Reality Check...

reality_check

Ended up at work on Monday, and then had to stay off the rest of the week...I am never ill but I have felt horrific all week! Feeling much better now after plenty rest!

Budgetting hasn't been great but hasn't been the worst....

New carpet ordered for the hall came in at £858!! Had to buy more paint at £24.00, my car needed 2 new tyres, just bought reclaimed ones and got both for £40.... My car was a total disaster and I spent £20 on a valet - not very MSE but 1. i was ill and 2. I couldn't do as good a job so I am justifying it.... Spend £7.50 on recorded delivery of a mobile phone!! I am going to try and claim the cost back as wasn't my fault it was faulty!! - the phone was bought before I decided to sort out the mess I am in! I went out for lunch with a friend today and was a deal on and cost £9.99! I also opted for water as its the drinks that then make these deals not great value and I didn't notice a difference so if and when I go out this is my new plan....I did spend £15.50 on flowers for my friend I had lunch with for her birthday....and i then spent £38 in Lidl and do not plan on spending another penny on food for the next 7-10 days I hope as I didn't really need half the stuff I got today.....

When I write it down it does all seem a bit spendy!

On a positive, I called Virgin and complained about a letter saying they were upping my bill by £3.58...I only opened it the other day, but they had sent it Nov/Dec last year, so my Feb payment has been taken but I managed to reduce my bill down to £27.99 had previously been paying £36.13 and £39.13 this month!

I cancelled my boiler insurance of £9 something a month as the renewal came in at £11.98....I haven't called them out all year so just going to wing it and hope for the best.... might take it out at the end of summer when we go back into winter.....

Forgot all about my contacts appointment last week! Need to rearrange and get an up to date prescription and look into getting them cheaper online....

Need to look online at credit card and bank balance as don't have a clue what they are at the moment, too scared to look! Will do it tomorrow. My daughter has given me £1500 which I am paying her back over 3 months - this is money in her bank she got from her 18th and is using this summer when she goes away but means I am not paying any interest on Barclays or on my overdraft!

Think I need to look at a balance transfer for M&S as I am sure that card is close to hitting the £4000 mark soon and not £3000 as planned and paying my overdraft off wasn't something I actually considered as debt for some strange reason even thought its one of the things that charged me the most monthly!!! So I need to look at how I can pay everything back on 0% - thats a job for tomorrow!

Off to watch the film Bridesmaids with a cup of tea and family bag of Malteasers! xxx

Florence_J

Have enjoyed reading this, through the ups and downs. I look forward to hearing more of your journey. I hope you enjoy Bridesmaids as it is a great film.

note3

Oh dear, right lady I've gotta say it...yes, it does seem a bit spendie at the mo! You need to force yourself to focus...you can do it!

reality_check

You are right Note, I need to get back to how determined I was a few weeks ago! Nearly had a mini meltdown the other day and ordered clothes online because was feeling sorry for myself! Thankfully I never!

Hi Florence thanks for reading it, I feel like i write a load of rubbish lol I hope to have a lot more ups than downs!

Yesterday was PAYDAY!! Got paid a little more than expected as I wasn't taxed as much or paid as much national insurance as my commission from the month before was a lot less (we pay the tax and NI the month after we've been paid) so a total of £1696.15.

Checked my accounts and some have went down but still some have went up since I started! But at least at the moment everything I have is 0%.

Barclays £5079.25
M&S - £3964.52
Santander - £2400 (it actually is a bit less but not far off the £2400 limit, I have since frozen the card and don't have online access so going with this!)
Daughters money - £1500
Total: £12,943.77

That is the immediate debt that I want paid back ASAP! I have decided to aim to pay back £700 a month which should take me 19 months - IF i stick to this, £700 is the ultimate aim but I want minimum £500.

So, basically I am starting my debt free journey again from today....ROUND 2!

Most of my direct debits have come off for this month, just waiting on £50 Barclays minimum payment, £6.99 Netflix and £27.99 from Virgin. I have also made a separate account of money I am paying my daughter back with and that currently has £500, I have made a petrol account that currently has £100 and I also have a food budget of £60.

After all of that bank balance is currently: £601.98 I have taken off the ddeb that will be coming off so if I can stick to budgets and no unexpected disasters I will be able to make a good over payment/start an emergency fund...still not paid up my mind on what I will do!

