A Diary of Reinventing Ourselves

Forward_thinking

Hi getmore. I take what you say about the CCs but if we only have £800 on one I thought it was recommended that you clear that first? The others have £Ks on them.......

Actually, we have decided to clear the £800 CC as someone suggested that the company might offer us a BT card if it is empty.....

I have decided to allocate a certain time of day to this debt busting mission. It's going to take a long time and I am living and breathing it at the moment with little else getting done. It's the YNAB that I suspect is going to eat up my time. I have no idea where to start with it. Think I will leave that for tonight and spend an hour today looking at costs. I'm really enjoying it though and guess what, I am actually looking forward to doing my ironing pile tonight!!!!!! Looking back it was fun watching tv (rarely watch tv!) with a drink. It was far more relaxing than my usual evenings which are spent on creating my website/wading through piles of admin etc. It actually seems like a night off.

enthusiasticsaver

Good idea to allocate a certain amount of time to it everyday FT. That way it becomes part of your life rather than all consuming for a few days and then you get fed up with living and breathing it. Small changes bit by bit are the way forward. Getting to grips with YNAB is less important than actually thinking before spending. In fact I would not set a budget until you have kept some sort of spending diary and just start by looking for more economical ways to shop - ie one supermarket shop per week (ideally at Lidls or Aldi or online)with one top up shop using cash mid week.

getmore4less

Forward_thinking wrote: »

Hi getmore. I take what you say about the CCs but if we only have £800 on one I thought it was recommended that you clear that first? The others have £Ks on them.......
.

Snowballing is highest rates(cost) first there are some anomolies with the interest free periods but that gets complicated. and debts that have daily fees like overdrafts.

some(all?) CC seem to need 2 clear months to get interest free periods back.

There may be other reasons to pay in a different order like getting new deals.

Certainly worth going through your list of debts/cards and seeing if there is a better way to manage them.

Are you using any overdrafts if you are check them carefully the changes to the way they charge on those can make the APR very high.

Your original SOA only had two CC(vitgin/Barclays) with 31k on where has this otherone appeared from?

Gettingtherequickly

getmore4less wrote: »

Thats 15p each a bit on the pricy side
they do these at 11.4p
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/p/kirkland-signature-dishwasher-pacs-110-pack-567036

Branded are available at 10p when on offer and the likes of Lidl Aldi start at 10p and go down from there basic/classic are 5p or less.

Aldi Magnum(all in one) are good currently 9.7p

I see Costco do Fairy 172 pack for £19.99 (11.7p)
http://www.costco.co.uk/view/p/fairy-professional-all-in-one-original-dishwasher-tablets-172pk-189966

Dishwasher tabs are a regular on HUKD
http://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/dishwasher-tablets

I missed the important word - clothes rather than dishes!

getmore4less

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

I missed the important word - clothes rather than dishes!

still 120 washes for £18

100 wash powder from Aldi £8.99

Forward_thinking

:mad::wall::wall::wall::wall:

Still waiting for those account details. OH said yesterday morning he would give them to me last night. Just asked him again. He will give them to me later; was less than happy. I pointed out to him that it has now taken two weeks and nothing gets done in this house (listens to the smoke alarm beeping away). OH points out that things do get done but it's all my stuff that isn't getting done. Points out that he is busy - busy working to bring the money in. I point out that it isn't 'my' stuff - it's his too!!! His finances which are an absolute shambles because of him being left in charge (didn't say that part!)

Feeling less than happy. Getmore - yes, you are quite right and 10/10 for observation. He told me there was nothing on that card the other day - turns out £800 is nothing to him. Pennies compared to the other cards.

I'm going to struggle doing anything about this aren't I

Forward_thinking

Tears. First set back.

getmore4less

These things take time, plenty of support here :grouphug:

maybe back off for a couple of days/weekend, pick on the things you can do and just have a no confrontation period.

Smoke alarm batteries can be easy to do(even mains ones) they have a slide out drawer, some are a pain and need things like screwdrivers.
if not sure, see if you can see the make/model and someone can look them up for you.
never know it might be an easy fix(be carefull on the steps)
......
Another angle is see if you can see the expiry date on the units, they only have a life of 10years ish so it may be time for new ones and that may come under the landlords resonsibility.

matchboxfull

Hi FT. Just caught up on thread again.

Others might disagree, but I think you are going to have to take the bull by the horns with this one. It's credit card/bank account details you're after? Where are they likely to be? If it were me I would be routing through everything trying to find them. And where are the actual cards? Sometimes you only need the card itself, plus your husband's details, to get online access. You can also call the number on the back of the card to hear a balance - I think you only need your OH's DOB.

Is anything in your name at all? Do you have access to a joint bank account online? Trying to gauge your level of access to information here.

And you're right - this isn't 'your stuff' and it certainly isn't 'him earning the money'. He might have the paid job, but you're a couple with children and therefore in the eyes of the law everything is jointly owned because you put in just as much work as he does.

thegreenone

In hindsight suggesting Costco might not be the best for your hubby, however, they don't accept credit cards. They have their own Amex card but I suspect you wouldn't apply!!!! My hubby works near one and I occasionally ask him to go and pick up a couple of big bags of prawns on his way home. "But I can't go in there and just buy prawns". "Yes you can my love, because that is ALL we need". He does. I control all our spending and household accounts so if I say there is enough on his debit card for prawns that is all he will buy. There's always a lot more available but he doesn't know!!! Sneaky - yep! But he is a high earning spender like your DH. However, any gadgets he wants to buy come out of his company account and he then has to justify each purchase to his accountant. That concentrates his mind.