Crunchy pays it down....£20k...the final chapter

DebtFree2012

hiy ahun, I'm just catching up after not bring on for a few days. Massive congratulations on paying off the card!! That's great news!!! Really pleased for you x

crunch_time

Evening diary!!

Just checked the bank balances and all is ok for now. However, I have just realised that lots of things are coming up that need to be paid for. Children both need new shoes, I need new trainers and sports bra, husbands beard trimmer has just broken and as we have no emergency fund yet a replacement has got to go on my credit card (sigh).

I seem to remember this time last year was just as spendy too. Its like we manage to stick to a budget and then loads of things come up at once to throw a spanner in the works. I definitely could be better at budgeting. I move 'pots of money' around like crazy to suit what I want to achieve at that time. The only way to get out of this rut is to get to grips with our budget and have little pots again for things. We stopped this so we could get the credit card down quickly but in theory I should predict my childrens' shoe needs and have saved up some money by now. Perhaps a things we need to buy line in the spreadsheet would be good. Its the only way to not rely on credit cards again.

I have toyed with the idea of firing up YNAB again. I couldn't get to grips with it before because I thought of it as so restrictive.

Perhaps its time to knuckle down and use it again, especially now things are steadier but we potentially will be down to one income soon or half my salary will go to childcare.

I think I will have a little play around now and see how I get on.

Crunchy xx

DebtFree2012

I was interested in YNAB too but haven't tried it yet. Let me know how you get on.


I am exactly the same with kids clothes, uniform, summer wear (they've always grown out of last years pretty much).


Christmas always costs more than I expected too, with food, presents, CARDS!, extras. So yep, I am totally with you on this.

crunch_time

Morning all

Husbands pay day today!! All money in right place except husbands £50 ISA payment. I need to find his details so I can make an online payment.

Loan is now £13,172 and total debt is now £14,434. Hopefully by the end of May we can get it down below £14k which will be amazing!!

We have £250 left for the rest of the month - for home improvements and dentist costs for tomorrow but I really only want to pay for dentists and then 3 tins of paint. But we shall see. Husband recognises now that we might nut be able to do all the landscaping that he wants to do this summer and that perhaps it would be better to wait until next year (I hope).

I keep changing my mind as to what I want to do next. Loan, mortgage, husbands credit card. There is currently £2600 on it. £1262 is ours, £400 is the wedding weekend and the rest is expenses but the bill costs £61 for May. That comes out of the mileage but it would be far better if that money was going into our pockets than paying min payments. It makes sense to get rid of it and I'm very good at slushing away credit cards - it appears. Husband is finishing off his expenses today so I will know where we are with it and can make a plan.

The emergency fund or buffer as I'm now calling it is factored into spreadsheet at £250 a month for the next 4 months.

Started up YNAB for this month. Will let you know how I get on. I just find it hard to keep track of my spending but will make a real effort with keeping receipts and see how we go.

Morrisons shop today after a meticulous menu plan is in place. I will be comparing prices with my beloved sains.

Happy Thursday everyone!!

Crunchy

PS - the kids will get new shoes next month.

DebtFree2012

Did you end up paying for YNAB?

crunch_time

Yes last year. I really like the idea of it I think it didn't work for me then as nothing was settled with us and the postnatal depression didn't help me with keeping things organised. I've simplified things a lot since then so fingers crossed it will keep us on the straight and narrow.

Just back from morrisons - lots of things were cheaper but some things were the same. I wrote a list and stuck to it and only spent £73 ish pounds!! My budget is £100 a week. I still have to buy sausages and eggs from the butchers and probably some wipes. But we will not spend anything
Else until Thursday next week when I go shopping again.

The best thing was the £73 included a £5 bottle of wine. We usually buy our weekly bottle from our local shop at £8 a bottle. I decided if I include it in our weekly shop it will save us at least £12 a month and will keep us out of the local shop buying stuff we don't need. It might make us stick to one bottle a week as well. Occasionally we have two or a few bottles of beer each. I shall see how things go. Usually this comes out of our £100 monthly spending money but that would be much better in our pockets.

