A Diary of Reinventing Ourselves

getmore4less

I think you need to spend a bit of time together reading up on credit cards and soft searches and learn together how this stuff works these days, he is a bright boy so should pick it up quickly.

I think with your household income and relatively low debt you have a good chance as long as the credit record is as clean as you think.

Review all you cards see what deals they have first, then see if they will give you one, consider closing them if not.

It is a while since I have done any of this so maybe have a read of the CC board and see what seems to be better offers around.

I would keep the parents debt on the balance sheet for now, even if they won't take it back you could use it to treat them once the rest is sorted.

Gettingtherequickly

getmore4less wrote: »

I would keep the parents debt on the balance sheet for now, even if they won't take it back you could use it to treat them once the rest is sorted.

I'm with you on this, as I was reading FT's last post, my thoughts were, when in a position to, set up an account and pay money into it each month. That way, she will feel that she is repaying & when the full amount is in the account, it can be happily returned. At that stage, everyone will see the tremendous effort that has been made, how their lifestyle has not changed by any measurable amount and how determined she has been.

Whether Dad accepts the money or not is another question, but if he still refuses to accept, maybe the money could be used for the children's future, school trips or simply a savings account for them.

Forward_thinking

Evening. Or should I say good morning? Actually, I've had the evening off relaxing. A rare treat but I have just been feeling really tired tonight. I think it's been an emotionally exhausting week. I also spent about two hours today looking for a lost toy!!! At Christmas Santa bought our little one some vtech books and the wrong kind of reader. I had to make a conscious decision whether to sell the books for a fiver or buy the correct reader for £20. Usually I would just throw it in my Amazon basket but I gave it a lot of thought and decided it wouldn't be fair to sell his present - especially as he kept bringing me the books to read. Anyway, little Scout (the reader) arrived yesterday and my little one absolutely loves it. This morning little Scout had disappeared and I was really upset. Again, usually I would just tell myself if I really couldn't find it after a week or so I would buy it again. But that wouldn't be an option now. I had the whole family searching everywhere for it but we gave up. I then moved the chair slightly this evening and there it was - I was really pleased. I digress but it was an interesting event for me as I seem to really appreciate things more now that I know they are costing us money that we have worked hard for.

Getmore4less - thanks for your advice re the CCs. We will sit down and have a look. Unfortunately, our situation isn't as great as it looks. I don't know the details but I know husband has juggled his company accounts and has averted paying a large amount of money (probably about £30k but this is his words and that may actually mean 5k or 55k knowing him). This will have to be paid in the next two years apparently. I have very little knowledge of his company accounts and that is on the agenda.

Changing our ways with money seems to be having effects in other areas of life. I have also decided it's time to lose some weight and have just started the no S diet - no snacks, sweets, seconds during the week but only allowed on days that start with s, or sick days or special days (family birthdays). I have eaten shockingly this week due to all the stress and thought I may as well conquer this at the same time. One of the reasons I stayed up until midnight - so I could have a cheeky treat before going to bed.

Right, off to bed. Off to Lidl for the first time in the morning. I have only been in there once, found the place totally depressing and ran out of the door into Waitrose. What a food snob! No more!!!

Verbatim

Good for you! I have been following your posts avidly from the first thread and over to this one. What an amazing transition. I think you'll have it under control and begging for mercy in no time. And the debt!

Forward_thinking

Ah, thanks Verbatim. That's a new face - lovely post. Wow, look at how your debt repayments went. Hats off to you!!!! Very envious.

I'm sitting here wondering how I am going to make enough time for all this. For sure my life is going to get a lot busier with this debt-busting:

- clean my own house!
- Do my own ironing!
- Take over the internet shop!
- Wade through the bank accounts.
- Wade through the company accounts.
- Draw up a new SOA.
- Put magnifying glass on all direct debits.
- Get to know YNAB - looks complex.
- Close monitoring of accounts and everyday budgeting
- And equally as important, set up new business.
- Run new business.
- Look after four children.

Any pointers on how much time you devote to debt busting and when in the day would be hugely appreciated. I know this is a marathon and don't want to burn out. Feeling extremely motivated but also a little bewildered...:huh::huh:

pelirocco

Forward_thinking wrote: »

Evening. Or should I say good morning? Actually, I've had the evening off relaxing. A rare treat but I have just been feeling really tired tonight. I think it's been an emotionally exhausting week. I also spent about two hours today looking for a lost toy!!! At Christmas Santa bought our little one some vtech books and the wrong kind of reader. I had to make a conscious decision whether to sell the books for a fiver or buy the correct reader for £20. Usually I would just throw it in my Amazon basket but I gave it a lot of thought and decided it wouldn't be fair to sell his present - especially as he kept bringing me the books to read. Anyway, little Scout (the reader) arrived yesterday and my little one absolutely loves it. This morning little Scout had disappeared and I was really upset. Again, usually I would just tell myself if I really couldn't find it after a week or so I would buy it again. But that wouldn't be an option now. I had the whole family searching everywhere for it but we gave up. I then moved the chair slightly this evening and there it was - I was really pleased. I digress but it was an interesting event for me as I seem to really appreciate things more now that I know they are costing us money that we have worked hard for.

