The Future's Feeling Fresh 'n' Fruity!

f0nz

3wisemonks wrote: »

I love you chocolate eating emoticon!

You sound in a fairly similar position to us, we were very close to bankruptcy but by the skin of our teeth didn't have to although a FA I spoke with at the time said dh credit rating was equivalent to bankruptcy at the time.

Anyway you done brilliantly so far so keep up the good work

I'm with you on the house front. I'm putting by savings to get the house done up as I can't bare the mess that no amount of cleaning and tidy can improve :mad: Try not to feel bad about your spends you still need to live life with pleasures and doing the house will give you long lasting enjoyment and you made some great savings with your purchases :money:

I have just read your diary and was going to reply saying that situations sounded similar ... Spooky :eek:
Unfortunately we don't own our home but we will one day!! That's the grand plan, hopefully before I'm 40
You're right about having to have little pleasures! When we were at our lowest life was miserable, yes we did it to ourselves and it has taught us a lesson but it was blooming miserable! Being able to loosen the belt slightly is a lovely feeling! Being able to buy a £7 mascara every couple of months instead of a £1 one is good for the soul :rotfl:
You sound like you've done phenomenally well with beating your debt, definitely on the homestretch now, well done :T

f0nz

So far a pretty productive day. Back to work tonight (I work nightshift) so I've made my lunch/tea whatever you call it at that time of the morning and have it sat ready and waiting for me in the fridge went to bed at 4am last night so will be heading off to bed at around 2pm to get a snooze in before I start.

Spent much of last night number crunching and projecting. I think if we're disciplined we can over pay the loan by a bit more each month. Pretty sure I can shave £50 off the grocery budget and then any overtime etc. I would absolutely LOVE to have it paid off by June. It will be pretty tight so no biggie if we can't manage but I'd be overjoyed if we could

Went for a coffee date with the husband. We seem to be ships that pass in the night at the moment due to all of the overtime so it was nice to get out and have some us time! Spends came out of the pot so it's all ok! Had a mooch in the charity shops and was surprised at the good quality of a lot of the things. Brand new Spider-Man jigsaws for £1.50, new shoes for £4 etc so I have decided to challenge myself. This Christmas I would like to try and get all the kiddos stocking fillers from charity shops. Plenty of time left to have a nosey around and pick things up here and there. Quite excited about it all now :j

Right, off to bed now or I'll be a mess tonight

f0nz

Last couple of days have been spend fee, YAY! A plus for Working nights is it kinda helps you not spend anything

Hoping to not spend anything until Friday which should be doable as we have tonnes of food, plenty toiletries etc so it's all good in the hood.

Not a huge amount to report really ... Oh hang on ... I bought the 2 eldest new coats on Thursday. They were reduced from £50 to £10 so snapped them up for this autumn/winter. I'll stash them away and give them as birthday prezzies. My Kiddos love getting clothes so although it may sound a bit mean they will appreciate it!

Last night tonight, hooray! Next week will be spent preparing more meals for th freeze so thre always something to grab. Right off back to bed as I'm shattered. Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

f0nz

Ah a lovely day off, fantabulous!!

Still feeling pretty knackered but have managed a quick tidy up of the lounge and when teeny goes to nursery I'll have to tackle the dishes of doom, Ew! How I dream of having a dishwasher, maybe I should keep an eye open on freecycle, see if anyone happens to be getting rid of one.

Was very naughty yesterday and hubby brought in a take away for tea waste of money I know but technically it is budgeted for from the family spends pot. Spend of £2 for the eldest for a school lunch. Forgot to take bread out of the freezer so didn't have anything I could throw together for lunch. Have taken bread out now so all will be fine for tomorrow!

Have been nosing on Pinterest and have found some brilliant homemade gift ideas so I might start making a couple a month and set them aside for birthdays and xmas. They'll be much more personal and hopefully a bit cheaper too

No great plans for the rest of the week really, just plodding on trying to get rid of all the clutter and maybe the odd bit of decorating. (Im)patiently waiting for payday so I can pay a big chunk off the loan.

f0nz

First mini victory today! We've been trying to sort out our credit reports as there are a lot of incorrect entries (more so in mine than hubby's). After emailing a company who I'd never heard of before who were on our reports (they buy bankrupt debt) We've had a reply and they've confirmed that they will be amending our files to show the debts as satisfied as of our discharge date :j Fingers crossed they will do as they say but I'll keep an eye on it for the next month and if still showing incorrectly in March I'll chase it up.

