Ready to be debt free

Bobarella

Glad the chocs have been stashed. However should the need arise I'd guess that they defrost real quick

Yes it's hard if you enjoy shopping to ignore it's siren call. As well they know and they depend upon it with all their sneaky marketing tricks. Stay strong!

DD265

I managed to replace my work boots (like for like) for just under £50 - the boots are normally £90 and my existing pair are not far off totally worn out. Also ordered another pair of running leggings as we don't get full loads for the washing machine often enough to keep up with my gym kit.

I need to pull out my summer clothes and double check I don't need anything. It's hard to know what I ought to be wearing in Dubai as I don't know where we'll be going, so I think normal holiday attire plus lightweight cover ups will be the way forward.

Annoyingly one of the kittens just climbed up onto my lap and very badly snagged the barginous brand new Levi jeans I received from an eBay seller on Saturday. I'll have to try and tuck the threads through! Methinks moggies are going to get their claws clipped.

Still no selling offer from eBay - I'm going to check out the board here and see what other people have had, if anything. Maybe it's a new year thing, or maybe I'm just not meeting whatever criteria they've plucked out of the air this time.

At some point I need to sort out with my sister which of us is driving to the airport in February, and arrange parking. It'll be me driving (she's not insured on my car) unless Mom offers us a lift. I'm not sure it's particularly MSE, but I do prefer the on-airport parking where possible. Talking £35-50 for onsite or £24 for my preferred offsite parking, but split between two of us either option is reasonable.

DD265

I'll preface this by saying that we've just received the forms/T&Cs and deposit request from our wedding venue.

Up until this point I've been focused on paying down debt and making a nod (£50 a month plus change) to building an emergency fund. Our wedding is set for March 2018. Originally I was hoping to clear the cards then start saving for the wedding but the reality is that isn't possible.

How this all works out is largely dependent on a few things:
1) whether I have a 2016 financial year (reasonable) or a 2015 financial year (awesome)
2) whether my horse remains in good health (as if he deteriorates it will be time to say goodbye and when I do, over £350pcm will be reallocated)
3) if we get any contributions to the wedding from family; I haven't asked but I know my parents would like to
4) me keeping my spending low key and on track
5) not over committing on the wedding front

There's only two of those things I can control, those being 4 and 5. In principle 4 is easy and I know what I should be doing. 5 on the other hand... we've kind of gone about the wedding the wrong way in so much as we didn't start with a budget, because we didn't know how much things were going to cost.

So the next step is going to be to budget for the wedding. I'm thinking of bodging YNAB to do this for me. New budget, one "debt" per expense block (i.e. the 1st venue deposit, then the 2nd venue deposit, then the balance) for the essentials and then I can die of fright. :rotfl:

DD265

Yesterday I used £40 of my £60 2016 Christmas money. I bought a hat for running (gym member discount + further unexpected discount meant it was £9 rather than £15) as I've been wearing my woolly hat with a pom pom and feel like I probably look a right state.

I spent more on a scarf in TK Maxx and I am pleased as punch. Last year I wore a £30 cashmere scarf from TK Maxx that I'd sewed into a loop all winter, and probably most of spring and autumn too. Then I got food on it and put it in the washing machine and you can probably guess the rest I've been looking to replace that scarf but everything I deemed suitable was too pricey, including one at £60. Well I only found that scarf reduced to £29 yesterday. I have been wearing it all day today at the zoo and I have been toasty warm.

We're off to the shopping centre tomorrow; we received vouchers for Christmas 2015 that we haven't used yet, and will combine with remaining cash from Christmas 2016. I'm about to go pull out all my summer clothes and see if I need anything for Dubai. If I don't, I'll encourage OH to use all the vouchers and I'll bank the cash. :rotfl:

DD265

We got paid today, and unfortunately it wasn't the best end to the year with my lowest pay since the summer. On the one hand I like variable pay because I can have amazing months, but on the other it can be frustrating when I bring home less. Just bad timing, but I know the end of January will be good (although that will probably need to go towards the wedding pot) so I just have to get through the month.

