PeppaCoin's bid for financial freedom

glass_half_full

Hi PeppaCoin,
I'm not really in a position to be giving advice but I recently started my own journey and have found this budgeting method YNAB really useful. The key thing which really shocked me was how much I was actually spending against budget once I started to track every single spend. For me this has been a revelation.
Good luck with your journey!

PeppaCoin

Thanks BadPenny - I'll use that phrase!! Its nice to put things in perspective

Thanks too glasshalffull. I've heard of YNAB but haven't fully investigated it so I need to take a look into it a little later tonight. Thanks for reminding me. I do categorise all spends in my own amateur little spreadsheet but maybe need to take a bit more of a professional approach.

The last couple of days have been good. I got a letter to say I will receive £120 from MBNA for my PPI claim. Better than a kick in the teeth as I really didn't know I was owed anything! Apart from buying some cakes for my colleagues (for my last day at work) we have been managing a fair few No Spend Days just recently.

Husband goes away from Monday till Thursday next week so I'm not really planning on ordering in any shopping. I think I'll just eat what we have in since it'll be just me eating (little one eats 3 meals a day at nursery). I also start my new job so won't be spending anything during the day. Eek nervous. Really hope this is the way forward for me.

Oh also husband was offered the job he wanted. Hurrah. Only problem was they said at the start of the interview that the 30k salary was a mistake on the part of the agency and the salary was realistically £18k to £20k. He carried on with the interview anyway and was offered the job a couple of days later but a £18k salary just isn't going to be enough to warrant the move. He hasn't accepted the role, and won't be, so we've just decided to keep on plugging away at a new role for him.

PeppaCoin

It's been two weeks since I've last written. We're slogging on.

I started my new job and I really really enjoy it so far so that's a relief. Definitely made the right decision to start there, and looking forward to being paid next Friday.

Husband and I are getting a little behind because it's Christmas and thats a tricky time for us. I've done about 70% of our Christmas shopping and am really trying to reign in the spending, by buying things on offers etc but its so tricky.Our son is 3 and hs so many wants, and we get so much help from my family during the year that i WANT to buy for them. It's just so difficult and little depressing.

We are -£1000 in our overdraft as well as £13,900 worth of debt. To be honest its getting on top of me and making life hard

Happymac

HI there, Christmas is just another day - a roast with crackers. I give people a bottle of mulled wine and homemade tablet. Mulled wine is about £3 a bottle, cheaper than wine. Re your son. He is 3, therefore won't have a clue whether he gets what he wants. I have always just bought my kids one thing off their santa list. The rest is small surprises. It makes it more magical (and affordable!) Your family will not expect fancy gifts, in fact they might be a bit peeved seeing you spend money when they know your situation. A fun but frugal christmas will set you up for a very positive January! All the very best have subscribed x

PeppaCoin

Thanks Happymac. You're right and have put a smile on my face.

Husband got his payslip today (ahead of being paid on Monday) and is only being paid £850 after childcare vouchers. Christ on a bike! He's been put on emergency tax so although we'll get a little back its a measly pay for the job he does!

My job is going ok. I'm training in payroll and really have no knowledge of it thus far. Got to pay 200 people on Wednesday so fingers crossed everyone actually gets paid.

Bad news from PPI claim. They said they were sending me a cheque for £117, but due to an "admin error" it will actually only be £75. Very disappointed. Apparently they sent me the £40 difference back in May 2010. I struggle to remember what happened 5 days ago, let alone 5 years ago!

On the plus side, I have got a fair bit of xmas shopping done, quite frugally too. I'm not going mad at all this year, just little pressies for all really! Also got some bargain gift wrap and a second hand xmas tree and some cheapy decs so our son could have his own tree this year. So that one is already up and the family tree will go up next weekend. Hurrah!

PeppaCoin

Everyone got paid (incuding me!) - hurrah!!

PeppaCoin

Still here, still trucking!

I bought some new boots for work today (discounted from £50 to £30 in River Island - hello bargain!) but have managed to mostly avoid the sales. Wishing everyone a happy new year. We're going out on NYE for a free meal (prize win) and a few drinks!

PeppaCoin

I've not updated this year yet.

Well.... OH bought a new TV on finance in January which was depressing, and saw our debt rise by £380. It was an expensive TV, bought partially with vouchers for PC World that he won in a competition, but he put the balance of £380 on credit at £38/month for the next 10 months. Grrrrr!

Someone also banged into my car but was keen to sort outside of insurance and gave me a cheque for £400. I've banked it but not booked in for the work yet. Wondering if its terribly dishonest just to not bother!

On a positive note its payday on Thursday and Friday for us, and we're due an additional £125 of expenses from OH's work before then so should end the month on around minus £250, which is bad but nowhere near as bad as our usual minus £1000 to minus £1500.

OH is still looking for another job. We really need him to be paid more like £25k than £17k. Low salaries are rough to try to live on!

PeppaCoin

So I've been busy (very busy) with work, but I feel like we're making some positive inroads. For the first time in about 3 years we ended february at zero at the end of the month. We are ALWAYS in our overdraft by the middle of the month so this definitely felt positive, and a bit of a personal victory, particularly since we have managed to do it with my husband's salary dropping from £1600 per month to £900 per month.

In terms of debt, this is the advancement we have made:

Our current situation is that we have debts of £14,482. now £13,227
Car Loan from my parents - £3,625 now £3250
Loan from partners nan - £380 now £280
Credit card: MBNA - £1415 now £1240
Credit card: Tesco - £2411 now £2236
Credit card: Santander - £2636 now closed and balance transfered to AA
Credit card: Virgin - £3232 now £3042
Credit card: AA £0.now £2437
TV Loan - £0. now £264
CSL Sofa Loan - £783 now £478

PeppaCoin

Wow I've not posted since March! How time flies

Current debt stands as follows:

Our current situation is that we have debts of £12,260
Car Loan from my parents - £3,625 now £2825
Loan from partners nan - £1200 now £630
Credit card: Sainsburys - £1276 now £1191
Credit card: Tesco - £2411 now £2279
Credit card: Virgin - £3232 now £2894
Credit card: AA £2500 now £2145
TV Loan - £380 now £71
CSL Sofa Loan - £783 now £225

So we are getting there but much slower than I would like. We are still terrible spenders. We can get through an embarassing amount of money in a week with nothing at all to show for it. Husband has agreed to hand over his bank card which seems to be the only thing that stops him spending. I am not too bad during the week as I work in the middle of nowhere so spending is not an option. However its the weekends for me when I struggle - trying to entertain my 3 year old single handedly can work out pricey