doesn't mean that things need to go on as they have been for the last 13 years. Why don't you work out a budget that allows some personal pocket money for the three of you and explain that it is up to each person to decide what that will be spent on. No more asking mum for treats. I would set that at a much lower level than you currently give your husband for pocket money and tobacco, say £50 a month. Show him that it really is all you can afford from your budget now as you are determined to get this debt paid off as it is causing you stress. You could be kind and say that this will be starting from the end of February. That gives him time to find some way of making some extra money, even if is only to cover his own tobacco, treats and clothes. He could do that easily even if he cant find a proper job. There are lots of ways of just making a bit of extra money. If he is well physically there is no reason that he can't contribute to the household. He may very well be a great husband but he is not showing much respect for you by treating you like this. Only some suggestions that might help you to change this situation and help you to free up some more money to pay down your debt.