I am going to start filling this in every day to help keep me on track!

reality_check

Been catching up on a few diaries - this really motivates and inspires me, need to get back to doing this! Had felt fed up and feeling sorry for myself since feeling ill - but thats gone!

I've also decided I need a £1000 emergency fund. Clearly I don't know better than Dave Ramsay/everyone on here who have managed so much with their own debt. With my wage I should be able to live debt free, but the main reason (apart from living beyond my means!) is not having money for when things are needed/go wrong! I will probably need to use the money for my car insurance...which I need to find out when it is, April/May I think??? but at least I will have something to contribute rather than the usual credit card solution....

Any extra money from my food budget or petrol budget and any money left in my bank I will use to build up an emergency fund...I might do 50/50 to emergency or debt just need to wait and see!

I am also making a £50 Christmas saving budget.

I forgot to add in i've added a monthly spend each month...a dog walker! £10 a walk and my dog is going out 2 days per week. My mum has offered to pay one week - he is her furry grandchild after all, and my daughter has said she will give me £20 a month....I feel bad taking the money, she is a student with a part time job and she actually pays my £18 p/month phone bill....but i've decided to take her up on the offer, she has a great disposable income, always out and buying stuff so this will teach her to budget! We will just need to see if I actually get my £20 lol

reality_check

p.s I made one of my favourite dinners tonight and it is so cheap! Costs pennies and it's delicious!

All it is is 3-4 cloves of garlic, dried chilli and olive oil - fry for a few minutes making sure garlic doesn't burn and then mix in spaghetti and some finely chopped fresh parsley on top. We had it with some garlic bread and was lovely. Sometimes I have with prawns but tonight had just as it was. Good job i've no one to kiss tonight with the garlic consumption!

Eager_Elephant

Well done on starting Round 2 of the debt clearance project!!


I have mentioned this on loads of diaries lately so apologies if you have read this before.


Feel free to ignore me but I think emergency funds are for emergencies such as the roof getting damaged or family abroad getting ill, car insurance is an expected yearly bill.


Your budget should include an amount for car insurance and all other yearly bills that you have.
Some people save all that in one account which makes it a savings account rather than an emergency fund.


Maybe you mean you are going to have a savings pot rather than an emergency fund.


I have about 10 separate savings pots linked to my bank account - every month I move money into pots labelled Medical, Car Repairs, Car Replacement, etc.


I also have a separate emergency fund which I should not need to use.


Some people worry about their emergency fund not growing as they keep dipping into it and this is why they are better off with a/some savings accounts for expected expenditure and to leave the EF alone until a real emergency crops up.


Obviously if you are fine with what you have planned feel free to ignore me.

the_long_and_winding_road

So sorry to hear about your dog RC. We lost ours 11/08/15 unexpectedly and reading this touched a chord with me. The best of luck with your debt busting x

reality_check

Thanks Long and Winding - it really is the only downside of having a dog. He was our first dog and your first one is always extra special I think. Sorry to here about yours and thanks for popping by!

No real change, just plodding along! Had a quiet weekend, met a friend for coffee and a cake and was £6.90 and I am going out for dinner with friends this week and that will be max £20....

Not bought any food and still not needed petrol, but I have about one more trip to and from work so will need to fill up.

Not spent a penny on food and continuing to bring breakfast/lunch to work.

I am waiting on my daughter telling me how much are glasses are as said I would give her half - she has expensive taste and think will be about £140! She hardly even needs them, so £280 is an expensive fashion accessory lol

Been making mini payments to Barclays and M&S plus an extra £150 to M&S to round down my bank account, but need to stop as don't want to be left short and I don't get paid until 15th!

I got a phone call about a stupid purchase I made before my reality check.... I have wanted this mirror for 2 years and finally committed to buy it before Christmas when I noticed it was in stock...it sells out all the time....thing is, it's £800....Should i cancel and pay off a card?! Probably, will I....?! I really want it, and sound like a spoilt brat child! but really it is all thats really left to buy to get my house 100% as I want it and it really is beautiful....hmmmmm

xxx

reality_check

Eager Elephant, i think that is what i meant with my emergency fund, clearly not the correct name lol I am in 2 minds what to do....

I can pay car insurance as a one off payment and only make minimum card payments that month and continue to pay debt off as quick as possible...which I think I am leaning towards doing until maybe September time and then start to budget for car and home insurance for next year monthly....I am so indecisive about every aspect in my life!!