MeandO's pro-active pennies & positivity! :)

MeandO

A brief round up for those who don't know me:

Wrong side of 35, separated mum of one gorgeous little boy. :smileyhea
My ex husband and I split two years ago, but still remain great friends and co-parent our little one. So, I'm now a single Mum, with debts to the tune of around £11k to pay off before I begin overpaying my mortgage (which is currently at around £101,500 :eek:).

I work full time and also have a small business I run from home in the evenings/weekend which is doing quite well and helping to pay off the debts.
I live alone, with DS half the week and the boyfriend (known as Him) frequenting the place now and then. I live far away from 'Home', so don't have family or close friends around me which can be tough, but I get along just fine, most of the time.

My last diary can be found here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180058 but I feel it's time to start a shiny new space in which to chronicle my debt-busting, as the last was full of negativity and blues around what was probably the darkest time in my life.

There's no doubt that my life is not what it was and not how I imagined it would be. BUT, as I read somewhere during 'the dark times', "it's not what it should have been and it's not what it could have been, but it is what it is" and I need to build it, brick by brick, into the best it can be.

So, let the positivity and debt-busting flow forth!

M
x

MeandO

First on the list is to get to grips with my overspending. :eek:

Last month was my first full month of using YNAB and it has really opened my eyes, to put it mildly.

I have spent more than double the amount I'd allocated and assumed I was spending in some categories. This is mostly down to mindless impulsive spends on too many treats (mostly for other people) and lack of planning (in the groceries category).

The month is up tomorrow as it is my payday on Friday, so I plan to sit down and go through every category within the next few days and be realistic with the budgeting for next month.

The only good thing to have come out of this spending is that I now have 80% of my Christmas shopping done! Most of the expensive gifts are bought now, so I can lower my 'gifts' budget for the next few months now.

Over half of my debt is at 0% spread over two CCs, with the remainder of around £5.3K on a low interest (3.4%) loan which I overpay every month. This is the debt I'm tackling first and have paid off over £2k since April with minimum payments only accounting for £685 of that.
Once the loan is gone, I'll start on the credit cards!

MeandO

Just had an email confirming the cancellation of my TV licence as I have got rid of the Sky box and have subscribed to Amazon Prime. I rarely watch TV myself anyway (I never seem to have the time!) but the little man likes it now and then.

That's a saving of £6 a month when taking the £5.99 prime sub into account, plus a refund of any amount I've overpaid, which will be paid back into the bank account within the next 5 days and will go straight off the loan as an OP. :T

My broadband, landline and mobile phone deals are up in December, so I will be switching and cancelling those too. Any money saved (which should be around £40 a month) will then go towards the debt.

PeppaCoin

All going in the right direction

[Deleted User]

Hey,

I am also terrible for overspending.

Been thinking about taking on some work from home also but I am scared of getting ripped off! There are so many options out there now.

You seem to have a good plan in place already so good luck.

Dxxx

apple_muncher

Go girl!! xx

stepuptothepl8

Found you and subscribed. Loving the positivity! xx

cmcavon

Yay for positivity! I've just started a diary too, just to get my ramblings thoughts down in the hope that it might result in some organisation!

MeandO

Thanks for popping in all, I'll be sure to have tea and cake ready next time.
Talking of cake, received a text from DS's school last night asking for cakes on Friday, so need to pick some bits up to make some cakes or brownies tonight.

Him bought stuff for dinner last night and also gave me £20 he owed me, so there's £20 in my wallet which I'll use to buy the ingredients and possibly something for dinner tonight as forgot to take something out of the freezer this morning and Him is over again tonight.

I got lots of my business work done last night too and fulfilled most of the ordrs I had in. I've had a few more overnight too, so need to work on those in the next day or two to keep up with it.

Payday tomorrow (thank goodness!:j:j:j). Any surplus left over in the bank account will be used as a small OP to the loan (and it'll be small!). I need to be extra strict with budgeting this next month as I'm no longer eligible for tax credits now after DS's childcare costs have lowered, so that's £167 a month I'm no longer receiving. I wouldn't be surprised if they tell me I owe them money too as they managed to mess up earlier in the year despite having all the correct figures, but that's another story. :mad::mad::mad:

I updated YNAB yesterday too - it was an absolute shock. I'm not even going to tell you how much I spent where I didn't need to, but let's just say, it was absolutely ridiculous and the line has been drawn. :eek::eek::eek:

Have a good day all
x

MeandO

Just had confirmation that £60.66 will be paid back to the account from the TV licence refund, which goes a long way towards the £79 for the Amazon Prime subscription.

Also had to order DS a new drinks flask for school and a lunchbag today. He struggles to open a lot of the flasks and as a result, hasn't been drinking much all day from the one I was using as a temporary replacement. Total was just over £10 for the both and used the Prime membership for next day delivery. I will use the large one he has been using for work instead.

Have written a list for shopping at lunchtime, hopefully it comes in under the £20.

MeandO

Shopping was £16.92.

Shopped around for alternatives to make it cheaper, so a slighlty parred down but equally yummy dinner tonight and different, more budget-friendly ingredients for cookies for DS's school tomorrow.

Also included a couple of yellow sticker 'extravagances' for pudding tonight!