A great start to our budget month!!

Just need to remember to keep saving all my receipts and not nip to the shop for anything.

Crunch xx

crunch_time

Afternoon diary.

Had a terrible day with whingey children. Had to have chat with Ds about using his voice rather than his whinge. It really grates on me. Must think about how I can nip it in the bud.

Husband has FINALLY done his expenses. The mileage will take us done to £1024 left to pay on his credit card. Now I know there are things in his statement that aren't expenses like little trips to the shop for extra food. I'm going to really try to crack down on this as we could have been much further ahead than that by now. It's just a case of organisation.

The min payment of £60 ish will come out of our money rather than the mileage money. I'm hoping this will make us really hammer it. This is definitely my next focus.

This gets us closer to the £14k mark. Which is excellent news!!

Went to the butchers and picked up 6 fat pork and apple sausages and 18 free range eggs for £7 ish. Rounding my food budget to £80 for the week so far. Just got a few bits to pick up tomorrow but will definitely aim to come in under budget.

Happy Friday!
Crunch xx

crunch_time

Relatives have come into some money and are insisting they pay for the Christmas holiday.

£700 yet to be saved up.

Not going to argue with that!

X

crunch_time

Happy bank holiday Saturday!!

We are off to a local attraction today. Long story short but will only have to pay for husband to get in. And that's all we will spend. No coffees and avoid the gift shop.

Yesterday we had a few errands to run in the city. Picked up a Kuoni travel brochure. Laughed at the prices but using it as inspiration and motivation. The dream is once this debt monster is paid off to live completely on husbands money and use mine for travel, savings and adventures.

I asked husband if he wanted a beer last nigh (I would have to go the shop and buy it) and he said no because he wants to spend his money on other things.

Comments like this are always progress to keep each other motivated!!

Have a lovely day!!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Morning diary,

I've had a job interview this week but I didn't get it. I was disappointed but now I feel relieved. It was for a year group way out of my comfort zone. The head said he felt I would fit in but my teaching wasn't as strong as the other candidates. I had been thinking this anyway but now I am definitely wondering if I am in the right career. When I started out merely a few years ago it was a lot different to what it is now. I don't even feel like I care what I do now I just want to earn money so that I can save for the future and have adventures with my little family. I also still feel there is a business in me.

I consider myself to be quite a skilled person with lots to offer and it is disappointing that I cant effectively use my skills to make my own money as opposed to waiting for someone to feel I am a good enough teacher.

Another job has come up in the next village so I think I will have a look around there and perhaps apply and see what happens but deep down I think I want to stay at home for a bit and raise my family and then see what happens in terms of employment or self employment.

With husbands current salary, once all the bills and mortgage comes out and our loan and car payments go out we have around £1000 for everything excl food. So that's savings, car maintenance, spending money, buying stuff we need, fuel, holidays, hair cuts, dentist etc. We can live off that. People live off a lot less. I don't know why I'm so worried. Maybe its because we still have debt to pay off. But that is essentially just a loan now. We are not juggling credit cards and overdrafts as well.

I feel we would actually thrive more with me at home. I need to stop beating myself up and go with my gut.

I also have 4 more pay days left until I am officially unemployed. In total that is £3556 that could be saved while we practice living on husbands salary. I know I keep talking about it but I'm really going to start making this happen and have this as my plan, then my actions will follow through and I wont keep thinking 'its ok because I will have a job so I can budget for a more expensive version of what I can afford etc etc.'

So that is decided. That is my plan. I'm going to start feeling empowered by this decision.

We are off to swimming this am but when we come back I will put DD down for her nap and a film on for DS then I can to grips with YNAB for stuff that has gone out this week.

Sorry for all the waffle.

Crunchy xx