My Debt Busting Diary 2016

ScattySkewbald

Morning!
Nice low spend day planned today, fingers crossed. We're going to a baby group this morning and then some chill out time this afternoon.

eBay sales are now up to £18.50 and my forget about it account is standing at £112. Fb buyers have now gone quiet, one was supposed to be collecting yesterday but heard nothing grrrr!

Weigh in this week was 0.5 gain, so now 1.5lb away from target and free membership, so near and yet so far. Trying to be extra good this week.

Picked a couple of bargain giftsets up online to pop away in the Christmas cupboard- they'd got 70% off, so another couple of pressies done.

Garden is still in need of urgent attention but it's been so wet I've got zero chance of getting the lawn mower over the grass without churning it up completely.

Anyway time to crack on with the day (before it rains :rotfl:)

ScattySkewbald

Evening!
Nice successful weekend on eBay with £82.67 made very happy with that. Will transfer the money across once I've taken out postage etc. Got a few more bits to go on, but may photograph them during the week ready for next weekend. Fb sales I've heard nothing so will bump them up to see if there's any interest.

Paid this months installment on the dishwasher, so just one more payment to go. House and woof insurance are both up for renewal, so will see what cashback I can get. I'll pop it on the to do list for this week. Also need to call the AA as they've taken a payment which I assume is for my renewal but I've not had the paperwork thru :cool:

Right I'm off to make my to do list before I forget what I need to do :rotfl:

barnsleylass83

Hi, Just a quick hello, have read your diary from cover to cover and am very impressed and inspired. Having recently just taken the plunge and gone to 3 days p/w (DS is now two) i appreciate your situation. Thanks for the push in the right direction!!! x

ScattySkewbald

Hi Barnsleylass - thanks for taking the time to read. I'm sorry it's not the most entertaining diary in the land, but my ramblings help keep me on track and it kind of makes me accountable to you all

All ebayers have paid, do just need to post the last items. I've currently got £8 in bids for this weeks items, pleased with that as they're all re-lists as I've had no time to list anything new.

Another £60 has become payable in TCB, so will transfer that across to "the forget about it account".

Both my Te5co card and OD card have now expired and I've misplaced the replacements :mad:- this may prove to be a blessing in disguise as if I don't have them I can't use them :rotfl:

Had a nice suprise of £136 paid into my account from work, this is either tax refund or the dribs and drabs of SMP. Not had my wage slip through so don't know yet. Very welcome all the same :j

In non MSE news - I've finally reached my SW goal weight :j. Very happy. A total of 2 stone 9.5 lb lost. I still need to tone up which I hope my running will help with. I've also won a fitness workout package from the trainer who does my c25k course, so need to crack on with that, as it'll make a huge difference. It's the final week of my c25k course and I can honestly say I've loved every minute. I can now do 5k in 30ish minutes so well chuffed with that. My new challenges will be a. Keeping the weight off and b. Keeping up with the running now I have no group to keep me motivated.

Anyways I'm off for a shower before little one wakes. Have a good day x

Florence_J

Congratulations on achieving your target weight SS, well done

ScattySkewbald

Thanks Florence J

Nothing much to report. Things seem to be ticking away quite nicely (hope I'm not speaking too soon!). eBay for the week is sat at £13.50, which isn't bad considering it's all for clothes that have been listed and relisted several times over. The auctions end tonight. I've got some other bits to list, just need to find time (would do it now but the bag of stuff is in little ones room and I'm not ready for him to wake up quite just yet :rotfl:)

Need to sort out my pressie cupboard as its bursting open at the mo and will get all this months birthdays wrapped ready. Haven't got much left to buy now fingers crossed, just main gifts for immediate family.

Right, will hopefully be back later with my to do list for the week x

ScattySkewbald

:wall:Doh, doh, doh :wall:

I thought we were having a 'too comfortable' month especially considering we'd had a few treats for OH birthday - I hadn't adjusted the monies in column on our spreadsheet and have therefore counted some income twice I.e. It's been paid but I haven't removed it from the pending income. Whoops! Fortunately it's only £135 and leaves us with £88.80 deficit. I have the money in the car / insurance account but was hoping not to have to tap into it. Never mind!

eBay finished at £23 and have another £10 completed in fb sales, so not bad at all considering it's been a lazy week for listing. Must get photographing in prep for another batch at the weekend.

Little mans just woken up so best cut this short. Have a good day x

smallholdingsister

Well done on the weightloss.

ScattySkewbald

So, I'm back after over a month of no posting, with the realisation that I NEED to get this sorted.

After checking my figures it looks like no progress has been made whilst I've been on mat. leave. Total owed it still within +\-£100 of the initial figure following the car purchase :mad:

My contract has now been agreed for 3 days a week on a trial basis and I should be back on payroll at the beginning of October. The new figures have been punched into my spreadsheet and if we didn't have this debt they'd be £1000 a month to save :eek: I want that £1k disposable income each month!!!!!!!!

It's all easy on paper, but we really need to take the steps to get it sorted.

My aim is to get this paid off by Christmas 2017, whilst giving my little boy the best possible life.

The key I think (having gone through the statements), is food shopping and adhoc spends (usually at the weekends when we're together as a family). The bills, insurance etc are all on the best tariffs and our diesel spend is pretty static and low considering the mileage done.

I've gotten very lazy with the whole meal planning thing and really need to get to grips with this again. A stocktake on the freezer is long overdue, as I'm sure I have enough in there to feed myself for at least a month, which would just mean buying fresh meat for OH and fresh fruit, veg, milk and bread etc.

Right I'd best sign off for now - but will be back!!!

ScattySkewbald

I'm back - I really am back this time :mad:

I return to work in two weeks time and whilst financially it'll be a relief, emotionally I'm dreading it. Anyways, it has to be done.

I've lost a grip of the budget over the last few months, but have just sat down and got my head round what's owed and developed a plan to pay it back. It's doable by the end of next year (although I've said that before!), but I'll be happy with the end of 2018 in order to say goodbye to it for good.

I've had my first child free day today and have spent it sorting the garage, so that we can actually access the freezer and use it to its full advantage. In the process I've listed a few bits on fb selling sites (ones already sold for £7) so fingers crossed we get rid of a few bits and make some pennies in the process.

So, my plan going forward....
1. I have been told I have some holiday owing at work, I need to confirm how much (could potentially be 35 days!) they will pay me for this as any outstanding needs to be used by the end of the year. Could potentially be a nice chunk to pay off / a bit of a safety net. Need to have a think about it.

2. Declutter and eBay- this is ongoing. I've got huge piles of clothes and other bits to sell. Need to get it listed. If I can aim for just 3 items a day, 21 a week - once it's listed it can just be relisted. Any money made will be put in a separate account to cover unexpected costs and any left paid off the debt at the end of each month.

3. Food bill- this seriously needs addressing. I'm ashamed to say in my bid to eat healthily I'm buying more fruit and veg than I use and due to the state of the garage and freezer access have just been chucking it - not good. Need to dust the slow cooker off and get batch cooking. Will make life easier when I'm back at work too.

4. Mortgage deal runs out in just over a month, potential saving made by switching is £100 a month. Need to set the wheels in motion with this shortly.

5. Utilities are on the best rate going (recently switched) so only saving to be made there is to be careful with what we're using.

Right I need to pop and feed the ponies before picking little man up. Will be back later or tomorrow - promise!