Ostrich no more ......

mellymoosmum

Decided after much procrastinating to start a diary.

It will be a place for me to ramble & witter to my hearts content about anything & everything so probably not of much interest to others but much needed for my own sanity!

Background - I'm me, Mum to G who is 8 & just awesome.
Separated from my partner (G's Dad) 5 years ago *wow time flies* Moved out of our mortgaged house (still in joint names, ex still living there) and into a rented property in a small-ish village where G goes to school.

Moved out with a certain amount of debt, credit & store cards mainly. This has crept up over the years to around the £12k mark. When I sat down & worked all this out I literally felt sick, I have buried my head in the sand ignoring it for so long (hence the diary title!)

I got a new job 18 months ago which has helped massively in terms of finances & now I am ready to tackle this debt. I have also recently taken a 2nd job so things *should* be looking up and changing for the better.
I have a DMP with StepChange, first payment made this month so onwards & upwards!

Back later to post facts & figures (mainly for my own reference).

mellymoosmum

Grrrrrr it's one step forward & 10 back

Just when I was feeling quite positive about tackling my debts my car failed it's MOT today - to the tune of around £400.

Thankfully the garage have offered to let me pay in 2 installments so thats £155 today that I hadn't really anticipated (I'd already withdrawn the £45 for the actual MOT) with a further £200 to pay within 30 days.

I do have the money in an emergency fund which is a godsend but at the moment i'm leaving it there, and if I need to will transfer it over into my current account. The rest of this month will be a stretch but i'll give it my best shot.

Still to pay for this month (on top of direct debits already budgeted for);
G childcare £125
G Brownie subs £20
Nephew birthday
Goddaughter birthday
Ex birthday (token present & card from G)
Alton Towers trip with sis & bro-in law <- just text to say i'm pulling out of this.

Really need to get my head around budgeting & allocating pots of monies for childcare, birthdays etc as I know these are coming & have to be paid but I don't save a little each month for them which I know I should
do rather than feel the pinch.

Right now my DFD is July 2019 which feels light years away & a rather impossible mountain to climb.

Urgh what a depressive post!

H x

mellymoosmum

Busy few days at work, will be aiming for an early-ish finish tomorrow, picking G up from kids club then it'll be pizza & dvd night.

Managed to pick up 3 late shifts next month for job 2 so that will help out with the hefty car repairs.

Transferred some from my emergency pot into current account as was panicking a bit for the rest of this month.

Caught up on some tv i'd recorded, just watching supervet (blubbing) then i'm off for a much needed early night!

Bobarella

Good luck with your debt slaying MillieMoo. Nice to read your new diary posts.

mellymoosmum

Thanks Bobarella, no doubt it will be a long road but i'm determined!

So busy weekend, housework etc Saturday morning followed by a late shift with job 2 (£100 earned will be paid end of May :T) need to get a bit more organised taking snacks & drinks with me though, will remember for the next one.
Washing & ironing all done (taking advantage of the nicer weather drying it outside).

Off to Alton Towers for a day out tomorrow, wasn't going to go due to the car expense but my friend has took pity on me & is funding my day out - I will be paying him back though!

Normal day off on Tuesday, need to do a food shop & also stock up on toiletries as I've practically run out of everything so likely to be a bit spendy but I'll be trying my best to keep it to a minimum.

Hope anyone reading has had a lovely weekend

X

monz

Suscribing c