Where to begin?.......

3wisemonks

As the title suggest I'm not entirely sure where to begin. I know the start would be good but I would be here all night long attempting that, I'd certainly be giving War and Peace a run for its money

I will try introducing myself and my bunch. I'm in my 30's (how did that happen?!?) I'm married 10 years to my dh. We have 3 little ones, well I guess 1 little one and 2 middle sized ones

My husband was in charge of our finances because I didn't have the slightest clue about running a household budget, turns out neither did he :rotfl: I don't blame him I was lazy to be fair. This was until the debt collectors turned up Toward the end of 2009 I took over and attempted to make sense of who he owed and what budget we had to work with. This was good timing as it turned out as shortly after this dh became ill and once we realised he was going to pull through we did wonder if he'd ever work again. Thankfully he has almost made a full recovery, he's not the same as before but close enough and we know we have been blessed.

When I took over the finances we had roughly £30,000 in debts now we are down to £5345. My dh had 6 CCJs after ignoring letter after letter which means for now we are stuck with out exorbitant mortgage which is interest only at a rate of around 4.6% though it was around 7.9% until 2011.
Currently we pay as follows:
Debt1 - £542 - £50 a month
Debt2 - £1225 - £35 a month
Debt3 - £2016 - £50 a month
Debt4 - £1545 - £45 a month
Mortgage - £119,742

The interest is frozen on the debts so while I want to get rid of them I them I guess the mortgage is a priority to make extra payments to as we need to get ourselves in a better position now the ccjs have dropped off dhs credit file to remortgage before dh gets to old.

I hope this diary will help keep me in check and motivated

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary
Keep posting~ you have a fantastic debt reduction so far.

3wisemonks

Thank you beanie For along time it was tough as I know you guys are aware but I feel like there is a little light a the end of the tunnel.

Not sure how to post an soa but if I work it out I will post one for any tips anyone is willing to share

3wisemonks

Today has been a NSD I think
Well I was working and I'm pretty sure I didn't go near a shop :rotfl:

Had a few replys from debt agency's who will send letters confirming the latest balances so just a case of waiting to see.

Emailed store I bought a pair of boots from in November, they are broken and I have requested a replacement but will have to go in store even though I ordered online.

Work was tough today, everyone is on edge waiting for news about our jobs, I may be made redundant, I'm keeping everything crossed but will find out next week. I've only worked there a few months so no redundancy pay and we need my income so CV has been updated and I'm keeping an eye out for suitable jobs I can't fit in around children which of course is the hard bit

We have an emergency fund in place so even if it takes a few months we'll be OK, will need to be careful but we hopefully won't get into more debt at least.

WM

3wisemonks

It travelled incredibly fast in fact. I emailed debt agencys for latest figures on Monday and today I have received a letter from the first with fab news. The figure is much lower than expected at £990.

This relates to Debt 4 which I estimated at £1545 way off but at least in my favour :j

Now if all the debts can do this I will be one very happy bunny

When I think how hard it was getting here I can't believe we made it this far tbh. When I hid with the 2 eldest babies in my bedroom afraid debt collectors would break the door down or when it was so cold the windows would freeze on the inside and the babies had to wear thermals indoors because we couldn't afford a new boiler and the one we had was condemned. It was rough but for anyone that may read this on the beginning of their journey it can be done, if I can anyone can! I may not be at the end but we've spent a great deal on the house as really it wasn't habitable leaking rooves, broken box sash windows, door that didn't lock and the boiler of course. We've paid for these with cash that we've saved, we've still got a long way to go but we have no new debt since 2006 so we're getting there, all be it at a snails pace

WM

3wisemonks

I'm officially at risk of redundancy is the bad, good news is it was a NSD today.

I have had it confirmed my job will no longer exist. There are a few jobs within the company I'm going to apply for so the next few months are going to be interesting. I don't have any dates but I think I have around 3 months. Will get cracking on applications as soon as they are available.

Good news, a no spend day :j

Today has been exhausting so dinner is cheese and crackers at last its saving on the take away I was dreaming of

WM

3wisemonks

Regretting watching My Big Benefits Family on 5. Love our benefit system in that when times are tough and we may need a little help there is the safety net, but this is not what this family are doing. It makes me sad to know its being taken advantage of and because of this a few generations down the line there will be no safety net for anyone

Olivia-Louise_2

Look forward to following

You have done amazing

3wisemonks

Thanks Olivia

Im so cold today, 2 dressing gowns on but my hands hurt being so cold. Wish I could have a coal fire going but we've got no coal
When we bought our house 11 years ago a 25kg bag of coal was £3-4 the same bag now is £11-12 if I'd know the cost would have skyrocketed like that I would have filled the cellar to the brim! Missing being able to have a fire every evening tbh.

No nsd today, not sure I want to admit why

Will do my online shop tonight the budget is £50 a week for the big shop this includes nappies for littlest dc and I have £10 for a top up shop if required.

WM

Olivia-Louise_2

Here I find independent shops better at coal prices I dont know if you haven't already priced this?

Is £50 your usual budget including nappies? I'm finding it harder and harder to stay in budget

Not everyday can be a NSD dont be hard on yourself x

3wisemonks

Thanks for your reply Olivia

Yes its an independent, you can get a little of buying in bulk but I don't have the space for a few tons of coal :rotfl:

The nappies are only for bedtimes so not huge amounts but they are very expensive £3.50 on offer at the moment for 8 :eek: DC is dry most nights but unfortunately still has the occasional accident so rather than risk a wet bed at silly o'clock and all that entails DC where's a nappy

I do struggle to stay on budget my husband eats everyday like he's been starved for a week for lunch he has 2 sandwiches filled with ham, tom, lettuce and cucumber, a yogurt, pepperoni stick, 3 biscuit/chocolate snacks, 2 pieces of fruit and a bag of crisps its monstrous! 2 DC have packed lunches and dc3 has school dinner. I also have packed lunch but im a sandwich and crisps kind of girl :rotfl:

I cook from scratch like most on here so that saves and I try and buy meat when its been reduced but not always successful so occasionally I'm over budget it is hard to stay on budget week in week put when toilet rolls run out or bin bags they are sooo expensive!

Take care,
WM