Ready to be debt free

DD265

Naturally I didn't keep myself in check. However December is a new month and the perfect opportunity for a reboot.

I got my expenses on Tuesday and salary yesterday so before checking my bank account (having let YNAB slip again) I've made the £441 payment to the MBNA card without giving myself the opportunity/a reason to change my mind. Unfortunately this does not take the balance below £2500 like it was going to because...

I bought my wedding dress. I know we haven't even paid the deposit for the venue yet and here I am buying for mememe. Basically I chanced across an advert for a black weekend sale, we rocked up and found "the one" for - with 75% off the original price - the princely sum of £199. It's everything I wanted, yes it'll need a few alterations but Mom will do those.

So once I've caught up and done my December budget, I'll look at what I can do with the MBNA card and the Barclaycard.

Bobarella

Congrats on finding your wedding dress

DD265

Thanks Bob, I think that's one purchase I'll never regret putting on the credit card

The good news is after looking at my budget I can still make my targtes before Christmas; our December expenses payment is split in two so some gets paid early and OH owes me a bit of money too.

We decided we'd get another cat tree for the boys for Christmas as we're getting a bit fed up of carrying one up/down the stairs (especially as one of them likes to "ride" it, and attack your hands as you're carrying it; they're starting to get heavy!) but also to get a bigger one.

I bought one used from eBay and we just picked it up. It's no bigger than the existing one but it was dirt cheap and they're very happy with it. I plan to keep an eye out for another one on the cheap and eventually cannibalise them for parts and make a super cat forest. :rotfl:

DD265

So I've just been updating my budget and realised that I've not been setting aside X a month for anything in particular really. A bit in the joint account perhaps but not specifically by design.

That will be my "thing" for 2017; I think it's the next step in really getting the most out of YNAB. The way I see it there are probably three types of category in my budget:

1) balance to zero then top up each month - e.g. my "spending money" which is basically a free for all. If I had a buffer in there I'd just blow it. Not many of these (maybe even just that one) to be fair.

2) put X aside every month to be able to pay in full at the next renewal - e.g. car insurance

3) get a month ahead - e.g. car repayments

At least it would be nice to have a month's budget in the bank (if I did it on the balance to zero categories I'd just blow it), then I can build up to two months etc. I want this in addition to my emergency fund/savings. I'm not expecting to nail it straight away due to paying off my credit cards.

Alongside this will be saving up for the wedding; I need to work out how to budget this. I'm tempted to create a totally separate budget, keeping a single "wedding" category in my current budget but swapping over to the other one as things change.

DD265

As long as my expenses get paid next week (submitted for approval yesterday so it's reasonable) I'll hit the targets on both credit cards. I'll exceed said target purely from the expenses payment so I'm very pleased about that!

I asked Barclaycard to stop sending me balance transfer offers even though I'd opted out of marketing post, and they put a £50 credit on my account, which helps with the above. Most unexpected but very much appreciated.

In other news I have seriously sucked about sticking to any kind of budget this month and I'm skint. I am determined not to dip into my savings but I have used some money from my PayPal account which had been set aside to pay my half of the venue deposit. Actually though I was going to put the deposit on the credit card (for protection) and then pay it off with the money in PayPal.

Again it comes down to not updating my budget frequently; I know that's what I need to do and I will get back on track. Not expecting any money for Christmas, maybe some vouchers, but my pay at the end of January will definitely include a bonus.

My time off over Christmas is going to involve looking at my eBay sales. I still have a number of items to list plus several that I've relisted quite a few times now so I plan to do totally new listings/photos for those to try and shift them. I also found out that a set of weights we acquired from my parent's reshuffling retail for about £400, so I'm thinking of putting those on. I think OH would like to keep them (not that he's used them in the weeks they've been here) but then he was like we could put the money in the wedding fund. I was thinking of paying down a CC to be honest, so I'll have to cross that bridge when it comes to it!

DD265

Today I could get my wedding ring for £132 instead of £229 through a combination of online sale and the work scheme but I don't have the cash. I have considered putting it on the credit card (interest free) or withdrawing from savings and paying either back with my early-January expenses payment or the money my OH owes me. Not doing it though as my gut has reservations and I'm supposed to be listening to Bertha (my mind) less and my feelings more. That said I'll probably spend a lot of the day thinking about it. :rotfl:

I'm about to pull my eBay sales. It's just too much hassle to sell over the Christmas period with the extra volume of parcels, last posting dates etc. I think I'm going to donate some of the items - clothing particularly - to charity as they've been round eBay quite a few times now.

All my Christmas shopping is done, although I may buy OH a couple of food/drink bits but they won't be expensive. I'm just waiting for my expenses to come in but they take "two sleeps" and haven't been approved yet. I'm leaning towards paying the cards out of my savings and replenishing that account with the expenses instead, as otherwise there may not be enough time for the payments to clear.

DD265

Have paid £100 (from savings) off the MBNA card and £250 (from savings) off the Barclaycard. Officially they haven't cleared but I'm considering that as targets hit. I now have less than £40 in savings which sucks but I know I can replenish it soon.

What I find interesting is the minimum payments on both cards; the MBNA one has a higher balance but also a lower minimum payment. I think it's a trick tbh, as they won't let you set up a direct debit for a fixed amount (either minimum or full balance) and I'm too paranoid that standing orders won't hit the account on time. I make manual payments (in addition to the minimum direct debit), but it feels like they try to catch you out into keeping a balance as long as possible!

We don't get paid before Christmas although we may get paid a couple of days early, whereas my OH gets paid today. I'm quite glad really because otherwise January would be an extremely long month.

Thankfully paying down the credit cards has reduced my desire to purchase a wedding ring

MBNA - £2485.02
Barclaycard - £1495.61

DD265

Merry Christmas!

We've had a much needed quiet day - to be followed by more of the same as we both have the next week off work. I haven't properly de-stressed yet but I'm sure I'll be there by next Saturday

To say we keep trying to cut back on Christmas I did well present wise. The only problem is I got a fair amount of chocolate from my Mom/sister (I think OH was going to but I said something about it so he didn't) and I just got back on the WeightWatchers bandwagon. Not sure whether I'm going to eat it all in a day to get the damage over and done with, try to ration it out within my points (did you know that a Guylian seashell contains 3 smart points? I get 30 a day..) or give it all away.

I'm waiting for an eBay selling offer - nothing yet although I wouldn't have done any listings today anyway to be fair. I don't know what I'd do with any proceeds from sales right now though as there are multiple candidates:
- wedding fund
- emergency fund
- credit cards
- holiday fund (I will need some money when I go to visit my Dad)

My saddle is listed for sale and I'm hoping that's gone before the end of January; that'd sort a couple of things out nicely.

Bobarella

Hi DD265

Could you freeze the chocolate? Then just bring out a couple at a time?

Bob

DD265

Bobarella wrote: »

Hi DD265

Could you freeze the chocolate? Then just bring out a couple at a time?

Bob

Hi Bob

That's what I've ended up doing, although fridge rather than freezer as I don't think Ferrero Roche freeze well. I did it with my Easter chocolate last year and it worked well so as long as I can stay disciplined it'll be OK.

In addition to feeling like I ought to be eating the afore-mentioned chocolate (I've had my allowed amount for the day!) I feel like I should be taking advantage of the sales. It's frustrating this "need" to be a shopper and I'd certainly have hated being out in the retail parks today. OH suggested I look on some hot deals website and I pointed out that I'm totally OK with buying things; but they have to be things that I need or already know I want. I'm not about to let myself look for things to buy for the sake of it!