Getmore4less - thanks for your advice re the CCs. We will sit down and have a look. Unfortunately, our situation isn't as great as it looks. I don't know the details but I know husband has juggled his company accounts and has averted paying a large amount of money (probably about £30k but this is his words and that may actually mean 5k or 55k knowing him). This will have to be paid in the next two years apparently. I have very little knowledge of his company accounts and that is on the agenda. OH seems to have accepted that he might have to go to jail if we can't pay it back. Again, I just don't know what to believe with his statements - it's very frustrating.

Changing our ways with money seems to be having effects in other areas of life. I have also decided it's time to lose some weight and have just started the no S diet - no snacks, sweets, seconds during the week but only allowed on days that start with s, or sick days or special days (family birthdays). I have eaten shockingly this week due to all the stress and thought I may as well conquer this at the same time. One of the reasons I stayed up until midnight - so I could have a cheeky treat before going to bed.

Right, off to bed. Off to Lidl for the first time in the morning. I have only been in there once, found the place totally depressing and ran out of the door into Waitrose. What a food snob! No more!!!

Averted paying a large amount of money to whom ?

enthusiasticsaver

Once you have moved suppliers for utilities to best deal I would normally only review it once a year. I don't use ynab but have heard it can take a while to get to grips with so would limit the amount of time you spend on that. I review my budget weekly and monthly usually on a Sunday. That just means moving money around, doing meal plan, paying bills and other paperwork.

If I were you I think I would split your ironing into chunks and get out of the habit of ironing everything. I washed my bedding yesterday, hung it over bannisters to dry and it was back on bed in evening unironed, it looks fine. Cleaning is quick daily routine concentrating on kitchen and bathroom then one full clean a week , hoovering, polishing and dusting. You have a bigger house but you should be getting your kids to help as I guess they make most of the mess. I am a little concerned about your OHs disregard for money and admittance about averting this large payment. If he is self employed is he paying his tax. Don't you have an accountant? He should be addressing that issue too in the same way you are tackling household accounts.

You will get on fine in Lidls once you get used to it. I prefer their fruit and veg to Waitrose and you will not believe the difference in price. Here in south west we have torrential rain today so I may move my budgeting day to today to avoid going out.

MoneyMission

Hi FT. You are really going some. The emotional journey is stressful though and like you said, you've got to be careful you don't burn out. All these money saving things are habits and if you've ever tried to get into a new habit or get out of an old one you'll know how hard and draining it can be. So, advice for the day is to take it easy and pace yourself!

My OH is on board to a degree but he still has no idea about financials really. He is supportive of what I do to manage the money and will often help look out cheaper deals for things like insurance. However, he wouldn't know how to save money if his life depended on it! So, all our salaries get paid into one account which I then transfer to other accounts for bills and various savings. Out of what is left, he and I get paid an allowance to spend as we like. That is all the money he has access to (bless him!). He even asks me to hold on to a % of it to build up a work clothes fund.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that after all this time he still doesn't really give a monkeys about money so I do it alone. You may find your OH operates the same way and that once you have all the information you may be the one to manage finances on a permanent basis.

Have a lovely weekend.

enthusiasticsaver

MoneyMission wrote: »

Hi FT. You are really going some. The emotional journey is stressful though and like you said, you've got to be careful you don't burn out. All these money saving things are habits and if you've ever tried to get into a new habit or get out of an old one you'll know how hard and draining it can be. So, advice for the day is to take it easy and pace yourself!

My OH is on board to a degree but he still has no idea about financials really. He is supportive of what I do to manage the money and will often help look out cheaper deals for things like insurance. However, he wouldn't know how to save money if his life depended on it! So, all our salaries get paid into one account which I then transfer to other accounts for bills and various savings. Out of what is left, he and I get paid an allowance to spend as we like. That is all the money he has access to (bless him!). He even asks me to hold on to a % of it to build up a work clothes fund.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that after all this time he still doesn't really give a monkeys about money so I do it alone. You may find your OH operates the same way and that once you have all the information you may be the one to manage finances on a permanent basis.

Have a lovely weekend.

My OH couldn't care less about money either and has never used a comparison site, insists on using waitrose rather than Lidls and used to spend regardless of balance in the account or bills outstanding. It would not be an issue now but years ago we started the same system you have. All the money goes into a joint account on payday, I move savings and bill money out and we each have a personal allowance. That way he doesn't muck up my budgets.

Happier_Me

Hi Forward Thinking

I think you're doing really well and you are absolutely doing the right thing by focusing on your family finances as opposed to your business.

It is hard when our partners aren't fully on board but maybe you just have to be content with convincing him to come along for the ride.

I think your next priority needs to be shifting those debts to reduce the monthly interest you are paying. I would do some research yourself. Review your credit reports to ensure everything is up to date, look at the different cards available (some give very generous credit limits and criteria seems more relaxed, for instance).

Look at it this way, assuming you are paying £600 each month in interest, moving all your debt to 0% interest cards for 24 months would save you approx £13,500 in interest payments after fees. Let's say it takes 7 hours to do the research, that's an hourly rate of over £1,900. Surely your husband would be impressed with that!