Later on I'll be using Fermi's template to send letters out to the other companies. Would be ace if they all played ball as nicely too

Finally feel like we're making positive steps and that buying a house in the future may not be a pipe dream after all.

f0nz

Going to write my plans down for tomorrow in the hopes it will spurr me on to actually do them

Change all the beds (tidy our room too as its getting a bit cluttered again)
Make and freeze some meatballs and a homemade sauce (if I have any tinned toms left)
Clean the kitchen
Take the pooch for a walk
Bung a load or 2 of washing on (down to the last washing basket :T)

Will be tackling those letters about the credit files too :money:

3wisemonks

Well done on getting your credit file straightened out. How rude though that they can bung something on it without even checking its correct :mad:

Mine older ones like getting clothes, even little ones does if it has the right character smothered over it Its fab though, DC is going away with the school and I'm planning on buying a capsule summer wardrobe for next birthday to take and also means DC will be set for summer given how fast this one seems to grow not much will fit from last year! Your coats sound like a great bargain :T

I love pinterest I haven't made much but there are a couple of things I want to try. I did do this word art thing for a friend but was worried she wouldn't like it but going to do them for myself as I love that sort of thing I always think its the thought that counts. Some of my favourite presents have been made or hand me downs that I still remember and cherish.

WM

3wisemonks

f0nz wrote: »

Thought I'd post an SOA as some people may find it useful or even have some hints and tips on how to reduce things




Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3 plus teenage stepchild at least once a week
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 720 may actually be more, have just changed hours so will find out end of this month
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1863 this doesn't include any overtime or bonuses which happen fairly often
Benefits................................ 190 child benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2773

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 144 includes water up here
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 35 includes Internet
Mobile phone............................ 52.75 3 mobiles: 1 contract and 2 PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 34
Car Insurance........................... 70 this will hopefully reduce on hubby's renewal. Not long had 2 cars so he's building his no claims back up as his were over 3 years old
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 60 we get free tyres so don't have to factor those in
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 10 nursery snack/toy money
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 prescriptions free here and dentist is paid with overtime/bonuses as it's never a lot
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 19.03 includes a vet package for discounted treatments, all worming etc and yearly check up
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 gets paid in full at renewal, it's under £50 so we can jig around and find it easily
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 80
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Hubby supplements....................... 70 non negotiable and the only thing the poor man asks for
Netflix................................. 5.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 1997.89


Assets[/b]
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 5500
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Amigo..........................2360......134.......49.2
Tax credits ovepay.............742.......100.......0
Total unsecured debts..........3102......234.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,773
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,997.89
Available for debt repayments........... 775.11
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 234
Amount left after debt repayments....... 541.11

Couple of things phone and internet seems a little high. I pay £19 for both with free calls.

This is just sheer nosiness what are you dh supplements is there anyway you can bulk buy to save on costs?

Do you have an ald1 near you? I found this significantly reduced our food costs.

Otherwise I'm not expert but it looks pretty good to me. Couple of things I was wondering you have nothing in haircuts and do you have to pay CSA? I couldn't see them but perhaps in other categories or not required

f0nz

3wisemonks wrote: »

Couple of things phone and internet seems a little high. I pay £19 for both with free calls.

This is just sheer nosiness what are you dh supplements is there anyway you can bulk buy to save on costs?

Do you have an ald1 near you? I found this significantly reduced our food costs.

Otherwise I'm not expert but it looks pretty good to me. Couple of things I was wondering you have nothing in haircuts and do you have to pay CSA? I couldn't see them but perhaps in other categories or not required

Phone and Internet are locked in until August. We used to live out in the middle of nowhere and this was the cheapest package. When we moved we were mid contract so had to agree to keep with the same company for 2 years so as to avoid fees, which were around £150-£200 :eek: Will definitely have a beak about nearer renewal time and see if we can get it cheaper. We rarely use the house phone but like to keep it for emergencies.

Hubby lifts weights and is trying to gain mass so buys protein powder and other fat burning, "manly making" things. I won't even pretend to understand but we have spent hours trawling the Internet and this is the cheapest we've found. To be fair I have probably over budgeted as he doesn't buy everything every month but if he needs to that's what it would come to. I like to over estimate so I know we're safe.

Yes, I shop at A1di. I could get the shopping budget down to £350 quite easily I think, but again hubby eats LOADS so I like to over budget just in case. After Feb's pay I'm aiming to spend a max of £350 for that months food. I'm going to take it out in cash and hope that will help us stick to it. I just need to be more proactive and make healthy snacks etc instead of buying cr*p. Would be good to spend £300 so I may hide £50 and see how we get on with just the £300.

Haircuts, I cut hubby's hair and the 2 eldest. Teeny gets his done at the barbers every 2 months for a fiver so I don't feel we really need to budget for that. I get mine done maybe once a year and use overtime/bonuses. If we can't afford it, I don't get it done. .... And how ironic teeny has just told me this second that my hair looks like the road ... Maybe it's time to get it done again

CSA closed the claim as hubby's ex turned out to be a naughty little liar and benefit cheat :eek: so we don't have to pay anymore as we grossly overpaid. If he needs anything he's old enough and comfortable enough to ask us himself and we get him it. His grandparents spoil him rotten and love to do so as well so he never goes without. He comes on holidays with us etc and is included in our food budgets etc.

f0nz

Have just realised that the amount I've put in for my wages is the 4 weekly amount meaning that around July time I'll be paid twice in that month. We manage fine on the amount put in so will use that "extra pay" to either pay off debt if there's any left or put it towards our holiday and whack a bit in savings