My action plan for the month is as follows:
1. eBay, eBay, eBay
2. Cash withdrawals for any planned spends & blow-out money.
3. Ask for money for my birthday which is mid month
4. Maximise mileage claims
5. Stress about it just enough to keep me on track

I know I have an expenses payment coming in, plus some healthcare money to claim back. I can't remember what I emptied my PayPal account for (stupid huh? obviously wasn't important enough to warrant it, even if it felt so at the time) but I am regretting that now as at one point it held my half of the first venue deposit. The first deposit was always going on the credit card for protection and that's interest free, but it feels like a kick in the teeth to do that and not pay it down right away.

My horse's insurance comes up for renewal in February and I plan to cancel the policy when I receive the renewal documents this month. I need to keep public liability insurance however; I will check whether our contents insurance covers this (there is a reference to something but whether it's applicable..) and if not there are various societal memberships I can get ranging from £30-70 which provide the insurance as a perk. The key is to have £5m plus; there was a court case recently which exceeded the previously "standard" £2.5m.

DD265

We went to the shopping centre yesterday - and the vouchers had expired. I don't know why I had it in my head that they didn't, but hey ho. Lesson learned!

I had been through my holiday clothes and decided that I probably needed a couple of pairs of lightweight trousers (I own jeans or work trousers or gym kit!). Managed to get two pairs for £14 from H&M in the sale which will do nicely. OH bought himself a couple of shirts in the sale, and some pyjamas for me as a birthday present also in the sale. Then we went into TK Maxx and got some more tea spoons and a couple of baking trays following recommendations I got on this forum. One of the baking trays has to go back as I can't remove the glue they used to hold on the labels!

Today I ordered the top for running, having whittled it down to buying just one item (expensive enough at £32 in the sale) and getting confirmation of money for my birthday from Mom. Managed to get free postage on it by downloading the app so saved a fiver there. Tomorrow won't be a no-spend day either as I'll need to fill the car up but Tuesday-Wednesday have potential. Thursday I have the dentist which I can claim back but Friday could be a no spend day too.

I relisted a few eBay items tonight, and put a few in the charity pile. I have more to list which I hope to get done tonight/tomorrow.

DD265

Haha I started reading the first post of this thread just then and thought "hey that sounds like me".

I paid the first £500 of the venue deposit yesterday, on the MBNA card. I always wanted to pay deposits on the credit card for the added protection, and it is interest free until December, but I'd hoped to be in the position to pay it off immediately and I'm not. We'll see where things stand when I get paid at the end of the month.

I have managed no spend days Mon/Tues/Weds/Thurs so far. I've decided not to count fuel or the dentist (or the 50p I took from my purse to pay to park for the dentist) as these are essential spends. I have no issue with my essential spends, it's the off-the-rail shopping sprees that do me in. My budget is looking unhealthy at the moment as I've not accounted for money coming in, in YNAB although I know it is/will be. This is spurring me on to try and get through the rest of the week with only a purchase of fuel (I have to fill up weekly). I'd like to get through the month without borrowing from savings as then I'm on the back foot come pay day before I've even started.

I also suggested to OH that as next week is a short one in terms of meal plan (I'm away Thurs night and we're going out for my birthday on Friday, his treat) that we do it as cheap as possible. I always meal plan, but it's hard to know what the shopping is going to cost so this will be a good exercise. If I could do it under £25 I'd be laughing.

Bobarella

Keep going you are doing really well.

DD265

Not much to report which I guess is a good thing!

Minimal spend days this week and I tried to keep the weekly shop low, although it did span three different supermarkets (for various offers) and the butchers. The bit I struggle with doing cheaply is the butchers because it's hard to know what things are going to cost. I want to start making a note of prices (I don't get an itemised receipt) and working out an average cost-per-meal so I can easily see which are my cheap options.

I did end up paying for the express service on my passport though. I've known about the trip since November but couldn't afford to buy the passport until January. I wanted to do it online and we couldn't get a decent digital photo with no shadows. Then I found out that you still have to send the old passport back and they won't process the application until it's in. I decided that either way I felt like a week's leeway wasn't enough and have opted to go to the passport office this weekend instead so that I can avoid the stress. Frustrated with myself.

In other news I sold something on eBay. Not for a huge amount, but I'm hoping sales will start picking up again soon.

Bobarella

Congratulations on your eBay sale