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

LittleMissDetermined

Well done on the successful interview! :j

MeandO

Thank you both

Some more good news - I just sent a big overpayment to the loan, so it's now paid off

£7900 paid off in less than 7 months - not bad. :T

Just the credit cards left now, but first to build the savings pots up a bit more.
x

apple_muncher

A W E S O M E S T U F F !!!!!!! Well done you x

hummingbird

Hi MeandO, just popping by to say hi - I'm hoping to be back on the diaries now that the winter months are well and truly upon us!!

Huge congrats on keeping your job - that must have been a very scary ordeal to go through!! Glad you've recovered from the pneumonia, that also sounded awful.

You've been doing amazingly at paying down your debts!!:j:j:j

MeandO

Hello everyone :hello:

Just popping by to say Hi and give a little update.

Well, the debts won't be paid off before the end of the year, but I have got rid of the loan and built my savings pots up substantially.

There's around £5300 of debt left, which will be paid off at a much slower pace now that the business has pretty much wound down from the busy period. The ex is planning on clearing any remaining for me though once his inheritance hits the bank. Very kind and generous of him. He is also building DS's savings up to a point which will help him greatly when he's older, so he won't have to worry too much about money if he wants to go to uni or for his first car etc.

For now, I will continue to pay the cards off at a slower rate to try and reduce them down as quickly as possible.

I have saved £800 into the car and house pot to cover household emergencies and things like car tax and servicing etc. I will also continue to pay into this monthly too.

I've just paid the car and house insurance from the business earnings too, so that is sorted for another year.

There is £850 in the 'holidays' pot which will cover the spending money for my trip away in January, the hotel & car parking for the night before the flight, and will also go most of the way to covering the trip I have booked for DS and I in May and a weekend break Him and I have planned in April. So much nicer to go away knowing it's all been saved and paid for up front.

Christmas gifts are all bought and paid for too, I just need to throw myself into a massive wrap-a-thon to wrap gifts.
I've started buying a few bits for Christmas and boxing day food and freezing meat etc when it's on offer. Just need to get one more piece of meat fresh stuff nearer the time. I'm not buying all the usual 'snacks' and stuff that we seem to be co-erced into thinking we NEED as I don't want to spend the money and I need to lose weight!

That's the new year's project...

Him and I are still good. Have had the occasional wobble and no idea how things will work out on the future, but trying not to overthink things.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of chilling out with my loved ones, having much less work to do (although that does unfortunately involve a lot less money coming in), and making mincemeat for our homemade Christmas pies.

Merry Christmas to you all if I'm not back on here before then, thank you all for your support this past, very difficult, year and I hope 2016 brings you and your families good health and happiness. xx

MeandO

I've just cleared the outstanding balance due for the UK break I have booked for DS and I in May, all paid for up front with money saved. Wasn't due until the end of Feb, but wanted to tick it off as paid for.

It hurt to see the savings pot go down by £160 though! When you've successfully saved money, you really don't want to spend it.

I will need to add a little bit more to the holiday pot before mid March, when I have to pay for the weekend away planned in April, but that should be do-able. There's £800 saved in my car/house pot, and with the insurances on both just paid for another year I can afford to transfer some out of there if needed.

MeandO

I just phoned Tax credits AGAIN to tell them I think they're overpaying me. I called in August to say my son's childcare costs would be going down due to him starting school full time, they have now started paying me MORE money.

Phoned up today to query this, and apparently my call at the end of August was logged but they never updated my file. Can they not do anything right? I shall be extremely mad if they say I now owe them money.
If I didn't need the money I would totally not bother claiming tax credits, they are really more hassle than they are worth.

lincs1205

Hi meando, have just been having a catch up with your diary. You certainly have been through a lot bless you. Glad you kept your job and I hope you're fully recovered from pneumonia. Hope you have a lovely Christmas you deserve it.

MeandO

Thanks lovely lincs, you too! x

Well, some more last minute orders overnight have boosted the coffers a little bit, so may be able to get the debt to under £5K by the end of the year after all.
Either that, or boost the holiday pot for the extra bit of savings I need to cover everything.

I have received a refund for some boots I sent back ages ago so that's a bit more money in the bank account. I should be due another refund for something that was in the same parcel and for which I have already had to call up about 3 times, so if it isn't showing by tomorrow, I will be calling them again. :mad:
Add that to two further refunds for items that were unsuitable/never arrived, and there will be about £175 more in the bank account.

Him has been busy painting some rooms in my house for me with paint I had leftover from other areas, so the house is starting to look and feel like home with a lot less white walls in it.

We made mincemeat for mince pies at the weekend (a bit of a tradition) which now needs cooking tonight, so the house will smell very Christmassy later. I shall be getting these last minute orders out and then hopefully wrapping some gifts and reclaiming the double wardrobe in my spare room. I'm trying very hard to get into the Christmas spirit, but I have to say I'm not feeling very festive presently. In fact, I don't know anyone who is.

x

MeandO

I've made a payment of £177 to B'card today, taking my debt down to under £5k. :T

Total debt now stands at £4987.98.

I really would have liked to have been able to clear the lot by the end of the year, but I've tried my best, whilst saving for things too, so I'm pretty proud of the amount I have managed to get rid of.

I will also be able to top up the holiday pot by tomorrow once some of the business earnings hit the account. This should cover the shortfall I needed to find by March and may even top up the house/car pot a little too. I would like to wallpaper a wall in my bedroom soon, so may earmark a little bit for that.

I've been trying to figure out if I can afford to cut my hours once all of the debt has been cleared, in order for me to stop paying for childcare after school and to be able to pick my DS up from school.
I am really struggling with time and rushing round and the constant stress of having to beat the traffic twice daily to keep my hours up and not be late for DS, then cooking him proper food and putting him to bed at his normal time, then starting work again evenings.

I'm pretty much running on empty at the moment. I'm tired, irritable, tearful and constantly stressed, I can't seem to relax and switch off as there's always too much to do, and I know I need to work that all out somehow.
The numbers seem to be permanently up against me though, plus, there's the added pressure of will the bank still lend me enough money when I need to renew my mortgage deal in just over a year's time if I earn less (now that I'm on my own).

Constant flippin' worry - about everything!